Online Archives

Two recent events marked a new partnership, a new place and several new programs uniting Mount Vernon Place UMC and Wesley Theological Seminary. This venture will enable new approaches to urban ministry in the nation's capital.

The historic church and seminary dedicated their new shared facility, adjacent to the church in downtown Washington, following Sunday morning worship Oct. 25. Two days later Wesley Seminary hosted a full-day symposium on urban ministry as its first major event of the new partnership.

"Since its founding 50 years ago, Wesley Seminary has wanted a presence in downtown Washington," said the Rev. Fred Smith, director of Wesley's Urban Ministry program. "We've needed a place where we could address urban issues and teach urban ministry right in the heart of the city."

That place is now in a 12-story, modern edifice with a glass exterior that clings closely to the church's contrasting marble walls. It contains 31,500 square-feet of classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, a kitchen and fellowship hall, retail space and parking decks.

Smith preached at Mount Vernon Place for the building dedication and also convened the Oct. 27 symposium. Titled "Called to the City: Urban Ministry in the Joshua Generation," the event drew nearly 300 clergy and lay participants. Many of them came with questions and ideas from their various churches and community programs that address poverty, homelessness, education, violence, economic development and other urban concerns.

Mount Vernon Place UMC, a monumental, white-columned temple built in 1917 and now located next to Washington's convention center, is rebounding after years of membership and financial decline. The once vibrant congregation sold its two adjoining, under-used education buildings to a commercial developer in 2005. That difficult decision enabled the church to renovate and restore its decaying sanctuary and main building. That work was completed in 2008.

The developer demolished the aged education buildings and constructed the new facility in partnership with the church and Wesley Seminary, which needed downtown space for its Urban Ministry and Public Theology programs. The school's main campus is in Northwest Washington, next to United Methodist-related American University.

Speakers at the Sunday dedication spoke of tough, often trying negotiations between the church, the seminary, the developers, and the Baltimore-Washington Conference. They worked painstakingly to create a space that could adequately serve both institutions while also housing community organizations, social service agencies and new small businesses.

"This has been a challenging journey for us, full of twists and turns," said the Rev. Donna Claycomb Sokol, Mt. Vernon Place's pastor, "but God has brought us through it, and we're grateful."

While the church will use the building for its offices, Christian education classes, various ministries and special events, the seminary will do likewise and also have use of the church sanctuary as needed. Wesley also occupies office and classroom space at nearby Asbury UMC, also a member of the unique church-seminary partnership.

Seventeen Wesley students moved into dorm-style rooms and efficiency apartments on the building's third floor in October. There they will live, study and engage in ministry together as part of the seminary's new "intentional Christian community" initiative. Several have already joined Mt. Vernon Place and become active in its ministries.

Moreover, the Urban Ministry program has launched two other initiatives from its new home: the Urban Fellows program and the Urban Center for Community Transformation. The first cohort of six Urban Fellows will take courses, attend events like the "Called to the City" symposium and engage in research and hands-on ministry together in church and community settings across the city.

The Urban Center for Community Transformation will provide interactive learning experiences for students, faculty, community leaders and urban activists, as they explore and develop new strategies for transforming Washington's political, social and economic landscape, according to Smith.

He hopes many of the symposium's two dozen speakers and workshop leaders will become partners of the new center, collaborating on ideas, research and learning opportunities for Wesley students.

"The kind of sharing that happened at this symposium is a microcosm of what we want to see happening on a regular, broader basis," said Smith, emphasizing the importance of "contextual learning, participatory research and interactive critical analysis."

While developing the Urban Center for Community Transformation at Mount Vernon Place, Smith is also exploring possibilities of locating similar centers in other cities, starting with St. John UMC in Baltimore.

"It's easy to have visions and dream dreams, but it's tough to make those dreams come true," the Rev. David McAllister Wilson, Wesley's president, told the Mt. Vernon Place congregation on Sunday. "We have a lot of work behind us but a lot more work ahead of us."