Church of the Advent is moving to Shaw!
We are excited to start worshiping in our new home at 1546 5th St NW in the Shaw neighborhood. Sunday services will start early in 2026 - watch this space for the exact date.
It’s a new location, but the same gospel, the same Anglican tradition and the same warm welcome. Our vision is to be a city-wide church rooted in the Shaw neighborhood.
We’d love you to join us!
Our New Building
we’re continuing a legacy
Our church building has been a place of gospel proclamation for over a hundred years and we want to continue the faithful witness of the former owners, Third Baptist Church.
After eighteen years, nine different rented locations, many generous donors and a lot of prayer, Church of the Advent bought and renovated this historical building in 2024-2025. We’ve made this lovely space ADA compliant, safe, warm and welcoming. There are dedicated classrooms for the children, a great fellowship hall space to gather in for coffee and encouragement and a transcendent sanctuary reflecting our Anglican tradition.
To read more about the construction process and our progress, see the updates below from our Director of Operations, Zoe.
Balcony in the Sanctuary
Stained glass on the balcony
Sanctuary ceiling opened up
Where To Find Us
Our new address is 1546 5th St NW, Washington, DC 20001.
Our building is situated on the corner of 5th and Q. The entrance is on 5th street.
metro/bus access
Take the Green Line to Shaw-Howard University and walk 8 minutes south east on 7th then Q street. When exiting the metro, head towards “R & 8th Street.”
There are also buses that run down Georgia Ave, Rhode Island Ave, New Jersey Ave, and Florida Ave that have stops close to our building.
bikes
Bike racks are being installed outside church in Feb 2026.
parking
There are lots of parking options (but beware the one-way streets!).
On Sundays there is a parking lot nearby at 421 P St NW, Washington, DC 20001.
Countdown to our First Service
The Latest news
Read the latest news to see how close we are to moving in! Zoe Werner, Advent’s Director of Operations, is keeping us up to date and sharing prayer needs as we count down to our first service.
Our New Neighborhood
Credit: DCSHPO
A brief history
The Shaw neighborhood has a rich history, and has played a central role in the development of Washington, DC. The neighborhood was originally developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a home for emancipated enslaved people, as well as those who had escaped slavery and found refuge in DC. It was the center of African American culture and social change from the early 1900s into the 1950s, and was nicknamed “Black Broadway” because of the many Black-owned businesses, cultural venues, and theaters. Thurgood Marshall stayed here, and Duke Ellington grew up here. Following desegregation and the 1968 riots, the neighborhood’s economy declined and the community was severely impacted by the crack epidemic in the 1970s. In the early 2000s the neighborhood began to reflect the population growth of Washington, DC, and has since evolved into a multi-ethnic, socio-economically diverse community.
Credit: Carrie Dorean Photography
shaw today
Today, approximately 100,000 people live within a 1-mile radius of Advent’s new building. Over half of Shaw’s residents are in their twenties and thirties and nearly three-quarters of the neighborhood is single, either living alone or with roommates. The neighborhood is racially and ethnically diverse: half of the residents are white, more than a quarter are Black, and a quarter Hispanic, Asian, and multi-racial.
Shaw is also home to people who have material needs and organizations that serve those on the margins across the city. Fourteen percent of households in Shaw live near or below the poverty line, earning less than $30,000 a year for a family of four. One out of six are severely rent burdened, paying more than half of their gross income on housing.
Resources
If you would like to find out more about joining us in Shaw, please email admin@adventdc.org.