St. John’s is a vibrant, growing Episcopal church in the heart of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Maryland, just north of Washington, DC and minutes from the Bethesda Metro stop.
Building community at the crossroads of faith and life
OUR MISSION: Everything we do at St. John’s is done through the lens of building community – helping people connect to people. Whether we worship, learn, grow, or serve, everything is meant to help us grow into deeper community with God and with one another. We believe that building community is at the center of what it means to be a church.
Making a difference in our local community
OUR VISION: At St. John’s, we are dedicated to using our greatest gifts to best meet the greatest needs of our larger community. We are actively translating our Vision into tangible and measurable activities that can be performed by St. John’s for the good of the broader community and in witness to the love of God.
Download our Vision Statement.
A dynamic urban church with a small church feel
The community at St. John’s includes hundreds of individuals and families, but you’ll never feel lost in the crowd here. Because of the many ways we gather, worship, and work together in smaller groups, it’s easy to get to know others and build friendships in faith.
“My family and I started attending St. John’s five years ago because the people were so incredibly welcoming and friendly. What keeps me coming back is the opportunity to worship and build friendships with sincere and intelligent people of faith who take the Bible seriously (but not literally).“
A community that values diversity
At the heart of our church family is a desire to reflect God’s love and gracious hospitality to all. Our members represent a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, family configurations, political affiliations, sexual orientations, abilities, and religious traditions.
Chances are, there’s someone like you at St. John’s.
We are single, married, partnered, divorced, widowed, remarried, gay and lesbian, with and without children, empty nesters, old and young, and differently-abled.
You name it — we are here. And we welcome you to join us!
A commitment to social justice
At St. John’s, we believe that Jesus showed us through his words and actions what God cares about: love, dignity, justice, peace.
As his followers, we are called to embody that same care in our world to those who also experience wrongness and unfairness: to the poor, hungry, thirsty, the persecuted, and those who mourn.
As his followers, we are also called to challenge systems that denigrate and dehumanize others, while simultaneously remembering the humanity of those who uphold these systems.
Read our “Faith-Driven Response to the Legacy of Slavery and Racism“
A spiritual home in the Episcopal tradition
If you’re looking for a faith that doesn’t operate only in a constructed world of black and white expectations – where you can explore the truth on your own and in community – you will find that in the Episcopal tradition we follow at St. John’s.
What it means to be Episcopalian is to follow a faith that is relevant to the world of today.
Episcopalians depend on three sources of authority: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. In the interaction of these three resources, we find their answers through conversation and dialogue, insisting not on uniformity or obedience, but community—together we will discern the truth.
