Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson is an American pastor and author. Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. NCC was recognized as one of the Most Innovative and Most Influential Churches in America by Outreach Magazine in 2008.^[1] Batterson is also the author of the books In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase and blogs daily at www.evotional.com.^[2] Batterson's latest book The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears was released in December 2011.^[3]

National Community Church

Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. One church with nine services in multiple locations, NCC is focused on reaching emerging generations. Approximately 70% of NCCers are single adults in their twenties.

The vision of NCC is to meet in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the DC area. NCC holds services at Georgetown, Kingstowne, Columbia Heights, Ballston Common Mall, and Ebenezers Coffeehouse near Union Station, all in the Washington, DC Metro Area. Ebenezers, the largest coffeehouse on Capitol Hill, is owned and operated by NCC.^[4] In 2008, Ebenezers was recognized as the #1 coffeehouse in the metro DC area by AOL CityGuide ^[5] and has been profiled by the Washington Post ^[6] and Washington Times.^[7]

New Media

Batterson and the NCC staff are known for their use of new media. Since 2005, Batterson's sermons have been available via podcast.^[8] Batterson blogs daily at www.evotional.com.^[9] In 2008, Batterson began using Twitter.^[10] Batterson's use of Twitter for ministry purposes was covered by The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 2009.^[11]

Books

Batterson is the author of multiple books, including In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day,^[12] Wild Goose Chase,^[13] Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, ^[14] Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny, ^[15] and The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. ^[16] His latest release is entitled All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life. ^[17]

Personal

Batterson earned a Bachelor's degree from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri and has two Masters Degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago, Illinois. He is married to Lora and they live on Capitol Hill with their three children. Batterson is known for his love of the game cornhole ^[18] and is an avid NFL and Brett Favre fan.^[19]

References