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Who We Are

The history of The City Gates Church can be traced back to 1932, when a group of 22 individuals came together to establish Barcroft Bible Church in Arlington, Virginia. In 1989, Barcroft relocated to Fairfax, and in 1992, they built the building in which we now worship. Across town, another church, Calvary Chapel DC Metro, was established in 2002 and initially met in a DoubleTree Hotel in Tysons, later relocating to a middle school in Falls Church, where they gathered to worship the Lord each week faithfully. In 2015, guided by the Holy Spirit, Barcroft and its leaders partnered with the leaders of Calvary Chapel DC Metro to create something new—an alliance for the kingdom of God—resulting in the establishment of The City Gates Church in 2016.

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About Us

Our Values

Worship

Exalt God Above All Else

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. - John 4:23

Relationship

Love in Faith and Community​​

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:30-31

Discipleship

Teach the Truth of God's Word

Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
- Romans 15:14

Stewardship

Grow and Produce Fruit

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- Ephesians 2:10

Our Core Beliefs

  • We believe that there is one God who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver and Ruler of all things. We further believe that God eternally exists in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and these three are equal and one God. (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Revelation 1:8-10)

  • We believe that Jesus is the eternal and pre-existent Son of God, that He voluntarily took upon Himself true and full humanity yet without sin, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, that He perfectly obeyed the Law, that He redeemed us from sin's guilt and power by His death in our place, that He reconciled us to God, that He rose bodily from the dead on the third day and bodily ascended into the presence of God the Father where He continually advocates and intercedes for us, and that He will return for His Church and subsequently rule and reign on earth in bodily fashion over a glorious millennial kingdom. (Matthew 20:28, 24:30, 25:31; Luke 1:35; Luke 24; John 1:1, 2, 14, 18; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 8:34; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; Hebrews 4:13; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 19:15, 20:4-6)

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, participated in creation and in the inspiration of the Bible. We also believe the Holy Spirit is involved in providence - God's rule in our world and lives. We further believe He took up the special ministries on the Day of Pentecost for the Church, that He indwells every believer and by His baptizing ministry unites all in Christ into one body, that He provides enablement for acceptable worship and service, that He teaches and guides into truth, and that His ministry to the world is to convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 14:16, 17, 16:7-11, 13; Acts 2:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 5:16)

  • We believe God is the author of the Bible. God the Holy Spirit guided the writers of Holy Scripture so that the original writings of the Old and New Testaments are authoritative and without error. We believe the Bible is sufficient for all issues relating to spiritual life and godly living. We use the literal contextual, historical, and grammatical method of interpretation in understanding the truths of the Bible. (Psalm 12:6-7; Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 30:5-6; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

  • We believe that man was created in the image of God, but due to his own disobedience incurred physical and spiritual death. Man is sinful, therefore, by nature (as a result of the sin of Adam) and by his own transgression. Because of sin, man is alienated from God, misses God's purpose for his life, and is totally unable to earn merit or acceptance before God. (Genesis 1:26-27, 3:6,7; Romans 3:21-24, 5:12-17; Ephesians 4:18)

  • We believe that personal salvation is completely the gift of God brought to man by grace and received through repentance and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that salvation is available to all people, that all who are saved are kept secure by the grace of God, and that all true believers are regenerated by the Holy Spirit who gives them the power to live in obedience to God. (John 1:12, 3:16, 5:24, 10:27-30; Romans 8:28-29; Galatians 5:16-23; Ephesians 2:8-10, 4:30, 5:18; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2)

  • We believe that a person's destiny is eternally fixed at death, that true believers of all ages will be forever with the Lord, that they will be joint-heirs with Him as their Redeemer in His inheritance, and that they will be rewarded for faithfulness. We further believe that there is an appointed day for the judgment of the wicked when they will be cast into the lake of fire, there to remain forever and ever in torment. (Daniel 12:2; Luke 16:19-31; Romans 8:17; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 20:11-15, 21:5-8)

  • We believe that a local Christian church is a group of people professing faith in Jesus Christ, meeting together to worship Him, equipped for serving Him, and seeking to enlist others to become His followers. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, 15:14; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 2:9)

    I. The Ordinances

    • Baptism

    We practice believer's baptism by immersion, unless precluded by age or physical disability. We believe that water baptism is the outward expression of identification with Christ and His Body realized at salvation. We believe that new believers should be baptized as soon as possible after salvation, as a step of obedience to our Lord. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:38, 41, 8:12, 9:18, 16:14, 15; Romans 6:4-6)

    • The Lord's Supper

    We believe the Lord's Supper is a time to remember and proclaim the atoning sacrifice of Christ for the sins of mankind. The bread and the cup represent His body and His blood. We believe the Lord's Supper is a time for examination, confession of sin, renewed commitment to Christ, and a time to look ahead to that time when we will be with Christ in his kingdom. We believe the Lord's Supper should be observed on a regular basis. (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32)

  • We believe the local Church is led by godly men called elders who oversee ministry and shepherd God's people (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-5)

  • We believe that marriage unites one man and one woman in a lifetime commitment to each other. Marriage provides for intimate companionship, pure sexual expression, procreation, and reflects the relationship of Christ and the church (Genesis 1:28, 2:23-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:31-33; Proverbs 5:15-19; 1 Corinthians 7:1-5).

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    We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5, 13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4). Such sinful pattern if not repented will be a barrier to membership, employment and leadership in a body of believers.

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