For Herndon resident Ben Arment, a bolt of spiritual understanding didn’t occur on the road to Damascus, but rather during an outdoor concert in Norfolk.
Arment and his wife Ainsley were strolling along the downtown area one night when they came upon an outdoor musical performance attended by thousands of young adults. “I noticed that the crowd was not just one, large group,” he said, “but rather hundreds of small groups of four and five people who were interacting with each other.”
It was this moment that led Arment, a 29-year-old ordained Baptist minister, to rediscover the essentials of the early Christian church — the power of small groups gathering together to share their faith journey and to hear the word of God. And this insight also led him to establish History Church in Reston last year after moving here from Virginia Beach where he was a collegiate minister.
THE HISTORY CHURCH — a title that means His (God’s) Story — “intends to grow one living room at a time,” according to Arment. As he sees it, the first-century approach has come full circle. “The only churches mentioned in the Bible are ones that met in homes. I believe we lost something valuable when churches moved into special buildings,” he said. Living in Northern Virginia, Arment believes, presents many challenges and often people try to handle them alone. Arment’s goal is to provide a message of hope and the necessary relationships to help people thrive spiritually.
The idea of using small groups, Arment says, is in response to a growing concern for the diminishing numbers of young adults in today’s churches and the awareness that reaching them through the traditional church setting would not work. Many young adults, who have grown up attending church because their parents required them to, fail to see its relevance in their lives today, according to Arment. A new approach to spiritual outreach was necessary.
According to the Rev. Stewart Tabb, assistant pastor at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Herndon, "The use of small groups is a current trend. They are quite effective in growing churches. People want connection with each other and with God." Although St. Timothy's sponsors small groups which study and share their faith experience together, they meet at the church not in homes.
History Church, now about 50 strong, is being supported for a year with seed money from the Southern Baptist Convention. Currently, History Church consists of two small groups of 10-15 people that meet during the week in homes, with a third group, for families, in the formation stage. Other members choose to attend the “all-group” worship.
ALTHOUGH ARMENT concentrates on connecting with young professionals in the 20-30-year-old range, he noted that all ages are represented among his new congregation and participants of other faiths also have attended the small group meetings. The church intends to keep replicating the small groups as more people join and training is provided for those willing to facilitate start-up gatherings.
Katherine Rinaldi, a Reston resident who met the Arments through a mutual friend, decided to try their special approach to spirituality. "This is so needed in areas like Reston. It offers a relationship with God and with others," she said. Rinaldi, a 24-year-old family coordinator at an area adoption agency, had attended traditional churches for many years but discovered that History Church's emphasis on small groups as the focus of religious experience met her needs for spiritual growth. "You can ask questions and share real struggles," said Rinaldi. "You develop strong relationships and get to know people. In this area, which is big, busy, and impersonal this provides a personal approach to living out a Christian life." She added that the Sunday group worship also is a part of her participation in History Church. While it is structured with singing, prayers and a sermon, it is small and offers the chance to meet members of the other small groups, she explained.
TWO OTHER MEMBERS of the congregation joined Rinaldi, along with about 16 others, at a Sunday service with a Super Bowl theme in the Sheraton Reston last month. Echoing Rinaldi's views was Anthony Hoang, 26, from McLean, who sees the new church as offering people "a safe place to ask the questions about faith that they have in common."
Inger Boxeth, also 26, of Vienna, said her involvement "has been a freeing experience."
Both Hoang and Boxeth, raised in mainstream faiths, agreed that History Church provides structure, along with a personalized approach to spirituality.
"Don't contain your faith to Sundays," said Arment, at the service.
The service included singing along to music performed by Lianna Saleeby, a singer-songwriter and music teacher who joined History Church a month ago.
History Church's weekly all-group worship services, which are open to all, are held on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at the Reston Sheraton Hotel, 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive.
For more information about History Church visit www.historychurch.org, or call Ben and Ainsley Arment at 703-713-9700.