Quick Facts
Founded
2015
Denomination
Southern Baptist
Service Times
Sunday mornings (see website)
Men's Ministry
No
Kids Ministry
Yes
Pastor Credentials
Former 9Marks pastor
10-Point Theological Scorecard
Christology
Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)
Orthodox Trinitarian.
Caution
Scripture
Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?
Anyabwile has publicly argued that white Christians owe reparations, that voting Democrat is a moral duty, and has endorsed framing Scripture through standpoint-epistemology/critical-race lenses.
WARNING!
Men's Discipleship
Intentional formation for men?
Verify.
WARNING!
Soteriology
Faith alone? How is salvation presented?
Reformed on paper.
Caution
Gender / Biblical Design
Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?
Complementarian on paper but culturally fused with intersectional categories that override plain-text readings.
Paper complementarian but culturally fused with intersectional categories.
Disqualifier
Leadership Structure
Male elders/pastors? Accountability?
Anyabwile has been one of the loudest TGC-adjacent voices pushing the social-justice turn in Reformed evangelicalism.
WARNING!
Preaching Style
Expository or topical/therapeutic?
Pulpit regularly blends reparations, whiteness critique, and political activism with exposition.
WARNING!
Mission Clarity
Great Commission central?
Community-development and political-advocacy framing.
Caution
Cultural Alignment
DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?
Thoroughly CRT/intersectionality-influenced cultural framework; church planted explicitly as a racial-justice witness.
Disqualifier
Accountability Structure
Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?
Nominally SBC but represents the progressive social-justice wing that drove the MLK50/Dallas-statement conflicts.
Disqualifier
Assessment
Anacostia River Church, pastored by Thabiti Anyabwile, is the flagship of the "social-justice turn" in Reformed Baptist circles. Anyabwile has advocated reparations from white Christians, framed voting Democrat as a gospel imperative, and championed critical-race readings of Scripture over the objections of his former allies at 9Marks and TGC. While the church is technically SBC and complementarian, its governing frame is critical theory, not the text. That hybrid of Reformed confession plus CRT activism is exactly what Moop treats as disqualifying.
#anacostia-river#thabiti-anyabwile#reformed#crt#reparations#social-justice-gospel#9marks-break
Sources & Evidence
Enrichment Notes
No change — SBC social-justice-wing critique well-documented; black rating reflects CRT/reparations framing.
No URL sources recorded for this church. Rating based on denominational defaults and/or directory-level metadata.
Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.
Last reviewed:
2026-05-16
— Annual review recommended
1701 Good Hope Rd SE, Washington, DC 20020
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