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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

Starting May 29, 2022, through Labor Day Weekend, our schedule changes for your convenience. We hope to see you during the summer, whether in our in-person services or via Livestream.

Weekly In-person Sunday Service Schedule:

8:00 a.m. (English) in the Church
10:00 a.m. (English) in the Church
11:15 a.m. (Spanish) in Nourse Hall

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 10 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 at    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: Children’s Chapel meets at the start of the 9:00 a.m. service. Starting in September 2021, Children’s Chapel with Communion will be held outdoors on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at 9:00 a.m. To learn more, contact the Rev’d Emily Griffin.

Education: All church school classes resume the Sunday after Labor Day with our annual Open House. Instruction starts the following Sunday.

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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Faith Talk - His and Hers

His and Hers

Posted by Jo Turner on

This past Sunday, we heard diverse language referring to our God. The Gospel reading from John spoke of “father” no less than 13 times.  Of course it did: springing from a patriarchal culture like the other faiths in our Abrahamic tradition, God as father figure was the source of authority and wisdom, the provider and protector. All good.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, and the choir offered Bobby McFerrin’s version of Psalm 23 for the motet, where all the references to God are feminine.  McFerrin, the great American jazz vocalist and conductor, explained that he’d been “thinking about God’s unconditional love and … realized one of the ways we’re shown a glimpse of how God loves us is through our mothers. They cherish our spirits, they demand that we become our best selves, and they take care of us.” Also all good.

We’re not talking about gender-bending political correctness here. We seek God, we relate to God through the lens of our own story. My story is that both my father and mother were wonderfully loving, forgiving and tender parents. But while I like to think this is the rule, it may be the exception; many people have experienced little such love, and some have been abused, often by the father. For them, God-as-father is neither comforting nor welcoming. We need to honestly express how and in whom we feel God’s power and presence.

I am deeply moved when I sing McFerrin’s lyrics, they are so true to my mother and me. I believe I came to recognize God in my life because I had first seen God in hers.

“She restores my soul; she rights my wrongs. 
She leads me in a path of good things and fills my heart with songs.
Even though I walk through a dark and dreary land,
There is nothing that can shake me, she has said she won’t forsake me,
I am in her hand.”

Our wonderful teen preachers on Sunday acknowledged their varied experiences of God, relating them to the “many dwelling places” we are promised in the kingdom. Since Easter, we’ve considered how we would recognize Jesus on our Emmaus road and how we might identify good shepherds in our life story. They may be fathers or mothers or daughters, male or female, old or young. Thank God that Jesus came to dwell among us and is very evident in lives that may be close to us. Look deeply into your own story. You will find the ones in whom Christ dwells and who will lead you “in a path of good things.”

Listen to Bobby McFerrin’s Psalm 23 by at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fzWq-d8jU

 

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