L OCAL LIVING
District
The sons of a preacher man follow in his footsteps Community Church founder is from a long line of pastors and has kept the family business thriving
by Michelle Boorstein I
ntense, colorful preachers populate the Whitlow family tree. They include a 6-foot-tall
great-grandmother who roamed the country starting Pentecostal churches, and a hard-drinking grandfather who begged God to grant him sobriety if he gave God his heart. More recently, there is Joseph
“Arlie” Whitlow Jr., 68, a gravelly voiced former life insurance salesman who believes he was called 30 years ago from South Carolina to Loudoun County. He went door-to-door, gradually transforming a tent and a few dozen people into the Communi- ty Church, a 50-acre campus in Ashburn with high-tech toys for children and a sanctuary that fills with 1,200 souls each Sun- day. It is easy to see how a Whitlow might feel both drawn to and in- timidated by the pastor’s life. That feeling of push-pull is ex- pressed by Arlie Whitlow’s oldest son, Joseph “Arlie” Whitlow III, who followed his dad into the ministry.
And from Charlie Whitlow, the middle son. And from Joshua Whitlow, the
youngest.
All three Whitlow sons became pastors, and each tells an emo- tional story of wrestling with the burdens of the family business before surrendering, happily, to what they describe as a call from God. For a family that founded one
of Loudoun County’s largest evangelical churches, that meant accepting the constant fundrais- ing pressures they saw their fa- ther endure as head of a church that runs on tithes. It also meant finding their own identities as pastors separate from that of their adored father. For Charlie Whitlow, a 36-year-
old father of three who in Janu- ary took over his father’s spot as lead pastor at the Community Church, that initially meant LSATs and plans for law school, but also a nagging feeling that he was “justifying” not working in the church, he said. “I’d say, ‘I love God; I love the church. I just don’t want to de- pend on it,’ ” he said. “But there was a deep sense in me that I was running from what God wanted me to do.” Even for someone steeped in
the evangelical community — there were pastors throughout the family and he was a graduate of the evangelical Liberty Univer-
sity — he said he still felt wary about how such a career would play out in a secular society in which faith and spirituality are increasingly seen as things not found in organized religion. “I thought, ‘How will I get mar- ried? What will I tell people I do?’ ” he said. Today, the family looks like a made-for-TV version of a pastor family: three handsome, hipster- looking brothers in their 30s, each with a successful Northern Virginia ministry, taking the reins from their dad, with whom they still play golf, lunch and talk church business around the Christmas tree or at bustling family birthday parties. Their oldest sister, who is not a pastor, chose to work in the Community Church’s music ministry. Female pastors are rare at conservative evangelical churches such the Whitlows’. On Fridays, Arlie Whitlow III, 39, who seven years ago founded Victory’s Crossing Church in a storefront in Manassas, often does a video call with his brother Charlie and brainstorms about sermons the brothers are writing that week. Joshua Whitlow, 30, is worship pastor at the Communi- ty Church. On Fridays, “often the question
is: ‘Where are you at? What are you going to talk about?’ ” Arlie Whitlow III said. “Then Monday, it’s: ‘How did you do?’ ” Although it is not uncommon for nondenominational Protes- tant pastors to pass the reins to a son, the job has changed radi- cally since the days of the earlier Whitlows, Arlie Whitlow Jr. said. He describes his ancestors as ru- ral Pentecostals, a culture he de- scribes as less educated and more emotionally driven than modern- day evangelicals such as his sons, who blog, attend worship train- ing seminars overseas and enroll young congregants in science competitions. “I’m not ashamed that’s where
I come from. That passion, emo- tionalism — if someone doesn’t have passion, no one is attracted,” said Whitlow, an extrovert with a preacher’s penchant for storytell- ing and a rare edge that appears when anyone challenges conser- vative Christian beliefs. So strong is his father’s per- sona that Joshua Whitlow de- scribes “running” to a Marine re- cruiting office at 22 while his par- ents were overseas on vacation (his father had forbade him from joining the military), desperate to carve out his niche in the fami- ly and his own relationship with God. The sensual temptations of
23 DC
TRACY A. WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST
Charlie Whitlow, left, Joseph “Arlie” Whitlow III, Joseph “Arlie” Whitlow Jr. and Joshua Whitlow at the Community Church in Ashburn. Church founder Arlie Whitlow Jr. went door-to door, ultimately transforming it from a tent with a few dozen people to one of Loudoun’s largest evangelical churches.
military life tested his faith, he said, allowing him to establish a relationship with God that led him to church leadership when he returned. “Something real, something mine, not something belt-fit or spoon-fed, not cookie-cutter of whatever my brothers did,” said Joshua Whitlow, who also sells real estate and just had his first child. As the oldest son, Arlie Whit- low III said he remembers fol- lowing his father door-to-door when he was little. Initially plan- ning to be a full-time recording artist, he got a degree in music from Oral Roberts University and returned there to run its music ministry. His father had expected him to take the reins of the church, but the eldest son needed to have the experience his father did: starting his own church. The seeds were planted in
sixth grade, when he played the trumpet. (“I could barely play the C scale,” he said.) His father or- dered him into the church wor- ship band. “He said, ‘I don’t care if you stink; you’re a Whitlow,’ ” Arlie Whitlow III said. That meant “the culture is preaching, and you can’t sit back passively and not be involved, not serve God. It meant we’ll get in there, roll up our sleeves and get involved.”
boorsteinm@washpost.com
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THE WASHINGTON POST • THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2010
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