A Message from the Elders and Vision Forward Team, January 25, 2021
Happy New Year! With 2020 behind us, we look ahead to where the Spirit will lead us in 2021. Our “Vision Forward” has been to seek God’s will, boldly show Jesus, and be His heart to this community, and this remains our prayer and focus. We are excited to continue our Vision Forward and ask that you continue to pray for our family as we seek discernment in the next steps of the project.
Earlier this fall, we chose to hit the “pause” button on our plans centered around building improvements and how our property could help meet the needs of our community. As the project progressed, the scale and estimated costs multiplied beyond expectations.
During this pause, our Vision Forward team continues to meet with our partners and project managers as we prayerfully consider options for moving forward. We are currently exploring a potential partnership with a new childcare provider whose mission is faith-based education. As a ministry partner with the church, they aim to be a “front porch” to families in the community and build meaningful relationships with them.
We are also exploring a new partnership with a design and construction company, which has previously partnered with the childcare provider mentioned above. They strive first and foremost to build God’s kingdom and are intent on listening to the church’s vision to help determine how they can align our building to our desired ministry.
An on-site assessment is planned for both companies in February. This assessment will include further discussions regarding how we envision living our mission through this project, including ministry needs as it pertains to the building. This will also give both companies a chance to see our building, make their assessments, and ask any questions that will help them make their recommendations.
Once our on-site assessment is complete, we will update the congregation and ask for feedback before any decisions are made to move forward. During this time, we ask for your prayers as we continue to discern if God is leading us to these partnerships, or if we are being called elsewhere.
Currently, our Vision Forward contributions to date total $209,434.50. If you have committed to giving toward this work, please continue to do so. We have already incurred expenses that the pledged funds will cover, and we have also identified critical building maintenance needs that must be completed for our safety and benefit. If you have not yet committed to giving and would like to do so, you can mail a check to the church office with “Vision Forward” specified on the memo line, or give using the Church Center app.
We are excited about where God is leading us with Vision Forward. We ask you to join us as we pray for discernment during this next assessment phase.
VISION is an action — a look ahead at the future of our church building the precious lives that fill it. VISION is what we strive for — goals for what our church can be as we embody God’s hear to our community. It’s what we want to become and how we express ourselves, including:
Since its inception, the Fairfax Church has sought ways to serve the community, and the VISION FORWARD plan is a recommitment to this goal. The current facilities have limitations and have impeded ministries and plans for future ministries. Updating and improving the facility flows from our plans and current activities, and enables us to add new or expanded ministries.
During the first few months of 2017, our leadership prayed and began to explore the next chapter for Fairfax Church. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit led us to pursue the VISION FORWARD initiative.
To VISION FORWARD, we need the congregation’s support. The important first steps include your prayer and financial support. We need the congregation to unify around our mission and show your support as we follow God’s will for us. Commit to give.
Giving and construction campaigns are anything but fast. To see our current status, visit the Project Status page.
About the Fairfax Church of Christ
Our Vision: To be God’s Heart to this Community.
Connected to God, we will live beyond our abilities, fears, and imaginations.
With God’s power flowing through us, we commit to:
• Reach out to diverse communities with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Our Mission: To boldly show Jesus, to love God, and to love others
because God first loved us.
To VISION FORWARD, we need the congregation’s support. Give a one-time donation or set up a recurring contribution.
ContributeWhile the church is embodied by the people who gather here, having a comfortable, functional place to meet plays a huge role in how our family comes together.
So it is with Christ's body.
We are many parts of one body,
and we all belong to each other.
Romans 12:5
VISION FORWARD revitalizes our meeting space to make it more useful for multiple purposes.
We’ve evaluated our entire facility and created a plan that blends updating some elements, like our worship center that was updated in 2019, with rebuilding others.
New additions include a rebuilt two-story classroom wing that will accommodate a shared Sunday School and third-party-operated childcare facility on the first floor, and dedicated Sunday School classroom and youth space on the second floor. First floor expansion will also include a new office wing, an expanded foyer to allow our family more space for fellowship, and space behind the stage in the worship center.
VISION FORWARD will help us build an environment where our church family can grow in relationship with God and each other.
Let your roots grow down into him,
and let your lives be built on him.
Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:7
Our new building will allow our family to grow:
We will create spirit-fill environments so that our ministries can expand and thrive.
New or enhanced spaces include children’s worship and Sunday school space, counseling facilities, office and operations space, and more.
We need our family’s prayer and unity behind this project. It is the most important element to our success.
Give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over,
will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38
Give online. Select "Vision Forward Giving" in the dropdown menu. You can give a single gift or set up a recurring contribution
An investment of $7 million over three years will turn our VISION FORWARD into reality, including financial support from our family and borrowed funding. See our Project Status for an update on project finances.
