While we have been grateful to worship at the Sherwood Center in this season, we always intended it to be a temporary location. Initially, we planned to return to the INOVA Conference Center once major renovations were complete in November 2021. However, they recently expanded their renovation plan through at least the fall of 2022.
While the Sherwood Center provides an excellent space for our worship service, with only two classrooms, it severely limits our ability to sustain and grow our children’s and student ministries and adult discipleship on Sunday mornings.
W.T. Woodson provides the best option for us in this season when considering the many pieces of the venue puzzle like location, availability, capacity, parking, and classrooms. It will give us more than enough space with an auditorium, classrooms, and a cafeteria to build and grow our ministry in this next season.
It also gives us a unique opportunity to love and serve that particular community. We have several students in our congregation that attend the school, and we can pray for the students, teachers, and administration. We can occasionally provide breakfasts for teachers, school supplies for those in need, serve the special needs community, and look for other ways to be salt and light there.
All members of the public age 3 and older—regardless of their vaccination status—are required to wear masks/face coverings while inside Fairfax City facilities (which includes W.T. Woodson High School). To honor our hosts and to love our neighbor, we require masks for all entering the school.
Worship services will be held in the school’s auditorium. Because of the large size of the auditorium, we will host one worship service on Sundays at 10:45am. Soon enough, we hope to grow our children’s and student ministries, and adult discipleship opportunities before the worship service.
I’m glad you asked!
Pray: Pray for all the logistics involved in transitioning. We will need to consider what and how we do many things on Sunday mornings: set-up, worship services, tear-down, storage, and weekly transport. Also, pray that God would use this space to reach many for Christ and equip his people for life and ministry.
Invite: If you know someone who lives near the W.T. Woodson High School or a family who attends there, our transition may serve as a simple way to reach out and invite them to church.
Involve: Our transition and our desire to build out classes provides significant volunteer opportunities, such as helping with set-up and tear-down before and after our service, greeting and serving on our hospitality team, and showing our kids Jesus by serving in the nursery or teaching Sunday School.
Pray about investing in one of these areas, and indicate your interest on our volunteer form.
