A New Covenant Community Is Born

In 1989, four households joined in a journey of prayer, study and fellowship to plant a new parish at Belmont. Heard was appointed as missioner to the "Ashburn Mission." It was decided to name the new church after David, patron saint of Wales. Born at the end of the 5th century, David is credited with bringing the Christian Gospel to Wales. Known for his courage and commitment to evangelism, David of Wales represented the values that are the cornerstone of the church's mission today.

With only 12 members, St. David's was accepted as a mission church of the Diocese of Virginia in January 1990. Rob Roy and David Boslaugh were chosen as the first wardens and Stephen McWhorter succeeded Heard as the first vicar of Belmont. Sixty people assembled in a tent in the uncleared woods to celebrate Easter that year, the first services on the church grounds in many years.

The church continued to flourish and plans for a building on the current grounds began to take shape. The parish acquired additional land in 1992, more than doubling the size of the existing property. Designed by Jay Rohr, a parishioner, construction of Mercer Hall was completed on the site later that year. Mercer Hall was originally used for worship and now houses St. David's Preschool and Sunday school classrooms.

Additional land was donated by IBM in 1994 and Toll Brothers in 1995. In 1995, with a congregation of approximately 280 parishioners, the Boslaugh Center church school was constructed and a nursery, housed in trailers, took shape. In 1999 St. David's moved into its current sanctuary, which has won a series of significant architectural awards.