FAIRFAX, VA. - Folks start trickling into the small-group meeting at Bill and Nancy McKelvey's town home about 4:45 p.m. each Sunday.

Before Bill McKelvey passes out the songbooks — and before the group digs into pasta, salad and homemade chocolate cake — the fellow Christians and a few visitors talk about their weeks.

Some share medical updates or news about relatives. Others chat about trips they've taken or happenings at work.
December 1, 2005

FAIRFAX, VA.

Folks start trickling into the small-group meeting at Bill and Nancy McKelvey’s town home about 4:45 p.m. each Sunday.

Before Bill McKelvey passes out the songbooks — and before the group digs into pasta, salad and homemade chocolate cake — the fellow Christians and a few visitors talk about their weeks.

Some share medical updates or news about relatives. Others chat about trips they’ve taken or happenings at work.

There’s Elaine Reeder, a technical writer in her late 30s who first came to the McKelveys’ house two years ago, her hair still dripping wet from her baptism.

“Hi, my name is Elaine, and today is my birthday!” she declared to the group that first day.

There’s the Lawrence family — a dad, mom, son and two daughters who transferred to the nearby Bolling Air Force Base from San Antonio two years ago.

There are Paul and Susie Elmore, one of the few retired couples at the Fairfax church; Tom and Anita Vajentic, both in the Army; and the McKelveys’ next-door neighbors, who bring their two young children to the meeting even though they’re not Fairfax members.

‘I’M WHOLE HERE’

In all, more than 20 people crowd into the McKelveys’ living room.

They sing for a while, then share prayer concerns.

Dan Owen just returned to the Fairfax area with his wife, Shannon, and their three children — their 12th move in 14 years with the Air Force and a government contractor.

Owen asks the group to pray for his family. After the prayer, two women take the children to the basement for a special study. Upstairs, Bill McKelvey reads the Parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10, as he expounds on Fairfax minister Bruce Black’s sermon that morning on Christian service.

Describing how the victim was beaten and left for dead, McKelvey reminds the group that he’s quoting Scripture, not a news report from the D.C. area.

The group laughs easily, even as they discuss their own weaknesses and modern-day applications of the parable. Finally, Susie Elmore breaks up the discussion by declaring that dinner is ready.

Reeder is in no hurry to eat, and she lingers on the couch talking while others head to the kitchen.

The Saturday before, McKelvey’s group traveled to an orchard and picked apples. That Sunday, everyone brought an apple dish to the small-group meeting, and Neal Milligan, Fairfax’s small-groups minister, judged them.

The main-dish winner: Reeder’s pork chops with apple mustard sauce.

“This church, and especially this small group, they complete me,” Reeder said. “I’m an almost 40-year-old divorced woman, and I’m whole here.”

A PLACE TO BELONG

Multiply the scene at the McKelveys’ house times 50, and you get an idea of the importance of small groups to the Fairfax church.

The church gave up Sunday night congregational worship nine years ago in favor of small groups — a decision that, while difficult, was seen as crucial in developing relationships in the mobile, ever-changing congregation, elders said.

“We hit one of our growth obstacles, and we were trying to decide what would we do to make people feel a part of a family when we’re rushing in and out of services,” said Bill McKelvey, an elder.

He added: “We’ve had some high points and some low points with our small-group ministry … but I would say that that remains a critical element to this congregation’s viability.”

About half of the nearly 1,000 people who worship at Fairfax each Sunday morning participate in small groups. McKelvey said the elders wish that number were closer to 75 percent.

“Our people are dying to have a place to plug in, with people who are like them,” said Black, who has preached at Fairfax since 1991. “Small groups are a tremendous success here because of that.”

‘JUST LIVING FOR JESUS’

Janet Hernandez, whose husband, Marty, is an Interior Department agent, said her family visited a couple of Baptist churches and a non-denominational church after moving to the D.C. area from South Dakota.

Then a supermarket clerk introduced her to the Fairfax church.

“I asked him how he was,” Hernandez said of the young man who checked her groceries. “He said, ‘I’m just living for Jesus.’ I said, ‘Oh, where do you go to church?’”

The mother of three said Fairfax’s children’s and youth ministries impressed her, as did Black’s messages, which she said have helped her grow in her faith. She said she also enjoyed the praise and worship time, despite Fairfax’s lack of instrumental music.

But it was a small group that really made her feel like a part of the family, she said.

“They’re very good about encouraging you to get into a small group,” Hernandez said. “People introduce themselves and one of the first things they say is, ‘Are you in a small group? Do you want to come to ours?’”

Defense Department physicist Will Williamson, his wife, Alona, and their three children were attending a Nazarene church before visiting Fairfax about a year ago.

“It’s big enough that it offers something for everybody,” said Williamson, 44, a former atheist from Minnesota who was baptized in his 30s. “There is a young adult group for my kids to plug into. … They’ve got the marriage classes, finance classes, men’s ministries, women’s ministries, all sorts of stuff. So, there’s always something to meet your needs.

“At the same time,” he added, “the church has a real good, strong small-group program, so that with a little initiative, you can get yourself plugged into a small group.”

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