Community Covenant Church

Here follows an excerpt from the church's website:

We are a recently merged church, where two congregations, Table Covenant Church and Community Covenant Church came together to form a unified body sharing the best of both communities.

We are still very much a work in progress but we are excited for all God has already done and will continue to do through our newly combined identity. We’d love for you to join us!

Our Affirmations
We follow the Evangelical Covenant Church, which does not have a doctrinal statement but 6 “Covenant Affirmations”:

We affirm the centrality of the word of God.
We affirm the necessity of the new birth.
We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the church.
We affirm the church as a fellowship of believers.
We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit.
We affirm the reality of freedom in Christ.

Table Covenant Church’s Story:
Table Covenant Church began during the summer of 2014. Pastor Mike Han and his wife Min felt a call from God to plant a new congregation in Fairfax, VA. They gathered a small core team and together, Table was approved as a church plant of the Evangelical Covenant Church in 2015 along with our sending church, Community Covenant Church in Springfield, VA.

The first preview service was held on Sunday mornings at University Mall Theater in Fairfax, VA. In 2017, we moved to meet in Daniel's Run Peace Church with a Sunday evening service.

Table was born out of a desire to see Asian-Americans who did not feel at home in their immigrant churches to find a place to be disciple and exercise leadership as well as a desire to catch people who felt disillusioned by the polarized ends of many churches (mainline vs evangelical, liberal vs. conservative, etc.).

We discovered that our mission as a church was to learn the way of Jesus together and this mission has taken different forms depending on the needs of the congregation. Right now, we usually have Q&A time after each sermon and having meals together after service each week. Every week, we celebrate Holy Communion and seek Jesus' kingdom in Northern Virginia together so we can join in God's great Co-Mission. We welcome a diversity of thought and truly welcome people of various backgrounds and theological dispositions to add their voice to our community.

Our congregation is multi-ethnic, and majority Asian-American. In this way we reflect our Fairfax community and our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church, a theologically and ethnically diverse denomination. Like our denomination, we affirm God’s call to leadership in the local church equally in women and men, and strive to see people taking leadership in the congregation and community according to their gifts.

Timeline:

June-August 2014: "Thirteen Sundays" - Sunday evening gatherings at the Han's place to discern whether God was calling us to plant

Sept 9, 2014: 13 of us decide that "yes!" God was indeed inviting us to plant a new church in Fairfax

Sept 14, 2014: First "Launch Team Meeting" at the Han's (goal is to recruit 30 commitment adults, raise $10,000 in funding and establish one local church partnership)

May 28, 2015: Mike and Min Han approved to plant at the ECC's Church Planter Assessment Center in Minneapolis, MN

Sept 10, 2015: Mike Han attends ECC's Church Planter's Intensive Training in Minneapolis, MN

Oct 10, 2015: Launch Team Training Day and Signing of Church Planter Agreement with ECC

Jan 10, 2016: First Preview Service at University Mall Theatre in Fairfax, VA

April 3, 2016: Begin Bi-Weekly Rhythm, alternating between Sunday Service and Home Groups

Aug 16, 2016: Joe Riffe and David Tassell join the Table Pastoral Team and start holding staff meetings at Daniels Run Peace Church in Fairfax, VA

Jan 8, 2017: Begin weekly worship at the University Mall Theatres and two regional "Table Groups"

June 4, 2017: Move to Daniel's Run Peace Church and begin 5 pm evening service.

March 25, 2018: Joe Riffe transitions off of the Pastoral Team

May 2018-Jan 2019: Worship together with Hill City Church

Jan 2020-March 2020: Worship in new location at Northern Virginia Korean Seventh Day Adventist Church; David Tassell transitions off of the Pastoral Team; Phoebe Jones joins as Children’s Pastor

March 2020-May 2022: COVID-19 Pandemic — gather online, outdoors, become a full member congregation of the Evangelical Covenant Church, establish Constitution and By-Laws, put in place first Leadership Team and official Membership

June 2022-May 2023: Alternating between Joint Worship Services with Community Covenant Church and House Church gatherings

June 2023: Officially vote to merge our two congregations, begin worshipping weekly in the church building

Community Covenant Church’s Story:
1968: Church planted by local Covenant families as suburbs of Washington, DC, grew. Rev. Bruce Lake is named founding pastor. Parsonage purchased in a local neighborhood. Named “Community Covenant Church” to signify its involvement in the community and its Covenant presence in Northern Virginia.

1972: Church officially founded. Met in Hunt Valley Elementary School.

Mid-1970s: Land purchased on Sydenstricker Road across from Hunt Valley School and two buildings built: current sanctuary and another wing. Boy Scout Troop 1853 becomes chartered by CCC.

1979: Rev. Jim Swanson becomes pastor.

1984: Two buildings are connected and raised, a basement is built underneath, completing building as it is seen today. A second phase of construction, to build a larger sanctuary, is scrapped following a dispute over the road right-of-way with the county.

1988-89: Rev. Swanson leaves church. His ministry noted as one of ministering to young families who are new to the area. Rev. Eric Sparrman begins ministry.

1995: Church begins to worship in two services. Eighteen people come to faith in one year.

1998: Rev. John Benson begins ministry. The Peniel Church uses the building for worship in Korean in the afternoon.

2002: Sanctuary and basement remodeled. Hedde Bukko ministry raises funds for a grain mill for a village in Ethiopia. Church’s thirtieth anniversary.

2010: Rev. Benson retires.

2011: Revs. Ryan & Devyn Chambers Johnson become co-pastors. Church invited to Navigate Vitality Process with the denomination.

2014-15: CCC implements Vitality Plan to encourage healthy and missional ministries, including partnering to plant Table Covenant Church of Fairfax, VA, with Rev. Michael Han and family. CCC and the core team for Table worship together for one year and CCC continues support and collaboration. Additionally, a homework help club and neighborhood playgroup for parents and young children begins.

2017-2018: Remodel of church building includes newwindows, doors, flooring, and improvement to sanctuary space.

2020: Community Covenant partnered with Table Covenant for the annual Covenant Kids Congo 6K fundraiser and was recognized by Covenant Kids Congo as a rock star church.

2021: Revs. Ryan & Devyn Chambers Johnson pursue God’s calling and accept positions with Covenant Congregational Church in North Easton, Massachusetts.

2022: Rev. Julie Jane Capel served with CCC for nine months as Interim pastor.

5-2022: Joint services started, lead by Pastor Mike Han of Table Covenant Church of Fairfax. Meeting at Community Covenant Church of Springfield, services continued through the summer of 2023. On alternating Sundays service was conducted by Rev. Dr. Kathy Kinzer-Downs of Freedom Church, MD.

9-2022: Church’s fiftieth anniversary celebrated along with TCC’s seventh anniversary.

6-2023: Both churches voted to merge. Worship continues at CCC’s location.