Carly and Mike grew up going to church and when they had their first child, they took time to assess what is important to their family and what kind of church they wanted to attend. During their search for a church home, Carly’s good friend suggested Abiding Presence. In August 2023 they came to a worship service with their 8 month old. “Pastor Kelsey welcomed us first and it was great to find a church where kids were welcomed to be kids,” Carly shared. “Ms. Michaela sought us out right away and we had such a great sense of the whole community wanting us to be there,” she recalled.

Peyton began worshipping at Abiding Presence in Elementary School with her family and has memories of singing in the children’s choir, being in Sunday School, and having fun with her friends. Then their family moved across the country for a military assignment. Years later, when Peyton was beginning 8th grade, her family moved back to Burke and returned to Abiding Presence. “It made things ten times easier for me to come back to my friends and adults like Ms. Lori who directed the children’s choir,” Peyton recalled. “Having those familiar faces definitely made a difference in my middle school years and it made me feel so good,” she shared.

When Oliver was in high school, he and his family were looking for a church that was accepting of all. “After a visit to worship at Abiding Presence we decided yep, we’re definitely coming here,” Oliver recalled. Pastor Meredith setup a coffee meeting with him and he recalled, “I didn’t show up with a great attitude but Pastor Meredith said, ‘Great! I’ll see you next week!’” He shared, “It was weird for a pastor to take that stance but it was good regardless of what I was showing up with.” Oliver grew to enjoy hanging out with other teens and liked the messages that were open-minded and that people should help each other. “At Abiding Presence we acknowledge the negative things in the world and that we have to live in that world but regardless of what it’s like we should do our best to improve it,” he shared.

Ken & Letty came to Abiding Presence at the invitation of their grandchildren. “The first thing we noticed was how friendly it was and we loved the atmosphere,” Letty said. “We started talking to people and we really liked the inclusiveness and the church community,” Ken recalled. “There was a clear effort to be diverse, cherish it, and advertise it along with a clarity of mission where everybody knows they are an example of diversity and different backgrounds,” he shared.

After moving to Northern Virginia a little over 3 years ago, Paige began looking for a church to attend with her daughter. She was particularly looking for a church with a separate service for kids and, after attending worship at Abiding Presence, didn’t think it would suit their needs. So she visited several other places of worship but none of them felt like the right fit. Still in search of a church home, she came back to Abiding Presence and has been worshiping here ever since.

A dozen years ago while visiting his daughter and son-in-law in the area, Ron, an ELCA pastor, passed by Abiding Presence while out walking. He wasn’t intentionally looking for a church at the time, but attended a worship service. Seven years ago Ron made the official move to northern Virginia to be near his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.

During that time Ron took a call to serve as the interim pastor at a church that was in the process of closing its doors. “One member,” Ron recalls, “had been a member there since their teenage years and had been on council multiple times.” It takes a great deal of understanding and emotional support for a pastor to shepherd a congregation through that process. Ron said, “Part of the life cycle is an ending for every living thing and it ended as well as it could but it was still an ending.”

Raised in the Lutheran faith, Kathy regularly attended her local Lutheran church as an adult and it became a familiar place. She was involved in a number of ministries such as taking communion to shut-ins. “It was a small church and there was always a lot to do so I served in lots of roles,” Kathy shared.

When it came time to relocate from Pennsylvania to Virginia to live near her daughter’s family, Kathy’s daughter suggested Abiding Presence as a possible church home. “I went to the website, signed up for the enews, and heard from Pastor Meredith inviting me to a worship service and to OWLs,” Kathy recalled. “I was looking for a warm environment and was so impressed by the positive energy and overall vibe at Abiding Presence,” she said.