Estimated start of construction, including demolition of existing two-story classroom wing and the rebuilding of a two-story building to accommodate a shared Sunday School and third-party-operated childcare facility on the first floor, and dedicated Sunday School classroom and youth space on the second floor. First floor expansion will also include a new office wing, expanded foyer, backstage additions and new vestibule totaling 25,188 sf.
September 2020Construction diagrams, work building permits, site surveys, and
site testing.
Determine contributions and finance needs.
December 2019 - March 2020Explored development partners and prayed over proposals for our building and a childcare operations partner.
2017 -For several years, the leadership has been attempting to address an aging building. Many replacements, repairs and upgrading were needing to simply get our building up to code and county standards. The overall expenses to these repairs and upgrades ran well into the millions. When the leadership considered each of these, the question of “what are we doing this for?” continued to arise. It was an overall determination that we want our building to be more than simply a meeting place, but a means for reaching out to those in our immediate community and beyond. After several years of prayer and research, it was determined that our property and
facilities could have an even greater impact. Thus, were born the building renovation and upgrade plans as a part of our overall VISION FORWARD.
The children’s wing of our building is the oldest part of our facility. Most of the electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems, windows and doors are out-of-date, out-of-code, and lack severely in energy efficiency. The space also lacks critical fire suppression systems. When our building was assessed, most of the footprint of our building could be renovated and upgraded except for the children’s wing portion, and it would cost more to upgrade and renovate that area than to simply tear down and rebuild according to today’s codes and standards.
While our office space could continue to be used as is, it was determined that the offices would better suited at the main entrance of the building for easy access. Instead of having to find our offices on the backside of our building, individuals will now be able to come to the front of the building and find assistance. The current office space will now house our nursery and special needs rooms, located with the rest of our children’s ministry facilities. The new office space is designed to meet the needs of a growing staff as well as providing counseling space for our Safe Harbor Christian counseling center.
We believe that God is greater than our greatest fears, anxieties and worries. After years of prayer and fasting, the leadership was led to this VISION FORWARD and we believe that if it is truly God’s, He will provide the means to accomplish it. Moving on faith, we also discovered (through research) that our congregation has the ability to expand our giving and beyond. The question of if the money is available was not the issue, but more the willingness to share it in order to support this project. It is our hope that the vision will capture the hearts of all our family and move us all to live beyond our fears and allow our faith.
We will be using both the funds that are pledged and the use of loans to cover the costs for this project. It is our hope that we will be able to raise much of the needed funds through our church family. Beyond what we raise, we will secure bank loans. The loan repayment will be carried using the revenue we receive from the early learning center.
The easiest way to give is online. You can give a single gift or set up a recurring donation. For for those who would like to make a paper pledge and send checks, you request a pledge card and mail it and your checks into Fairfax Church of Christ: VISION FORWARD, 3901 Rugby Rd., Fairfax, VA 22033. Please make your checks out to Fairfax Church of Christ with “Vision Forward Pledge” in the memo line.
The timeline for the project is mostly dictated by our rezoning of our property and availability of construction crews. However, we are currently in the process of rezoning and hope that will be completed in the next 12-18 months (or before). Once we have been approved, we will then enter the construction phase that may take up to two years. Our hope is that will be able to complete the project in the next 3-4 years.
We will be taking on a bank loan in order to complete the project. The amount of the loan we take on will be dependent on the amount we raise with our church family. Loan payoff will be aggressive and will come from the revenue we earn through the early learning center.
Church support is difficult to assess. As with any direction a leadership undertakes, there are those who strongly agree, those who strongly disagree, and everyone else in the middle. The leadership is working to assist all those who struggle supporting the project. It is our hope that our church family ultimately supports and vision that God has shared with our leadership. We ask that we all continue to pray over this. If it is of God, it will come to completion and we put our faith and trust in that.
We were introduced to the Learning Care Group (LCG) through our partnership with Building God’s Way (BGW) and Mission-Based Sustainability Solutions (MBS). They have partnered with LCG for many years and have found them to be their top recommendation for all their early learning center projects. While they had other options for us available, we chose to first pursue an agreement with LCG. If an agreement cannot be obtained for the best possible outcome for FXCC, then we will move on to other possibilities.
The closing of Stepping Stones Preschool was not a part of our VISION FORWARD plans. Stepping Stones spent the previous several years assessing their future. In the end, the Stepping Stones board and leadership determined that they could not provide the care (full-day care, full-service kitchen, etc.) that families were needing in our area. Therefore, they made the difficult decision to close. The research of Building God’s Way (BGW) and Mission-Based Sustainability Solutions (MBS) determined that our best sustainability option at FXCC would be an early learning center that would be run by an outside organization. In short, these two determinations and decisions were not linked, although they happened concurrently.