This is my search section here
  • Welcome
  • Service Times
  • Directions
  • What to Expect
  • For Your Kids
  • The Episcopal Church
Close X

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
Header Image

Steadiness

Filter By:
08.09.20

Steadiness

Steadiness

Series: Pentecost

Speaker: The Rev'd Emily Griffin

Talk about made for television. Today’s Gospel has all the elements of a classic one-hour episode: the teaser as Jesus leaves the disciples, the rising action of the wind and waves of the storm, the dramatic climax as Jesus walks out to them on the water. Any fears seem to be immediately addressed. The disciples think they see a ghost; immediately Jesus reassures them. Peter starts to sink; immediately a hand reaches out to catch him. Even the ending seems tidy in this version. While Mark understandably leaves the disciples astounded and confused, our Gospel writer Matthew has them give their first full-blown confession of faith. Cut to theme music and closing credits.

Too bad our fears tend not to dissolve so easily. Television has spoiled us. We’ve come to expect episodes, manageable crises, problems that can be resolved in a reasonable amount of time. We don’t know what to do as a country when there is no end in sight – when a thousand people keep dying daily from the coronavirus, when unemployment continues to climb, when Black Americans are still fighting for equal protection under the law. Meanwhile, in places where the cameras have stopped rolling, environmental damage hasn’t stopped. The immigration system remains horrifically broken. You name the storm; we can’t seem to get a handle on any of it these days. The sense that “we’re all in this together” seems to be slipping from our grasp. So, how can today’s Gospel, with all its apparent tidiness, possibly help us?

Well, personally, I love that this passage starts with Jesus needing some alone time. If our Savior needed room to breathe and pray apart from his well-intended loved ones, then maybe it’s OK for us to claim some space too. In the story, he’s just found out about his cousin John the Baptist’s execution; he goes to a deserted place to grieve, to consider his own fate, to gather the courage required to stay on this path. But, of course, the sea of need finds him there too. Finally, he catches a break. Can you imagine how he must have savored the silence, the respite from endless demands? The fact that this time apart doesn’t last long doesn’t mean he didn’t need it or that he was wrong to seek it. Let’s be clear - we’re not wrong or selfish to seek time apart either; in fact, a little shelter from the storm might be just what we need to endure it.

But then it’s back to the action. Somehow Jesus manages to overcome his own need and meets the disciples in the midst of the storm, in the middle of their fear. I’m not going to explain it; any rational explanation rings hollow. Nor am I going to reduce it all to metaphor; that’s equally dismissive. This story conveys something about the disciples’ experience of Jesus that couldn’t be communicated any other way. Perhaps it was his steadiness and non-anxious presence they couldn’t express; or maybe it was his refusal to abandon them to chaos that required this story to be told. The disciples had heard all their lives in synagogue about a God who “silence(s) the roaring of the seas”, who “makes a path in the mighty waters”. In Jesus, they saw this God made flesh. The peace that passes all understanding found them that night; they saw peace in the face of Jesus, and they had to let us know.

Even our doubt is named and given expression here. Matthew is the only Gospel to mention Peter’s brief sojourn on the waves. I can’t tell you how many sermons I’ve heard criticizing Peter for his lack of faith, his inability to stay focused on Jesus. I don’t know why we feel the need to put others down in order to lift Jesus up, as if Jesus requires this of us. Nor do I know why we feel the need to put the hammer down on anyone who steps away from the herd. We don’t need to condemn Peter for his need to get out of the boat any more than we need to condemn the others for staying put. Shaming our fellow boat members for their expressions of faith or doubt in the middle of a storm is more than not helpful; most often, it’s a self-serving waste of time.

Some, though, hear a note of shaming in Jesus’ reply as he gets Peter back in the boat: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” We don’t get stage directions in Scripture; we can’t hear tone of voice or read facial expressions, but shame is not what I hear. If anything, I hear a little humor. Who wouldn’t doubt in this moment? Regardless, Jesus asks Peter a question; he doesn’t shut down the conversation. In fact, he opens it up. Doubt that can be named can be dealt with. Besides, doubt is not the opposite of faith. Sometimes it’s the best tool for strengthening our faith once we have the courage to let it show.

Nevertheless, the story ends not with doubt but with the disciples’ strongest commitment of faith yet. We’re told that they worship him as the Son of God. Why now? They’ve been with Jesus for a while. They’ve heard his teachings; they’ve seen him feed and heal thousands of people. If all they needed was the showy and miraculous, they’d already seen that. No, there was something about this moment, how he came to them and stayed with them in their fear. His steadiness, his willingness to come to them when they were flailing, his comfort level with their doubt. He wasn’t consumed or panicked by the chaos of the storm; he stayed with them, and he called them to courage. The good news today is that he does the same thing with us. Jesus is here with us in the midst of our many storms. He doesn’t shame us for our fear or our doubt, but neither does he let us off the hook. If he can stay steady and alert and responsive to the very real needs around him, then so can we. Who knows? If we let ourselves stay with him, the peace that passes all understanding might just find us too. In the Name of the One who stays with us long after the cameras stop rolling, Amen.