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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.

I'm New
St. Alban's
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Articles

Announcing Our New Rector and an Important Promotion

03.22.23 | News | by Mery Montenegro

    After an extensive search process, St. Alban's Episcopal Church has a new rector.

    With joy and delight, the Search Committee announces the calling of the 16th Rector of St. Alban’s: The Rev. Albert “Bertie” Claybourn Pearson.

    Bertie’s first Sunday at St. Alban’s will be May 7th. He will commute from Austin for several days a week during the first 3 weeks of May (including Sundays: May 7th, 14th and 21st) while his children finish the school year. Bertie will join us full-time through the month of June, step away for July for a long-planned family trip to Europe, and return in August for this exciting new phase in the life of our community.

    Bertie was ordained in 2008 in the Diocese of California. After completing his Master of Divinity at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Bertie spent time in further study at Cuddesdon, one of Oxford University’s theological colleges, where he also served as Assistant Chaplain of Oxford’s Hertford College. He served for two years on the staff of the Bishop of California and then as a priest in charge of Holy Innocents and St. John the Evangelist, two parishes in San Francisco’s Mission District. In 2012 Bertie was called as Vicar of San Francisco de Asís, a Spanish-language Episcopal Church and medical mission in Austin, Texas, where he achieved fluency in Spanish. In 2016 Bertie was called to serve as Rector of Grace Georgetown, a large, multi-campus church in a northern suburb of Austin, where he has served for the last 7 years. Bertie also teaches History at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, has served as the Iona School for Ministry’s Lecturer in Church History since 2014, is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Historical Theology, and serves as Dean of the Austin Convocation of Clergy. 

    Bertie and his wife, Dr. Rahel Pearson, a clinical psychologist who does depression research at the VA’s Center of Excellence, have two children: Helena, who is 8, and Augustine (“Augie”), who is 3. Prior to clerical life, Bertie played drums in various bands, produced electronic music, and toured as a DJ. While ministry allows little time for synthesizer exploration, Bertie and another Episcopal priest produced a record of electronic music, which was released earlier this year. Bertie is also an avid photographer whose work has been shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Bertie, Rahel, Helena and Augie love to travel, and return to Rahel’s native Netherlands and to France for vacation each summer. 


    In excellent related news, Bertie and Rahel are very keen to live in the Rectory. Under our Junior Warden Ted Cage's leadership, we are engaged in an intensive project to refurbish the house and make it comfortable as a family dwelling once again, more than thirty years after it was last used for this purpose. Having the Pearson family reside on our campus and in the midst of our community will be a distinct boon for the life of our parish; it is also central to Bertie’s conception of the ministry he intends to pursue at St. Alban’s. 

    Ours has been an energetic and thorough search process.  We are one of the first parishes to complete the process following our diocese’s new protocol, under which the 2022 Vestry served as our Search Committee throughout. With Bishop Budde’s enthusiastic support, the outcome expresses our deep belief that the Holy Spirit has called Bertie to serve alongside us in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of the Washington area. 

    AND RECOGNIZING OUR TRANSITIONAL LEADER

    Another happy announcement is also in order. During this interim period, we have been, and continue to be, blessed by the exceptional work of our Associate Rectors, Emily Griffin and Yoimel González Hernández. Their combined efforts are keeping our services vibrant and our life as a parish vital as we enter upon the next phase of our life as a community of faith. Bertie has expressed his great admiration for both of our clergy and looks forward to joining them in serving St. Alban’s.

    Emily has been a member of our clergy staff since 2015 and is now in her twentieth year as a priest. She has borne the main responsibilities of leadership since Geoffrey Hoare’s departure and will continue to do so pending Bertie’s arrival. Characteristically, she more than meets these challenges, lavishing her time and priestly gifts upon us and bringing stability and grace to the parish. It is, therefore, a distinct pleasure to announce that, with Bertie’s strong endorsement and the Vestry’s heartfelt support, Emily has been elevated to the position of Senior Associate Rector.