The Falls Church
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[edit] Overview
The Falls Church is an Anglican church in the city of Falls Church, Virginia near Washington D.C.. The city takes its name from the church, and the church takes its name from being on the road to the Great Falls of the Potomac River. The Falls Church is Evangelical, touting the authority of the Bible and clinging to the traditional Christian beliefs documented in the Book of Common Prayer.
[edit] Building History
In 1734 a wooden church was built to serve Truro Parish, which had been formed two years earlier from a larger parish centered in Quantico. By 1757, the building was commonly known as "The Falls Church", as it was along the main north-south road to Great Falls on the Potomac. As the original wooden church fell into decay, George Washington and Geroge William Fairfax were appointed churchwardens to contract for a new building in 1763. Designed by James Wren, the new building was finished in 1769, at which point it became the seat of the newly-formed Fairfax Parish. This building remains to the present day.
Additional improvements include the education and administration building, the new sanctuary (seats 800) and the Memorial Garden Chapel. Additionally, The Falls Church bought the adjacent Southgate property, in 2000, to handle short term educational needs. Plans to improve the Southgate property are still underway.
[edit] Beliefs
The Falls Church, first and foremost, seeks to follow Jesus Christ. It belives that the Bible is the holy word of God, and all of it's teachings has biblical roots. Three creeds, included in to Book of Common Prayer, summarize the beliefs of The Falls Church: Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
[edit] Separation from the Episcopal Church
On December 17, 2006, the congregation voted to break away from the Episcopal Church and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), under the oversight of Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, resident CANA Bishop and former Rector of Truro Church in Fairfax Virginia. CANA is an Anglican missionary effort sponsored by the Church of Nigeria under Archbishop Peter Akinola. The decision to break away was due to Episcopal Church's recent acceleration toward Universalism and away from traditional Christian beliefs such as those documented in the Book of Common Prayer. The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has filed lawsuits seeking to confiscate the property of the church from the congregation. [1]
