Page 58 - Summer_2019

ArchDC Summer 2019.qxp_Spring 2019 5/22/19 3:01 PM Page 56

interior is lit at night. It really puts the sanctuary up on display
and celebrates it as a sacred space, almost like the church is
inside a display case.” As a result, “the glass wall allows a visual
and spiritual connection from inside and out.”
The window wall and the building’s other large windows
“were our top priority as we envisioned our new building,”
Clark said. “We wanted light and visibility and connection. We
wanted to see the world around us, and for the world to see us
at worship and in our life together as a community of faith. The
expanse of glass is literally our window onto the world and the
spiritual lens which connects us with God’s created world as
well as with the life and needs of the neighborhood and city
around us.”
The building “has improved our ability to conduct services
and ministry programs in ways that we never were able to in our
previous building,” Clark said. The new design “is completely
accessible, with a ground-level entrance, an elevator to the second
floor, and accessible restroom facilities on both levels. We have
doubled our classroom and community meeting space and
added a commercial kitchen. Together, this has deepened and The entry area is centered on a historic font, believed to date to the 11th century.
enhanced our ministry of hospitality. We are able to offer a
welcoming and inclusive space for individuals and community
groups of all ages and abilities, and serve as both a spiritual
home and community gathering place for a broad range of activities
and programs.” The acoustics in the sanctuary, she added, “have
caught the attention of several artists, and we have been able to
grow our year-round offerings of music, dance, and theater, as
well as provide rehearsal, gallery, and performance space.”
St. Augustine’s members “are coming to understand our
place as a neighborhood church with a 50-plus-year history and
a new building at the crossroads of a rapidly changing and
developing area of the city,” she said. “With the legacy of having
Thurgood [Marshall] and [his wife] Cecilia Marshall as part of our
founding parentage, we have continued to stand as advocates
for economic and racial justice for our most vulnerable Southwest
DC neighbors, especially as they find themselves in tension with
the transformation of large portions of their community.”
Noting that the church went through its own period of
dislocation between the demolition of its old building and the
construction of the new one, the congregation is now “walking
into a new life together in a new building, with renewed mission
and changing ministries,” Clark said. “We are committed to the
work of ensuring that all residents—old-timers and newcomers—
benefit from this neighborhood transformation and remain
included and welcome in the growing waterfront family.”

The small chapel just off the main entry area has a large window facing the street.
56 A CHURCH LEANS IN TO THE CITY