A Half-Century on Columbia Pike
Tucked along a leafy stretch of Columbia Pike in Annandale, just across the road from Belvedere Elementary School and a couple of miles inside the Capital Beltway, John Calvin Presbyterian Church (JCPC) has been a steady presence since 1959. The congregation began that December in the elementary school's auditorium, with the Reverend Earl Christman carrying the wooden pulpit across Columbia Pike in the early days of the new church. That same pulpit is still in use on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary downstairs.
JCPC is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one of the historic Reformed denominations rooted in the theology of John Calvin himself. The Annandale community that surrounds the church has changed dramatically since the 1959 founding - the area grew rapidly with the expansion of the Washington region - but the church's three-part motto, Worship God. Welcome All. Live by the Spirit., has shaped its life for decades.
The Community Studio: Where Neighbors Make Art Together
The most distinctive thing happening at John Calvin these days is not in the sanctuary at all. In spring 2026 the congregation opened The Community Studio (TCS), a multidisciplinary arts ministry that uses art, writing, movement, music, and storytelling as a practice of community and a witness to faith. The studio's tagline is simple: co-creating community through the arts.
TCS runs weekly workshops in painting, printmaking, poetry, felting, yoga, and embodied movement. It hosts rotating gallery shows featuring local artists such as David Willem's "Watercolor & Wonder" series. It organizes family-friendly community gatherings, including a Joy of Felting series led by fiber artist Rachael Wood, therapeutic artmaking nights with ArtLords, and graphic-novel school-break camps for ages 8 to 12. Most offerings are open to anyone in the Annandale area regardless of religious background, and equity pricing is available for neighbors for whom the class fee would be a barrier.
Inside TCS, the Memory Studio offers a monthly gathering of music, movement, and storytelling for adults experiencing memory decline and the loved ones who care for them. Rev. Jim Thomas offers pastoral support specifically for caregivers in this program. TCS also provides a creative home for ArtLords, an Afghan-American artivist nonprofit founded by Omaid Sharifi that uses public art to advance peace, social justice, and healing. Through this partnership, refugees, immigrants, artists, and longtime community members come together for participatory art and cultural events such as the DMV Creative Chats series.
Sunday Mornings at JCPC
Worship is at the center of life at JCPC. The Sunday rhythm is unhurried and consistent:
- 10:00 a.m. - Worship Service in the sanctuary.
- 11:00 a.m. - Coffee and Fellowship.
- 11:30 a.m. - Spiritual Formation classes (September through May).
Sunday worship blends traditional and fresh expressions of worship. The congregation sings hymns and benefits from choral and instrumental musical offerings. There are prayers, scripture readings, and preaching that connects faith to everyday life. Communion (the Lord's Supper) is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, and the table is open to all.
Children are always welcome in the sanctuary. Crayons and drawing tables sit at the back of the room for young worshipers, and the congregation considers the sounds of children in worship part of the joy of being together. Worship is also livestreamed on Facebook Live each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for those joining from home.
What to Expect on Your First Visit
JCPC sits at the corner of Columbia Pike and Whispering Lane, near Mason District Park. Free parking is available on site, with designated accessible spaces at both the upper and lower lot entrances. The sanctuary itself is on the lower level and is easily reached from the parking lot; an outdoor ramp connects to the upstairs fellowship and education spaces for anyone who would rather skip the stairs.
Attire is "come as you are." Some arrive in casual clothes, others dress more formally. Rev. Casey Wait usually preaches in a robe or collar, though the congregation has, over the years, gifted her an assortment of liturgically appropriate rhinestone platform shoes for special moments.
The building is fully accessible, and hearing assistance devices are available. JCPC also welcomes worshipers with cognitive and behavioral differences. The congregation embraces the joyful sounds and movements of everyone present and offers resources to support participation in whatever form feels comfortable.
Spiritual Formation for Adults
On Sunday mornings after worship (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., September through May), JCPC hosts a rotating slate of adult education classes under the name Spiritual Formation. The program offers a welcoming environment for deepening understanding of scripture, engaging in meaningful discussion, and growing together as a community. Throughout the rest of the year, the church adds studies, guest speakers, and special events designed to nurture spiritual growth and engagement with the world.
A Faith That Reaches Out: Mission and Justice
Mission is part of JCPC's identity. The church's Faith & Justice Impact ministry organizes the congregation around four areas of service:
- Local Hunger & Food Security - partnerships that address food insecurity close to home.
- Global Outreach & Education - support for education and community development overseas.
- Local & Global Peacemaking - advocacy and relationship-building for peace.
- Shelter & Housing Assistance - hands-on support for people experiencing housing instability, including holiday gift drives and community-building events that benefit Bailey's Shelter & Supportive Housing.
Seasonal mission initiatives include the annual Alternative Gift Market (AGM), which offers holiday gifts whose proceeds support local and global ministries; supply drives for the ACCA Child Development Center; and giving to the National Capital Presbytery's Unified Mission, which funds allyship and anti-racism training, leadership development, community gardens, refugee and immigrant support, and new church development across the DMV region.
