Rent Our Space
At our historic site in downtown Washington, we designed our new building to be a place of extravagant welcome to all within the context of our longstanding tradition of advocating for the acceptance of, and civil rights for, everyone without regard to age, ability, racial, cultural, or faith background, sexual orientation and gender identity. We make our meeting and event spaces available at reasonable rates. It is our desire to use our building to build community across the diverse population of the metropolitan area. The building was designed without embedding permanent religious symbols in order that those coming to the building for secular events or events of other faith groups would find a place of welcome and affirmation. Please note that we do not rent space to for-profit organizations; nor to non-members for parties such as baby or bridal showers, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
Below are pictures and descriptions of the spaces available for event rental in our building.
The sanctuary seats up to 325 people on two levels with a combination of flexible and structured seating. Modern audio visual capabilities are available as well as LED stage lighting, with options for color and remote focusing. The Narthex/Lobby functions as a gathering space before and after events in the Sanctuary and is well-suited for receptions. The Living Room is an informal space that can accommodate smaller meetings of up to twenty people with casual furniture. This room is frequently used as a green room to support concerts and lectures in the Sanctuary. The Community Hall acoommodates up to 130 for a lecture, 104 for a sit-down dinner, or 200 for a standing reception. The Hall is equipped with comprehensive AV capabilities. The Chapel/Meeting Room seats up to 40 in a theater-style configuration or 20 in a boardroom configuration.
Event Rental Process
Please use the process below for your request. Note that requests to use space outside of our regular building hours (Tuesday – Friday, 9:00AM – 4:30PM) necessitate special arrangements. Please make requests more than 14 calendar days in advance; otherwise, we are unable to accommodate, with the exception of funerals and memorial services.
- Read the Building Use Policies: Download and read the policy documents appropriate to your intended use. The use agreement requires compliance with these policies.
- Check Space Availability: Contact our Building Manager, Byron Adams (202-628-4317, Tuesday – Friday 9:00AM – 4:30PM, badams@firstuccdc.org) with the following information
- Type of event
- Expected attendance
- Date and time of event
- Fill Out the Event Space Request Form (non-church users) once your event has been confirmed with the Building Manager.
- Receive invoice and settle usage fee and security deposit in accordance with the dates indicated on the invoice.
For First Church-related events and programs, please use this form.
For maintenance items, please use this form.
Here’s a short clip video clip that gives you a taste of our acoustics and innovative staging in our space.
More Information
For additional information about the use of our space, rates, and to arrange a visit, please contact our Building Manager, Byron Adams (202-628-4317, badams@firstuccdc.org). The form for requesting discounted space can be found here.