Parish Profile — January 2010
St. David’s Episcopal Church
Richmond Chesterfield County Virginia
www.stdavidschesterfield.org
Sharing God’s Gifts and Love
Table of Contents
h.
Other Parish Programs and Activities
9.
Our Resources / Stewardship.
St. David’s Episcopal Church, located in northern
The recent expansion of our facilities with the addition of a Parish Hall, has allowed our ministries to grow and serve our parishioners and the greater community in which we live.
The basic demographics for St. David’s are as follows:
In November 2000, St. David's called the Reverend
Phillip R.
Glick as rector after nearly four and a half years of transition,
interim and
supply priests. Father Phil is also a
member of the North Carolina National Guard, serving as Chaplain. With the conflicts in
Since Father Phil’s resignation in November 2008, our leadership and parishioners have approached this transition period as an opportunity for reflection, renewal and a commitment to a hopeful and promising future.
We are a friendly, diverse faith community ready to share our gifts and love of Christ. Our parish consists of members from varied denominational backgrounds, different ages and races. St. David’s has a large number of families with children and has a large, active E.Y.C.
Our love for Christ and one another helps us to reach out to the greater community with a variety of opportunities to assist the less fortunate.
We value our diversity by offering three distinct services--meditative, contemporary and traditional. Yet, when we come together in social events or outreach projects, we work as one body. We are bonded in faith from our common experiences. We also look for opportunities for new growth in our spiritual lives. Visit us on our web site: www.stdavidschesterfield.org
Our Staff
The Reverend Frederick W. “Rick” Willis, Jr. has served as our Transitional Rector since December 2008. There are three paid lay staff positions: Parish Administrator (30 hours per week), Music Director and Director of Christian Formation (both part-time approximately 12 hours per week.)
Our Parish Governance
St. David’s currently has a 12-person vestry with four members rotating off each year when four new members are elected for three-year terms. Elections are held at the Annual Parish Meeting the first Sunday in May. The vestry operates on a Commission System with each vestry person serving as a Commission Chair.
4. Our
St. David’s recently completed an 18-month
Strategic
Planning process through which we defined our Core Values,
VISION STATEMENT: We participate, adapt, and grow in our worship and Christian learning. We are fully engaged in loving each other and our community, drawing one another closer to Christ and His teachings. We support our members and others with compassion, in accordance with God’s will. We give fully and sacrificially from all that God has placed into our hands, to continue the work of His Kingdom.
We are defined by our core values described in our recently developed Five Year Ministry Plan.
WORSHIP: We value diverse, spirit-filled worship, ranging from traditional to contemporary, grounded in the Word and Sacraments and based on faith and prayer.
FELLOWSHIP: We value coming together and fostering friendships in a loving and joyful community centered in Christ.
HOSPITALITY: We invite and embrace our neighbors, newcomers and visitors in the spirit of Christ.
OUTREACH: Responding to Christ's teachings and His call, we offer ourselves to the wider community to serve those in need.
PASTORAL CARE: We are a compassionate community that expresses the love and healing power of Christ, supporting one another with hope and encouragement.
INCLUSION: As a diverse community, we embrace one another in a spirit of love, acceptance, and friendship, providing opportunities for all to participate in worship and ministry.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION: We aspire to know God and understand our faith by providing opportunities for life-long learning and growth while supporting one another in our spiritual journey.
STEWARDSHIP: We aspire to be good stewards of all the gifts of “time, talent and treasure” entrusted to us for building up God's Kingdom. We seek to embrace the tithe as the biblical standard of giving.
Our parish is a loving and joyful community that wishes to grow. We see our future as one with strong leadership from the clergy and the laity, with improved communication on all levels. We seek a rector who will help us grow both spiritually and numerically and will work with our laity to develop new leadership and strengthen our current programs.
Our Worship stands at the core of all that we do and is centered on inspirational sermons and lively liturgies that guide us on our Christian journey. We want to maintain the strong, vibrant worship that nurtures us as a parish and in our individual lives. Worship, together with Christian formation and prayer, provides the groundwork for our spiritual growth. We desire to share our journey with others, and our hospitality shines forth in the spirit of Christ. We seek a leader who can continue the spiritually fulfilling worship that is at the core of our community.
