An Inspirational Church

A couple years ago I met with the pastors of New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, Virginia. I was greatly blessed by their church and by their vision. The head pastor (a family friend) told me that in the 1980’s he heard that it was becoming out of fashion to build church buildings. Church buildings create insiders (members) and outsiders. Church buildings are usually only used on Sunday and select weeknights, and are also typically only used by the insiders. Non-Christians tend to be intimidated by churches because they have no experience being in one. The pastor felt strongly in his heart that the church shouldn’t just serve its members, but should serve the community. And he felt the church building should demonstrate that heart… that it should be a facility that can serve the community every day of the week.

Their current main facility is a former beer warehouse located in a poorer area of Northern Virginia. They made it into a “church” with two basketball courts, three turf fields (soccer, lacrosse, football), a gym for working out, and multi purpose rooms for different programs. Every day they have programs for the community. He said the closest neighborhood is a place for motor homes and that 2/3 of the kids who come out for the programs are on scholarship and come first and foremost for the snacks and food that they give out each day because they don’t have enough food at home. The church also rents out the fields/courts to the community so the place has become extremely popular. Even Tim Tebow was planning to stop by that same weekend I was there to train with former QB Joe Theismann.

This is the entrance to the main sanctuary/two basketball courts/performance training area…

You can see the stage in the back corner. This place seats 1500 people!

The church members lay down the mats you see under these chairs across most of the sanctuary before their Sunday services and when they have events. They have nice stage lights across the place so the place is dynamic during events (most of the basketball hoops are movable and are moved when they have events… there are garage door openings around the room where they can store the equipment).

One side of the stage

This is a place for special 1 on 1 or small group training for sports like football, basketball, or martial arts. More affluent parents will pay up to $100/hour for their kids to receive special training here.

The two smaller indoor turf fields perfect for indoor soccer, lacrosse, and football for youth.

The second of the smaller fields.

This is their long full size artificial turf field used more by adult community groups. These fields and the courts attract all sorts of people from the community (multi-ethnic) to rent the fields or play during free hours or sign up for programs for their kids or themselves.

Vending machines near their infants and toddlers rooms.

One of the multi purpose rooms, they were celebrating birthdays inside.

The gym where former Washington Redskin Darrell Green (my family’s favorite player ever) was working out in when I first arrived. They say this place is packed in the early mornings. It has all the good equipment inside.

The keg room is a large multi-purpose room that is used a lot for their alcoholic recovery groups. There is a Wii game center and other stuff inside.

One side of the keg room (sorry for blurry pictures, was using my smartphone)

The other side… they were holding a small arts and crafts camp for kids in the community.

Near the main entrance… the workers are church members who were led to quit their jobs to serve here (low pay) or are volunteers from the church who serve different days/hours. It’s really well run!

Nice, large bathroom facilities are inside here… they renovated the warehouse well.

The main check-in area… as I mentioned in the summary 2/3 of the kids are on scholarship (because of poverty) while the other 1/3 pays registration fees for the programs/use of fields. Flat screen TVs showing ESPN and other sports shows are around the facility. It’s nice and inviting!

The main “lobby” area

The main entrance… as I exited a young, little boy came out with his mom and exclaimed to her, “That was AMAZING!” She responded, “Well, why did you cry when we first arrived before going in? You need to trust me!” That right there was testimony of how this place is reaching out to the community.

It doesn’t look that amazing from the outside, but I’m not exaggerating in anyway when I say that car after car was entering the parking lot as I was leaving (it was 4pm at the time). This place is popular!

The side facing the main roads. They have trucks/trailers (including an ice cream truck) to serve for outreach programs for the community. They are so good at what they do!

I chose not to take pictures of their offices, which were also a part of the warehouse, because they were a bit more basic and were still under construction. Nice offices from the little I saw, but I didn’t explore much because I only knew the head pastor and his associate pastor. Here is their church website: http://newlife4me.com/.

While not every church is called to look like this one, I was inspired by the pastor’s heart to reach the community and make the church a welcome sanctuary for the community. They were clearly connecting with their community and blessing their city, crossing racial and religious lines through their facility and their programs. Praise God!