When La Iglesia de Santa Maria, Falls Church was consecrated, it
was the realization of a dream over ten years in the making for people across
the Diocese. Thousands of Latinos living in the Northern Virginia area received
a spiritual home of their own– a place to pray in their native tongue.
Forty-nine congregations of the Diocese representing all 15 regions provided
financial support and volunteered their time over the years to make the dream
become a reality.
It is our responsibility as Christians to reach those who do not know
the love of Christ in their daily lives. In Virginia, we have a special
responsibility to reach burgeoning populations in Charlottesville, Spotsylvania,
Harrisonburg and Northern Virginia, which is home to the second fastest growing
county in the country – Loudoun County.
New congregations are magnets to attract new Christians. Roughly
half of the members of a two-year-old mission are people who had not previously
been part of a church community.
The people of the Diocese of Virginia have planted 16 congregations
in the last 10 years making Virginia a national leader in church planting within
the Episcopal Church.
This year alone, the Diocese has provided grants to forming
congregations around the Commonwealth including Christ the King, Harrisonburg;
St. Ives’, Arlington; All Souls’, Atlee; St.
Augustine-in-the-Fields, Stafford; and St. Francis’, Goochland.
