Храм Покрова Пресвятой Богородицы (Фоллз-Чёрч)

The founders of Protection of the Holy Mother of God Orthodox Church (“St. Mary Orthodox Church” for short) celebrated our first Divine Liturgy in February 1987. The parish was founded by six Romanian-American families and three converts to Orthodoxy under the tireless leadership of Armand A. Scala. Families attending the first worship service were Scala-Ficken, Georgescu, Harrington, Phile, Robertson, Scala, Sorovacu, and Zimmerli. They recognized a great need for an English-language parish in Fairfax County in northern Virginia. Their first church “home was Dunn Loring United Methodist Church, where they celebrated the Divine Liturgy every Sunday for approximately 2 ½ years. In July 1988 the community was granted «parish» status by our Episcopate, and Fr. Alexander F. C. Webster, Ph.D., was appointed the first permanent parish priest by then Bishop Nathaniel. Today the congregation includes approximately 160 adult members and some 50 Sunday school students.

The Lord has always guided the progress of our small community. We have been blessed with uninterrupted services and access to facilities since our first Liturgy. For six years, until the summer of 1996, our services were held in a former parochial school library at St Phillip’s Roman Catholic Church. February 1996, however, began an extraordinary pilgrimage for the parishioners of St Mary. On Sunday, February 4, 1996, the parish was notified that our host church needed more room for its expanding day care program, and that, consequently, our lease would not be renewed. Within an hour of that stunning news Fr Alexander was informed that a neighboring church, hardly three miles away, seemed to be for sale. The following Sunday, a parish meeting was held there and the faithful decided to purchase the church. Within a week our small parish miraculously pledged enough to purchase both the church and the accompanying parish parsonage. During the following weeks, our energetic membership worked tirelessly, painting, cleaning, and repairing the church. On August 4, five weeks after we reached a settlement on the property and precisely six months from the day we learned about our termination at St Phillip’s School, we celebrated our first Divine Liturgy in our new spiritual home. Divine providence had turned a crisis into a wonderful opportunity and our very own house of worship.

Since August 1996, we have completely refurbished our church building. The interior was painted light blue, beautiful chandeliers have been installed throughout the sanctuary and altar, and a new Holy Table carved from wood was obtained from Fr. Onisie Morar in Rhode Island. We transported and installed a magnificent iconostas from our sister church in Miramar, FL, together with a new bishop’s throne, chanter’s stand, and carpeting in the entire church sanctuary. On October 8-9, 2000, His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel consecrated the Holy Table and the entire church building, assisted by some two dozen neighboring and visiting Orthodox priests and deacons. It was a truly joyous and inspirational event for the hundreds of parishioners, friends, and ecumenical guests who attended those rites. We are currently preparing to have the walls of the church nave and narthex sanctified by especially commissioned icons.

But we are more than a beautiful set of buildings. As an Orthodox parish in Fairfax County dedicated to the use of English in our Liturgies, we have adopted evangelism and service as our special missions to northern Virginia. We exist as an Orthodox community to witness on behalf of the life in Christ and to serve the spiritual and material needs of the local community. We were also blessed in 2001 when Archbishop Nathaniel appointed Protodeacon Peter Danilchick to serve as parish deacon, one of whose primary ministries is the coordination of our charitable outreach programs, including several with global reach.

In June 2005,  Fr. Alexander was called up to active duty in the U.S. Army Reserve, in which he serves as a Colonel and Chaplain.  Fr. Alexander decided at that point to offer his resignation as parish priest.  After an interim period, we were blessed with the appointment of Fr David Subu as our new parish priest, starting in January 2006.  We are indeed embarking on a new era of our parish.

Адрес:
St Mary Orthodox Church
7223 Roosevelt Avenue
Falls Church, Virginia 22042
Phone: 703.280.0770
webinfo@stmaryorthodox.org

Источник: www.stmaryorthodox.org