How We Got Here
2018
Founded
2021
Organized as a PCA Church
2026
Sending Our First Pastor
Before 2018
Founding Vision
Porter and his wife Cathy were born and raised in Northern Virginia, though they spent 20 years trying to stay away from the D.C. area. Porter went to law school at the University of South Carolina and served as a Marine Corps prosecutor, and it was during those years that the Lord led them to join a church plant in South Carolina—an experience that led Porter to sense a call to pastoral ministry. After a deployment to Iraq and a tour teaching at the Army JAG School, the Lord led the Harlow family back to the D.C. area, where Porter worked at the Pentagon while taking classes at Reformed Theological Seminary. Returning to Northern Virginia, they were astonished by all the Lord had done to plant new churches here—yet Fairfax County still had vast areas without a biblically faithful, gospel-proclaiming church. The vision for Christ Presbyterian Church Burke was born from that recognition.
August 2018
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.
June 2019
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.
March 2021
Growing Through Trials
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. School facilities closed just as our church was finding its footing, forcing us outdoors and, for the first time, onto a livestream. What could have scattered us instead became a season of growth—not just in numbers, but in spiritual depth. Small groups multiplied as believers hungered for connection, and we learned that the church isn’t defined by a building but by a people gathered around Word and sacrament.
In March 2021, we reached a significant milestone: particularization as a self-sustaining church in the PCA. This was a testament to God’s provision and the congregation’s faithfulness—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.
June 2022
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 from within the body:
- Men’s and Women’s ministries for discipleship, theological study, and prayer
- A Youth Ministry helping students understand the gospel and grow in faith
- Small groups throughout the week for fellowship and accountability
- A Missions commitment supporting gospel work locally and globally
June 2025
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.
March 2026
Farewell to the Haslers
In November 2025, just months after his ordination, Robert received a call to plant a church for a group of PCA families in Abilene, Texas, working alongside the PCA’s Southwest Church Planting Network. It was exactly the kind of kingdom work CPC Burke has long prayed and given toward—and for Robert, a Texas native who grew up in the PCA, it 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.
What’s Next
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
To see where that story is headed, read about our Mission, Vision, and Values.
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.
