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Our History

Faithful Witness Since Ascension Day 1968

A Parish in Search of a Home

From its founding through late 1969, the congregation met at Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Virginia.

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In November 1969, Ascension moved to Chapel Square Elementary School, where the parish continued to worship until March 1971.

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From March 1971 until December 1973, the congregation met at 8950 Little River Turnpike in Fairfax.

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During these years, the parish continued to grow and develop its identity while seeking a permanent home in which its worship and ministry could take root.

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A Permanent Home in Centreville

In December 1973, Ascension's years of worshipping in temporary quarters came to an end when the parish moved into Centreville's historic Old Stone Church.

 

The move gave the congregation something it had not possessed during its first five years: a permanent home. From that point forward, the history of the Church of the Ascension and the Old Stone Church became closely intertwined.

 

The historic building itself has a much longer story, stretching back into the nineteenth century and the Civil War era.

Learn about the Old Stone Church
Building for the Future

Over the following years, generations of Ascension parishioners cared for the church property while continuing the worship and ministry begun by the parish's founders.

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A particularly important milestone came on December 6, 1991, when the parish paid off the mortgage on the church property.

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Several months later, on May 28, 1992, the parish held a formal Dedication of the Building, marking both the achievement of the congregation and its commitment to preserving the church as a place set apart for the worship of Almighty God.

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Those milestones represented the fruit of many years of sacrifice and stewardship by the clergy and people of Ascension.

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Through Changing Times

The world around Ascension has changed enormously since that first gathering for Evening Prayer in 1968. Northern Virginia itself has been transformed, and the Anglican world has undergone profound changes.

Yet the purpose that brought Ascension's first parishioners together remains recognizable today.

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The parish continues to gather around the Holy Scriptures, the historic Creeds, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Sacraments of the Church. The Holy Eucharist remains at the center of parish worship, and successive generations have sought to preserve the Catholic and Apostolic Faith within the Anglican tradition.

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Ascension's history is therefore more than the story of buildings, dates, and clergy. It is the story of Christians seeking to receive faithfully what was handed down to them and to pass that inheritance to those who follow.

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Faithful to What We Have Received

More than half a century has passed since the first members of Ascension gathered for Evening Prayer on Ascension Day 1968.

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Since then, parishioners have worshipped in school buildings and temporary quarters, established a permanent home in Centreville, paid for and cared for a historic church, raised families in the Faith, welcomed new generations, mourned those who have gone before them, and gathered Sunday after Sunday at the altar of God.

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The circumstances have changed, but the calling has not.

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The Church of the Ascension continues to seek to receive faithfully the Catholic and Apostolic Faith, to live it in our own generation, and to hand it on to those who come after us.

Rectors of the Church of the Ascension

  • The Rev. Troy Arnold Kaichen — April 15, 1970–July 15, 1971

  • The Rev. Thomas James Kleppinger — August 1, 1971–March 1, 1973; April 4, 1973–November 30, 1974

  • The Rev. Ramsey Robertson-Kendall — June 1975–September 1984

  • The Rev. David Rupp — October 1984–November 29, 2000

  • The Rev. Phillip Barber — April 15, 2001–September 20, 2009

  • The Ven. Michael C. Weaver, SSC — October 23, 2010–present

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