A History of FPC

From the early settlers who arrived in America seeking religious and political freedom we inherited a Presbyterian eagerness and determination. As early as 1630 congregations were started in Wethersfield, Connecticut, with a Presbyterian type of local church organization. The first presbytery was organized in Philadelphia by Rev. Francis Makemie in 1706, which expanded into four presbyteries within eleven years. The Synod became the directing body until the organization of the national General Assembly in 1789. Westminster Standards were adopted by the Synod as the essential doctrines of the Presbyterian Church as early as 1729. By 1735, up to the Revolution, thousands of Scotch-Irish had come to America creating rapid growth of churches.

This determination continued down through the years. . . . Winter 1953, a proposal was made to the Presbytery of Washington City (predecessor of today's National Capital Presbytery) by active Elder Atwell Somerville, Jr., of the Falls Church Presbyterian Church. He represented a small group of people who wanted to establish a church in the vicinity of Fairfax, Virginia.

In the summer of 1953, a letter was sent out to a list of prospective members, living in and around the Town of Fairfax, inviting them to attend a meeting on July 9, 1953, at the historic Fairfax town hall (Huddleston Library). The town was beginning to grow. Westmore subdivision was completed, Warren Woods and Fairchester were beginning to sprout. Country Club Hills was emerging from an old farm. Green Acres, an old dairy farm, was being plotted by surveyors. Fairview was under construction adjacent to Route 236. The time was ripe to serve all these people.

Forty-five people responded that hot July evening. A motion that a congregation and church be established in the vicinity of the Town of Fairfax, Virginia passed unanimously, and the response was so enthusiastic that the first church service was held a few weeks later in the Fairfax Elementary School on August 9, 1953. Sunday School would be at 9:30 am and worship service at 11:00 am. The new church would be called Fairfax Presbyterian Mission until it was accepted into the Presbytery.

Relive this first service . . . the school auditorium becomes a make-shift sanctuary; portraits of Robert E. Lee on his white horse hang on one wall, and Stonewall Jackson on his black horse on another; not-too-comfortable folding chairs are the pews; some children go to Sunday School in the very rooms where they were learning every weekday. A pulpit is carefully put together, a table is fashioned into a flower stand in front of the pulpit, and a temporary choir section is set up (a choir has already been organized.) The 47 Sunday Schoolers and 59 worshipers at the service must surely feel the importance of what they are doing. The preacher is The Reverend James C. Lundquist, Moderator of the Presbytery and pastor of the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church. The Vienna Presbyterian Church sends its youth choir. How blessed everyone feels surrounded by friends in this time of need.

Sunday after Sunday the Fairfax Presbyterians prayed, sang, worshiped, and listened to the Word preached. Voluntary ministers from around the Washington metropolitan area filled the pulpit during the remainder of 1953. And, of course, bills had to be paid...rent to the County School Board, church bulletins, Sunday School literature, choir robes, etc. Zeal was matched by generosity.

January 1954 marked a milestone, when Dr. Bernard Braskamp became the temporary minister. He was Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives and was retired from the pulpit of Gunton Temple Presbyterian Church of Washington. The House recessed each weekend, so Dr. Braskamp was the perfect choice. A veteran of over 40 years in the Washington area as a clergyman, Dr. Braskamp began to make his presence felt in the Fairfax community. The small struggling church began to grow under his tutelage.

On April 11, 1954, the committee on church sites offered a choice of four sites to the congregation. Two of them were one block west of the intersection of Burke Station Road and Little River Turnpike. Another was close to the Fairfax courthouse. But 66% of the members liked the Goding Tract, a 4-1/2 acre plot owned by a Col. Ernest Goding on West Main Street. The Washington City Presbytery promptly endorsed the choice and promised financial support.

For about a year these Presbyterians formally existed, not as a church per se, but as a mission under the special care and guidance of the Vienna Presbyterian Church. Indeed, many of the charter members of the Fairfax Presbyterian Church first were members of the Vienna Church. In late summer of 1954 the Presbytery agreed that the mission was now ready to be a fully participating church in the Presbytery.

Fairfax Presbyterian Church, comprised of 133 persons, was chartered by the Presbytery on September 26, 1954. Elders were ordained on October 10, 1954. A week later, an elected diaconate was installed and ordained. On May 22, 1955, the name of The Reverend Henry A. Baumann was submitted to the congregation. The church gave a solid yes and asked the Presbytery to give a call to the young graduate of the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and Professor of Religion at Davidson College in North Carolina. On June 6, 1955, Mr. Baumann was installed as the first pastor of the Fairfax Presbyterian Church. A new manse was purchased for him on Berritt Street, and the pastor and his family moved in in early June 1955. The large finished basement of the manse became the church headquarters. It served primarily as the Pastor's Study, but also doubled as a meeting room for Westminster Fellowship and church boards, as well as the Women's Association. Most nights the lights in the manse basement burned late.

Now, the church had a pastor, a session, a diaconate. But it was still meeting in a schoolhouse, and it was time to get moving toward a real home. On Palm Sunday, April 14, 1957, the first unit of the new church building, complete with furnishings, new hymnals, and an organ, was dedicated by an overflow congregation of more than 350 people. Three and a half years of meeting in a school building became pleasantly forgotten memories upon moving into the new structure.

