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Welcome

Welcome to St. Alban’s Church! Every Sunday, and most days in between, people gather in this place to worship, to learn, to grow, to share the joys and struggles of our lives, and to seek God’s grace in the midst of our lives. We do not come because we have it all figured out, but because we are seeking light on the way. We come as we are and welcome one another.

On this website, you can find information about our worship, our classes for people of all ages, membership at St. Alban's, and about how we seek to make a difference in this world. We warmly encourage you to join us for a Sunday service or for some of the many other events that happen here. You belong at St. Alban’s.

Please fill out this welcome form to connect with us.

Contact us with any questions. Call (202) 363-8286 or email the church office.

 

Service Times 

Weekly In-person Sunday Service Schedule (Please note: Service times may be changed during the seasons of Christmas and Lent and during the summer. Please refer to our calendar to confirm the times.):

8 a.m. (English) in the Church
9 a.m. (English) in the Church
11:15 a.m. (English) in the Church
11:15 a.m. (Spanish) in Nourse Hall (same building as the Church)

Communion in one kind (i.e. wafers) will be offered at the main altar, although we will happily bring communion to those for whom steps are challenging. 

Weekly Live Sunday Services are live-streamed on our Youtube channel (St. Alban's DC) at 9 a.m. every Sunday, as is our Spanish service at 11:15 a.m. 

Evening Prayer Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. via Zoom, join us for a time of reflection and sharing at the close of your busy day. Contact Paul Brewster for the link. 

 

Directions

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church is located next to the Washington National Cathedral at the corner of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in the northwest section of the District of Columbia.

From either direction on the north loop of the Capital Beltway/I-495 follow signs for Route 355/Wisconsin Ave south toward DC. St. Alban’s is located on the left just before the intersection of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues NW. Make a left onto Lych Gate Rd before you reach Massachusetts Ave. As you enter the drive, the church will be on your left and Satterlee Hall and the Rectory on the right. Stay on Lych Gate until it becomes Pilgrim Rd.

From any Virginia main in-bound thoroughfare (George Washington Memorial Parkway, I-395, Route 50, I-66), follow signs to Rosslyn and take the Key Bridge from Rosslyn north across the Potomac River into Georgetown. Go right on M St, left on Wisconsin Ave. St. Alban’s is located on the right just after the intersection of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues NW. Make a right onto Lych Gate Rd after passing Massachusetts. As you enter the drive, the church will be on your left and Satterlee Hall and the Rectory on the right. Stay on Lych Gate until it becomes Pilgrim Rd.

Parking is available on Pilgrim Road Monday-Friday after 3:30 pm and all day Saturday and Sunday. Parking is also available in the Cathedral’s underground garage for a fee Monday- Saturday and for free on Sunday.  You may also park on neighborhood streets according to DC parking signs.

What to Expect

Visiting a church for the first time can be a bit daunting. So we have tried to put together the answers to some of the questions you’re likely to have and to ensure that you find a warm welcome here. Click on the questions to learn more.)

How do you worship?

What time are services on Sunday morning?

How long do services last?

Where can I park?

Do you offer programs for children?

What should I wear?

Do you have provisions for the differently-abled?

For Your Kids

Children’s Ministry

At St. Alban’s, we believe that a child’s spiritual growth is just as important as their physical and intellectual growth. Our goal is to help children name and value the presence and love of God in their lives. We do this through a variety of means – by providing stable and consistent adult mentors, encouraging strong peer relationships, and supporting parents in their families’ faith lives at home.

Worship: This Fall, Children's Chapel meets during the first half of the 9:00 a.m. service in Nourse Hall (a spacious parish hall in the same building as the main worship space.) Kids and families join "big church" at the Peace so everyone can receive Communion together. To learn more, contact the Rev’d Emily Griffin.

Education: We've resumed our formation programs for the 2022-2023 period. Here’s everything you need to know:

  • Sunday School and Youth Group Classes are from 10:15 to 11:05 a.m.
  • Nursery, 2s & 3s, PreK to 1st Grade, 2nd to 3rd Grade, and 4th to 6th Grade all meet upstairs in Satterlee Hall. Youth classes meet downstairs in Satterlee Hall.
  • If you haven’t registered your child or teen yet, it’s not too late. Register in person at the start of class or click here

Questions? For children, contact the Rev’d Emily Griffin at . For youth, contact the Rev’d Yoimel González Hernández at .

Learn more about Children's Ministries
Youth Ministry

Four teen groups participate in formation classes at St. Alban’s on Sunday mornings. We use the nationally recognized Episcopal curriculum “Journey to Adulthood," or J2A. J2A has two guiding principles: 1) Manhood and womanhood are gifts of God; and 2) Adulthood must be earned. This is a strong program with over 50 youth participating, many of whom engage in a wide variety of ministries at St. Alban’s. Two or three adults mentor each of the groups for two years, sharing their own faith journeys and forming strong bonds of fellowship with the participants.Learn more about Youth Ministries

The Episcopal Church

As Episcopalians, we follow Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe God is active in our everyday lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and with each other in Christ. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the gospel, and promotes justice, peace and love. The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all of its members.

