Glad Tidings December 2017

Volume 2017

Issue 12

ST. DAVID’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH - WASHINGTON, DC

From the Desk of

Kristen L. Hawley

Dear Friends,

It is with great joy that I write to you all this week from my new perch in the sunroom of the Parish House! I am beyond thrilled to be here and am looking forward to meeting all of you over the coming days and weeks.

As we move into the season of Advent this year, I am struck by the themes of anticipation, hope, new beginnings and the profound truth and understanding that something life-changing is coming our way. These Advent themes have always beckoned to me over the years, but have taken on a new, rich and personal meaning as I arrive at St. David’s on the cusp of the first Sunday of Advent.

Friends, I am not entirely sure where or to what God is calling us to be and to do together, but I am convinced that it is rooted in God and will be life-changing! Like the anticipation we experience every year, waiting for God to come down to us, to be one of us and to make his love manifest, I am filled with anticipation about the birth of something new, hopeful and entirely of God here at St. David’s. I hope that you are too.

In preparing for my transition to St. David’s, I spent time doing many of the things that nourish and feed my soul. I spent much quality time with my husband and children, took long walks with our dogs, met some of my favorite people for coffee and lunch, practiced yoga everyday, rebooted my personal prayer life and read for leisure and pleasure rather than out of necessity. While reading, I came upon this quote from Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics (To be fair - I wasn’t reading Barth for pleasure, but rather a favorite author who quoted him),

“Where there is the great hope, necessarily there are small hopes for the immediate future. These hopes have their basis and strength only in the great hope…”

Many small hopes that follow always in the wake and strength of one great hope! This, friends, is what, I think, is fueling my own anticipation and energy upon joining you all at St. David’s during this Advent season – that with our one Great Hope in the coming of our Lord, come many smaller hopes for our parish and community in the immediate future. Thrilling to consider, isn’t it?

During the coming weeks of Advent and Christmas, I pray that we will meet, worship, pray, sing and laugh together. As we do, I ask that you, too, will open your hearts and eyes to the places where God might be revealing new hopes and beginnings among us. Like the Magi who anticipated the star that would guide them to the Saviour of the World, let us all be watching for and anticipating where and to what God is calling us to be, knowing that our new hopes and beginnings will ultimately lead us to the same blessed spot found by the Magi, the shepherds and all who were open to the call of God.

I am grateful, beyond measure, to have been called to St. David’s to join you on this wonderful journey. I look forward to meeting you soon, to sharing our lives, faith, families and work… our joys and our hopes. Wishing each of you, and those beloved to you, a blessed Advent and Happy Christmas!

Every Blessing,

Kristen L. Hawley

Rector

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WARDENS REPORT

Dear Members of the Parish: As the St. David’s parish community enters the Advent season and prepares for the celebration of Christmas, it is a good time to take stock of our many blessings and to give thanks to everyone who has shared time and treasure to support our parish during the past year’s clergy transition process. First, we offer a warm welcome to our new Rector, The Reverend Kristen L. Hawley, along with her husband, RJ Hawley and children, Maggie, Will, Alec and Clare. Kristen brings a well-earned reputation as an outstand-ing, thoughtful and energetic priest. With our collective support, we are confident that Kristen’s tenure with us will be long and accomplished, and we thank our colleagues on the Search Committee and Vestry for helping call Kristen to us. Second, this exciting new chapter in our church life could not have happened without support from this com-munity. Ever since Father Robin announced that he was leaving in late 2016, we have been extremely fortu-nate to have Father Stuart Kenworthy serve as our Interim Rector these past 13 months. He and Fran provided wise counsel and a level of enthusiasm that literally opened our eyes to new possibilities about what we could be, and we will be forever grateful. We are also thankful to so many others who devoted their time and treasure to keep St. David's on such a positive path during the transition. We maintained the building, worked on sev-eral Capital Campaign projects, launched a stewardship campaign increased attendance and ensured that our major programs stayed the course. We even experienced significant growth in our children’s programs, which included the establishment of a new Children’s Choir that sang in last Sunday's Service. We also provided the warm and welcoming hospitality that is appreciated far and wide. The British Embassy said as much when they thanked us for hosting their Remembrance Day Service, and we have been asked by the British Embassy to host a special Centennial Remembrance Day marking the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I. We are deeply honored to be selected to host this historic event, and please read the parish-wide letter be-low. Looking ahead, 2018 promises to be an historic year at St. David’s. On Saturday February 3, 2018 at 11:00 AM we will host Bishop Mariann E. Budde and other special guests for a Service of Installation honoring the new ministry of The Reverend Kristen L. Hawley. A year-end Wardens’ Report would not be complete without a final appeal for financial support of our parish and its many ministries and charitable endeavors. We ask for you to prayerfully reflect on what St. David’s means to you and what you can do to support our special parish. Pledge cards can be found inside the main church entrance and in the parish house. As always, please reach out to your Wardens with questions, con-cerns or suggestions. We wish you a joyous Advent and Christmas. Faithfully Yours,

Stephen T. Sears Charles D. “Chip” Nottingham

Senior Warden Junior Warden

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Advent Giving Tree

Please take an ornament from the Advent Giving Tree and fulfill its wish!

