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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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Following God's Call

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10.29.17

Following God's Call

Following God's Call

Series: Pentecost

Speaker: The Rev'd Debbie Kirk

God of love, we ask that you inspire us to listen to your voice and to act with courage.    Amen.

 

          What does it mean to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind….and love our neighbor as ourselves?  What kind of commitment is Jesus talking about?  And who is our neighbor? 

          I learn so much about faith and courage, love and commitment, from listening to people’s stories, whether face to face or in the written word.  I will share two stories with you that have inspired me and taught me about taking risks to follow God’s call to love unselfishly.  The first story is from 2017, and the second from the Bible.

          The first story is the face to face one.  I now have the opportunity to hear stories of faith in action not only from our church community, but also from the community of vulnerable populations that I now serve directly.  This first story comes from the community served by the non-profit organization CASA.  This person whom I will call Cindy has given me permission to tell you her story.  She is a DACA recipient.  DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is the program that gave legal status to many children who have grown up here, youth that have successfully gone through school including some now in college and graduate school, and have not been in trouble.   These youth speak English, most with no accent; they are assimilated into American culture; they can have legal driver’s licenses; they can go to school or work; they are starting families; they are paying taxes and buying houses.  Many of these youth have no memories of the country where they were born and know no one there; some do not even speak the language of that country.  Their world is here in the United States with a rich cultural heritage from another country that they know usually only from family and friends. 

          Cindy came to the US when she was four; now she is in her early twenties.  She doesn’t have personal memories of her country of origin, the culture there, nor does she personally know the few relatives who remain there.

          The DACA program has given Cindy hope.  She has legal status.  With that hope, she finished high school and can enter college.  She has a driver’s license.  She works and pays taxes.  None of this would have been possible without the DACA program. 

          CASA offered her an opportunity to play a role in defending the rights of DACA recipients who had this hope, this dream, until the program was terminated.  If the dream is to exist now, it is up to Congress.  Congress has never passed legislation to enact either the Dream Act giving these children a pathway to citizenship or DACA legislation to continue their legal status.

          Cindy is now speaking out publicly through CASA, Washington Lawyer’s Committee, Howard University Law School, and the private law firm of Arnold and Porter to make the situation of DACA recipients public on a personal basis.  She has made a decision to speak out for the more than 800,000 DACA recipients who will be deportable in March 2018 unless Congress acts.  She risks retaliation, not only for herself, but also for her family.  She is taking a risk because she feels that her faith requires her to love her neighbor—to stand up for and defend other DACA recipients she does not know but who will lose so much.  After intense prayer and discussion with her family, Cindy made the decision to risk her own future to help others.  Her decision was based, she told me, on how she perceived God wants us to love him and how we should love our neighbor, including the stranger in our world.  I admire her love and her commitment to God and neighbor.

          Now to the second story.    This story is from the Bible.  It is also a story about someone who was born into one culture, but was taken as a child and raised in another culture.  This person was born into an Israelite family, but was raised as an Egyptian, an Egyptian with power and privilege.  Does this story beg into sound familiar?  This man didn’t face his difficult but courageous decision until he was in his forties.  But he, too, was given an opportunity to speak out and to defend people’s rights.  Have you guessed who it was?

          Moses.  Moses answered God’s call to defend and protect people too.  He perceived God’s call and was willing to risk his future well-being and safety in order to bring other people to safety and to hope.  He made a commitment to love God and to love his neighbor above himself.  He risked his own future to save others.  And as the Bible tells us, he didn’t have an easy time of it.  And in the end, he didn’t get to the promised land.  But the people to whom he made the commitment to love, they entered the promised land.         The faith Moses had in God remained with him throughout his life.  He loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind and loved his neighbor more than himself. 

          In both the stories today, these individuals listened to God’s call.  They prayed for God’s guidance and followed their love and commitment to God and community that resided in their hearts.  They acted with courage to save others, despite the possibility of serious adverse consequences to themselves.

          As we approach All Saints Day, I think of the song my children learned in Sunday School.  “I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew…they loved the Lord … and his love made them strong, they followed the right for Jesus’ sake, the whole of their good lives long.”

          I conclude as we began, with the collect in which we prayed that God might increase us in the gifts of faith, hope, and love.

 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,  Amen.