On a wooded rise above Franconia Road in the Wilton Woods neighborhood of Fairfax County, the red-brick A-frame sanctuary of All Saints Sharon Chapel has drawn worshippers since 1848. The parish that gathers there today is small, racially and ethnically diverse, and openly welcoming. It is best known in Northern Virginia for a children's program that has been quietly shaping young disciples for a quarter of a century, and for a congregation that has weathered war, fire, leadership change, and a major building restoration with the same steady hope that has defined the chapel from the beginning.

A Chapel on Franconia Road Since 1848

The history of All Saints Sharon Chapel begins long before the current sanctuary existed and before Franconia Road carried its present name. The land was given by Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Frobel so that a small clapboard chapel could be built to further Christian education in the area. Almost at the same time, the Virginia Theological Seminary began sending seminarians into nearby neighborhoods for missionary work. Sharon Chapel was the first of twelve such missions.

One of those early seminarians was Phillips Brooks, who was in charge of the chapel in 1859 and later became the famous preacher and Bishop of Massachusetts. Another, Henry St. George Tucker, served in 1897 and later became the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church during World War II. During the Civil War the land was occupied by the Union Army, and the original chapel burned accidentally in 1864. As soon as the seminary re-opened in 1866, seminarians directed the construction of a new chapel. By 1902 that building was in such poor condition that it was replaced by a more substantial structure, which served the congregation until 1952.

Between 1952 and 1955 the congregation worshipped at nearby St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Services returned to Sharon Chapel in 1955, and in 1959 the Reverend Louis Bradford became priest-in-charge, tripling the size of the congregation under his leadership. The current sanctuary building was constructed in 1963. In 1974 Sharon Chapel became a full parish of the Diocese of Virginia, and the name "All Saints" was added to mark the milestone. A second smaller building nearby serves as Gunnell Hall, where coffee hour and many formation events take place.

Although the postal address says "Alexandria," All Saints Sharon Chapel is located in the Wilton Woods neighborhood of Fairfax County. The driveway lies on the southern side of Franconia Road (Route 644), about a third of a mile west of its intersection with Telegraph Road (Route 611), where Franconia Road begins to dip downhill toward the intersection. The chapel is known simply as "Sharon Chapel" to longtime parishioners and as "All Saints" to newer members and the wider diocese.

Two Sunday Services, Two Styles of Worship

Worship at All Saints Sharon Chapel follows the Episcopal Church's liturgy as found in the Book of Common Prayer, the shared prayer book of the Anglican communion since the middle 1500s. On a typical Sunday morning the parish offers two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist.

At 8:00 in the morning the congregation gathers for Holy Eucharist using Rite I, the more traditional language of the Prayer Book. This quieter, said service is well suited to those who prefer a contemplative start to the day. At 10:30 in the morning the larger congregation gathers for Holy Eucharist using Rite II, which follows the same basic shape but uses contemporary language and includes music. Both books - the Book of Common Prayer and the hymnal - are found in the pews, and a printed bulletin guides worshippers to the exact pages and prayers used that day.

Visitors who are not Episcopalian are warmly welcome. Worship services are open to all, and all baptized Christians, regardless of denomination, are invited to receive Communion. If a child or adult prefers not to receive, parents may bring their child to the communion rail and indicate to the priest that a blessing is desired instead. Ushers hand out bulletins and answer questions, and the priest greets worshippers as they leave. After the 10:30 service the parish gathers in Gunnell Hall for coffee hour, an unhurried time of conversation that newcomers are encouraged to join.

What people wear ranges widely, from tee-shirts and jeans to dresses, suits, and ties. Many parishioners describe their attire as business casual. The only expectation is that those attending are neat and clean. Contributions to the church are entirely voluntary; the offering plate is passed and anyone may give as they wish.

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium

Long before most parishes in the region had heard of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, All Saints Sharon Chapel was already building an atrium. The program began at the parish in 2001, established in part through a Mustard Seed evangelism and outreach grant from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, and has served hundreds of children and adults in Northern Virginia and the wider DMV region ever since. Today the parish is a nationally recognized CGS training center, offering both a children's program and adult formation that prepares new catechists.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd was developed in Rome in 1954 by Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew scholar with a deep interest in ecumenism, and Gianna Gobbi, an educator who had worked with Maria Montessori in the 1940s. Their method is rooted in the Bible and liturgy, takes its cues from Montessori pedagogy, and assumes that the child already has a relationship with God that the adult's job is to nurture rather than fill. The atrium - borrowed from the open space between the street and inner sanctum of an ancient basilica - is a prepared, child-sized environment where children work with tangible materials: small wooden figures for the parables, a miniature altar and chalice, maps of Israel, prayer cards, and sensorial objects that engage sight, touch, and even smell.

On Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:15 the All Saints Montessori Atrium is open for children from eighteen months through twelve years, organized into three levels. Level I serves children in pre-K and kindergarten (ages three to six). Level II serves grades one through three (ages six to nine). Level III serves grades four through six (ages nine to twelve). Sessions begin with a bell rung by a child to signal putting away materials, then gathering at the prayer table - dressed in the colors of the liturgical year and holding a Bible, a candle, and a figure of the Good Shepherd - for a few minutes of sung prayer and silence.

Atrium guides are adults who have completed 90 hours of training for each level they lead. They do not lecture. Rather, they prepare the environment and offer "presentations" of the materials to one or two children at a time, after which the children may return to those materials on their own for meditation and prayer. On the last Sunday of each month the atrium is closed so catechists can meet for training and planning, and the main service is adjusted so that the music, prayers, and sermon are more accessible to children who remain in the pews.

Davette Himes, the Director of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, is certified in all three levels of the work and has served in the atrium for more than twenty years. She has spoken at national, regional, and diocesan meetings, with a particular focus on evangelization and outreach. She also leads the parish's Level I adult catechist training course, which meets for eleven Saturday sessions spread over a year and prepares participants to be certified by the National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Grace Space: A Parent-Toddler Lab in the Churchyard

The youngest members of the All Saints community and their parents have their own dedicated space. Grace Space @ All Saints is a Parent-Toddler Spiritual Parenting Lab serving children eighteen to thirty-six months, made possible through a grant from the Lilly Endowment and a collaboration with the Center for Children and Theology. The program is offered on weekday mornings in two cohorts, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 to 11:30, with a limit of eight children per session. Infants younger than twelve months may attend at no additional charge. Tuition assistance is available.

Each ninety-minute session blends time outdoors with hands-on Montessori activity. Parents and toddlers begin in the churchyard and sensory garden, exploring parables of the Good Shepherd through music, movement, and prayer. They then move into a beautifully prepared toddler Montessori atrium for practical life, care of self, care of the environment, lessons in grace and courtesy, and seasonal presentations of the church year. A Montessori book group, parenting support, and conversations about creating a Montessori space in the home are woven in, and parents regularly report that the program becomes a place of community as much as a place of formation.

In the warmer months the program also offers a half-day Summer Atrium Camp for toddlers and parents, with mornings in the garden and atrium, parables of the Good Shepherd, nature study, handwork, painting, food preparation, and baking.

Music that Draws from Many Traditions

Music at All Saints Sharon Chapel is led with the conviction that a diverse congregation deserves a diverse songbook. The music ministry draws from The Hymnal 1982; Lift Every Voice and Sing II; Wonder, Love, and Praise; My Heart Sings Out; Voices Found; Enriching Our Music 1 and 2; and Taizé, among other sources. Recent services have included singing in English, Latin, and Spanish, and the parish is actively exploring additional voices for offering praise. The goal, as the music page puts it, is to reflect the diversity of the worshipping community through music and liturgy, and to welcome all who join in song regardless of perceived musical gifts.

Music is offered at the 10:30 service. The 8:00 service is said without music. Acolytes, lectors, lay Eucharistic ministers, ushers, greeters, the altar guild, and the technology team that broadcasts a hybrid Zoom service round out the Sunday leadership. The parish has a 100-year-old pipe organ and choir members who have contributed to special musical performances over the years.

Adult Formation: Bible Study, Forum, Women of Faith

Christian formation at All Saints Sharon Chapel is described as life-long and life-wide. Adult offerings have included Sunday morning Bible study, an intergenerational and diverse group that reads and discusses the lectionary readings and other books of Scripture over coffee and snacks; a Forum series that brings in guest lecturers and addresses the issues of the day; a Women of Faith group; and an annual Lenten Series that has brought the parish into conversation with Episcopal materials from around the wider church.

Nursery care for children under three is normally available from 9:00 in the morning until noon so that parents can attend Forum and the later service. Smaller groups also meet around particular interests, including a Lenten study group that has gathered in the conference room during the Lenten season, and a Solemn Communion Class offered during coffee hour. There is no expectation of prior knowledge; the parish invites newcomers to bring their doubts, their joys, their questions, and their wisdom, and to be part of the exploration of the Christian faith alongside long-standing members.

Outreach, Reparations, and Justice Work

The parish frames its outreach in the words of Matthew: "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid." All Saints Sharon Chapel has historically partnered with several local ministries, including Carpenter's Shelter in Alexandria, where on the first Tuesday of the month parishioners would gather to shop for, prepare, and serve the evening meal for the men, women, and children living there. The program has paused and is being considered for renewal.