St. David’s parishioners share God’s gifts and love both internally and externally. Through our pastoral care ministry, we share our love for one another and the healing power of Christ with parishioners in times of need. Our outreach ministries allow us to serve our community in the name of Christ. We expect our ministries to continue to grow and thrive in the future. Our new leader should support and develop the lay leadership which is at the core of this compassionate part of our community that offers hope and encouragement to our parishioners and community in times of need.
We want a rector who possesses strong administrative skills including the ability to foster improved communication within the parish. These skills and abilities will be crucial in guiding us through our growth.
We are a church in transition. As we grow and move forward, St. David's faces the challenge of change. Some members may be facing anxiety as we all leave our comfort zones and encounter new and different relationships in our church community.
A recent parish survey revealed that our congregation desires improved communications across the ministry areas. We need to improve the information flow and exchange within St. David’s in order to continue to grow. We will become a stronger community and will have greater participation if we use additional resources to communicate church events in a timely manner.
St. David's is challenged with developing new leaders and increasing the depth of parishioner involvement. We strive to bring balance of effort across the parish to our many valuable ministries and programs.
St. David’s three worship services stand at the center of all that we do. Each service has a distinctive spirit that attracts its own faithful worshipers.
Our early service (
The second service (
Our final service of the day (
All services follow the Rite 2 liturgy. One Sunday a month a healing service is incorporated into each of our worship services. Lay Unctioners offer anointing with holy oil and the laying on of hands with a prayer of healing.
Music
plays a significant part in worship at St. David’s.
Our music director oversees the two regular
choirs (contemporary at the
Our youth are a very influential part of the congregation. We have about 25 students in grades 6-12. We almost always have one of the largest representations of youth at diocesan events and our youth are serving as leaders at the diocesan level. They get together frequently for events in our Parish Hall or to attend youth retreats. This vibrant group enjoys helping with various outreach ministries, and no matter where they go, they make their presence known. This is a fun-loving group of teens, and they enjoy gathering for fellowship and laughs whenever they get the chance. The parish has identified the need for a rector with a strong background in and support for youth ministry.
In recognition of the fact that we should not do the work of God only within the walls of the church, we at St. David’s live our lives in service to others both in our church family and in the wider community. Three Sundays each month focus on and provide support for our outreach ministries.
Some
of our activities are listed below:
·
Homeless Shelters –
We provide the
evening meal once per month to a local men’s shelter.
We also collect fresh fruits and vegetables
to donate to a local homeless shelter for women and children once a
month.
· CARITAS – For the last eight years St. David’s has been involved with CARITAS (Congregations Around Richmond Involved to Assure Shelter.) The first six years we partnered with local churches providing shelter to men and women. For the last 2 years, after completion of our new Parish Hall, we have sheltered up to 30 guests for a full week.
·
CCHASM – In
conjunction with
approximately 80 other area churches, we participate in CCHASM
(Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Alliance for Social Ministry). CCHASM serves individuals and families in the
· Christmas Ministries – Parishioners of St. David’s annually assist the Salvation Army by bell ringing and also provide items on the wish lists for the local Christmas Mother Organization.
· Kairos – For the last 17 years, St. David’s has been involved with Kairos, a prison ministry that grew out of the Cursillo movement. It addresses the spiritual needs of incarcerated men and women, their families and those who work in the prison environment.
·
Scouting – Our church
is home to
active Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. Our Boy Scout troop just
celebrated its
25th anniversary and assists the church throughout the year.
· ERD - The members of St. David’s are quick to help those who have been struck by disaster through contributions to Episcopal Relief & Development.
· St. David’s Preschool – An outreach committee works with our preschool director to provide stronger linkages between the parish and the preschool.
St. David’s provides a Sunday School for preschool
through
high school and an Adult Forum session.
We have a Lenten program that covers a different topic each year
and a
thriving
Some
of our Fellowship activities are listed below:
· Spring Fest – much more than a yard sale, our annual fundraiser brings our parish together as we volunteer in different aspects of this project. A week prior we collect items and on Saturday it is a fun filled event that includes food, games and entertainment.
· Softball Team – St. David’s has been fielding a competitive softball team for many years in the Chesterfield County Church League where the fans and players have enjoyed the camaraderie both during and after the games.
