Contact: dayspring5@verizon.net, 301.515.4399
Call: We are an ecumenical Christian church called by God to be witnesses of Divine Love expressed in Jesus Christ. Dayspring began in 1953 as the retreat center of The Church of the Saviour. Today we are an independent faith community carrying on in that tradition, combining a deep inner life of prayer with active mission and prophetic witness in the world.
Mission Groups:
- Retreat – offering a rare and beautiful place for solitude, silence, reflection, and prayer to deepen relationship with the One in whom we live and move and have our being (see www.dayspringretreat.org);
- Wellspring – called to nurture, challenge and encourage followers of Jesus to be the authentic church, exploring the balance between the inward and outward journeys lived in committed community;
- Earth Ministry – offering communion with God and the whole community of life through outdoor worship, gardening, restoration, stream monitoring, Sabbath walks, retreats, and classes (see www.dayspringearthministry.org);
- Evangel – proclaiming the good tidings of their belovedness to "all who are weary and heavy laden," and inviting them to claim their true identity as the 'beloved' of God;
- Servants of the Light – holding the Dayspring community in its entirety in the light and love of Christ through the intertwining of presence, pastoring and prayer;
- In addition, there are ministries focused on connecting us with the lives of the poor in Latin America (Amigos Juntos), embodying and teaching active nonviolence (Ahimsa Christi) and enabling children to prepare lunches for the homeless (Happy Helpers).
Membership: Based on commitment to Christ and on responding to a call to deepen one's relationship with God through spiritual disciplines and to serve God through a particular mission group.
We invite you to explore our life by joining us in worship; taking part in the School of Christian Living; attending retreats at the Dayspring Retreat Center; joining in Earthkeeper activities – walking the land, listening to the earth and the creatures; participating in a Wellspring Gathering; and by joining us in prayer and other spiritual disciplines.
All those who worship with us and join in other aspects of our life are a significant part of our community.
School of Christian Living: Provides preparation for membership and sustenance for our journey as people of God. Offered in spring and fall.
Worship: Sundays, 10:00 a.m. at 11301 Neelsville Church Road, Germantown, Maryland. From June to September, we worship at the Pavilion in the woods at Dayspring. For the rest of the year we meet in the Farmhouse.