St. Thomas’ Welcomes the Rev. Alex Dyer!

St. Thomas’ is delighted to call the Rev. Alex Dyer as its Priest-in-Charge. Having begun his ministry as a missionary in Cairo, Egypt working with Sudanese refugees, he has since served numerous parishes in New York City and Connecticut. Alex has a heart for urban ministry beginning with his time at St. Luke in the Fields in New York City, where he oversaw outreach programs for LGBT youth and a program for people with HIV/AIDS. Upon moving to New Haven, he created an outdoor Eucharist that ministered primarily to people who were experiencing homelessness. He also served as the Executive Director of the largest food pantry in New Haven, CT, which served about 300 families each week.

Alex also brings experience in the wider church, which started with working for Episcopal News Service. Since then he has served as a Deputy to General Convention, a member of the search committee for the Bishop of Connecticut, a member of the Commission on Ministry for the Diocese of Connecticut and is currently the President of the Standing Committee in the Diocese of Connecticut.

For the past three years, Alex has been working on his Doctorate in Ministry from Virginia Theological Seminary. His project focuses on reconnecting churches to their neighborhoods, discovering what God is up to and how parishes can join God’s mission. He hopes to defend his thesis this coming spring.

While Alex was born in Tennessee, he spent much of his childhood in Montgomery County, Maryland, and is delighted to rejoin many members of his family who still live in the DC area.

We also welcome Alex’s husband, Ryan DeLoach, and their beautiful daughter, Savannah Gayle. Ryan has a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University, and has most recently worked for a large nonprofit specializing in shelter and housing services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Alex’s first Sunday at St. Thomas’ will be on October 9. Please join us as we welcome our new Priest in Charge and Ryan and Savannah to our family.

Introduction from Alex Dyer on Vimeo.

 Posted on August 26, 2016 by

 About Us, News, People of St. Thomas'

Ordination of The Rev. Rebecca Ann Zartman (Video Clip)

On Thursday, March 27, 2014, in a service held at St. Thomas’ Parish – Dupont Circle, The Rev. Rebecca Ann Zartman was ordained to the priesthood by The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

 Posted on March 27, 2014 by

 People of St. Thomas', Worship

People of St. Thomas' – Carol C.

Carol and JohnCarol C. and her husband moved from New York City to Washington, D.C. in May 2012, and have since become part of the spiritual community at St. Thomas’ Parish. Carol had always been an active volunteer, and she wanted to become involved in her new city as well. At St. Thomas’ she serves as a Sunday greeter, helps with the monthly meal we provide at Christ House, and also organized the coffee hour reception for Bishop Mariann’s recent visitation.

After reading about the organization N Street Village in Street Sense, the local homeless newspaper, she began serving at their night shelter as an overnight volunteer, and later took on other volunteer roles, including helping at Miriam’s House, the Village’s residence for women living with HIV and AIDS. This past fall, she participated in the organization’s Community Walk to raise funds and awareness about homelessness. Most recently, she made a donation of 31 hand-knitted quilts to the residents of the Village’s night shelter. She had coordinated with a childhood friend in Michigan to organize quilting circles, so that each woman living in the shelter received her very own blanket for Christmas.

Thanks to Carol (and her friends in Michigan) for sharing her time and gifts with our parish and community!

 

 Posted on March 19, 2014 by

 More About Us, People of St. Thomas'

10th Anniversary of Gene Robinson's Consecration

Gene Robinson ConsecrationThe weekend of Nov. 2-3 at St. Thomas’ Parish was special for a lot of reasons:

On Sunday, we celebrated All Saints Day, raising up in prayer the names of scores of people who have died but have not been forgotten by family, and loved ones, and friends.

Also, our Rector, Nancy Lee Jose, celebrated her 10th All Saints Day as Rector of St. Thomas’ Parish.

And the day before was the 10th anniversary of the consecration of Gene Robinson, the resident Bishop at St. Thomas’ Parish, as the IX Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.   You may want to read the short note by Susan Russell on the Episcopal Cafe.  If you’d like to keep up with Gene’s activities, you might want to follow him on Twitter or on his Facebook page. Or catch him the next time he’s preaching or celebrating the Eucharist at St. Thomas’ Parish.

For now, we celebrate All The Saints — those who have preceded us and those with us still — who strive to live out the church’s vocation as The Body of Christ and the agent of grace, reconciliation, compassion, and justice.  In the words of one of my favorite hymns: “I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew.  … and one was a soldier, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast: and there’s not any reason, no, not the least, why I shouldn’t be one too.”

 Posted on November 4, 2013 by

 People of St. Thomas'

Member Profile – Jeremy A.

Jeremy AI first started coming to St. Thomas’ in 2004 because I lived two blocks away. And I could sleep in (very) late yet still be on time for the 11:00 a.m. service. I kept coming back because people were friendly, and the parish struck a nice balance between being laid back and eager to grow. Many things have changed over the years, including my involvement with the parish. I’ve served as an usher, on the altar guild, part of a seminarian discernment team, and as a Godly Play teacher.

I’ve led the Inclusion Team twice, with a two-year break in between while I worked as a chaplain at an Episcopal school in Florida. What has remained constant in the community is a genuine desire to be and to become the wonderful people God has made us to be. St. Thomas’ has given me room to grow up since those early days a decade ago when I slunk into the back row, sleepy-eyed at 11:00 a.m.

I didn’t know it then, but I know it now: While I may have been looking for a church nearby, God was more intently looking for me, drawing me to this corner on 18th and Church Streets, to settle into a community that would nurture, challenge, and enrich me. I am so grateful.

 Posted on September 15, 2013 by

 People of St. Thomas'

St. Thomas’ Parish – 1517 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 Office Hours: Monday- Thursday 10 am -3pm Friday 9 am – 12 noon Sunday Worship: 10:30 am

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