While Washington’s unseemly and—sometimes intertwined—political facets receive endless public scrutiny, the city’s spiritual side often maintains a low profile. Nevertheless, behind the city’s power struggles and political machinations, a religious current runs deep here.
Virtually every denomination under the sun worships in Metro Washington. A quick scan through the Yellow Pages reveals everything from the mainstream to the obscure to the fringe: African Methodist Episcopal, Armenian Apostolic, Baptist, Catholic, Charismatic, Christian Science, Christian (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal, Foursquare Gospel, Jewish, Lutheran, Metaphysical, Moravian, Swedenborgian, and Unitarian, to name but a few.
The Washington area’s international character also is reflected in the way its citizenry worships. Throughout the region you’ll find Korean Baptist and Greek Orthodox churches; Islamic mosques; Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh temples, including, in Lanham, Maryland, Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, one of North America’s largest Hindu temples; and less-formal congregations representing religious practices from every corner of the globe.
WASPs—British Anglicans, to be exact—founded Metro Washington, and the Protestant influence still dominates, especially in Northern Virginia. Newcomers should be aware of some interesting dynamics, however. Maryland, a state founded as a haven for persecuted Catholics, continues to boast a strong Catholic heritage. (The first Catholic chapel founded by English settlers sprouted in nearby St. Mary’s County in 1635.) Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland boast a large concentration of African American Roman Catholics, numbering 100,000 out of 570,000 members of the denomination. Another 200,000 are Hispanics. In addition, Jewish families traditionally have migrated to the Maryland suburbs. These factors partly explain why Maryland and Washington historically have been more ethnically diverse than Virginia, but all that is changing as immigrant enclaves alter the face of even the most homogenous sections of the metro area. Drive through Annandale, Virginia, for example, and you’ll see many traditional churches bearing signs in Asian characters. Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, and Hispanic settlers all have established their own religious communities in the area. The Jewish community is now a significant presence in Northern Virginia as well, particularly in Fairfax County, home of the busy Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia and the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch organization.
In this brief chapter, we’ll introduce you to some of Metro Washington’s most colorful and historic houses of worship. We won’t recommend or list churches and temples to attend. We’ll leave that to clergy and the Yellow Pages. At the end of the chapter, however, we list phone numbers of several religious umbrella groups and associations that might help you get started in finding a specific church, meeting house, temple, or synagogue that suits you.