Two Virginia Church Leaders Buy $3.2 Million Florida Beach House

Charlie Whitlow, lead pastor of Community Church in Ashburn, Virginia, and church business director Justin Holmberg purchased a $3.2 million beach house in Destin, Florida, last May.

The 5,705-square-foot house, described as “the ultimate beach retreat,” has eight-bedrooms, eight-and-a-half bathrooms, and “all the hallmarks of modern luxury, including a Watermark-built, 60,000-gallon resort-style pool,” and a swim-up bar and in-pool concrete picnic table.

The two church leaders didn’t purchase the house under their own names, but instead used a company – 89 Shirah Street, LLC (the address of the Florida home) to purchase the company.  The company was incorporated in 2020 and registered to the church’s address: 19790 Ashburn Rd., Ashburn, VA 20147.

Rob Showers, an attorney for Whitlow and Holmberg, said using the church’s address as the address for the LLC was a mistake, and has since been corrected.

“Unfortunately, they incorrectly listed the church address for principal office and RA [Registered Agent] which has since been changed.” Showers wrote in an email.  Showers also confirmed to MinistryWatch that “no church funds were used nor was the church involved in any way.”

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Charlie Whitlow is one of four pastor sons of Arlie Whitlow, who founded the independent Community Church in 1982. By the time he died last year at age 79, the church had grown to more than 1,500 members, and includes a private Christian school, Virginia Academy. According to Showers, the church has six or seven elders.  

Charlie Whitlow has degrees from Liberty University, Regent University, and Fuller Seminary and has spent much of his adult life working for the church’s ministries, before becoming lead pastor in 2010. He is also chancellor of Virginia Academy.

According to Showers, Holmberg works only one day a week for the church, and has two other businesses that he has run “for years.”