Where Great Neck Meets the Gospel
On a quiet stretch of Rose Hall Drive near the intersection with Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has gathered for worship for more than half a century. The congregation's longtime motto, The Church that Love is Building, is not just a slogan but a working description of a body that grew out of the 1960s population boom on Virginia's coast and has continued to expand its sanctuary, its programs and its partnerships ever since. Three generations of families have walked through the doors of the building completed in 1972, and the current members continue to add rooms, gardens and ministries in that same spirit of steady construction.
Roots in the Restoration Movement
Virginia Beach Christian Church belongs to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), an American Protestant body that grew out of the nineteenth-century Restoration Movement on the frontier. The Disciples' identity statement is foundational here: We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord's table as God has welcomed us.
The congregation's own story begins in the 1960s, when the Spirit stirred a small group to worship together as Virginia Beach was taking shape as a city. Dr. William E. (Bill) Austin became the first full-time pastor and served for thirty-seven years, shepherding the church through three phases of construction and the addition of a second worship service. Under his leadership the phrase The Church that Love is Building took hold, and the building grew to accommodate new life. He retired in 2006 with the title of Pastor Emeritus, and an academic scholarship is still given in his name to deserving youth. In July 2018 the congregation called its third minister, Rev. Kelsey Sherazi, continuing the story as another in the beginning moment.
The church is part of the Christian Church (DoC) in Virginia and sits in District VIII, a group of ten congregations across the South Side and Peninsula of Tidewater-Hampton Roads. Regional ties include Chalice Christian Church in Virginia Beach, First Christian Church in Hampton, Grafton Christian Church in Yorktown, Hampton Christian Church, Hilton Christian Church and Park View Christian Church in Chesapeake, among others.
Open Communion at the Center of Worship
A single combined worship service gathers at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings and is described as traditional/blended for the area. The service is also livestreamed on Facebook Live and YouTube, allowing members who are traveling or homebound to remain part of the gathered body.
Communion is celebrated every Sunday. This is the defining mark of a Disciples congregation, and here every visitor is invited to share the loaf and cup. A short video is offered for those preparing communion at home. The church teaches that worship is less about doing the right thing in the right place at the right time than about being present for and to God, together as the body of Christ.
Visitors can come as they are. Dress is informal, lay leadership comes from every part of the congregation, and a range of understandings and ways of being are welcomed. The Disciples' principle of the priesthood of all believers means each member is free to interpret Scripture in the context of a community of faith, and the responsibility of biblical engagement is shared by all.
Music That Ranges From Gospel to Rutter
Music is one of the church's distinctive gifts. The VBCC choir, led for more than thirty years by Maggie Austin, performs a versatile repertoire that spans gospel, traditional hymnody, classical choral writing and the lyrical anthems of John Rutter. Several singers also sing with the Virginia Beach Chorale and Virginia Voices International, and musicians from the Governor's School join for special programs. Pianist and organist Allan Decipulo accompanies the choir and leads the traditional service, while Cristina Loyola serves as Music Minister.
Choir practice runs Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. during the choir season (September through June). A separate Conference Room Class adult Sunday school meets outside during parts of the year, most recently for a study entitled The Disabled God.
Sunday School at 9:00 a.m.
Education is treated as a cornerstone of faith and formation here. Children gather at 9:00 a.m. most Sundays for Sunday School, and the youngest disciples help tend the G.I.F.T. Garden outside as part of their lessons.
Adults have two longstanding options. The Spiritual Roundtable has met in the church library on Sunday mornings for more than twenty years. It is an open group that reads and discusses an eclectic selection of books drawn from many Christian and other spiritual traditions. Members come from a variety of backgrounds, and visitors are always welcome. The Roundtable also continues to meet via Zoom. The church's Virginia School of Ministry (VSM) courses are available online for those who want to dig deeper into congregational leadership and biblical study.
Weekday Bible studies meet on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m.
