We'd like to personally welcome you to The United Baptist Church of Annandale and thank you for checking out our website! I want to briefly tell you about us.
We are a Christian Church located in the middle of the Village of Annandale, at the intersection of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and Little River Turnpike (exit 52). Find us by turning left at the 7th stop light (John Marr Drive) after taking Little River Turnpike EAST. You will find us on the corner at the next stop light (7100 Columbia Pike).
Were you to attend our Christian worship service on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m., you will find an order of worship with both clearly printed instructions and clear verbal instructions to facilitate your worship of God without you needing to be anxious about doing something personally embarrassing to you. You will not be expected to do anything you do not feel comfortable doing. You will find warm, friendly people like yourself, from many different Christian and non-Christian traditions, eager to greet you, both as the worship begins, and following worship in the nearby church parlor. You will find a warm welcome, regardless of the region of the world from which you come.
Our mission is to seek God's direction through prayer as we: introduce all people to Jesus Christ; work for their conversion to a personal relationship with God; assimilate them into the Body of Christ; and encourage spiritual growth through worship, education, fellowship and ministry.
We are a Christian church in the tradition of Baptist. This means we highly value helping people to have a personal relationship with God, as revealed in Jesus, the Christ.
We believe that God already has a personal relationship with every human being. But people begin to experience that personal relationship with God by FIRST learning that God already has a personal relationship with them. Meaning that God has determined that the status of the relationship is PEACE rather than HOSTILE or antagonistic. A popular assumption is that God is hostile until people "clean up their act," so to speak, "winning" God's approval. The GOOD NEWS is this simply "ain't so!" We believe God determined and demonstrated the PEACEFUL status of God's personal relationship with people when God reacted to the HOSTILE behavior of people crucifying Jesus, by raising Jesus from the grave. If God was ever going to react HOSTILELY. the crucifixion of Jesus would have been the time! When people learn that God has determined the relationship to be PEACEFUL and allow it's good news, on faith, to "sink in" and become a controlling conviction, the FIRST step to experience a personal relationship with God has been taken. People must repent of their HOSTILE assumption (which is sin) and on faith change their assumption about God. This is what it means to be "born again" to use the popular phrase. Indeed, it often feels like beginning again!
The SECOND step in forming a personal relationship with God is to begin to be aware of God's initiative through behaviors for you every day, many times a day. Becoming aware of God's generous behaviors tends, out of personal gratitude, to lead to conforming personal daily behavior to God's behaviors. When Godly behaviors are practiced, regardless with whom or with what people physically perform those behaviors, people are spiritually with God (in God's presence). Therefore, since God is a Spirit, the SECOND step to a personal relationship with God is to learn and behave as God behaves. Through behaviors, Spiritual God becomes physical and concrete, to people, in and through people.
We believe it is our purpose as a church to help us all to learn to experience this personal relationship with God every moment of every day. Therefore, the goal of our effort is not on getting people to be religious by getting people to "come to church" or do "religious" things. Our goal is to help people RECOGNIZE and BEHAVE as does God, in Jesus, in all their relationships, including those beyond the church. Church is a place to remind, instruct, inspire and encourage a growing personal relationship with God beyond the walls of the church.
Historically, Christians of the Baptist traditions began as "separatist" which our fellow Anglicans labeled us, during the late 1500's in England. Since that beginning FREEDOM has been a key passion. Four FREEDOMS have dominated.
BIBLE FREEDOM! Christians are obligated to study and be free to use the best scholarly tools of inquiry. The Bible is central to individual and church life, but always under the authority of Jesus, the Christ of God. No institutional church authority can be allowed to obscure or limit this freedom.
SOUL FREEDOM! The right and responsibility of every individual to form a personal relationship with God, without the imposition of a creed (a human summary of absolute truths), dominance by clergy, or the intervention of civil government.
CHURCH FREEDOM! Under the authority of Jesus, the Christ, local churches are free to determine their membership, ordain their leadership, determine the form of their ministry, and to associate with the larger Christian community.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM! Christians are free OF religion, FOR religion, and free FROM religion. The state is not Christ and Christ is not the state. This protects the integrity of Christians to speak to public issues without trying to use the coercive powers of the state to advocate their positions. Religious freedom advocates that the best society is where persons of Faith and of no Faith are free to advocate and debate beliefs.
We would be delighted to share more about a personal relationship with God and about the free atmosphere in which Christians of the Baptist tradition operate, if you would allow me to do so.
Thank you for taking a few moments to read this brief summary of who and where we are.
We would be delighted to welcome you personally at our place. When you come, please tell us that your first contact with us was on the internet. Please, come meet us face to face.
Sincerely,
/signed/ J. Wayne Yawn & Gerald L. Young
See our Contact Us page to email us