The Franconia/Springfield Mission
By Morgan Reed
Nearly 5 years ago on a sunny afternoon my wife, Ashley, and I were driving through North Springfield in search of a special house; not one to live in, but the one in which her grandparents had lived and in which her mom had grown up. We both grew up in California and had only heard about Springfield through stories, but now that we had moved to Virginia, we had to take up this opportunity to see this familial landmark. As we passed by the house, Ashley looked at me and said, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if we raised a family where my mom grew up?” That question, although it was said half-jokingly, was actually prophetic. Little did we know that years later God would call us to begin a new work in this region with a fresh vision for a church!
The Vision
A few months after I was ordained to the priesthood in 2017, Ashley and I were led to be a part of the original team that planted Incarnation Anglican Church in South Arlington. These three years at Incarnation taught me the ins and outs of beginning a new church and served us well in preparation for beginning a new work. We had been praying about God’s call to start a new church (where it might be and what it might look like) and in Sept 2019 I began a church planting residency program with Anglican Associates Inc. in Little Rock, AR. This program has helped me narrow down the place God was calling me to plant as well as the vision of the church: A common people in common prayer for uncommon transformation.
The idea of becoming a common people through common prayer comes from my reading of Acts 2:42-47 where we discover a prayerful, sacramental, Spirit-filled community following after Jesus. The vision also comes from my history of the Church, specifically the Rule of St. Benedict (RB). RB seeks to create “a school for the Lord’s service” (RB, prologue) that brings an individual to the place of preferring nothing to the love of Christ (RB, IV). The same pursuit of preferring nothing to the love of Christ should be at the center of the interior life of every follower of Jesus; and such an interior type of monasticism can be found in the Book of Common Prayer. To say this another way, Rev. Dr. Greg Peters says, “...Liturgy leads to theology, and theology, when absorbed leads to godliness.” (The Monkhood of All Believers, 104). The liturgy of the BCP is a unifying act of worship that God uses for our transformation, just as the catechism says, “Anglicans worship with a structured liturgy because it embodies biblical patterns of worship, fosters reverence and love for God, deepens faith in Jesus Christ, and is in continuity with the practices of Israel and the Early Church.” (To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism, #245). As people join the Franconia-Springfield Mission and live out the life outlined in the BCP, we hope to become a common people in common prayer for uncommon transformation.
Franconia-Springfield
Franconia, Landmark, Springfield, and Kingstowne have well over 100,000 people according to 2010 census data (surely this has increased in 10 years!). Because of the lower cost of housing than other parts of the beltway, the region attracts a good number of commuters (single and married) between the ages of 24-55 who often feel untethered from a sense of place and isolated from a sense of community. Combine this with the large military population of Fort Belvoir, and the fact that there is no ethnic majority, and one begins to see the picture of fragmented disparate communities that make of the region of Franconia, Springfield, Landmark, and Kingstowne. The disparate nature of the region and the need for Gospel transformation has led us to our mission, which is to become an authentic and invitational community growing in the love of Christ through rhythms of hospitality, prayer, relationships, and service. To become this kind of church, we will go through four phases before we launch.
Phases of Growth
As you think about this work, please pray for us. There are several phases that we will move through as we seek Gospel growth in this area:
Over the next year I (Morgan+) will be fundraising, seeking out ministry partnerships, and holding monthly interest brunches to share what God has put on our heart. We would like to raise enough financial and prayer support that by 2021 my wife, son and I can move down to the target region.
Once we move, we will hold biweekly small groups during the week where we will have a common meal, a group discussion, talk through the needs of the region, pray for people by name, and finish our time with family evening prayer.
After several months of meeting for small group we will hold an Alpha course. Through our ministry partnerships with local churches, we hope to hold an ecumenical alpha course so that we can not only learn more about communicating with the unchurched/de-churched, but also form gospel partnerships with other churches in the region.
Finally, we will begin renting space for Sunday worship (though this will not yet be our “launch service”). At this time, launch team members will fully commit to being a part of the church and we will do the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer with the historical and global church as our guide to the ceremony in the liturgy (e.g., incense, vestments, processions, feast and fast days).
How to help with the mission
There are several ways that you can partner with what God is doing at the Franconia-Springfield Mission:
Visit our website (http://tfsmission.org), like us on Facebook, and join our mailing list.
Join our financial support team with a one-time or recurring gift. Instructions on how to give can be found here.
Join in for one of our interest brunches over the next year and bring others along to hear about this new church (Our first one will be March 28!)
Offer a very practical skill toward this work (sewing, photography, woodwork, pottery, etc.).
Please pray for us. The Gospel goes forth as God’s people pray (Col 4:2-6).
Please contact me anytime with more questions at morgan.d.reed@gmail.com.
The Rev. Morgan Reed has been called to plant a church that will have real gospel impact in Franconia, Springfield, and Kingstowne, Virginia.