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 Beginnings
In 1950 the Town of Vienna had a population of 2,020, but by 1955
it had grown to 5,000 and was beginning to feel the impact of suburban
development. Young families were moving from apartments in Clarendon
to the relatively inexpensive homes being built in a development
called “Vienna Woods.” After a religious census indicated
need for a Southern Baptist church in the area, Vienna Baptist Church
was born as a mission of First Baptist Church, Clarendon; the Mount
Vernon Baptist Association; and the Virginia Baptist Board of Missions
and Education.
Led by mission pastor C.R. “Rudy” Davenport,
the mission church held its first classes and worship service on
Aug. 21, 1955, in a furnished model home purchased by the mother
church. The mission grew, overflowing the model home as well as
space in homes of several nearby members, and was constituted as
a church on Jan. 20, 1957, with 122 charter members. Soon the new
church purchased 4.5 acres on Marshall Road and broke ground for
its first building on June 23, 1957. Pastor Davenport resigned and
in 1961 VBC called John R. “Jack” Halsell III to serve
as pastor. He was succeeded in 1966 by Lawrence E. “Larry”
Matthews, who served until 1998.
Open to diversity
In the beginning, VBC implemented a full Southern Baptist program,
but as a charter member said, “We came here trying to make
a traditional Southern Baptist church, and it just did not work
in this new community of Vienna.” From its inception the church
was open to diversity and to doing things a little differently.
Not only has Vienna Baptist Church remained a multicultural, multiethnic
congregation, it has been in the vanguard of Baptist churches making
decisions about such issues as ordaining women as deacons (1971)
and women as ministers (1981). Although almost no other Southern
Baptist church was ordaining women during that period, VBC made
the decision without controversy.
Seeking the best way to function as a body of Christ,
the church made other decisions about its organization during the
1960s. The deacons became a group set aside for ministry and were
each assigned a group of families to minister to, and VBC developed
its church covenant stating the commitments of the church body,
which members signed for the first time on Palm Sunday, 1971.
During controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention
during the 1980s, VBC fought hard on the side of the “moderates,”
who eventually lost SBC leadership. In response, VBC became associated
with the more moderate Alliance of Baptists in 1989. In 1991, VBC
affiliated with the DC Baptist Convention and the American Baptist
Churches, USA.
Doing missions
From its early years, Vienna Baptist Church has found creative ways
to serve actively on mission in its community and beyond. While
still a young church, in 1964 it hosted a Cuban refugee family,
the Hidalgos. Other mission action groups followed: the 50/90 Club
in 1968; a Mothers’ Day Out program in 1971 that eventually
became the Vienna Baptist Children’s Center; ministry to the
Ayr Hill adult home in 1976; Our Daily Bread food delivery in 1988;
and participation in such other community ministries as the Committee
for Helping Others and the Shepherd’s Center. Many are ongoing
ministries today. From its beginning, VBC has contributed financially
to local, state, national and international Baptist mission efforts.
For 20 years, the church also gave one-fourth of the support for
John and Mary Evelyn Divers, missionaries in Argentina.
God’s message through the arts
Music, arts and drama have been a form of mission outreach from
VBC’s earliest years. In 1958 the church produced the play,
“In the Same Country,” and dozens of productions have
followed, including “A Man Called Peter,” “Godspell,”
and “Shadowlands.” VBC has offered to the community
each Advent since 1967 a “Living Nativity.” This area
of ministry was formalized in 1983 when the church called Jack Price
as Pastoral Associate for Music, Arts & Drama.
Retreat emphasis
Influenced by the church renewal movement in the 1960s, the interim
ministry of C.C. Goen in 1965–66, and Gordon Cosby of the
Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., VBC began to place more
emphasis on the importance of prayer and retreat as central to church
life. The first retreat took place in 1959 in Prince William Forest
Park, and after some years of searching for a permanent retreat
site, in 1980 VBC purchased 40 acres and a lodge in Lost River,
W.Va., that became the Lost River Retreat Center. At first a separate
nonprofit corporation managed the property, but in 1993 it was deeded
to VBC.
A larger facility
Meanwhile, on Marshall Road, a major facilities expansion and renovation
in the mid-1980s grew from the congregation’s desire for more
space for worship and educational activities; more suitable music
and drama areas; a larger, multipurpose fellowship hall; and a spacious
foyer for fellowship after worship services. VBC began to see itself
as a regional church, drawing families from outer suburbs as well
as the Vienna community and the international community.
Growing together
Longer and more detailed versions of VBC’s history are available
to document the activities of each year, the staff and lay leaders
who served, the studies undertaken, the organizational decisions
and ministry areas, and more. Those documents would further confirm
the same themes running through the life of Vienna Baptist Church
that are briefly noted here: openness to diversity, creativity and
inclusiveness; a heart for doing Christ’s work in mission;
a longing to grow closer to God through spiritual growth; and, as
our covenant says, desire to live under Christ’s lordship
as a local expression of His church.
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