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Register for 2024 – 2025 Children and Youth Formation

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We resume regular Sunday School and Youth Group on Sunday, September 15, when we shift back to our program year worship schedule as well. We ask that parents / guardians register children and youth each year so we have current contact information on file.

If you have any questions, please contact the church office.

Children’s Formation

Children from Preschool to 2nd grade will be participating in Godly Play (a Montessori based program focused on play and wondering) while children grades 3rd – 5th will be participating in our SPLASH program (Spirit, Play Love All Spoken Here). Please register here, to help us to plan for class size, materials and lesson plans.

Youth Formation

This year, we are planning to resume the “Youth Cafe” on Sunday mornings following the 9 am service. Instead of going off-site, we will host a youth coffee hour in the upstairs Youth Room, where there will be discussion, socializing, and sharing.Youth Cafe is open to all youth in 6th grade and above. Youth Group will be meeting every other Sunday evening in the Youth Room. Details on times, dates and leaders will be communicated later on. You can register here.

John Bullard in Concert

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St. George’s Episcopal Church will offer the first concert of the 2024-2025 Concert Season on Sunday, September 15 at 3 pm. The concert features John Bullard, playing classical banjo with piano accompaniment by Markus Compton.

As a classically trained musician and the first graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music to earn a degree in performance with the banjo, Bullard’s concert repertoire includes solo, duet, and quartet performances of works from Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Schumann, and others. More recently, Bullard has begun featuring new work by contemporary American composers, including a Caprice in D minor in the Romantic style, from composer Frank Mullen, and a set of 24 Preludes for Solo Banjo, commissioned from Adam Larrabee.

The concert is free with donations accepted at the door.

Located at 905 Princess Anne Street in historic downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, St. George’s Episcopal Church offers a wide range of concerts throughout the year featuring local and out of town musicians. The nave’s lush acoustics provide the perfect backdrop for “beautiful music in a beautiful space”.

For more information, contact (540) 373-4133 or music@stgeorgesepiscopal.net. To learn more about St. George’s concert series, visit our website.

You are welcome at St. George’s, an historic Episcopal Church in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. No matter who you are, whom you love, or where you’ve been, there’s a place for you here. St. George’s offers services with diverse music and styles of worship based in sacred story and traditions. We have hearts for service and advocate for justice and peace in our local and global communities. We work to help the entire family of God thrive by giving of our time, talent, and treasure. We invite you to join us or to come for a visit. For more information, visit StGeorgesEpiscopal.net.

Rally for Service Sunday – September 8

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Greetings St. George’s,

One of the invitations of Christian living is that we are made to look outside of ourselves. We put our trust in God; we lean on others in the church; and we seek to ever widen the circle of belonging and grace. Fundamental to this is to be in service of Christ on behalf of one another.

Each year we are reminded of this constitutive act of discipleship when we gather in the Nave for Rally for Service Sunday (September 8). I’d like to invite you to join a project team by registering here. So that we can plan for and accommodate everyone, please sign up by Friday, August 30. You can learn more about the projects we will be working on and the organizations we’ll be supporting below. Please sign-up to join us for this annual day of deepening our faith and friendships in service!

Rally for Service Sunday Timeline:

  • 10 am: Worship inside the Nave
  • 11 am – 1:00 pm: Community Service at Project Sites (various locations)
  • Lunch in Sydnor Hall

Onsite Projects (Sydnor Hall)

St George’s Afghan Allies

Project: “Welcome Packs”
Volunteers will sort and assemble kits of household and hygiene essentials for newly arriving Afghan refugee families. Catholic Charities, the regions recognized resettlement agency, continues to resettle over 200 refugees annually. fleeing the ongoing political oppression in Afghanistan. With our help, these families who arrive with nothing, are able to transition immediately into housing with the supplies they need to get started.Healthy

Families of the Rappahannock Area (RACSB)

Project: Baby Supplies Gift Baskets
It takes a village to raise a child is more than just an adage at Healthy Families of the Rappahannock Area. And, as they often remind folks, babies don’t come with a how-to guide! This program is the region’s perinatal home visitation program that helps new parents connect with resources; build positive parent-child relationships; understand their child’s development; and have that village. Volunteers will assemble gift baskets for new mothers to have what they need to care for their babies. We will be collecting DONATIONS of diapers, wipes, and bottles to assemble gift baskets for the parents in this program! (you can bring items to donate to the church in advance or on Rally for Service Sunday)

Lunch Team

Project: prepare and serve lunch
Following work at our various service sites around the area St. Georgians will return to Sydnor Hall to enjoy lunch and fellowship.

 

Offsite Projects (Locations throughout Fredericksburg)

SAWs Virginia
(601 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg, VA 22401)

Project: Accessibility ramp pre-build
Incubated right here at St. George’s, SAWs Virginia is a nonprofit that builds custom designed, ADA standard wheelchair ramps for people of all ages with long-term, ambulatory disabilities who cannot afford one on their own. Through these no cost ramps, SAWs seeks to help clients restore their freedom, independence, and dignity allowing them to access medical services more easily, improve the safety of their home, reconnect with their community and age-in-place. We will support this work by preparing the materials for a site build. This will include manufacturing the wood to size, pre-drilling, and loading materials with the assistance of SAWs build team. No prior construction experience is required.

