Founding Vision
Porter and his wife Cathy were born and raised in Northern Virginia. They went away to college, married, and spent 20 years trying to stay away from the DC area. During that time, Porter went to law school at the University of South Carolina and began serving as a prosecutor in the Marine Corps. It was during those years that the Lord led Porter and Cathy to join a church plant in South Carolina. There they experienced the sweet fellowship of worshiping and serving with other believers united in the common mission to see the Kingdom of God grow. It was in that context that Porter felt called to pastoral ministry and seminary. After a deployment to Iraq and a tour teaching International and Operational Law at the Army JAG School, the Lord led the Harlow family back to the D.C. area so Porter could work at the Pentagon while taking classes at Reformed Theological Seminary’s Washington, D.C., campus. Upon returning to Northern Virginia, they were astonished to see all that the Lord had done to plant new churches since they last lived here. Yet Fairfax County, with its growing population and spiritual hunger, still had vast areas without a biblically faithful, gospel-proclaiming church. The vision for Christ Presbyterian Church Burke was born from that recognition—a desire to see more people in Burke and the surrounding communities come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Planting Seeds
Seeds for the church were planted with a kick-off picnic at Burke Lake Park in August 2018. What began as a handful of families quickly became a gathering of believers eager for Reformed worship and biblical teaching in their own community. From the fall of 2018 through the spring of 2019, a Bible study met in the Harlow’s basement, where we studied God’s Word together, prayed for the church’s future, and watched as the Lord knit our hearts together. These core families came from various backgrounds and church experiences, but we shared a common commitment: to build a church centered on Christ, grounded in Scripture, and devoted to making disciples.
Our First Church Service
We began worship services as a church the first Sunday of June 2019 at Terra Centre Elementary School. Sunday mornings became sacred rhythms—setting up chairs and sound equipment, gathering for prayer, opening God’s Word, celebrating the sacraments, and then carefully packing everything away. It was simple, even challenging at times, but it was church. We were learning what it means to be the body of Christ together.
Growing Through Trials
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. School facilities closed, forcing us to find alternative meeting spaces just as our church was finding its footing. What could have scattered us became an opportunity to see God’s faithfulness in new ways. We met outdoors when weather permitted, adapted to health protocols, livestreamed worship for the first time, and discovered that the church isn’t defined by a building but by a people gathered around Word and sacrament.
By God’s providence, we grew during this season—not just in numbers, but in spiritual depth and community bonds. Families seeking biblical truth and authentic Christian fellowship found their way to CPC Burke. Small groups multiplied as believers hungered for connection. We learned to carry one another’s burdens in practical ways, to pursue holiness together, and to trust God’s sovereignty even when the future seemed uncertain. What the enemy meant for isolation, God used for gospel advance.
In March 2021, we reached a significant milestone: particularization as a self-sustaining church in the PCA. This wasn’t merely an administrative achievement—it was a testament to God’s provision and the congregation’s faithfulness in giving, serving, and growing in grace. We became a fully organized church under the oversight of the Potomac Presbytery, accountable to our brothers in the faith and equipped to carry out the full ministry of Word and sacrament.
Returning Home
In June 2022, we returned to Terra Centre Elementary School, where we have been worshiping ever since. Terra Centre has become more than a meeting location—it’s where we’ve baptized children, welcomed new members, celebrated the Lord’s Supper, and heard God’s Word faithfully preached week after week. We remain a church plant in many ways—young, growing, and still discovering what God is calling us to become—but we are maturing in our understanding of what it means to be a confessionally Reformed congregation in Northern Virginia.
Our ministries have flourished as God has raised up leaders and servants from within the body. Men gather for discipleship and theological study. Women meet for Bible study and prayer. Our youth ministry helps middle and high school students understand the gospel and grow in faith. Small groups throughout the week provide spaces for deeper fellowship, accountability, and spiritual growth. Our commitment to missions reflects our conviction that Christ’s kingdom extends to the ends of the earth—we support gospel work locally and globally, praying for and participating in the Great Commission wherever God opens doors.
Ordination of Robert Hasler
In June 2025, we ordained our first intern, Robert Hasler, under the supervision of the Potomac Presbytery. Robert’s ordination is a sign of God’s continued faithfulness to CPC Burke—proof that the Lord is raising up the next generation of pastoral leadership from within our body. It marks not an ending but a new chapter, evidence that the church Christ is building here continues to grow in maturity and gospel fruitfulness.
Farewell to the Haslers
In November 2025, just months after his ordination, Robert received a call from a group of PCA families in Abilene, Texas, seeking a pastor to plant a church in their city. Working alongside the PCA’s Southwest Church Planting Network, they had been praying for someone to come and do the slow, faithful work of building a congregation from the ground up. This is exactly the kind of kingdom work CPC Burke has long prayed and given toward, and sending one of our own pastors is a deeper expression of that commitment than a check or a prayer list entry. For Robert, a Texas native who grew up in the PCA, it was also a call that fit a story the Lord had been writing for years. On March 1, 2026, he preached his final sermon at CPC Burke from Acts 2:42–47, “The Fellowship of Believers,” the very thing the Lord is going to build in Abilene. We sent him with full hearts, confident that the same Lord who brought him to Burke is sending him west for his glory.
Our Story Continues
Today, Christ Presbyterian Church Burke is a young but maturing congregation, deeply rooted in Reformed theology and committed to biblical faithfulness. We believe the Bible is God’s inerrant Word. We hold to the Westminster Standards. We practice covenant baptism and observe the Lord’s Supper. We submit to the authority of elders and the accountability of the Presbyterian Church government. These aren’t just doctrinal commitments—they shape how we worship, how we disciple, and how we live as the people of God.
But we are more than our confessions. We are a family learning to love one another as Christ has loved us. We are sinners saved by grace, growing in holiness through the Spirit’s work. We are neighbors and co-workers, parents and students, longtime believers and new Christians—all united in the gospel and eager to see Christ’s name glorified in Burke and beyond.
Our story is still being written. We’re raising up leaders, deepening discipleship, welcoming new families, and reaching our community with the transforming message of Jesus Christ. We don’t know everything God has planned for CPC Burke, but we trust His promises: Christ will build His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
If you’re exploring Christ Presbyterian Church Burke, we invite you to join us. Whether you’re seeking a church home, curious about Reformed theology, or simply want to worship with believers who take God’s Word seriously, or just a pilgrim on the way, you are welcome here. Come and see what the Lord is doing.
