We are a Community
Kittamaqundi Community Church exists to support the spiritual development of every single participant and to serve others. Everyone comes to KC with their own spiritual histories, traditions and practices, including none at all. Everyone grows and changes. We accept everyone right where they are. We seek to encourage and deepen their journey, and we seek to learn from each other. Being a community, we listen to each other and care for each other every single day, not just on Sundays.
We welcome the questions; rather than claiming to have "the answer," and we search, examine and grow together.
We are Call-based
Founded in 1969 by a group of Columbia residents who had been deeply moved by the Washington, D.C.-based Church of the Saviour, we have kept their belief in the power of call. Call-based means: We have no doctrine or creed requirement. People join with us because they feel called to our practices of spiritual development and service.
Anyone who attends KC and feels God’s call can offer an activity or practice within the community if it is consistent with who we are and how we live; we are bottom-up, not top-down.
We are Committed
We have identified four pillars that give form and substance to our spiritual lives, as individuals and as a church. While they are required for formal Membership, everyone in the KC community, whether formal Member or not, is encouraged to practice them.
Personal Spiritual Journey
A Community of Belonging
Outward Service
KC’s Vitality
Membership
You don’t have to be a Member to be fully part of our community; Membership is a personal commitment.
Structure
Our community is led by six Leadership Teams: Worship, Finance, Building & Grounds, Human Resources, Community Life and Spiritual Enrichment. Everyone (members and non-members) is encouraged to join one or more of these teams.
The work of these six Leadership Teams is coordinated and resourced by the Church Council. Council members represent the Leadership teams, but are elected at large annually by the members of our community. The focus of the Leadership Teams and the Council is to provide organization and support for people’s calls.
Enabling Minister: Our pastor’s job is to enable individuals, groups and the community on their journeys toward personal and corporate spiritual development and outreach to the world.
Groups
All groups originate with a call from God, discerned by a member of our community. While Council, the Enabling Minister or anyone in the community can bring needs and ideas to our attention, if no one is being called to make it happen, it won’t happen.
CARE Groups: Small groups that meet, often in people’s homes, typically once or twice a month, for spiritual support. Each CARE group has its own additional focus, such as serving others, studying the many approaches to God, and examining basic practices in our lives.
FOCUS Groups: Action-based small groups that anyone in our community may call into being. Many aspects of our community’s inward and outward mission are led by FOCUS groups. Each FOCUS group is assigned to the most logical Leadership Team for funding, resources, support and coordination.
Outreach Committee: KC is committed to doing God’s work in the world. We give 20% of all incoming pledges and collections to others doing this work in our community, nation and world. Outreach is a standing committee, open to all, that meets quarterly to consider recipients in light of our mission and standards, and to disburse funds.
Our Building
• Our restored 210-year-old stone carriage house is owned outright. Worship services and major celebrations are held in a large second floor area. The remainder of the building is divided into office and meeting spaces, kitchens and Sunday school spaces.
• Access is available for persons with disabilities to the second floor.
• A Sacred Garden behind the building was designed a few years ago, and continues to be groomed and developed. It is a “communal” space inviting the local neighborhood and wider community to visit and enjoy the welcoming sacred space. Weddings also are held there.
Our Community Life
• The Community excels at celebrating events in individuals’ and the church’s life. We gather and support each other in times of celebration, crisis and death.
Our Ministerial History
• Our church was officially incorporated on January 5, 1969, although people had been meeting for worship on an informal basis for several months before then.
• Gerald Goethe served as KC’s first Enabling Minister from 1973 until his retirement in 1999.
• Wesley Baker served as our Interim Minister from February 2000 through Easter 2001.
• Rebecca Stelle served as our Enabling Minister from 2001 until 2004, when she was called to work at the Church of the Saviour ministries in Washington, DC.
• Heather Kirk-Davidoff joined KC as its Enabling Minister in 2005 and served until June 2017, when she moved out of state.
• Claire Matheny is our current Enabling Minister, coming on board July 1, 2018.