Open Doors, Open Tables: Outreach That Feeds the Body
The congregation's outreach ministry is wide-ranging and runs on volunteer muscle as much as dollars. Each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday beginning at 10:00 a.m., the church hosts a food pantry for neighbors struggling with food insecurity. The church does not provide direct financial relief or emergency lodging, but it does maintain a referral list of city and faith-based agencies for those in a tough space.
Meals on Wheels. One week each month, volunteer drivers from the church deliver hot meals to homebound residents of Virginia Beach. The program is led by Claire Carbone, who joined the church in 1994 as a Meals on Wheels volunteer and went on to head the Food Pantry in 2008.
Judeo-Christian Outreach Center. Several times a year the congregation prepares and serves a meal for more than a hundred clients of the JCOC, which works to combat homelessness in the region. Recent menus have included Carolina BBQ.
Habitat for Humanity. The church's relationship with Habitat grew out of earlier work supporting migrant children on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where members helped supply a day care center and built a recreation area. That ministry evolved into building Habitat homes for deserving families, with members serving on construction sites and on the board of directors. Even the youth learned to install sheetrock and siding.
Blood Drives. Because several members also belong to the Thalia Lions Club, the church regularly hosts community blood drives. Nancy Watters, the blood drive chair, often reminds the congregation that we are saving lives. We are the church that love is building.
Seasonal Giving. In the summer the church collects school supplies for the Apple Tree Program, which distributes them to shelter and homeless children through Virginia Beach schools. In the fall, John B. Dey Elementary School sets up a hat and mitten tree for Food Pantry families. At the holidays, members bring bags of food to residents at Luther Manor.
Recycle. Repurpose. Relocate. A long-running effort collects donated clothing, shoes and household items and passes them to a church that operates a clothes closet. Hotel-sized soaps and shampoos go to the Lighthouse or the JCOC. Clean, empty prescription bottles are donated to the local SPCA veterinary clinic, and empty egg cartons are returned to a food pantry.
Reaching Beyond Virginia Beach
The congregation also supports the wider work of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through four national programs: Overseas Ministries, Justice Ministries, Volunteering and Advocacy, and Care and Compassion. Week of Compassion, the Disciples' relief organization, receives a special offering and channels humanitarian aid to refugees and victims of natural disasters around the world.
A Building Shared With the Community
The Rose Hall Drive building is more than a Sunday church. Great Neck Preschool and Kindergarten has operated out of the facility since 1991 and can be reached at 757-481-9217 for enrollment. A Widowed Persons Support Group meets weekly in the building, and a variety of community groups - scouts, civic associations, self-help organizations - use the sanctuary and fellowship hall. Those interested in renting space for an event are asked to contact the church office for a Facility Use form.
Land Acknowledgement
Virginia Beach Christian Church has formally acknowledged that it sits on the homelands of the Chesapian people and the southern tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy. The acknowledgement also recognizes the English colonization of the 1600s and the site's history as part of the former Upper Wolfsnare Plantation and Ye Dudlies, where persons displaced from Africa labored for the gain of others.
Pastoral Team and Staff
Rev. Kelsey Sherazi serves as pastor. Office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., or by appointment. Friday is the pastor's sabbath day. The Office Manager and Office Secretary (Jade Vitug) staff the office Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and are reachable by phone Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Music Minister is Cristina Loyola, with Allan Decipulo on organ and piano, Vince Hutchison directing production, and a nursery attendant caring for the youngest members during worship.
Becoming Part of the Body
Membership is open to anyone who calls themselves Christian. Four paths are described in the church by-laws: current members; those who unite by confession of faith and baptism or personal commitment; those who transfer membership from another church; and those who regularly attend, consider themselves Christian, and make their wish to join known to the pastor. Members may also hold membership elsewhere, and all members in good standing may vote at congregational meetings.
Baptism and Belief
From its early days the Disciples tradition has baptized by total immersion, but the church accepts any form of baptism according to personal or family preference, traditionally at an age of accountability after some teaching. The congregation's stated guiding principles are Christian unity, the centrality of Scripture, community-centered missions, and being a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As Disciples, members hold to a universal acceptance of all persons as children of God, even as individual opinions vary from conservative to liberal and from traditional to contemporary.