St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, a fixture in Washington, DC’s Southwest community since 1965, has announced a new phase of life in its neighborhood.
St. Augustine’s Rector Martha Clark noted, “We are beginning a period as a ‘church without walls’ while we await the construction of our new church on its original site at 6th and M Street SW. We look forward to continuing our mission of service to the Southwest community for many years to come as the Episcopal presence on DC’s Southwest waterfront.”
Under a unique partnership with developer PN Hoffman (PNH), the church sold a portion of its site for PNH to construct high quality condominiums. St. Augustine’s will build a new church on the northern portion of the site including a second story sanctuary featuring spectacular views of the Washington Monument. The new church’s glass and steel sanctuary will be designed by MTFA Architecture of Arlington, Va., a company that specializes in church architecture. The church and the residential building were carefully designed to represent compatible yet distinct interpretations of the best approaches in design.
The church is expected to be demolished this July, pending final approval from the DC government. Meanwhile, during its transition, St. Augustine’s is holding its 9:30 a.m. Sunday worship service and Sunday school in the fellowship hall of Christ United Methodist Church at 900 4th Street SW.
The Service of Evening Prayer will be held Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m, at another neighborhood church, Westminster Presbyterian Church at the corner of 4th and I Streets SW.
Kwasi Holman, chair of the church’s Mission and Southwest Development committee, said, “Due to the sale of a portion of our site, we are now able to design and build our new church with plenty of space for Southwest nonprofit groups and service organizations to be there to help continue the church’s decades-long tradition of serving southwest neighborhood families and children.”
After demolition, construction will begin and the new church should be completed in mid-2016, according to Holman.
For further information on St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, check the website, www.staugustinesdc.org or find them on Facebook and Twitter @StAugustinesDC.
By: Elaine F. Graves