Because we take seriously the Great Commission of our Lord, Church of the Holy Spirit has always aspired to be a church that plants churches.  Church planting, says scholar Peter Wagner, is the most effective way to do evangelism under heaven. Our first effort, led by the vision of several families of our church, resulted in planting a campus in Purcellville. For two years, we worshipped in two locations, until we consolidated in our Leesburg Campus in the middle. Graham Walker planted in Waterford, and led a thriving weekly house church for 3 years, which sent 2 young men to seminary.  Others have helped Dave Prosser’s outreach at Ashby Ponds in Ashburn, another worshiping campus for us.  We shepherded Pastor Darryl Fitzwater through the ordination process, and after a year with us, sent him and 12 of our families to plant a church in West Virginia in 2018.   We piloted our Diocese’s Vision for 50 church planting fund, and gave generously to seed this fund to plant churches ithroughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. By God’s grace, we shall continue to multiply and expand as the Lord sends laborers. 

Here is a report on our daughter church from December 2021: “ Having launched on Palm Sunday 2018, Church of the Ascension continues to worship, serve, and make disciples near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. People continue to move out into our developing historic setting of countrysides, small towns, and small cities. As an extension of the greater Washington D.C. and Baltimore metro areas, this is the fastest growing area in West Virginia. While the area is not as rural as it used to be, it retains many of those traditional qualities as it increasingly becomes more reflective of the metro area. With the demographic changes over the two decades, a need exists for more strong, Spirit-filled churches intentionally engaging the area. We have a strong international mission, intercession, prayer, and discipleship emphasis.”