Chinese Community Church (CCC) stands at 500 I Street NW in the heart of Washington, DC's Chinatown, an 1852 building where three congregations gather each Sunday morning to worship in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. The church is the oldest Chinese Christian congregation in the nation's capital, with a worshipping community that has spanned more than nine decades. Today CCC describes itself as a multicultural, multigenerational family, drawing first- and second-generation Chinese Americans together with non-Chinese neighbors, longtime Chinatown residents, and newcomers from around the world. Its initials could also stand for "Christ's Church in Chinatown," and the building's location, programs, and partnership with the Chinatown Service Center all reflect that double identity.
Three Languages, One Church on I Street
The Sunday rhythm at CCC is built around three morning services, each with its own character and congregation.
At 10:30 am the Cantonese and Mandarin services begin. These are described as traditional in style, with separate praise and worship teams for each language group. On the first Sunday of every month, the two congregations come together for a single combined service that begins at 10:45 am, gathering around the Lord's table as one body.
At 11:00 am the English service begins. Rev. Joshua Cho leads a congregation that blends contemporary and traditional music. A Spotify playlist of recently sung songs in the English services is shared so newcomers can hear the kind of music they will encounter on Sunday morning. Worshippers are told that they will be taken seriously in prayer, the Word of God, and the Lord, and taken far less seriously everywhere else.
Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of every month, in person only, in both the 10:30 am combined Cantonese and Mandarin service and the 11:00 am English service. Worshippers who cannot attend in person can join services on Zoom by writing to info@cccdc.com for the link; online participants are asked to sign in with a recognizable name.
A Sanctuary Built Before the Church
The 500 I Street building predates CCC by more than eighty years. Designed in 1852 by Thomas Ustick Walter, the architect of the U.S. Capitol, the structure is a designated piece of Chinatown history. CCC purchased the property in 2006 after a decade of shared ministry at Mount Vernon Place, and the congregation has since undertaken two major building campaigns.
The fellowship hall, Sunday School classrooms, and offices were renovated first. The exterior was totally restored in great measure through a gift from Gould Properties. In 2012 the sanctuary itself was demolished and redesigned; the finished space was dedicated to the glory of God and remains the heart of CCC's worship life today.
Eighty Years of Witness in the Capital
CCC traces its founding to September 22, 1935, when Rev. Ching Chong Hung preached the first sermon in English and Cantonese to about 200 people gathered at Mount Vernon Place Methodist Episcopal Church. The new congregation set out to serve a growing Chinese population in Washington, offering religious programs, training, and teaching, and quickly became a spiritual home for students, immigrants, and visitors. Americanization classes, cultural activities, and World War II service clubs carried the gospel outward through the 1940s.
In 1939 the church moved to a townhouse at 1011 L Street NW, and by 1957 it had built a permanent sanctuary on that site. The decades that followed brought a Chinese seminarian training program, a refugee resettlement ministry, and the founding of the Chinatown Service Center. The 1970s and 1980s were marked by anniversary celebrations and the paying off of the building mortgage, but also by the deaths of the founding family: Rev. C. C. Hung died on May 4, 1984, a date now kept as a memorial in his honor, and Florence Hung followed a year later.
After a season of shared ministry at Mount Vernon Place beginning in 1994, the congregation purchased 500 I Street in 2006 and dedicated the new sanctuary in 2012. The work continues, but the church's stated direction has stayed the same: to keep faithfully serving God in His kingdom.
Confessing the Triune God
CCC's statement of faith is brief, confessional, and rooted in historic Christian orthodoxy. The church believes the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the Word of God and the defining source for faith and life.
God is confessed as one living and true God, existing eternally in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. CCC believes in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who suffered and died for the sins of humanity, rose bodily on the third day for our justification, and ascended to the Father, where He now reigns. All human beings, created in God's image, possess dignity and are called to glorify Him.
Salvation, in CCC's teaching, is a gift of God's mercy and grace, received by all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone. The church is the body of Christ, called to declare the Good News by word and deed in the power of the Holy Spirit. The church looks for the day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come again, at an hour known only to God.
Three Pastors, Three Congregations
CCC is currently served by three pastors, each leading one of the Sunday morning services.
Rev. Joshua Cho is the English Pastor. Born and raised in Chicago, he earned a Bachelor of Science in biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before pursuing a Master of Divinity at Covenant Theological Seminary. He and his wife Esther met while he served at a multiethnic congregation in St. Louis; the couple married in 2013 and moved first to Princeton, New Jersey, then to Washington, DC in 2018 to lead CCC's English ministry. They have two children, Caleb and Chloe. Pastor Joshua was ordained in the Evangelical Church Alliance.
Pastor Joanna Xu (Reverend Xu Lijuan) leads the Mandarin congregation. Originally from Inner Mongolia, she came to the United States with her parents in 1998 and became a Christian in 2006 after meeting a group of warm and joyful believers during a long illness. She joined CCC while living at Wah Luck House in Chinatown, dedicated herself to full-time ministry in 2010, attended seminary, returned to CCC for an internship and then as Assistant Pastor for the Mandarin ministries, and was ordained in May 2023 before assuming her current role in June of the same year.
Pastor Jacob Li joined CCC in 2026 as Pastor for Chinese-Speaking Ministries. Once an atheist shaped by hard work and moral striving, he came to faith through the patient witness of a fellow student who shared the gospel and invited him to church. After studying at Dallas Theological Seminary, he served as an editor of Truth Monthly and NewLife magazine with a Christian Short-Term Mission Training Ministry and as a pastor and trainer for churches. He is currently preaching through the Bible, chapter by chapter, from Genesis to Revelation.
