New Year Service: Lessons and Carols at St. Paul's in Old Town Alexandria

St. Paul's will have a service on Sunday, January 1. The service will be Lessons and Carols at 10:00 a.m.

We hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from St. Paul's

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from St.Paul's.

Please enjoy this shot of a Christmas Eve service taken by Susan Dawson.

Christmas Pageant + Lessons and Carols TODAY at St. Paul's in Old Town

Don't forget!

Today, at 9 a.m., St. Paul's Annual Christmas Pageant will take place. All are welcome and all children are welcome to participate.

Lessons and Carols is also today at 11:00 a.m.

We hope to see you there!

Scottish Christmas Walk in Old Town Alexandria. Virginia

Senator Patsy Ticer, Grand Marshal of the Scottish Christmas Walk parade, with her grandsons, smiles for the camera.

St. Paul's participated in the Junior Friends' Tour of Homes that benefits The Campagna Center.

Angel Tree for St. Paul's is a Success at St. Paul's

The volunteers and contributors worked very hard to make this year's Angel Tree a huge success. 


Presents were collected and loaded on the truck yesterday. Also collected, were school supplies and personal care products for the Angel Bags.  


A BIG thank you to the volunteers and especially Liza May and Sue Setliff.

The Rev. Judith McDaniel, Ph.D.: Advent Adult Forum at St. Paul's Old Town

Today, Sunday, December 11, The Rev. Judith McDaniel, Ph.D. spoke at St. Paul's Adult Advent Forum. The program, Grace in Motion: the Intersection of Women’s Ordination and Virginia Theological Seminary, with The Rev. Judith McDaniel, Ph.D., Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary and St. Paul’s Parish Associate took place in Norton Hall.


Photo courtesy of Alix Dorr

Advent Adult Forum at St. Paul's in Old Town Alexandria

Curl Up with a Good Book this Advent

Sunday, December 11: Grace in Motion: the Intersection of Women’s Ordination and Virginia Theological Seminary, with The Rev. Judith McDaniel, Ph.D., Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary and St. Paul’s Parish Associate.

December 18: Religious Themes in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with The Rev. Ross Kane.

Old Town Alexandria Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend

St. Paul's members participated in this year's Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend.

Seen above: 

Wylie Prior trying to play his mini bagpipes for Claudia Martino and t

he Prior family walking.

Photos Courtesy of BJ Martino

Christmas Time at St. Paul's

It is almost time for Christmas at St. Paul's in Old Town Alexandria. Here is our schedule and we would love for you to join us.

CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE

December 18, 2011

9:00 a.m. Pageant and Eucharist 11:00 a.m. Advent Lessons and Carols and Eucharist with adult choir and hand bells

 

December 24, 2011

4:00 p.m. Eucharist with Angel Choir 5:30 p.m. Choral Prelude and 6:00 p.m. Eucharist with St. Cecilia Choir, Adult Choir women brass

10:30 p.m.     Choral Prelude and 11:00 p.m. Eucharist with Adult Choir and Brass

 

December 25, 2011

10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Family Service 

Thanksgiving Eve Service at St. Paul's

St. Paul's will be offering Thanksgiving Eve Service this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Please come and worship with us on this Thanksgiving holiday week.

South Sudan Trip: The Rev. Oran E. Warder

The Rev. Oran E. Warder just returned from his trip to Sudan with St. Paul's mission partners in the city of Juba in the new nation of South Sudan.  At the invitation of Archbishop Daniel he attended the General Synod of the Episcopal Church of Sudan.  This gathering happens every five years and is the first such gathering since Independence.  The Episcopal Church of Sudan now spans two nations, both filled with struggle and seemingly insurmountable difficulty. The Church is at the center of the work of reconciliation – and this suffering church is exploding in growth – now over 4 million strong.  There are more Episcopalians on the continent of African than in the rest of the world combined, making us the third largest Christian body in the world.

Michael Pope visits St. Paul's for an Adult Forum

For two weeks, Michael Pope, visited St. Paul's as the Adult Forum speaker.

Last Sunday's Forum - Adult Forum: Alexandria as Part of Washington, DC

When St. Paul’s was founded in 1809, it was not part of Virginia but the District of Columbia. Join St. Paul’s parishioner and reporter Michael Pope as he discusses Alexandria's time as part of DC, a hidden history that features many prominent St. Paul's parishioners. 

Bio on Michael Pope

Michael Lee Pope is an award-winning journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria. He has reported for the Alexandria Gazette Packet, WAMU 88.5 News, the New York Daily News and the Tallahassee Democrat. A native of Moultrie, Georgia, he grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from high school in Tampa, Florida. He has a master's degree in American Studies from Florida State University, and he lives in the Yates Gardens neighborhood with his lovely wife, Hope Nelson.

Old Town Alexandria Cemetery Clean-Up: St. Paul's

St. Paul's members work to clean-up the cemetery late last month. Enjoy this video of our members hard at work.

What is going on int he video?

