When and how Evergreen Church will be built is a question Pastor Chip Giessler cannot answer.
That's because official decisions of the United Methodist church are made by the members.
"They are the church. They are the ones who will continue in ministry in Evergreen, so they make the ministry decisions," Giessler said.
As to where, the answer came in 1999 when the United Methodist Board of Missions purchased an 18-acre lot one mile from the church's temporary home at Evergreen Mill Elementary School on Evergreen Mill Road.
Giessler was called to start up the new church, so he and his family moved from Newport News, where he held his first pastoring position from 1993-99, to Leesburg in 1999. He had taken the position at an United Methodist church in Newport News the same year he graduated from the Conwell Theological Seminary near Boston, Mass.
Giessler advertised the new church and visited Leesburg residents door-to-door, bringing out 190 people to the first worship service in October 1999.
"We helped start the church and have been here ever since," said John Norbeck of Leesburg, where he and his family moved two months before the church started. "The reason we keep coming back is it seems like more real worship. ... It's all Scripture-based and how the Scripture relates to our lives ... and it's fun."
EVERGREEN CHURCH now has 250 people who are involved in the church and about 140-150 people who show up every week for the 10 a.m. Sunday service.
"We don't place a strong emphasis on membership," Giessler said.
However, those who are members can get involved in decisions about the church's future. A year ago, the members began working on the new building project, which likely will include a multipurpose room and classrooms. A building investigation team consisting of church members is tasked with researching the project and holding special meetings as needed to provide reports to the membership and ask the members for final decisions.
The property for the future church currently is used for special occasions, office and meeting space and small group gatherings, along with providing space for three soccer fields. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services built two of the fields more than a year ago and maintains the fields through an agreement with the church.
"It's a strong value of the church to welcome the community to everything we do at Evergreen Church," said Giessler. "Evergreen Church is a place for people to come wherever they are in their spiritual life. Whether or not they have a lot, little or no church background, they can feel comfortable opening themselves up to God and growing closer to God."
GIESSLER'S PHILOSOPHY is to experience God, to exalt God and to extend God to others. "My goal is to help people see how God is active and present in our lives and to encourage us to receive and respond to that," he said.
Giessler aims to show God's presence by preparing sermons related to daily life. "When I'm preparing a Sunday morning message, it gives me discernment to see whatever Scripture passage or issue I'm looking at in light of God," he said. He ties a visual or tangible concept to each of his messages, which may be included as part of a series on the same issue or subject. Last Sunday, he spoke about war in his sermon "God and Generals: Irrefutable Proof," the first such message in a four-part series.
"We need to take in consideration events in the real world in light of God," Giessler said. "War is not new, but the way we are experiencing war is unprecedented."
In his sermon, Giessler viewed war from the vantage points of Scripture, reason, experience and tradition and pulled quotes from Scripture and philosophy to explain that war cannot ultimately settle disputes.
"Our generation is remarkably self-centered. We wear generational blinders," Giessler said. "Others have gone before us, but what is authoritative? ... What does it all mean? War is the ultimate, irrefutable proof of sin. Our culture denies sin's reality, but grace can't be known until we see sin."
"Genuine" was how Mary Ellen Phillips, a Leesburg resident and a member of the church for the past three years, describes Giessler's pastoring style. "He has a style of teaching that doesn't talk down to those that have been in church all of their lives and still educates those who are new to the church," she said.
THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Emma Richard of Leesburg said her old church was too formal. "This church is really flexible and open, and it doesn't matter how you are. I don't say, 'I don't want to go to church today, because it's a fun experience and I want to learn more," she said.
"We do crafts and stuff and at the same time we learn about God, so it's a fun way to learn," said Kai Norbeck, 10, also of Leesburg. He attends the Kids' Point worship and children's class, which is offered for children in 2nd to 5th grade. Younger children are invited to the Greenhouse for Sunday school classes.
"The first time I came, I felt at home. This is where I am supposed to be," Phillips said.
Giessler and his wife of 12 years Laura Giessler have three children.