The parish is also engaged in social justice and racial reconciliation work that has become a defining part of its identity. A Reparations Team has undertaken the difficult and honest work of truth-telling about the enslaved persons who lived and worked on the land the chapel now stands on, and a broader Social Justice and Racial Reconciliation ministry carries that commitment outward. A pastoral care and crisis ministry accompanies members through difficulty, and the parish has, in the past, led worship services at Sunrise Senior Living.

The parish prayer asks God to keep the congregation "ever mindful of the deep roots this parish has in our community, and your call to spread the branches of faith ever wider." That sense of rooting and branching - holding to tradition while reaching into the world - is a recurring theme in the parish's own writing about itself.

A Building Rebuilt and a Home Shared

The All Saints campus is more than a single building. The current A-frame sanctuary, dedicated in 1973, was constructed in 1963 and houses three other congregations alongside the All Saints congregation: Iglesia de Dios "El Sinai," the Ghanaian Community Anglican Church of Virginia, and St. Mary's Orthodox Church. Gunnell Hall, the parish hall used for coffee hour and many formation events, sits nearby, along with an Ash Garden cemetery, a wooded churchyard, and the spaces that house the children's atrium.

In 2024 the parish completed a major three-phase capital campaign that restored and renewed the aging campus. Phase one, in early 2024, repaired the chapel's failing structural buttresses with new steel supports clad in low-maintenance cellular PVC trim. Phase two, in late spring and early summer, replaced the roofs of the sanctuary, Gunnell Hall, and the Atrium, and installed new HVAC systems for Gunnell Hall and the Atrium. Phase three, completed in August 2024, refreshed the sanctuary interior: new flooring, new lighting, new fans, refurbished pews and altar rails, a rehung wooden cross, an updated organ speaker system, and fresh paint. New exterior paint restored the chapel's signature red color. The parish returned to worship in the sanctuary on August 25, 2024.

The capital campaign was funded by a combination of savings, a loan from the Diocese of Virginia, a $5,000 diocesan grant, and parishioner pledges. A subsequent exterior maintenance phase has addressed water management, hardscaping, and landscaping around the church and Gunnell Hall. The Ash Garden cemetery on the grounds continues to be cared for by the parish, with inquiries handled through Joyce Goins, the Cemetery Warden.

The Episcopal Year at Sharon Chapel

Worship at All Saints follows the seasons of the church year. Advent, beginning on the Sunday closest to November 30, prepares the congregation for Christmas, observed from December 25 through Epiphany on January 6. Epiphany lasts until Ash Wednesday, which opens the forty-day season of Lent (excluding Sundays). Easter lasts fifty days and concludes with the feast of Pentecost, after which the long season of Ordinary Time runs until Advent begins again.

The parish offers two Ash Wednesday services each year, typically at noon (without music) and in the evening (with music), with the Imposition of Ashes. During Lent the parish uses a Lenten Study in place of regular adult formation, and in the weeks of Lent a Solemn Communion Class is offered at coffee hour. Holy Week leads to Easter Day, when, as in much of the Episcopal Church, a single combined service is often the order of the day. Resources from Living Compass, Seminary of the Southwest, the United Thank Offering, Becoming Beloved Community (available in English, Spanish, and French), d365, and Lent Madness are highlighted each year for individual and small-group use.

Sacraments and Pastoral Care

All Saints Sharon Chapel celebrates the six traditional sacraments of the Episcopal Church. Holy Baptism is normally celebrated as part of the regular Sunday service on four specific days of the church year: the Easter Vigil, Pentecost, All Saints' Day (November 1) or the Sunday following it, and the first Sunday after the Epiphany (January 6). Persons may be baptized at any age. Children may receive Communion at any age, with the decision left to parents and child; parents may also bring children to the rail for a blessing instead.

Confirmation is the rite in which those who have made a mature commitment to Christ receive the laying on of hands by a bishop. Holy Matrimony is celebrated for couples who regularly worship and contribute to the life of the parish, given the volume of requests. Reconciliation of a Penitent is available for those who wish to confess privately to a priest and receive assurance of pardon. Unction of the Sick is offered for healing of spirit, mind, and body.

Worship at All Saints Sharon Chapel is led by the Reverend Sarah Colvin, who became Priest in Charge on March 6, 2023. A second-career priest and former deputy chief medical examiner for the District of Columbia, she trained at Virginia Theological Seminary and the University of Virginia, and previously served parishes in Falls Church and Vashon, Washington. She is supported by Davette Himes, the Director of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and a Vestry of nine elected parishioners who assist with the administration and financial management of the parish. Pastoral care and crisis ministry are available to parishioners going through difficult seasons.

For a small parish that traces its roots to 1848 and serves a corner of Fairfax County that is easy to miss on a map, All Saints Sharon Chapel has long punched above its weight - shaping a nationally recognized children's program, sharing its building with three other congregations, and rebuilding its sanctuary while keeping its doors open to anyone who comes up the hilly driveway looking for a quiet place to pray.