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.

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.

*What the Fellowship Hall looks like now*

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!). Here is a parking map that provides some possibilities.

On Sundays there is a parking lots nearby at 421 P St NW, Washington, DC 20001.

Our New Neighborhood

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.

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.