Beyond Four Walls, Christ Church Vienna Continues to Grow

As a child growing up in Vienna, Johnny Kurcina always had strong faith.

As he got older, he felt it was his calling to begin his own church. But he didn't answer that call until November 2011, when Kurcina founded Christ Church Vienna.

Kurcina's church is different than most others in the area, though: it doesn't actually have a physical space of its own.

"I love the fact that we are able to take advantage of the spaces in and around the town in a way which allows us to be present in the community," Kurcina said, "whether it be in somebody’s home or in the community center or in a school."

Kurcina and his family were members of the Falls Church Anglican Church upon returning to the Northern Virginia area in 2007, but Kurcina continued yearning to begin his own congregation.

"I kept thinking about, dreaming about, imagining starting or being the minister of a church in Vienna and thought ‘why not start one?,’" Kurcina said. 

The Falls Church Anglican Church, whose congregation totals multiple thousand members, had been in the process of helping to start new congregations throughout the area, and in 2011, Kurcina approached the church with a proposal to begin his own Anglican church in the Vienna area. By November, Christ Church Vienna was established with Kurcina as the head pastor.

The church holds its Sunday services in the auditorium of James Madison High School, Kurcina's alma mater, and throughout the week will take care of its obligations in the homes of congregation members or other public, rentable locations in Vienna. Kurcina said this year the church held its Good Friday service at the Vienna Community Center because its usual meeting place at the high school was unavailable.

Kurcina and his family have always prided themselves on being active members of the Vienna community, and that mission has extended into Christ Church Vienna.

"We wanted to be connected and grounded in the community," Kurcina said, "people who were involved and friends with people in the community."

That connectedness has helped the church function and grow despite not having a building to operate out of. The church began with only 70 members in its congregation, many of whom followed Kurcina from the Falls Church Anglican Church. But in less than two year's time, and with no church building or advertising campaigns to rely on, the congregation has expanded to more than 300 members, predominantly by word-of-mouth. Kurcina's presence in the Vienna community helped the word spread and the church grow, but according to the minister that was never his intention.

"We wanted to be a part of the community just for the sake of being friends and not with any guise of ‘come to our church and I will keep being your friend,’ but just because we want to be a part of people’s lives," Kurcina said.

Having realized his calling as the minister of his own church, Kurcina said the experience has been exhausting but rewarding. He continues to remain accepting of all people, whether their spiritual views align his the church's or not, and remains a major player in the Vienna community.

"To be able to earn your living doing exactly what you feel called to do, that’s a huge blessing," Kurcina said. "And I don’t take that for granted, I am constantly grateful for that."