Published: October 05, 2011
BY DAVID FAWCETT
dfawcett@insidenova.com
As he delivered his sermon during the first Sunday service held last month at All Saints’ Church’s new location on Gideon Drive, rector Dan Morgan acknowledged an important piece of the church’s history.
Morgan held in his hand the blueprints of the new church. For years, the construction plans were a fixture on the altar at All Saints’ previous location in Dale City. But no longer.
“We get to retire them today,” Morgan said.
It was a moment worth celebrating and reflecting on at the same time.
All Saints’ purchased the 27.9 acre Gideon Drive property in May 2001. Through careful consideration, All Saints’ leadership remained committed to seeing its vision through even though it faced a number of challenges.
One step it took was when the church’s vestry placed the new church’s blueprints on the altar to remind them that ultimately this matter was in God’s hands.
“It’s a testimony to the leadership and the congregation’s faithfulness,” Morgan said.
Having outgrown its facility on Saratoga Lane, which had been home to the church since opening in 1983, All Saints’ began searching in the winter of 2001 for property to build a new church.
Hylton Chapel executive director Shelby Boldt, who knew All Saints’ was looking for land, got in touch with then-All Saints’ rector John Guernsey and told him there might be an opportunity to buy property adjacent to Hylton Chapel on Gideon Drive. Charles Dean, whose family owned the Gideon Drive property, had originally agreed to sell the land to a developer who had plans to turn it into a hockey rink.
But All Saints’ followed up and made an offer for a little more than half of what Dean would have received from the other party.
Dean approved the sale of the property to All Saints’.
It had been his mother’s dream to have a church someday built on the old family homestead, and that was going to become a reality.
By November 2001, All Saints’ closed on the land and, by May 2002, had hired an architectural firm for the project.
The construction process, though, was put on hold starting in 2003 when the Episcopal Church went in a different direction than All Saints’ wanted to be a part of.
In November 2006, All Saints’ struck a deal with the Diocese of Virginia, which allowed the church to retain the Gideon Drive property free and clear, while the diocese retained the Saratoga Lane property.
Financing became the biggest challenge in trying to figure out how to cover the first phase of construction. While the church acquired a bank loan to handle the majority of the expenses, the congregation did its part in contributing as well, especially when it came to raising the necessary money and then some during a special pledge in December 2009 to pay off the land.
Construction began in March 2010.
“It’s gratifying to see something we’ve prayed and hoped for come to fruition,” Morgan said.
Morgan, who arrived in August 2010 as All Saints’ new rector, is excited to see how God will work through the church to spread the gospel while upholding biblical standards.
He wants All Saints’ to become a magnet for the purpose of drawing people into a personal relationship with God, something stated in the church’s mission to “Love, Grow and Serve” and its vision to be “Overflowing with God’s Love and Healing Power.”
“We need to reach out horizontally as well as vertically,” said Morgan, who likes to say the church should be “a hospital for sinners, not a mausoleum for saints.”
“This is not just about being a gathering at All Saints’. This is about being a beacon to the community,” he said.
The church plans to build more once proper financing is in place. Besides adding a sanctuary, the church, among other things, wants to build an outreach center for those in need.
All Saints’ also is the home of the newly formed Mid-Atlantic Diocese, which has 35 member churches and is part of the Anglican Church of North America.
Guernsey, who was All Saints’ rector for 29 years before stepping down from that position in June 2010, is the diocese’s new bishop.
All Saints’ holds its services in what will be the fellowship hall once the sanctuary is built.
“Having served as rector of All Saints’ for 29 years, I have witnessed firsthand this congregation’s passion for the Lord’s purpose,” Guernsey said. “This group of believers has demonstrated great faith that through Christ all things are possible.”
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