All this success was accompanied with problems. By October 1957 the Sunday School required two sessions each week to accommodate everyone; the 47 on hand for the first Sunday had grown to 500, demonstrating the emphasis placed on Christian education by our devoted teachers and staff. It was also necessary to hold two church worship services every Sunday. The church was being used for youth group meetings, Men's Club, and dinners, which could now be served in the all-purpose room used for everything from worship services to discussion groups. A weekday preschool was started in the fall of 1958. Space became such a premium that it was obvious that more room was needed.

In January 1960 dedicatory exercises were held for the new educational wing, and an expanded educational program in the church began. By the time June 1960 rolled around everyone found time to catch his breath, and when glances were made at the congregation's history it was discovered that phenomenal growth had taken place over the years. The church membership, 165 people in June 1955, was about 600 in June 1960. From a total budget in 1955 of $7,500 the church program bulged to a 1960 budget of $35,000.

That same year, wooded land just east of the church, known as the Mitchell Property, was purchased. The beautiful new sanctuary (an adaptation of an early Jefferson plan) was dedicated on April 9, 1967. The first church service was held in it the following Sunday. Exactly ten years earlier, on the second Sunday of April, the first unit of the very new and young Fairfax Presbyterian Church was dedicated.

The date of the sanctuary dedication depended on the installation of the pipe organ. The organ builders, Lewis and Hitchcock, wanted six weeks in which to do their work. So, when this brand new eight rank pipe organ was installed and the choirs had two rehearsals with its accompaniment, the dedication service was held. During the two days previous to dedication day, the offices, library, etc., were moved to the new quarters under the sanctuary. The scout troop, the communicants' class, the deacons, the sextons and others labored long hours. Desks, books, filing cabinets, maps, chairs, loaded boxes, and more had to be carried from one side of the church to the other. On Saturday afternoon, the day before the big event, the Ushers' Guild met en masse in the new sanctuary to establish ushering procedures, the gathering of the offering, overflow seating procedures, and the like. By Sunday afternoon, everything was in readiness.

At the appointed hour of 3:00 p.m. the pastors, appointed guests, and the Sanctuary, Bell Canto and Chapel Choirs stood in the narthex. The service began when Mr. Baumann knocked on the sanctuary door and called out, "Open to me the gates of righteousness and I will go into them and I will praise the Lord." In reply to his knock Mr. Atwell Somerville, Jr., now a charter member of the congregation and long time elder, opened the door. The opening hymn was then sung by the congregation as the choirs and clergy proceeded to their appointed seats. Following the worship and dedication, the one-time old sanctuary, now called the Fellowship Hall, was the location of a reception. Bob Knudsen, a member of the church, who also served as a White House photographer during the week, took many candid shots during the course of the day. Exterior landscaping of the property was being done during this time by Mr. Donald Lederer, ex-chairman of the Ushers' Guild and a landscape architect for the Fairfax County Park Authority.

With the sanctuary complete, members attention turned to the grounds of the church property. In 1978, the soft pink circular sidewalks that frame the gardens were installed as a memorial gift and the following year the circular landscaped "glebe" was added. This one acre outdoor sanctuary enhances the approach to the church and has been a place of shaded respite in an area where the "crowded ways of life" increasingly encroach. In January 1993, the present education wing and Fellowship Hall were dedicated under the banner of "Building on Holy Ground." .

A significant part of our history began in 1966 when a group of congregations in the Washington area agreed to sponsor the Pastoral Counseling and Consultation Centers of Greater Washington. Fairfax Presbyterian was an early proponent of this organization and the Center continues as a part of our church. In January 1989, The Session approved use of part of the church facility by the Evangelical Mission Presbyterian Church. The congregation is comprised mainly of Korean immigrants.

Many, many special gifts have been bestowed to Fairfax Presbyterian Church over the years. Ones of special interest include:

The large Pulpit Bible was a gift from our sponsor, the Vienna Presbyterian Church.

The inscription on the chancel screen was given by Charles and Wilma Umholtz to honor the memory of their son, PFC Darrell Umholtz, killed in Vietnam in 1968. (The words were proposed by Maxwell Flapan who, among others in the congregation, suggested various passages.)

The Celtic Cross which hangs above the altar and the Silver Communion Chalice were given by G. Allan and Priscilla Brown in memory of their son Robert. Accompanying the gift was a letter which said, in part, "for the faith which accompanied us with joy at a daughter's wedding and ministered to us in the untimely death of our son." (Robert was killed in an automobile accident at the time of his high school graduation.)

The Altar Vases, fashioned of bright brass and made in Israel, were carried to Fairfax and given in memory of Maxwell Flapan and The Reverand A. Ray Howland, two men who loved Jerusalem.

The Baptismal Bowl was given by Mr. and Mrs. Chester F. Low to honor their daughter Rebecca Ann. (Rebecca, the wanted little sister for a family of boys, died suddenly in infancy.)

The Walnut Box used in Glebe interment services was fashioned and given by Jack Leo, artisan craftsman of our congregation.

The two Commemoration Tablets, remembering those who rest on the Glebe, were given by Bernice Black to honor her husband Paul, who loved the Glebe and was the first to be interred there.