Historic Uptown Movie Theater in Washington, DC to Become Bible Church on Sundays

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Historic Uptown Movie Theater in Washington, DC Sold to Bible Church

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The historic Uptown Movie Theater in Washington, DC will rent space on Sunday mornings to the McLean Bible Church.  News about a relationship between the Uptown and the McLean Bible Church first appeared on the Cleveland Park Listserv. 

The McLean Bible Church lists these missions for their new location at the Uptown Movie Theater:

 * Videocast messages by Lon Solomon and the MBC Teaching Team
 * Worship led by the MBC Worship Leaders and Bands
 * Localized ministry teams and outreach events
 * Opportunities to connect in biblical community with others who live in the DC metro area

The Uptown movie theater, which opened in 1933, has one of the largest screens in the country, and the largest in Washington, DC. The Uptown's curved screen is 70 feet by 32 feet.  When the original Star Wars movie debuted at the Uptown in  1977, it was called the "movie that ate Cleveland Park" because of the lines that extended for blocks. Cleveland Park is the historic neighborhood in which the Uptown is located.  The theater seats 850 people.

Update:  An announcement about the Uptown Movie Theater was posted on a local blog, DCDL, in Washington, DC.  A church offical read that blog and posted this message:

I am writing to clarify our, McLean Bible Church’s, intended use for
the Uptown Theater. We are not purchasing the theater. We are simply
renting it on Sunday mornings. As such, our use will not limit public
use of the theater. We realize the place that the Uptown holds in the
heart of the community and are committed to developing services and
ministries that are fitting for the Uptown and for Cleveland Park.

Mike Hurt

McLean Bible Church

Director of Community Campus Development

Update, July 22:

The announcment that the McLean Bible Church will be renting the Uptown Movie Theater on Sundays has caused a great deal of dicussion, concern and controversy in the Cleveland Park neighborhood and Washington, DC.  First, there's the issue of parking:  Even on Sunday mornings there may not be ample parking for all the church's attendees.  Parking is scarce in the Cleveland Park neigbhorhood.

Some neighbors have expressed concern about the church's active participation with Jews for Jesus, which actively seeks to convert Jews.

Other neighborhs have expressed concern about the church's public anti-gay rights positions:  Lon Solomon has preached against gay rights:  He supports a prohibition on gay marriage and would like to return to the days when gay sex was illegal.  He thinks that gays can be converted into being straight.  "Once gay, always gay is not true," Solomon preaches.  Lon Solomon does say that he loves everyone, including gays, and calls for church members to be compassionate toward gays.

Lon Solomon also calls for his church members --but specifically not the church itself-- to be active in politics:  He wants his church members to be involved overturning gay rights laws.  He says that "we as followers of Christ have got to oppose gay rights...We have got to oppose any political candidate who runs on a platform that espouses gay rights."  Solomon calls this a "conflict" that has to be "fought in the political arena, that has to be fought in the courts and the legislatures and county governments....I say to you this is a fight we dare not lose....We must be utterly relentless in the political arena."