When the Rev. Brett Fuller first told people that he wanted Grace Covenant Church to arise on the site of a former water park, naturally, he received some odd looks.
“They thought I was nuts,” he said. “So much vision had to be cast for them to consider this as a place of worship.”
But Fuller’s congregation trusted him and followed his lead; and now, this Sunday, Aug. 12, Grace Covenant will hold its first services in its new home at the former Planet Splash and Play. It’s off Route 28 and Willard Road in Chantilly, and services will actually be held in the associated building where people once went roller-skating.
Grace Covenant is nondenominational and Fuller’s been with it since 1982, when it was on Capitol Hill. He helped establish the church and served as a campus minister bringing in college students.
“In 1991, I became pastor and we moved to Virginia to find a permanent place to be,” said Fuller. “Until then, we met in basements of churches, community centers and schools.”
But still, the church remained nomadic. Members met at Thomas Jefferson High School from 1991-93, and in an Oakton chapel from 1993-95. Next came a spot in a Herndon office park until fall 2003.
“WE GREW there from about 140 people to 600,” said Fuller. “We could use the space all week long, not just on Sundays, and we were there a long time, so it made a difference. But the sanctuary was only 300 seats. We had three services and were about to go to four, so we moved to Dominion High School in Sterling.”
There they stayed through Aug. 5, the day of their last service. And now, they’ll continue their worship in a place of their own in Chantilly. Grace Covenant first tried moving to this area in the late 1990s, buying property on Pleasant Valley Road. But since it was environmentally sensitive land, half of it had to remain unused, so Grace sold it to another church and looked elsewhere. It bought the water park in fall 2004.
FULLER AND HIS WIFE of 20 years, Cynthia, have seven children, daughters Meredith, 13; and Brook, 10; and sons Joseph, 19; Brian, 16; Garrison, 14; Telos, 12 and Grant, 7. And when they moved to Chantilly in 2001, they bought pool memberships for their children at Planet Splash and Play — which then consisted of a water park, go-cart area, skating rink and teen nightclub with music and arcade games.
“But I didn’t see enough people here to support the business, and I wondered how it was doing financially,” said Fuller. “Then a year or two later, I came by and saw it empty, and [the church] made an offer to the owner in summer 2004. We have a passion for youth, so I saw this place as a magnet and thought both the church and children could benefit.”
He envisioned the skating rink becoming a sanctuary. “But it was difficult to get Fairfax County’s permission for a church/water-park use because both had different occupancy limits,” explained the pastor. “So we went with the worship. There’s frontage on Route 28 so we could advertise the church. And we can build on the whole, 6-acre site, so we have more room for everything.”
Grace Covenant now has about 850 members, including some 220 children. The membership is roughly 50-percent African-American, 40-percent European-descent and the rest, Latino and Asian.
“What’s unique about this church is that we’re really multi-ethnic, with an African-American leader who has white people who want to call him pastor,” said Fuller. “I think part of the reason the Lord has privileged us to build like this is my makeup.”
Fuller, 46, grew up in Kansas City. But in 1966, when he was 5, his father moved the family from the inner city to the all-white suburbs. “We broke the color barrier for our neighborhood and for my school,” he said. “I was called every name in the book and got into fights after school. People even destroyed my dad’s 1964 Mustang with a sledgehammer.”
BUT INSTEAD of hardening Fuller and learning to hate, the experience had the opposite effect. “My parents never allowed me to do anything but forgive and love,” he said. “It taught me how to relate to all different kinds of people, and I learned to speak well. And when I became [Grace Covenant’s] senior pastor, I prayed to God that my church would look like heaven — where every nation under heaven would be represented. Whatever my community looked like, I wanted my church to look like.”
And in this respect, said Fuller, God’s been gracious. “We’re not a melting pot, we’re a mosaic,” he said. “So everybody gets to express who they are, and no one culture dominates. Our music is crossover — contemporary Christian and contemporary, Black Gospel. And our message will have enough intellectual packing to stimulate the thinkers and enough of my ethnic heritage to make it enjoyable.”
In a soft-spoken, conversational style, Fuller delivers four- to six-week sermon series on a variety of topics, including family relationships, health and financial stewardship. Currently, he’s doing a series on what it means to abide in the presence of God.
The Aug. 12 sermon will be "The Presence of God in His House." And, said the pastor, "We welcome any and all visitors to our congregation to experience how relevant and enjoyable Christian life can be."
Sunday services are at 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday School for children up to sixth grade is held at the same time. Those in seventh-12th grades attend the regular services and also have their own, youth-ministry service on Wednesday nights. Grace Covenant also holds campus ministries at GMU, Howard University and Bowie State University.
IN ADDITION, the church offers men’s and women’s fellowships, single fellowships for parents and nonparents, prayer meetings, Bible studies and small-group meetings. Fuller described the people who comprise Grace Covenant as “kind, generous, patient, loving, understanding, warm and welcoming.” They’re also excited about having a facility of their own — and so is their pastor.
“I am overjoyed that God has given us a home where we can serve people in this community,” said Fuller. “We’ve been living out of bags and boxes for years. We’ve had faithful, loyal servants who’ve packed and unpacked us every week, and now they’re free to serve the community. To quote a fellow Kansan, ‘There’s no place like home.’”