The new HQ of GraceWay Baptist Church at 228 7th Street, SE
Politically Active Church Buys $5.5 million Building at Eastern Market
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 11, 2026
(A previous version of this post stated that the purchase price was $8 million. Although the listed price was $8 million, the actual sales price was $5.5 million.)
GraceWay Baptist Church has purchased the 25,000 square foot former Health Home Care and Hospice Association building at 228 7th Street, SE, across from Eastern Market. The church was established by Pastor Brad Wells in DC in 2016.
GraceWay has been meeting at Hill Center for some 10 years while searching for its own building. Last year, the church’s website says it raised $2 million toward a down payment on a church near Dupont Circle at 1611 16th Street, NW, which was ultimately was sold to Union City Church.
GraceWay then turned its attention to the 7th Street building. The church’s fundraising website refers to having obtained a loan for the purchase of 228 7th Street in November 2025 and closing on the sale in December 2025. The reported purchase price was $5.5 million.
The church is candid about its connection to political power. From the church’s mission statement: “GraceWay has a vision of reaching Washington, D.C., for Christ. Not only do we want to reach out to the leaders in government, but we also want to connect with staffers, lobbyists, and interns on all levels of government.”
While personally avoiding political endorsements, Wells has praised U.S. House Speaker Johnson on X and has platformed X posts of members of Congress who have praised administration cabinet appointments.
The church emphasizes voting as a religious duty, and has gathered for a Saturday night prayer service in front of the Supreme Court for a decade.
According to a Bloomberg News article of May 9, 2025, Pastor Wells appears outside the US House of Representatives “nearly every day” the House is in session, sponsored by an unnamed member of Congress. His purpose, the article says, is to be available for prayer and spiritual guidance.
After graduating high school, Wells joined his parents in Papua New Guinea, where they served as missionaries. He subsequently graduated from the Treasure Valley Baptist Bible Institute in Meridian, Idaho, with a Bachelor of Divinity in Theology before returning to Papua New Guinea. After 16 years of service abroad, Wells felt called to DC to minister to officials and residents. GraceWay held its first service in its new headquarters on Sunday, January 4, on the building’s lower (basement) level. The first floor of 228 Seventh Street, SE is home to the MedStar Urgent Care Center which is reported to be in the middle of a 20 year lease. GraceWay’s plan – according to the church’s fundraising website – is to create a 250 seat auditorium on the building’s second floor and to reconfigure the third floor into classrooms and offices.
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