Our Story

The Glas family used to live just down the street from Abiding Presence. While they didn’t attend services, they knew neighbors who were members and saw signs about the Food Pantry every time they drove by. Kim and her husband Tim have put an emphasis on a yearly family project during the holidays. “Last year we did a project to educate girls in Guatemala and raised $10,000” Kim shared. So when they gathered as a family to discuss their 2025 project, Oliver and Abigail chose the Abiding Presence Food Pantry. “Sometimes I volunteer at the Pantry with my husband on Saturday mornings and the kids would ask things like, ‘How long was the line?’ or ‘How did things go this morning?’,” Kim recalled. “One particularly difficult story to tell them was that a few weeks ago someone slept in their car overnight just to get fresh food,” she said. She shared, “The kids feel especially connected to Abiding Presence because they’ve been involved with the Kids Food Pantry packing produce for pantry guests.”

When Roger moved to Northern Virginia, the first thing he did was find a church. As he moved throughout the area from McLean to Alexandria and finally Springfield, finding a church was always a priority. Growing up in Minnesota as part of a farming family, church was a big part of their community. The family attended church every Sunday and provided not just comfort but guidance. Roger recalled, “being part of a church was a matter of carrying on and honoring the family tradition.”

If you had asked me what I wanted to do with my life in June of 2020, I would have had no clue.

Truthfully, at times it felt like there was no “stable” future to look forward to. Everything was uncertain; I’d just deferred my college acceptance by a year in favor of staying home during the pandemic. At this point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do next week, let alone in ten years.

My Mom had suggested I reach out to Pastor Meredith to see if there was something I could do at church during my gap year. Within days, Pastor Meredith had dreamed up the Abiding Presence College Internship program and had tapped me to work as the Food Ministry intern.

Carly and Mike grew up going to church and when they had their first child, they took time to assess what is important to their family and what kind of church they wanted to attend. During their search for a church home, Carly’s good friend suggested Abiding Presence. In August 2023 they came to a worship service with their 8 month old. “Pastor Kelsey welcomed us first and it was great to find a church where kids were welcomed to be kids,” Carly shared. “Ms. Michaela sought us out right away and we had such a great sense of the whole community wanting us to be there,” she recalled.

Peyton began worshipping at Abiding Presence in Elementary School with her family and has memories of singing in the children’s choir, being in Sunday School, and having fun with her friends. Then their family moved across the country for a military assignment. Years later, when Peyton was beginning 8th grade, her family moved back to Burke and returned to Abiding Presence. “It made things ten times easier for me to come back to my friends and adults like Ms. Lori who directed the children’s choir,” Peyton recalled. “Having those familiar faces definitely made a difference in my middle school years and it made me feel so good,” she shared.

When Oliver was in high school, he and his family were looking for a church that was accepting of all. “After a visit to worship at Abiding Presence we decided yep, we’re definitely coming here,” Oliver recalled. Pastor Meredith setup a coffee meeting with him and he recalled, “I didn’t show up with a great attitude but Pastor Meredith said, ‘Great! I’ll see you next week!’” He shared, “It was weird for a pastor to take that stance but it was good regardless of what I was showing up with.” Oliver grew to enjoy hanging out with other teens and liked the messages that were open-minded and that people should help each other. “At Abiding Presence we acknowledge the negative things in the world and that we have to live in that world but regardless of what it’s like we should do our best to improve it,” he shared.

Ken & Letty came to Abiding Presence at the invitation of their grandchildren. “The first thing we noticed was how friendly it was and we loved the atmosphere,” Letty said. “We started talking to people and we really liked the inclusiveness and the church community,” Ken recalled. “There was a clear effort to be diverse, cherish it, and advertise it along with a clarity of mission where everybody knows they are an example of diversity and different backgrounds,” he shared.

After moving to Northern Virginia a little over 3 years ago, Paige began looking for a church to attend with her daughter. She was particularly looking for a church with a separate service for kids and, after attending worship at Abiding Presence, didn’t think it would suit their needs. So she visited several other places of worship but none of them felt like the right fit. Still in search of a church home, she came back to Abiding Presence and has been worshiping here ever since.

A dozen years ago while visiting his daughter and son-in-law in the area, Ron, an ELCA pastor, passed by Abiding Presence while out walking. He wasn’t intentionally looking for a church at the time, but attended a worship service. Seven years ago Ron made the official move to northern Virginia to be near his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.

During that time Ron took a call to serve as the interim pastor at a church that was in the process of closing its doors. “One member,” Ron recalls, “had been a member there since their teenage years and had been on council multiple times.” It takes a great deal of understanding and emotional support for a pastor to shepherd a congregation through that process. Ron said, “Part of the life cycle is an ending for every living thing and it ended as well as it could but it was still an ending.”

Raised in the Lutheran faith, Kathy regularly attended her local Lutheran church as an adult and it became a familiar place. She was involved in a number of ministries such as taking communion to shut-ins. “It was a small church and there was always a lot to do so I served in lots of roles,” Kathy shared.

When it came time to relocate from Pennsylvania to Virginia to live near her daughter’s family, Kathy’s daughter suggested Abiding Presence as a possible church home. “I went to the website, signed up for the enews, and heard from Pastor Meredith inviting me to a worship service and to OWLs,” Kathy recalled. “I was looking for a warm environment and was so impressed by the positive energy and overall vibe at Abiding Presence,” she said.

Growing up as an Army brat, Karen found herself moving every 2-3 years all over the globe and never experienced connecting with a church home. After settling in Virginia for her college years and then meeting her husband, Dick, they moved to Springfield together and had a daughter. Always pining for a “garden window” to grow her plants, Dick found them a house in Burke with exactly that and they settled into their new home. Feeling the need for a church home, they began attending Abiding Presence and had their daughter baptized here.

Jen’s family was looking for a new church home with family activities, events for kids, opportunities for music involvement, and Jen wanted to get to know other moms and women. Their family was searching for a church community intent on change and the ability to pivot, supporting innovation and a willingness to adapt. After driving by Abiding Presence on her daily commute, Jen visited the church website and watched a service online before attending in person. “We love Ms. Michaela and all the children’s programs offered at Abiding Presence,” Jen shared. “As a parent I love that there is always a place for my kids and we found our children are seen and valued in worship and in the whole community,” Jen said.

Having grown up in the Lutheran faith, Dan felt most at home attending his local Lutheran Church. One Christmas Eve he noticed Abiding Presence when driving by and how close it was to his house. He and his wife, along with their toddler, attended worship that evening and felt an immediate connection. “People were so accepting and welcoming of us and our 2 year old son and so patient with us as a young family,” Dan recalled. “Pastor Bailey had a warm, welcoming, and humble presence and we started attending weekly worship services,” he shared. When their daughter was born in 2000 they had her baptized and became members.

Having been raised in different faith traditions, Ralph and his wife Chris seldom attended worship services together. After many years and many moves from place to place they landed in northern Virginia in 2014 and the church search began. The internet church search introduced them to Abiding Presence. “We came to our first service at Abiding Presence feeling like the first day of school, and no fewer than a dozen people welcomed us, including Pastor Meredith,” Ralph recalled.

Marian is a Senior at George Mason University majoring in Social Work who was looking for a way to get involved in her community. She came across the Abiding Presence Food Ministry website and the need for volunteers. After receiving a warm welcome from Sharon, the Food Ministry Coordinator, and utilizing her fluency in Spanish and English, Marian became a regular greeter to Pantry guests. Growing up without attending church regularly she felt pulled to Abiding Presence and the community here.