Micah-Hospitality Center & Respite House
(1013 Princess Anne St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 / 1512 Princess Anne St, Fredericksburg, VA 2240)

Project: Facilities cleaning and organizing
Micah Ecumenical Ministries is an integral part our lived Christian identity at St. George’s. This cooperative ministry is the primary way our community cares for our neighbors who are living on the streets. Part of our care for our neighbors includes care for the facilities that support their wellbeing. This team will divide our efforts to deep clean and organize the Hospitality Center and the Respite House. The Hospitality Center (sometimes called the “Day Center”) is the primary point of connection for Micah’s clients. There they receive basic services, check their mailbox, and even get a shower or haircut. Respite House provides a place of short-term healing and recovery for residents who have been recently hospitalized and need extra medical attention. Here they can receive treatment like medication management and visits from a home health aide in a safe and supportive environment to reduce the risk of rehospitalization. With your care these facilities can remain clean, comfortable, and hospitable spaces.

St George’s Afghan Allies
(620B Cobblestone Blvd, Fredericksburg, VA 22401)

Project: Furniture Donation Moving
Since 2021 St George’s has collected and stored furniture items to deliver to arriving refugee families in our area. As social services organizations transition to voucher programs with local non-profit resale stores we no longer have need for the items and can transition them to a partnering retailer. The voucher program allows recipients to exercise greater autonomy as they have choice over which furniture items best suit their family’s needs and tastes. It is a great way to get people the furniture they need while increasing the dignity of the shopping experience. We’ve got the truck, but we need your help to haul these heavy items!

Healthy Generations Area Agency on Aging
(location TBD based on need)

Project: Residential Housekeeping
Healthy Generations provides home and community based services to support the continued independence, safety, and health and wellness of our senior population. Among their many programs (which also include Senior Café, Long-term care ombudsman, and emergency assistance) Healthy Generations coordinates homemaker support for seniors to remain in their homes and age in place. Based on the needs of a client St Georgians will tend to the residence of a senior with light housekeeping and yard work. Each year 4.1 million Americans turn 65 in what has been referred to as the “silver tsunami”. The shadow side of this aging boom is that senior citizens are the fastest growing demographic of persons experiencing homelessness. Partnering with Healthy Generations is one way that we are ensuring our seniors can age with safety and dignity in their homes.

Update on Our Search for an Associate Rector

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As you have heard, we are now in the process of searching for our next Associate Rector. Fr. Will’s last Sunday will be August 25 before his wedding on August 31. We look forward to celebrating his ministry with us over the past four years and wishing him well in the next chapter of his life and ministry.

I want to share an update on where we are with the search process. As of last week, we posted a position description through the Diocese of Virginia and will be sharing in other places around the Episcopal Church. You can see that description here. Feel free to share this with people you know around the Church. Note that we have included in the posting that we are looking for someone who has been a priest in a parish for a few years. We are also open to someone coming to serve for a few months as an interim in order to give us more time for a search.

I also had an initial meeting last week with the group that I have asked to serve as an ad-hoc advisory committee. This group includes Michele Prout Alston (Senior Warden), John Graham (Junior Warden), Mac Smith (Grounds Warden), Jennifer Vaughan (vestry), Vicki Harrison, and Joseph Lyttle. When she returns from sabbatical in early July, Laurel Loch (Chief of Staff), will also be part of this group. I chose a group that would not be too large and would include our lay leadership as well as people who represent much of the variety within our congregation. We talked about the importance of keeping you informed along the way and inviting your feedback. Although the hiring decision is mine as Rector, I am listening carefully to the input of others and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Here is a brief outline of the process:
I will receive the initial inquiries and have introductory conversations with candidates that seem promising. From there, I will invite members of the advisory committee to participate in Zoom conference calls with some candidates. Then we will invite a finalist or perhaps two finalists to visit St. George’s before I make a decision. The Diocese of Virginia staff advisor to these searches, the Rev. Shirley Smith-Graham, is helping us find candidates and will also help us do background checks and other vetting before the agreement is finalized and announced. We will accept candidates as long as we need to until a hire is made (and only God knows how long it will take).

Our committee is working on a survey. We want you to share some thoughts about your hopes for St. George’s, generally, and your hopes for our next Associate Rector. We hope to have that out in the next couple of weeks. I will also hold a parish-wide forum on Sunday, June 16, after the 10 am service in Sydnor Hall. We can talk about this process, and I will also have an update on the capital campaign this Fall and where we stand on those plans (more on that separately).

Above all, please pray for this process. I trust that God is guiding us and candidates. At its best, a search process is an opportunity to clarify who we are and who we hope to become, with God’s help. May all we do be pleasing and delightful in God’s sight and in service of sharing the love of Christ.

 

Your rector and brother in Christ,
Joe+

Vacation Bible School and Music Camp

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July 29 – August 2

Come join us this summer for music, crafts, games, snacks, and stories as we embark on a free musical adventure at St. George’s: 100% Chance of Rain: A Jazzy Re-Telling of Noah’s Ark. The camp will be for rising grades K – 5, meeting from 9 am – 12 pm from July 29 – August 2. Volunteer hours and apprentice jobs are available for middle and high school students. You can register online, and email Juliann Jones for more information.