Add a pair of warm men’s winter socks to the branches!

This year, the Advent Giving Tree ornaments request assistance for Friendship Place, the Bishop Walker School, and the Honduras Independence Bilingual School. All three are ministries supported by St. Da-vid’s.

On Sunday, Nov. 26, interim rector, Stuart Kenworthy, shared a moving personal story in his homily. While out exercising on a power walk one day, he had come upon a homeless man to whom he was moved to offer some money. Continuing on, Father Kenworthy became convinced that he had just seen the face of Christ. This story related directly to the Gospel reading for that morning (Matthew 25: 31-46), which says in part:

“Come , you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a

stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?; And when was it that we saw you a

stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing: And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least

of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

May we take this message to heart all year and especially during this season of Advent.

Friendship Place was founded by churches and community activists in Northwest Washington to offer services to the homeless people living on their streets. It has grown to serve adults, young people, and families throughout the Washington metro who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. The Bishop Walker School was founded by the Diocese of Washington as a tuition free private Episcopal day school in Anacostia to educate boys in this underserved area of the city. The Honduras Independence Bilingual school is a private day school in the poorest area of Honduras, which is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The HIBS curriculum includes English language instruction, which is not offered in the public schools, but which is a necessary life skill. Further information about these Outreach efforts is available from the Outreach Committee,

Project Retrak

For some time now St. David’s through the Outreach Committee has provided monetary support to Project Re-trak. This charity, based in the UK, with an American office, provided services to street children in a number of African countries. Through Retrak, children were reunited with family if possible, provided with skills training, shelter, food, clothing, and medical care. The staff providing the services were local.

Many may remember that Diarmuid O’Neill, the former CEO, spoke to us on a number of occasions about the work of this charity. A little over a year ago, Diarmuid left Retrak to work once again as a scientist. Later the American office head also left the organization. After a change of leadership, Retrak was absorbed by another non-profit, and now ceases to exist. It is not clear whether Retrak’s work in Africa will be continued. The Outreach Commit-tee has not sent any contributions to Retrak in the past year and will not send donations unless the original mis-sion of Retrak is honored and its work continued. Please keep the children of Retrak and its staff in Africa in your prayers.

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Deadlines for bringing casseroles: December15, 2017

So Others Might Eat (SOME) provides hot meals to the hungry in our city. St. David's contributes casseroles once a month. Casserole recipes and pans are available in the Commonwealth Room and in the undercroft lobby. Casseroles are due on the Monday before the third Wednesday of each month.

If you would like to coordinate the deliveries for this ministry, please contact the Parish Office. Total time involved from arrival at St. David's to return to St. David's is about two hours.

Please support the hospitality committee by sponsoring a Sunday reception. The full cost each Sunday averages $120.00. Any amount contributed is appreciated.

Simply note “Hospitality” on your check. Volunteers and donors will be recognized in the worship bulletin each Sunday.

HOSPITALITY

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

December 6 Alexandra Caskin

December 7 Addison Sears

December 13 Ana Caskin

December 21 Olivia Booth

December 23 Jesse Booth

December 24 Craig Piercy

December 25 Caitlin Cooper

December 29 Lisa Mould

December 30 Sarah Shapley

OUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED

Our telephone number remains the same: 202-966-2093 Our Fax number remains the same: 202-966-3437

Old EMAIL ADDRESS Contact NEW EMAIL ADDRESS

stdavids@stapower.net Yeme Worku parishoffice@stdavidsdc.org

stdavids@rcn.com Yeme Worku parishoffice@stdavidsdc.org

Rector Kristen Hawley kristen@stdavidsdc.org

St. David’s Advent and Christmas Services

Holy Eucharist

Sunday, December 3………………... 8am, 10am & 5pm

Sunday, December 10………………..8am, 10am & 5pm

Sunday, December 17………………..8am, 10am

Sunday, December 24………………..10am

A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

Sunday, December 17………………..5pm

Christmas Eve Eucharistic Service

Sunday, December 24………………..4pm, 10pm

Christmas Day Eucharistic Service

Monday, December 25……………….11am

REMINDER: New St. David’s custom-designed silk scarves and neckties are now available for $80 and can be found in the par-ish office or by contacting Chip Nottingham.

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December 2017

5150 Macomb Street, NW Washington, DC 20016

www.stdavidsdc.org stdavids@starpower.net

202-966-2093

The Rev. Kristen L. Hawley - Rector kristen@stdavidsdc.org

Yemeserach Worku - Office & Communications Manager

parishoffice@stdavidsdc.org

Rob Church - Minister of Music r_m_church@yahoo.com

Melesa Skoglund - Seminarian

mskoglund@vts.edu

Elisa Cardoza - Childcare & Cleaning

www.stdavidsdc.org

If you would like to receive Glad Tidings electronically, please call the Parish Office.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sunday 8:00 am Holy Eucharist Church

WEEKEND

WORSHIP

SCHEDULE

Sunday 10:00 am Holy Eucharist Church

Sunday 5:00 pm Holy Eucharist Chapel

WEEKDAY

WORSHIP

SCHEDULE

Wednesday 12:00pm Holy Eucharist Chapel