The following success story was sent in by FMN Anna Dixon and we are glad she did.  Anna also contributed in large part to the successful outcome. Please follow this story of accomplishment to see how the three communities worked together to create a living testament to service at Antioch Baptist Church.

Anna’s story, “Saturday, August 22, three communities came together at Antioch Baptist Church [in Fairfax Station] around a deceptively simple objective: transform a roughly 20-by-20-foot shaded area beside the sanctuary into the foundation for a sensory garden featuring native and non-invasive plants. What resulted was far more than a landscaping project. Under the leadership of Kevin-Joseph Tann of Springfield’s Scout Troop 1145, approximately 42 volunteers contributed six and one-half hours of work, representing roughly $10,000 in donated labor. Their effort capped months of planning, coordination, design work, material acquisition, and volunteer preparation for Kevin’s Eagle Scout project. Antioch initially publicized the project as an opportunity to benefit its six generations through a perennial and native sensory garden while helping Kevin fulfill the service requirement for the Eagle Scout rank.

Sensory Garden, bare earth canvas – photo FMN Anna Dixon

The results (shown as the cover photo) demonstrates what can happen when three established Springfield District communities bring different strengths to the same piece of ground. For the Scouts, the project was leadership put into practice. Eagle projects are not simply volunteer workdays. The Scout must develop the concept, organize the work, marshal people and materials, and lead others in bringing the project to completion. Troop 1145 has longstanding Springfield roots and a history of Scouts undertaking substantial community-service projects. Kevin’s parents provided sustained support that made an undertaking of this scale possible, while Kevin carried the responsibility of moving the project from concept to execution.

For Antioch Baptist Church, the project fits squarely within both ministry and

Sensory Garden – God’s good Hand upon our good work (Nehemiah 2)

stewardship. Antioch describes itself as a six-generational church, serving people from age two to 102, and emphasizes service that makes an impact both within the church and in the surrounding community. Its Green Ministry has a complementary environmental mission: removing invasive vines, protecting native trees, reducing stormwater impacts, and establishing places where native plants and wildlife can thrive. A sensory garden that can be experienced by children, adults and seniors is therefore more than a beautification project. It advances a broader vision for how the church grounds can serve people while also functioning as healthier habitat.

The Fairfax Master Naturalist community also contributed through Virginia Certified Master Naturalist Anna Dixon, whose role remained intentionally supportive throughout the project. Drawing on Master Naturalist training and her work with Antioch’s Green Ministry, she assisted during the planning period and helped connect the garden’s design and plant choices with the broader objective of increasing native vegetation and ecological value on the church campus. What began as a shaded work area beneath mature trees quickly became an organized garden space. Volunteers removed and prepared soil, installed curved brick pathways, positioned plants, mulched beds and worked in multiple crews simultaneously. By the end  of the day, the geometry of the garden was clearly visible, with brick paths dividing planted beds while preserving access through the space. Just as important, the images show adults and young people working side by side, not as three separate organizations, but as one collaborative team. That may be the project’s most enduring feature. The Scouts supplied youth leadership and an organized volunteer force. Antioch supplied the place, purpose and community that will use and care for the garden. Master Naturalist principles helped keep the project tied to the larger ecological objective of favoring native plants and responsible stewardship. No one element alone would have produced the same result.

Sensory Garden, “Let us rise up and build” (Neh 2:18) – photo FMN Anna Dixon

The garden itself will now do something the work crews could not accomplish in a single day: grow. As plants establish, seasons change and the space matures, Antioch’s six generations will have an increasingly rich place to see, touch, smell and experience nature immediately outside the sanctuary. Native plants can also provide food and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife, extending the project’s benefit beyond the people who walk its paths. An Eagle Scout project is necessarily Kevin’s project. But this one also illustrates something larger: when youth leadership, a church committed to service, and people trained in environmental stewardship align around a tangible community need, a relatively small patch of ground can become common ground. Forty-two volunteers proved that on Saturday. Now the garden gets to tell the story.”

FYI – Hours towards any project worked with faith based communities may be recorded using S100: Faith Community Stewardship Projects — FMN.