Joel Schmidgall was born and raised right here at Calvary Church. After graduating from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, he felt called to Washington, D.C., to work with the National Prayer Breakfast, as well as an upstart church plant called National Community Church (NCC).

Joel now pastors the church’s Capitol Hill location, oversees the pastoral staff for NCC’s seven locations, and serves on the church’s teaching team. He also founded and now serves as president of the board of the DC Dream Center, a faith-based community center committed to inspiring and equipping youth and adults to reach their God-given potential.

Joel and his wife, Nina, are authors of "Praying Circles Around your Marriage." They live on Capitol Hill with their three kids: Eloise, Ezekiel, and Lorenza.