We uphold the Bible and worship with the Book of Common Prayer. We believe the Holy Scriptures are the revealed Word of God. In worship we unite ourselves with one another to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God's Word, to offer prayer and praise, and to celebrate the Sacraments. The Celebration of Holy Eucharist is the central act of worship in accordance with Jesus' command to His disciples. Holy Communion may be received by all baptized Christians, not only members of the Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion with 70 million members in 165 countries.  The word "Episcopal" refers to government by bishops. The historic episcopate continues the work of the first apostles in the Church, guarding the faith, unity and discipline of the Church. Both men and women, including those who are married, are eligible for ordination as deacons, priests and bishops. 

We strive to love our neighbors as ourselves and respect the dignity of every person. We welcome all to find a spiritual home in the Episcopal Church.

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Articles

Sunday Forums

09.10.23 | Learn

    Every Sunday during the year, adults at St. Alban's gather for a forum hour to learn together and discuss their experiences and concerns as Christians in the nation’s capital. Audio of past forums is available on each forum series page.

    We resumed our Sunday Forums on Fall 2023. On our first series, we are discussing The Apostles Creed

    As the 2020 election approached, our adult formation team developed a series on voting faithfully (meeting on Zoom due to the pandemic).

    Our Lenten series focused on walking the way of the cross, with sessions on repentance, atonement, judgment, and resurrection. Check the page for details about our Lenten book groups, as well. 

    In February 2020, our clergy helped us learn more about how our children and youth are growing in Christ.

    We marked Martin Luther King, Jr., Sunday with a forum featuring former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe speaking about white supremacy

    Our Advent 2019 series, Waiting with Mary, took a fresh look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, through the Gospels, music and art.

    A three-part series, Facing Mortality, examined the end of life as a part of life, something we can prepare for with our values in mind.

    Fall 2019 began with a three-part series on Family Matters looking at the dynamics of relationships. 

    What would it mean to be "one parish, two languages?" Our forum speakers helped Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis through that transition and shared lessons learned.

    What can a priest learn on sabbatical? Jim Quigley shared his travels in word and pictures.

    Religion and science have been in tension for centuries, but recent advances have raised new ethical questions. We explore some of them in a series entitled Playing God.

    How is the season of Lent reflected in the arts? This three-part series looks at issues of faith as portrayed in poetry, painting and music.

    Why is the Nicene Creed considered Christianity's "symbol of faith?" A three-part series in March on the Creeds explores how it came to be and what it says about us.

    On Martin Luther King Sunday, author Sam Fulwood III led a forum on race in America, setting up a four-part series in February on confronting racism.

    St. Alban's marked Epiphany 2019 with a forum on Cuba and the Episcopal Church

    We ended 2018 with three forums on the cultural history of Advent and Christmas, Christmas Unwrapped.

    The opioid epidemic has claimed tens of thousands of American lives in the past year alone. An epidemiologist and a board member of Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church looked at the crisis from different angles.

    When stewardship season got underway we invited the co-chairs of the pledge campaign to share its goals.

    What do three 20th century theologians have to teach us today? We explored that question this fall in a series we called Theology Updated.

    Flannery O'Connor's story Revelation, replete with references to God, was the topic of two September forums.

    The Book of Common Prayer was the common theme in our two August forums.

    June means summer, so we had a second helping of food and faith at our Sunday forums. We also heard from some of the adults and youth whose mission trip this year took them to Kentucky.

    We kicked off May with a forum on the language of flowers, timed to coincide with Flower Mart at the Cathedral.

    Our forums in April examined aging faithfully, with a clear-eyed look at dementia as well as the needs of caregivers.

    In Lent, we looked at prayer from a variety of perspectives, including prayer through drawing and through meditation.

    The first forum series of 2018 explored the church's mission work around the world. We heard what St. Alban's is doing in South Sudan, Jordan and with Casa de Maryland.

    Our Advent forums in 2017, led by our clergy, focused on the Incarnation. What are its Biblical foundations, how do we understand the story and what does it mean for us today?

    The Protestant Reformation marked its 500th anniversary in 2017. What better time to explore its history and legacy? Ed Roslof was our guide.

    All we have is gift. The Christian ethic of generosity was the subject of our October forum series, led by the clergy and our stewardship chairs.

    Our J2A youth and their leaders went on pilgrimage to Iceland over the summer. They told a Sunday forum all about the experience and thanked St. Alban's members for supporting them.

    What is the Christian perspective on climate change? We explored the meaning of "climate justice" and look at what people of faith are doing in response to climate change.

    In August, we focused on the connections between faith and food in our own Christian tradition and in others. We learned new things and sampled foods from around the world.

    What does Christianity teach about poverty? What are we at St. Alban's moved to do about it? These are the questions we explored in our first summer forum series, looking at our mission work and our transitional housing program.

    As our Muslim neighbors marked one of the holiest seasons of the Islamic year, we gathered to learn more about Ramadan from Imam Johari Abdul-Malik.

    Our Easter season forum series focused on sanctuary and the issue of immigration: what our faith teaches us, how the church is responding and what rights citizens and non-citizens have.

    During Lent 2017, Priest-in-Charge Geoffrey Hoare led a five-part series on worship, with a particular focus on Eucharist.

    In February 2017, our focus was on war and morality. Speakers were parishioner David Wood, author of "What Have We Done: The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars," Matthew Zeller, co-founder of the nonprofit group No One Left Behind, and Wally Jensen, Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Armed Forces

    Two forums during the season of Epiphany 2017 featured an introduction to Eastern Orthodox icons. Theology in Color was led by parishioner Ed Roslof, a scholar of Russian history and religion.