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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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Membership at St. Alban's

03.01.16 | Connect, Formation

    All are welcome at St. Alban's. If you're not already a member, at some point, we hope you will choose to become one.

    The St. Alban’s community is made up of people who come from a wide variety of spiritual traditions and who are at many points in their own spiritual development. For this reason, we offer a number of ways to participate in our worship and ministries. We welcome the faithful, the seeker, and the doubter for God’s embrace is wide and God’s good news is for all. From the time of your first visit here, we welcome you to enter fully into worship, to receive Holy Communion, and to be part of our parish family. 

    Newcomers 

    For many people, it takes a while to assess a spiritual community and decide whether they wish to make it their spiritual home. For us, the key question is whether this is a community that challenges you to grow. We encourage newcomers to fill out a welcome card, attend services, engage with our opportunities to serve and to learn, meet the people who are here, and look for a sense of belonging. We will work with you in this time of discernment, helping you to meet people and figure out what’s here and how to participate in it.  We understand that there can be many doors into a community of faith and we are committed to helping you find the door that works for you. 

    Church Membership 

    Once you have decided that you wish to pitch your tent here for a while, you are ready to become a member of the parish by registering your baptism with the church office and stating that you wish to be a member here. To take that step, please complete this form.

    If you come from a non-Christian faith tradition or from no faith tradition at all, the clergy would love to speak with you about baptism when you are ready for it. Members are eligible to be married here and to vote in elections for our parish leadership.

    While visitors are mostly people whom we serve, we hope that members will take their place in the life of this community, as active engagement is the foundation for spiritual growth. We expect that our members will:

    • attend worship frequently
    • participate in ministry outside of Sunday worship. We have a wide array of ministries that range from weekly commitments to monthly ones, and even to occasional service, so you can pick not only your interests but also work with the time you have to give. We also know that there are times in every person’s life (such as caring for a newborn or a sick relative, or after a bereavement) in which what you may most need from this community is a place of prayer and support.
    • enroll your children or teenagers in our formation programs and support them in participating.
    • try to nourish your own spiritual growth, either by making use of the classes and resources that we provide, or by reading or prayer on your own.
    • support the parish financially, either by making an annual pledge or by making a regular non-pledge contribution. 

    If you wish to take this step, and if you were previously a member of another church, you only need to ask us to initiate a Letter of Transfer. If you come from another faith tradition, that’s fine. We welcome you. 

    Membership in the Episcopal Church 

    While our community includes people who were raised in other traditions, many people do eventually decide that they wish to become Episcopalian. If you wish to learn more about the Episcopal Church, we offer an adult confirmation class twice a year that explores our spirituality, history, and traditions. Many people take it simply to explore and deepen their spirituality. If you have been baptized in another tradition and wish to become Episcopalian, we will present you to be confirmed or received by the Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde. (And we’ll even explain the difference as part of the class.) At that point, you would be able to participate in parish leadership at the highest level, the Vestry (our governing board). Contact The Rev'd Yoimel González Hernández to learn more.