Children, Youth, and Sleepy Hollow Preschool
The building is also home to Sleepy Hollow Preschool, a preschool that has been part of the local community for nearly eighty years. The preschool serves families with young children and operates under its own director, Ashley Gormley, and administrator Rachel Griebert. JCPC also supports a youth ministry and intergenerational programs that bring together the oldest and youngest members of the congregation.
Weekly Rhythms Beyond Sunday
The church calendar is busy throughout the week. Most offerings take place at or through The Community Studio:
- Mondays - Walking & Coffee (9:00 a.m.), JCPC Knitters (12:30 p.m.), Poetry Class with Lisa Lowry (1:00 p.m.), and a monthly Memory Studio gathering.
- Tuesdays - Yoga with Judy (10:30 a.m.).
- Thursdays - Thursday Morning Walkers meet in the lower parking lot at 9:00 a.m.; a Fourth Thursday Lunch Meetup rotates locations for fellowship.
- First Saturdays - Men's Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
- Second Saturdays - Interplay Open Gathering at 11:00 a.m., a guided session of movement, stillness, dialogue, and play.
The Book Group meets in the Library on Mondays. ArtLords therapeutic artmaking nights, the Diaspora Arts conversation series, and the Joy of Felting workshops rotate through the Community Studio's seasonal schedule. School-break camps and weekend retreats are added throughout the year.
What Presbyterians Believe, and How JCPC Lives It
As a PC(USA) congregation, JCPC is part of a historic Reformed tradition that emphasizes God's grace, the authority of scripture, and a connectional life shared with other congregations through the presbytery. The church belongs to the National Capital Presbytery, the regional body that links Presbyterian congregations across the Washington region.
JCPC describes itself as reformed and always reforming, holding that God is continually at work in the world and calling the church to deepen its faith and respond to changing needs. The congregation values both scripture and thoughtful reflection, believing that faith and intellect work together. Governance is shared between the pastors and elected ruling elders.
The congregation has stated commitments to welcoming and inclusive community, to social justice and mission, and to worship that centers on God's Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. A formal Statement of Welcome and Inclusion, grounded in Galatians 3:28, affirms that no matter a person's race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, religious background, gender, gender identity, physical ability, or health, they are loved and they belong at JCPC.
The People Who Lead the Work
Rev. Casey Wait has served as pastor since 2019, after pastorates in Alexandria, Arlington, and Philadelphia. She holds a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, has completed a hospital chaplaincy residency, and is also a professional visual artist working out of Idylwood Studios in Falls Church. Her vision for weaving creativity into congregational life is what seeded The Community Studio.
Rev. Jim Thomas, a retired PC(USA) minister, serves as Parish Associate for Pastoral Care. He has decades of experience pastoring people and families affected by HIV/AIDS in places as varied as Northern Thailand and Elizabeth, New Jersey, and provides steady support to Memory Studio caregivers.
Jennifer Skidmore-Breece directs The Community Studio and founded the Memory Studio. A candidate for ordination in the National Capital Presbytery and a Master of Divinity student at Union Presbyterian Seminary, she brings a background in nonprofit communications and global ministry experience as a former military spouse.
Omaid Sharifi is co-founder and president of ArtLords, a former Harvard fellow and Global Pluralism Award recipient, and a key partner in TCS's refugee-focused programming.
James Albright serves as Artist in Residence. A visual artist, community curator, and chair of the Mason District Arts Council, he has long been a connector between the arts community and the Mason District.
Lisa Lowry is the poet in residence and teaches the weekly poetry class. She also leads a network of professional graphic novelists.
Ashley Gormley directs Sleepy Hollow Preschool.
Giving, Volunteering, and the Building
Gifts to JCPC support worship, arts programming, mission work, the preschool, and pastoral care. Online giving is available, as are gifts by mail, stock transfers, and legacy or planned giving arrangements (including IRA charitable rollovers, charitable gift annuities, and beneficiary designations). Treasurer Larry Lefbom and Pastor Casey Wait are available to talk with members about planned gifts.
The church office at 6531 Columbia Pike is open Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (the contact page lists office hours as Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.). The pastor is also available by appointment.
A Welcoming Door on Columbia Pike
What sets John Calvin Presbyterian Church apart from other PC(USA) congregations in Northern Virginia is the seriousness with which it has committed to the arts as ministry. The Community Studio is not a side program tucked into a fellowship hall. It is a deliberately public-facing initiative that invites the surrounding Mason District - one of the most artistically rich and culturally diverse parts of Fairfax County - to come in, make something, and stay for the conversation that follows.
Worship remains the church's weekly center. The Community Studio is its open front porch. Together they describe a congregation that takes seriously both John Calvin's insistence that faith engages the mind and the Psalmist's invitation to worship the Lord with gladness. Anyone curious about JCPC is welcome to come as they are.