FAIRFAX, VA. - To help understand what makes the Fairfax church work, The Christian Chronicle interviewed more than three dozen ministers, elders and members.

Among those interviewed were Sunday school teacher and Florida native Leann Aileen Alwood; church member Jack Hicks, a father of three young boys; and youth minister Chris Bedard, a graduate of Abilene Christian University.

December 1, 2005

FAIRFAX, VA. - Each morning, Leann Aileen Alwood catches a neighborhood bus to the Pentagon, where she takes a Metro train to the U.S. Capitol. The auditor’s commute to her job at the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration takes about an hour and 10 minutes.

But when Alwood, 27, rented a new town home this fall, she moved closer to church — not work.

Alwood, a Florida native baptized while studying accounting at the University of Alabama, teaches the Fairfax church’s Seedlings class for babies up to 12 months and hosts a Sunday afternoon small-group meeting in her home.

LEANN AILEEN ALWOOD

What makes Fairfax work?

It’s a combination of things. ... We have a great congregation that cares very much about making sure that visitors are talked to, that souls are shown Jesus, and that we really bring to them what Jesus does to our lives.

You had nine babies in class today. That’s a lot.

That’s the most I’ve had since I started teaching the class almost a year ago. I love it and I wouldn’t trade watching those babies grow and being the beginning of their Sunday school life for anything.

Tell me about what small groups mean to you and Fairfax.

It’s an amazing way for people to really feel like part of the community. It’s hard for someone to get lost in the shuffle when you’ve got small groups that really bring people in. For a smaller church, this might not be necessary simply because everyone would pretty much know each other. But for our church, it is a faith builder and a backbone to our church growth.

How do handle the constant influx of people?

We have new perspectives. We have new souls to learn about. It’s just like, “Who am I going to meet today?”

JACK HICKS

You mentioned that you’re a conservative guy and that the church’s monthly instrumental praise gatherings on Saturday nights “don’t work” for you. How big an issue is that?

It’s not for me, but it works for some people. ... No matter where you are in your walk, I think you keep your focus on Jesus first.

What if instruments were used in Sunday morning worship?

Then I don’t think I could worship here. I’m not saying it would be terribly wrong. It’s just not me. I need to go where I cannot be distracted during worship service. ... It would always be in the back of my mind.

Fairfax is certainly diverse in terms of members’ religious backgrounds. Yet, the elders stress that it has managed to remain unified.

I hope that remains. The reality is, we are here (in the D.C. area). We’re not in Nashville. We’re not in Dallas or Oklahoma City. So, when it comes to choices and how far you have to go for those choices, I mean, you’ve got to look at the way it really is. It’s not like you can go down and start a church around the corner because the land is going to cost you millions of dollars.

CHRIS BEDARD

Why does Fairfax draw so many people who don’t come from traditional church of Christ backgrounds?

There’s a lot of folks that will check places out that are not necessarily looking for a brand. They’re just looking for a place for their kid, a place to be in a small group. People are really starving for a community of people they can connect with, more than just the people they work with or the people they see at a soccer game.

I’m told that about 70 teenagers meet every Wednesday night in small groups all over the city. How wide a geographical area do you draw from?

We have about 18 high schools and about that many junior highs represented. Also, we have a large group of homeschool kids and a few private school kids. We draw kids from four counties around us. It’s unlike any place I’ve ever been. We do have people drive for over an hour to come to service on Sunday.

You’re dealing with a lot of affluent, on-the-go families with important jobs in government, business and the military. How does that affect you?

I would say, for the most part, that type of atmosphere breeds people that will help out and will get involved and will plug in somewhere.

Everywhere you go, people think they’re busier than every other place. I think the difference is, there are no sacred days here. Some places, a coach won’t hold a practice on Wednesday night or you won’t have a game on Sunday. Everything’s up for grabs here, even if it’s a school function or a sport or whatever. That makes you have to be flexible. When I first came, I really tried to compete with those things, and you can’t compete with it. You can just try your best to offer what you can offer.

At the same time, the membership roll is constantly changing. For someone like you, who grew up in a more stable Bible Belt environment in East Texas, that’s got to be a different experience.

Even if someone’s lived here for six or seven years, they’re still from Texas. Or they’re still from Tennessee. They’re not from here. They know they’re only going to be here for a little while. ... The challenge for us, at least for me, is finding places for people to plug in. I think it’s really important for people to use their gifts, their talents, while they’re here. We want this to feel like a place that they can call home.

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