[1] It's programs include Shabbat/Sabbath and Holy Day worship services, education, social events, retreats, and opportunities for tikkun olam, improving and transforming the world.

"[2] Additionally, Beth Tritter, one of the group's four co-founders, stated that the minyan has been able to create worship services that exhibit "ruach [spirit] and kavanah [spiritual focus].

Its founders were a mixture of young Conservative and Modern Orthodox Jews,[7] who wanted to re-set worship that combined traditional prayers and rituals with an egalitarian approach to the inclusion of women.

[2] For special occasions, such as worship services for the High Holy Days, when space requirements or scheduling needs make it impossible to use the Center, the congregation used a number of other nearby buildings, including the Westin Embassy Row Hotel.

They began by studying ancient Jewish legal texts, with the goal of learning the position of traditional authorities, "with an eye towards including women in the services .

An example of the newer spirit is the DC Minyan's commitment to separate seating, an infringement on the principle of strict sexual egalitarianism that is maintained for the sake of accommodating the group's diverse population.

[7]Rabbi Elie Kaunfer,[13] rosh yeshiva and executive director of Mechon Hadar[13] and on the Talmud faculty of Yeshivat Hadar,[13] defined, in 2009, an "independent minyan"—Jewish worshiping communities like the DC Minyan—as a congregation meeting three requirements:[14] Kaunfer added the goal of "spiritual prayer" to this list, noting that he often experienced worship services more as a "community experience" than as a "spiritual one.

"[15] Kaunfer noted that Kehilat Hadar began in New York as a result of a number of young Jews who were "looking for new ways to connect to the substance of their religion and tradition"—but instead of becoming "just a local minyan," ... "it became a model of grassroots religious community that spread dramatically across the United States and Israel.

Rabbis in the D.C. area also offer assistance on an needs basis, including support for life-cycle events and pastoral care.