About Ekklesia
Our story
Ekklesia of God began in 2026, when nine families in Bethesda started meeting in a living room to read Scripture, sing, and pray. We were not setting out to plant a church. We simply wanted to be near the Word together.
A few months on, the elements of that first gathering remain: open Bibles, plain singing, and time at the Lord's Table. The room has changed; the work has not.
We are a single congregation, led by a plurality of elders, supported by deacons, and made up of members who have committed themselves to one another in writing and in life.
9
Founding families
38
Members today
2
Community Groups
1
Sunday service
What we believe
01
We hold the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God. They are the rule by which we are taught, corrected, and trained in righteousness, and they require no supplement.
02
There is one God who exists eternally in three persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is creator of all things, holy in character, sovereign in his rule, and gracious toward those who come to him through his Son.
03
Men and women are made in the image of God, with dignity and purpose, but are fallen in Adam — alienated from God, bent inward upon themselves, and unable to repair what sin has broken without divine help.
04
Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, raised on the third day, and now seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the only mediator between God and men.
05
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It is not earned by works of any kind, but received as a gift, evidenced by repentance, and worked out over a lifetime of obedience by the Spirit.
06
The church is the assembly of those whom God has called out of the world to belong to his Son. The local church gathers weekly to hear the Word preached, observe the ordinances, exercise discipline, and bear one another's burdens.
07
We practice two ordinances given by Christ: baptism, by which a believer is publicly identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the Lord's Supper, in which the gathered church remembers and proclaims his death until he comes.
08
Jesus Christ will return bodily, visibly, and personally to judge the living and the dead. The dead will be raised. The new heavens and new earth will be made. God will dwell with his people, and there will be no more death.
Pastors & elders
Stephen Holloway
Lead Pastor
Stephen has served the congregation since its founding earlier this year. He preaches most Sundays and leads the work of the elders. Before pastoring, he taught philosophy at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He and his wife Catherine have three children.
Marcus Reed
Pastor of Discipleship
Marcus oversees the membership process, community groups, and pastoral care. A graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary's DC campus, he was among the founding elders called and ordained at the church's first members' meeting. He and Lauren live in Silver Spring with their two sons.
Andrew Choi
Pastor of Worship
Andrew leads the congregation in singing and shapes the weekly liturgy. A Peabody-trained pianist, he is deliberate about song selection — favoring texts the church will still want to sing in twenty years. He and Hannah have two daughters.
Sundays at 9:30 AM · 1240 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda
