““One of my favorite verses is John 1:14 where we see that God not only came to earth to save us, but He came to make His dwelling among us. He came to enter into the community. ”
The door slammed to the empty moving truck and we sank to the bumper for a brief respite before beginning the next goliath task, unpacking our lives from the boxes that had been stored away, again. This concluded the 21st move, for me, in ten years, and the eighth move for Erik. Between the two of us, we’ve lived in five states and every imaginable form of housing—including a tent! We were ready to be in a house with a lease signed for an entire year, before looking on to what came next.
Erik and I met in August 2016 after, on a prompting of the Lord and a super bowl commercial, I decided to move to Williamsburg, Virginia. We quickly fell in love and were married in July 2018. When Erik had the opportunity through his work to move to Northern Virginia we jumped on the possibility to live so near our nation’s capital and the hustle and bustle found more in the north than in sleepy Williamsburg. However, our move up here came with challenges of its own. With mold in the condo we were supposed to live in, Erik and I moved into the Comfort Inn on Arlington Boulevard, trusting in the Lord to provide a more sustainable living situation. Now that we had moved, it was time to find a church.
Erik is a musician and wanted to make sure that we found a church with a strong music program, a choir that he could sing in, and preferably an organ. I wanted a strong community of both our peers and cross-generational groups. We both were adamant about finding a theologically-sound church, so, I called my mom. “Annie, remember the Fellows program at our church?” When I was in High School my parents were round-table leaders for the Fellows Program that was just launched at our church in Evergreen, Colorado. “I’m pretty sure the Falls Church Anglican is the church that began the Fellows, you should go there!” Well, mom said it, so we decided to try it out. Our first Sunday at The Falls Church Anglican was the last day at Bishop O’Connell (September 2018) and just as the church's tabernacle days were ending our days in the wilderness seemed to come to an end as well. We signed a lease for a house the next day and seemingly instantly got plugged into the church community.
Music, choir, community, small groups, and even an organ! The Falls Church Anglican hit all our boxes and more. Within a month we had joined the choir and within six months we were on the young adults' leadership committee, greeters, and part of a small group. We are still in awe at the way we were so quickly welcomed in and how it felt like home, but we wanted more. One of my favorite verses is John 1:14 where we see that God not only came to earth to save us, but He came to make His dwelling among us. He came to enter into the community. Erik and I felt passionate that God was leading us to further enter into the community and an opportunity arose through the membership and confirmation class in the Spring. Through the meetings of the confirmation class, we learned about the rich history of the Anglican Church, had time to build community with other members in the class, and had the opportunity to learn the deep and meaningful history of The Falls Church Anglican. We were struck by the way that God has been so faithful in the life of the church, and the way the church has glorified the Lord through its service and ministry to the community.
We’ve now been here a year, and for the first time in a long time, we have no plans to move. The Falls Church Anglican has become more of a home than any other church either of us has ever attended. Where a year ago when we slammed the door to the moving truck and we could foresee this being a temporary landing place, we are now looking towards buying a house and forming roots in Northern Virginia so we can remain in the community of The Falls Church Anglican. We look forward to seeing how the Lord can use us all in the community where He has placed us.
written by Annie Nagaoka
You're invited into community • Interested in connecting with other newcomers at The Falls Church Anglican? Drop by our next Connect Class for Newcomers at 9 a.m. on November 17. We'd love to meet you! Click here for details. To learn more about young adult leadership and upcoming activities, email youngadults@tfcanglican.org.