The short video of our first attempt to lift the obelisk back into place.

Almost Angel Season at St. Paul's

Angel Tree at St. Paul's

We are ready for Angel Tree Program 2011! Please make the holiday season special for your fellow Alexandrians (children, adults, seniors & disabled) by picking an Angel (gifts for an individual), Star (gift card) or Heart (donation to the Angel Fund).  We will have trees set up in Norton Lobby at all five services on Saturday, November 12 and Sunday, November 13. For more information, please contact Liza May at may21@cox.net and 703-915-4943 or Sue Setliff at setliff.sue@gmail.com  and 703-967-6922.

All Saints' Day is TONIGHT at St. Paul's

Celebrate All Saints Day, TONIGHT, November 1, 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul's at Choral Evensong with St. Paul's Choir.  Music by Byrd, Stanford and others, and All Saints Day hymns.  Opportunity to light candles in memory of loved ones.  Information:  Grant Hellmers at 703-549-3312, ext. 17,or grant@stpaulsalexandria.com

O'Connell's Restaurant: Theology on Tap

On October 30, Theology on Tap asks, “How does Jesus Save Us?”  Join us after the 5:00 p.m. service or at O'Connell's Restaurant (on King near Union St.) at 6:15 p.m.  For more information, please contact The Rev. Ross Kane at ross@stpaulsalexandria.com.

St. Paul's in Old Town Alexandria: Music

Looking for more Angels and Saints to sing in Angel Choir (readers through 2^nd grade) and St. Cecilia Choir (3^rd grade and up).  Rehearsals are Wednesdays 5:00-5:45 p.m. (Angel Choir) and 6:00-6:45 p.m. (St. Cecilia Choir) in the choir room, Lower Norton.  More ringers also needed (11^th grade through adult) for St. Paul’s Hand Bell Choir (rehearsals Wednesdays 7:45-8:45 p.m.).  Contact  Grant Hellmers at grant@stpaulsalexandria.com for information and to register. 

 

All Saints Day Evensong, Tuesday, November 1, 7:30 p.m. with St. Paul’s Adult Choir singing music by Byrd, Stanford, Marchant, and others.  There will be an opportunity given to light candles in memory of loved ones who have passed.  For more information, please contact Grant Hellmers at  grant@stpaulsalexandria.com, or 703-549-3312, ext. 17.

St. Paul's in Old Town Alexandria: Pledge Sunday, October 16

It’s time to make a pledge for 2012 that enables St. Paul’s to Change Lives through your generosity. In making your pledge, please give generously, nearly ninety percent of the $1.2 million budget is made up a your individual gifts and offerings. Every gift is important. It is your generosity that allows St. Paul’s to change lives. Offer your first and best gift to God. Sunday Oct 16 is the day we ask our members to return pledge cards stating their financial pledge for the coming year. Many have already made a 2012 pledge, thank you. You may pledge at www.stpaulsalexandria.com or place a pledge card from the pew in the offering plate.

St. Paul's Adopt-a-Block: Old Town Alexandria

Please join members of St. Paul's on Saturday, October 22, at 9 a.m. and help clean up the 4 blocks surrounding our church. Gloves and trash bags will be provided. Children under the age of 8 must have an adult accompanying them. Please join us! We will meet on the front steps of the church. Call Susan McGrath at 703.549.5772 or Alix Dorr at 703.684.0088 if you have questions.

St. Paul's: Art on the Avenue

 

On Saturday, October 1, St. Paul's Youth participated in Del Ray's Art on the Avenue. Fun was had by all and the Youth had some fun of their own "behind the scenes" as you can be seen by the videos above.

Art on the Avenue:
Every year, over 50,000 visitors stroll down Mt. Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, Alexandria, between Bellefonte and Hume Avenues – people are greeted by over 300 artists (jewelers – silversmith & beaders, woodworkers, pottery makers, soap crafters, glass makers, unique painters, sculptures, fabric artists), musicians (Irish, folk, rock n’ roll, country and more), and food vendors (hot dogs, BBQ, Indian, crab cakes, chocolate bananas dipped on a stick, home made cider donuts). Kids activities have always been a vital part of the festival — stuff your own scarecrow, paint a pumpkin, lotus flower design, weave screen art, to name a few.

St. Francis' Day at St. Paul's Alexandria in Old Town

As autumn arrives, St. Paul's celebrated St. Francis' Day. As we welcomed the furry family members of St. Paul's to Norton Hall for their blessing, we also remembered those pets who we have lost. 


We also welcomed new members to St. Paul's, including Buster, the newest "family member" of the Murphy family.


Facts About St. Francis:
St. Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures. Francis, whose feast day is October 4th, loved the larks flying about his hilltop town. He and his early brothers, staying in a small hovel, allowed themselves to be displaced by a donkey.
Francis wrote a Canticle of the Creatures, an ode to God’s living things. “All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures.” And there was testimony in the cause for St. Clare of Assisi’s canonization that referred to her little cat!