T H E C H R I S T I A N C O M M U N I T Y
I N T H E G R E A T E R W A S H I N G T O N - B A L T I M O R E A R E A
A B O U T U S
A B O U T U S
The Christian Community is a worldwide movement for religious renewal that seeks to open the path to the living, healing presence of Christ in the age of the free individual. This presence is at work most potently in the renewed seven sacraments, where the thoughtful, heartfelt devotion of the congregation and the words and gestures of the celebrating priest work together to form the vessel that can receive the grace of God.
The Christian Community of the Greater Washington-Baltimore Area is served by Reverends Emma Heirman and Matthias Giles. We carry affiliate congregations in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. In addition to offering talks, study courses, Sunday school for children, confirmation class, youth group, baptisms, funerals and other rituals, they are both available for personal consultations.
Services and other events are currently held regularly at the Parish House at 4221 Metzerott Road, College Park, MD.
For more information about our movement and its history, please visit our North American website at: www.thechristiancommunity.org
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The Parish House and Chapel in College Park, MD.
Emma Heirman
I grew up in Silver Spring, MD when this congregation was an affiliate community of Devon, Pennsylvania. While my childhood was shaped strongly by my 12 years at the Washington Waldorf School, many of the memories that burn most bright are from my times in front of the altar of The Christian Community. Many of these occurred at summer camp during services for children, or vespers in the evening for staff. As a child and then young adult, I found comfort and strength for my sorrows and joys at the threshold, at the place where I turn my heart to the world of spirit.
In my twenties, my search for my work and my place in the world led me back to the altar. I found that those who also gathered there were students of the school of which I longed to be part: the school of life that turns to Christ Jesus as its brother and guide. After studying at the Seminary of The Christian Community in North America and in Stuttgart, Germany, I was ordained in February, 2016. I served my first congregation in Denver, Colorado from 2016-2020. I am eager to serve this community beside my husband, Rev. Matthias Giles.
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Matthias Giles
Matthias Giles was consecrated into the priesthood of the Christian Community in 2019 in Spring Valley, New York. He received a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in 2014. The spiritual scientific works of Rudolf Steiner, discovered while a student at Earlham College, became a guiding force in his life and eventually led him to an encounter with the movement for religious renewal and the Act of Consecration of the Human Being. The invigorating forces of this healing medicine of the sacraments grew into an impulse to serve its working into the world and human destiny.
Matthias is glad to be serving the congregation of the Greater Washington Baltimore area in Maryland with his wife and colleague Emma Heirman. He also serves the Chapel Hill/Durham affiliate in North Carolina. Matthias teaches Biblical Greek at the seminary and guides its publications wing.
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