· Parish Picnic – Each fall we host a parish picnic and combined service to kick off our Fall Programs.
· Ladies’ High Tea – the men of St David’s host an annual afternoon tea on English Mother’s Day Holiday with entertainment for the parish ladies and their guests.
·
Royal
Barbecue Society – men’s social and service group that places a focus on
food, fellowship
and celebration. They apply exceptional
cooking skills (BBQ, chicken, chili, and gumbo for example) with various
"secret" recipes to support a variety of Parish Life and fundraising
functions.
· Newcomer Activities – St. David’s welcomes all newcomers with a bread delivery on the Sunday they attend. We offer every other month “St. David’s 101” to orient newcomers to our parish. We also periodically host a Newcomer Welcome Reception or Dinner.
g. Pastoral Care
Through our Pastoral Care programs, we reach out to provide comfort and care to our Parish.
Some of our Pastoral Care activities are listed below:
· Meals for Shut-ins – For emergency times when there is a death, hospitalization, loss of job or any other hardship. The meals are provided by a group of parishioners who keep up with the inventory of the meals.
· Grief Group – Lay-led support group that meets seasonally. It is mainly a sharing time with some grief materials for reference.
· Card Ministry – A ministry made up of volunteers that send cards to parish members for birthdays, anniversaries, get well, sympathy and birth of babies.
· Lay Eucharistic Visitors – Lay people carry communion from the Sunday service to shut-ins or hospital patients. A short service for the sick is the format taken to the visit. This includes Gospel reading and review of the sermon. It also gives the lay person an opportunity to relay any messages to the Rector.
h. Other Parish Programs and Activities
St. David’s has sponsored a pre-school program for over 30 years. A parishioner of St. David's currently leads the pre-school program. Each year, the church provides scholarships to students in need.
St. David’s parishioners have been very active in the Diocese of Southern Virginia’s Cursillo community and about a quarter of our parishioners have made their Cursillo. Our members also regularly serve on Cursillo teams, and many take on leadership roles for the program.
St. David’s has a very active chapter of the Order of the Daughters of the King called the Women of the Cross.
9. Our Resources / Stewardship
St. David’s has had a history of strong giving in the past. The current economy has presented tremendous challenges, but we maintain a strong financial base. Currently, 73 pledging units produce $257,289 of the total 2010 budget income. In addition to encouraging the tithe as the standard of giving, we also utilize an annual “Time and Talent” survey through which parishioners can exercise the stewardship of their time and talent. A “Talent Fair” provides an open and fun format for parishioners to learn more about and commit to one or more of our many ministries.
St. David’s is located on approximately 5 acres of land in a suburban setting near a major intersection. Our facilities include a sanctuary, parish hall, Sunday school rooms and an industrial kitchen.
The new Parish Hall with movable partitions was dedicated in 2007 and has significantly enhanced parish and community programs. The outstanding debt is $870,000 and is being paid off at a rate of $91,392 per year as part of the annual operating budget (our Building &Grounds component).
St. David’s is located just minutes from the City
of
Diocese of
City of
Richmond.com: http://www2.richmond.com/visit-richmond/
School links
Chesterfield Public Schools: http://chesterfield.k12.va.us/
Richmond Private Schools: http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Virginia/Richmond/Private-schools.html
Universities and Colleges: http://www.50states.com/college/richmond.VA.htm
Since our founding in 1967 St. David’s has
responded to the
challenges and opportunities presented to it. The small group in the
beginning
met the challenge of establishing a new church when we moved into a new
building in 1972. We continued to grow in the 70’s and early 80’s. Our
faith was
rewarded in February 1984 when St. David’s became a parish. St. David’s
embraced an opportunity in 1991 when we called the Reverend Karen G.
Walters to
be our rector, the first full-time female rector in our diocese. Another
example of the challenges we have met is the successful planning and
fund
raising efforts for the recently opened parish hall that continued even
though
our Rector was called to active duty in
A more detailed history is available on our website at http://www.stdavidschesterfield.org/index.php?page=history.
St. David's has set itself on a path to a bright future, centered on Christ and built upon our faith and our deeds. We are a vibrant parish that shares our God-given gifts with each other and our community. We are seeking a rector who will walk with us toward a closer relationship with God, and help us gain a deeper understanding of our ministry in the world.