Sunday School for Every Age
Christian education begins at 9:30 am, before the morning services, and runs through every stage of life. Classes meet in English and in Chinese dialects in rooms throughout the building.
Children from kindergarten through fifth grade meet in the lower basement and on Zoom; parents can email Everett Lum at SUNDAY.SCHOOL@CCCDC.COM for the link. Middle and high school students meet in the upper basement in person. College students and young adults gather in Room 303 in person only. Adults meet in English in Room 304 and on Google Meet, currently working through a Ray Van Der Laan series called The Early Church; the meeting link is available on request.
The full Sunday school schedule, with classes in different languages and Chinese dialects, is available as a downloadable document from the church.
Life Groups Across Three States
CCC's small group ministry stretches well beyond the Chinatown building. Groups meet in homes across Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, organized by geography and language. They devote themselves to Bible study, prayer, and fellowship, and all are welcome.
In Washington, DC, Hope Fellowship gathers retired individuals and couples virtually on Thursdays at 1:30 pm for Bible study. CCCYP, the young adult and professional fellowship, meets Wednesdays at 7:30 pm in person. LEAF, the Ladies English Adult Fellowship, meets the first, third, and fifth Fridays at 7:30 pm in person and virtually. CCCYG, the teen fellowship, meets on the second and fourth Fridays at 7 pm in person, working through the Gospel of John.
In Maryland, a Married Couples and Family Fellowship gathers on the second and fourth Fridays for a 7 pm potluck and an 8 pm Bible study, with concurrent programs for children and teens. Soul Sisters' Life Group meets every other month for fellowship and prayer.
In Virginia, a Prayer Group gathers for Bible study and prayer the first and third Tuesdays from 10 am to noon, with lunch.
Many of these groups are coordinated through Pastor Joshua or lay leaders named on the Life Groups page, including Grace Chen, Tom Kee, Aaron Woo, Wai, and Doris.
The Chinatown Service Center
CCC has long hosted the Chinatown Service Center (CSC), a bilingual social service ministry housed at 500 I Street NW, Room 107. Staffed by bilingual social service professionals, clergy, and community volunteers, the CSC offers counseling, education, and cultural programs aimed primarily at new immigrants, children, and senior citizens in the Chinatown neighborhood.
The CSC is the visible arm of CCC's commitment to its neighborhood and to the Chinese-speaking residents of greater Washington. Its offices can be reached at 202-898-0061. Together, CCC and the CSC work to put into practice the church's belief that knowing Christ involves serving the city and the immigrants who call it home.
Music, Prayer, and Long-Distance Mission
Music is woven through all three services. CCC has separate praise and worship teams for the English, Cantonese, and Mandarin services, and the English team maintains an active repertoire that includes both contemporary and traditional selections.
Prayer is a regular rhythm of the church. Prayer meetings take place at the church and in members' homes, sometimes in English, sometimes in Cantonese and English together, and sometimes in Mandarin. A monthly prayer calendar is distributed as a downloadable PDF.
CCC has a long history of supporting both long- and short-term overseas and local missions, sharing Christ's love through word and deed. The music and preaching follow the Christian year, with recurring Advent, Lent, and Easter walks through the story of Scripture shaping the congregation's life together.
Finding 500 I Street
CCC meets at 500 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, a short walk from Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. By Metro, visitors can take the red, yellow, or green lines to Gallery Place and exit at 7th and H Streets, then walk one block north on 7th Street and two blocks east on I Street. The Georgetown-Union Station Circulator bus stops at Massachusetts Avenue and 5th Streets NW, less than half a block from the building, and the P6 Metrobus drops off at 5th and H Streets.
For those who drive, free Sunday parking is available on the streets surrounding the church and at the PMI lot at 9th Street between New York Avenue and I Streets (entered from 9th Street), with a validation stamp from the security staff in the church foyer. Visitors with mobility difficulties are asked to contact the church office at info@cccdc.com in advance to arrange alternative parking.
Sermons You Can Revisit
CCC maintains an unusually large archive of recorded sermons, organized by speaker, by book of the Bible, and by series. The archive stretches back to 2002 and includes hundreds of entries spanning English, Cantonese, and Mandarin preaching. Preaching moves through books of the Bible in series and follows the rhythm of the Christian year, with recurring Advent, Lent, and Easter walks through the story of Scripture.
A rotating cast of guest preachers has filled the pulpit over the years alongside the pastoral team, including Chaplain Don Kammer, Dr. Carroll Gunkel, Greg Chen, Pastor Richard Ross, Rev. Charles Koo, Rev. Mike Park, Rev. Nelson Estrada, Rev. Samuel Kim, and Roy Wong. Many of these messages are available in audio form on the sermon page, and some are also posted to the church's YouTube channel. A separate section of the sermon archive is dedicated to Chinese-language messages, and visitors can read the sermon page in simplified or traditional Chinese as well as English.
Supporting the Church
CCC welcomes regular offerings and donations to cover operating and program expenses. The church quotes 2 Corinthians 8:12 in its giving materials: "Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don't have."
Gifts can be mailed directly to the church, sent through a bank's bill pay system, given by Zelle to treasurer@cccdc.com, or made by credit card or PayPal through the church's giving page. Undesignated gifts are directed to the Operating Fund. PayPal subtracts administrative fees before passing the balance to the church, and questions can be directed to the treasurer.