THE VIENNA STORY

"We have nothing to fear for the future except we forget how God has led us in the past.”

The Vienna Seventh-day Adventist Church was organized in 1920 at the close of a series of tent meetings held by Elder Uzziah D. Pickard and Joseph Sangster. On October 2, 1920, nine people were baptized, two joined by profession of faith, and seven transferred their membership to total eighteen charter members. Amelia Lawrence Hess was one of those members. In the fall of 1920, a church school of 11 students was started in a tent with Amelia Lawrence Hess as the teacher. This church believed that its first duty was to the youth of the congregation. The school has been in operation every year since its beginning.

During that year 2.38 acres of land was purchased on the corner of Maple Avenue and Lawyers Road and the original building was erected. The original pews were made by Bert Snyder and his sons for the new church. On April 9, 1921, the original church and school room was dedicated—free from debt. Elder R. E. Harter, President of the District of Columbia Conference of SDA, preached the dedicatory sermon. H. W. Herrell, a retired Virginia Conference President, was the first elder. For the next 27 years the church grew under local leadership and had no assigned pastor.

On September 27, 1924, the church board voted to have the building wired for electricity! In November of 1928 the board voted to enlarge the church and the school to two rooms. The improvements were designed by Elder W. P. Elliott, the Conference President, and the building project was carried out with the leadership of Paul H. Herrell and Leslie A. Fonda. The improved church building and enlarged school was dedicated December 8, 1945. The local elder at that time was Charles E. Gheen.

In 1939, with a membership of 90, the church erected the first recreational building for local use in the Columbia Union. That building still stands and is now a local antique shop. By 1942, the membership had grown to 127. In 1947, elder J. C. Dean was assigned as our first part-time pastor. In 1950, two rooms were added to the recreational building to accommodate the growing church school. In 1951 Elder Everett Shull came as our second part-time pastor.

With our first full-time pastor, Elder Milton G. Conger, 172 members and a growing church school, the local leaders voted to purchase a new site for the church and school in 1955. We made plans to purchase 8 acres on Courthouse Road. With the help of A. M. Bloxton, attorney for Vienna, we purchased the present lot from the estate of Robert Carter for $17,000. The lot was paid for and dedicated that year.

In 1956 it was voted to increase our church school by adding the ninth and tenth grades. (The first 10th graders were Connie Davis Dalton and Gary W. Langston, M.D.) It was also voted that, because of our dedication to the education of the youth of the church, the school would be built before the new church. Some of our local leaders at that time were Hartman O. Engen, Donald A. Eckenroth, Paul H. Herrell, Charles E. Gheen, Amelia Hess, Thirza Miller, Evelyn Newcome and Nancy Lee Orrison. In 1958 the parsonage was completed on the new site and the William H. Coffman family moved in to provide us with spiritual leadership for the next nine years.

IIn January 1960 we sold the Maple Avenue site for $43,684, and that fall we moved Vienna Junior Academy into the building on Courthouse Road. The gym seated about 600, the school has 6 classrooms, a library, office space, kitchen and storage rooms. The Vienna SDA congregation met for Sabbath (Saturday) services in that building until 1971.

With the leadership of John Wright, Principal of VJA, during the mid-1960’s, the school was dedicated free from debt after many fund raising projects and liberal giving of time and money. In 1966 our congregation was blessed with special leadership when the Donald Stutler family was sent by the local conference to start the building program.

On March 20, 1971, we consecrated the new church building on Courthouse Road. The speaker for that event was Elder Neal C. Wilson, then vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. We then began the task of paying for the $460,000 building and providing for its upkeep and repair. In the early 1970's we paved the parking lot and placed shrubbery in the courtyard. This was made possible by the generous gift from the estate of Everet P. Coleman. John McGraw and his family provided pastoral care until 1977.

In 1977 Pastor Ben Plumb and his family joined our congregation and on March 31, 1979, we started a fund drive which paid off one of our large loans, paving the way for the final amount to be raised.

In 1982, Pastor Richard E. Pleasants encouraged members to contribute the needed amount of money to clear the debt and dedicate the church. The church membership was 450, with many nationalities represented in its make-up. The Korean Church of Northern Virginia worshipped in the building each Sabbath (Saturday) morning. All children and youth divisions had their own classrooms. The sanctuary seats 600, and we worshipped with the music of the grand piano dedicated to the memory of Edward Anderson and the organ dedicated to the memory of Amelia Lawrence Hess.

The Vienna Junior Academy contributed to the growth of the church and provided education for many workers who now serve around the world. Many have returned "home" and served in many ways in our church and the community. The 1982 enrollment at VJA was 66 students, taught by a staff of four full-time and four part-time teachers.

Our branch Sabbath School efforts was rewarded by the establishment of two other churches one in Manassas, VA and another in Leesburg, VA. The church also sponsored an active Pathfinder Club, Vacation Bible School, Community Service Outreach and Five Day Plans. After our Fall 1982 evangelistic series Joy-Joy Engen, 4th generation Vienna SDA, and Elizabeth Henderson and Valery Taylor, 3rd generation Vienna SDA were baptized. Their families contributed much over the years to make the spirit of Vienna SDA Church live.

This written history is dedicated to all those both living and dead who by work and sacrifice have helped to create the spirit of the Vienna Seventh-day Adventist Church.