Lynda Gruen

Review of Vienna Presbyterian Church

Admittedly, I don't attend VPC anymore -- I live t...

Admittedly, I don't attend VPC anymore -- I live too far away these days -- but I have known VPC to be a good church. I've been involved off and on over the years since I came to faith in Christ through their youth group in Jr. High in 1995. (My family did not attend VPC, so I was kind-of a "street kid", if you would. Still doing my best to follow Jesus today.)

Here's what I've observed over the years:

The congregants are often kind and decent people, many of whom I've observed to stick around for years. The church as a whole has been known for acts of service -- the mentality is contagious, and it is beautiful -- and support of Christian missions outreach, both locally and in other areas. For a church that I haven't known to be active into mentoring-type discipleship, they still overall have had a pretty decent sense of community, which is quite nice here in Northern VA.

They have had a good children's ministry, I believe, and their worship music has been pretty awesome -- traditional and contemporary, depending on the service you attend.

Parking tends to be a bit of an annoyance. We tend to park nearby when we visit.

Folks I've known in leadership and in volunteer positions in this church have by and large been godly, sincere people. Folks who have ended up in leadership and have caused problems have ended up removed after a short while.

For what it's worth, when I've been there, women have not been barred from ministry. For me as a young lady, that was huge, because folks at VPC always made me feel treated with dignity and respect as a female -- and for that matter, even as a youth. I wasn't made to feel as if I were somehow inferior to males or older generations in the church, so with VPCers being my first real interaction with Christians, the example they set for me was that Jesus was very kind and worth following.

That said, VPC has also had a high view of Scripture. Yes, you can have mostly egalitarian views and still have a high view of Scripture. I realize, though, that a lot of Evangelicals would disagree. Well, there are plenty of Evangelical churches out where I now live in Loudoun County. I personally would still prefer a church like VPC.

VPC has had to weather some storms over the years, just as I have. We remain believers because we remember Jesus Christ and our testimonies of Christ's faithfulness to us when the going gets tough. If I lived closer by, I would at least visit my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am very thankful for them.

Bottom line? A pretty good church -- worth at least a visit in my opinion, for what it's worth. = )