Alexandria Resident Seeking Place of Worship (Manassas, Woodbridge: house, high school, live)

[jaeda1920]

I have checked out a few threads on here in my search for a church home but lot of places are really far to travel on a sunday. I would prefer a place in close proximity to Alexandria just because I am not a fan of traffic and driving. Since high school I have done the 30+ commute to church and have found as a result two things happen:
The church caters to the community it is in so I feel on the outside
It limits the opportunities to connect with other members because everyone is so far from where I reside
Going to church events or become active in ministries is just if not more daunting than trying to make it to sunday morning services and I want a church I am excited to be active in.

With that being said, I will travel to DC and MD since it can take about 20 min to get to some area but I find that places like Manassas and Woodbridge can be very far based on the traffic on 66 and 95. Trying to avoid that if possible.

I come from a baptist/UCC (with a Pentecostal feel) and non denominational church background. If there is a dance ministry I always desire to be apart of it and for me praise and worship time is a strong connection point in the service. So for some it may not be as important as the sermon but for me, it is just as important as the teachings from the sermon.

So in seeking a church I look for those qualities:

1)Urban Contemporary Gospel (if you don't know the music, google Fred Hammond, Tye Tribbit, Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary)
2)Relatable Bible Based Teachings (give me the Sesame Street version of what you are trying to teach me so I can understand it and apply it to my life)
3)Volunteerism and Active in the Community
4)Friendly church atmosphere (treated like family and not just a visitor- I cant tell you how heart breaking it is to say Good Morning or God Bless You with people who attend and don't even make eye contact with you let alone respond) Saying hi to someone you have never seen before shouldn't be so difficult.
5)Children's ministry - I want my daughter (who is 10yo) to be excited about the children's church just as much as I am excited about adult services.

Preferences: Non-denominational, Deaf ministry or interpreted services, praise dance ministry or group, can be involved without having to officially be a member, doesn't have to a be a mega church or majority black congregation but considering the type of gospel music I like I realize I may be limited to a "black" church, and within 20 min of Alexandria Old Town.

Maybe I'm asking for a lot but I have lived in NJ, Philadelphia, and Chicago and have never had such a difficult time finding a church home. While I currently attend DC Metro and find that it has a lot of great things to offer I can not get past that it is a multicultural church in terms of members but its not a multicultural experience. And I don't mind a multicultural experience, i actually like the concept of worshipping with different races and ethnicities but musically, I find that multicultural churches tend to lean towards this style of music that I can not connect to on any level and its disheartening. I have relied on my pandora in the mornings to enjoy the music I like but honestly it get frustrating very quickly that I can experience that in the God's house especially when I have before.

So any suggestions that anyone can provide will be helpful.

[jaeda1920]

I guess no response means that there are no churches out here that has what I am looking for. I guess I will just keep looking.

[FindingZen]

There are predominantly Black churches in Alexandria but they may not have the contemporary gospel feel that you are looking for. If you are okay with pre-Kirk Franklin gospel, then you might want to look into venues in or near Old Town and Parker-Gray. Otherwise, I would suggest looking across the river in Prince Georges County, MD. As there is a larger African-American population there, the variety of choices should improve your odds of finding the type of experience that you seek. And I say this as a largely secular person. Good luck!

[jaeda1920]

Thank you Tone509 for responding. I don't mind going over to MD are there any places you can recommend that may be relatively close? Would like to have a starting point. The only place I visited was Spirit of Faith. Great praise and worship but not sure if it was a place where I could be spiritually fed. Where is Parker-Gray?

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by jaeda1920

Thank you Tone509 for responding. I don't mind going over to MD are there any places you can recommend that may be relatively close? Would like to have a starting point. The only place I visited was Spirit of Faith. Great praise and worship but not sure if it was a place where I could be spiritually fed. Where is Parker-Gray?

I don't have any specific knowledge of MD churches; you may want to start a thread on the "Washington DC suburbs of Maryland" sub-forum.

Parker-Gray is an area within North Old Town. The churches that come to mind would be west of Washington Street and north of King Street.