Quicklinks:
-Dedicate altar flowers https://forms.gle/9MYAw6CdHjvdjH4H8
-Host coffee hour https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080445ACAF2E5-57613910-coffee#/
-Submit a prayer request https://forms.gle/ZdxuP36Commodo6L6
-Request a nametag https://forms.gle/SS27AueptdmQT64Q9
-Learn about this Sunday’s music https://stdavidsbaltimore.org/sundays-in-song/
-Listen to last Sunday’s sermon https://youtu.be/rZlGbmeWmP0?t=1514
-Watch Sunday School for Adults https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8yU2xXdBbcVjsKnUK8xlRnvPDb__posy
Word of the Week
Our word of the week is epiclesis. Epiclesis is a Greek word that means invocation, and it is the part of the Eucharistic prayer when we invoke the Holy Spirit to sanctify the bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Poem of the Week
This week, a meditation prompted by a visit to Wegmans: At Wegmans, Which is your Kroger, Which is my friend, by Sara Potocsny.
Evensong, September 20th
This Sunday, September 20th at 4:30pm, join soprano Caitlin Glastonbury and the Choir of St. David’s for a service honoring the medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen. The event begins with a brief recital featuring works of Missy Mazzoli, Cecilia Livingston, and Barbara Strozzi, and continues with the Choral Evensong including compositions ranging from Hildegard to Dolly Parton.
Outreach: Manna Bags This Sunday
“Manna bags” are filled with snacks, personal hygiene items, and other small necessities that are especially helpful for people experiencing housing insecurity. You can pick up manna bags from the baskets on the tables in both narthexes and keep them in your car or your bag and offer them to folks in need you encounter during the week. Once a month, we make more manna bags to keep those baskets full. Alex Corwell will set up a manna bag-making table at coffee hour after the 10am service this Sunday for anyone who would like to help put them together.
Outreach: Yellow Bags for Hampden Food Pantry
Every month we collect food for the Hampden Food Pantry. Pick up a yellow bag at church (on the tables by the entrances, or under the drop box in the lobby of the office wing), and please return your yellow bag, filled with non-perishable food items, to the church by Sunday the 27th. All non-perishable items are welcome, but the food pantry has given us a list of things they particularly need: cereal, tuna, spaghetti sauce, soup, cake mix, and canned fruits and vegetables. When you see these items or other non-perishables on sale, pick up some extra for the yellow bags!
Sunday School for Adults
The Sunday School for Adults meets in the Great Hall at 9am; we have coffee and tea to help you wake up. If you have kids, they can go to the nursery or to the Day School Chapel with Miss Corky until their own Sunday School class begins. And if you aren’t able to join us in person, look at the top of this newsletter, in the Quicklinks section, and you’ll see a link to recordings of the previous week’s class.
This Sunday, God chooses people who are most like dogs to fulfill God’s will (Fr. Todd approves of this criterion!). If you’re reading ahead, read Judges chapters 6 through 9.
Sunday School for Children Registration Form
Sunday School classes for children begin at 9:50am in the Day School Chapel on the lower/Great Hall level of the building. If you’re coming early for Sunday School for Adults, you can drop your kids off early in either the Day School Chapel or the Nursery. Corky Hovermill will bring the kids up to the church during announcements so that they can join you for Communion; some families prefer their kids go to the nursery at this time – just let Corky know if that’s what you would prefer.
Parents/guardians, please register your children so that we have emergency contact numbers, allergy info, etc. You can fill out the registration form online by clicking here, or you can download the registration form by clicking here and email it to Corky Hovermill or mail it back to the church office (4700 Roland Ave, 21210), attention Corky Hovermill. We’ll also have blank forms available the first time you drop your kids off.
Rest In Peace
Muriel Tougas, grandmother of Michelle Lyons, died on September 14th in Rhode Island.
Outreach: Paul’s Place Casserole Ministry
Our Paul’s Place Outreach ministry meets after church on the first Sunday of the month in the kitchen downstairs to make casseroles for the people of Paul’s Place in Washington Village/Pigtown, and there’s also a prep session the day before. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it makes a big difference to our hungry neighbors.
The next dates are Saturday, September 26th, and Sunday, September 27th (note that, due to scheduling conflicts, this is a week earlier than our usual pattern). To join the Saturday 10am-noon prep session, click here. To join the Sunday assembly session, click here. If you’re interested in volunteering at Paul’s Place, either serving the casseroles or doing something else, several parishioners volunteer there and would love to tell you more about it. Contact Chip or Fr. Todd to connect!
Men of St. David’s Fellowship
Save the Date! Our next Men’s gathering will be 4pm, Sunday, September 27th at Joe Hovermill’s house (322 Woodlawn Rd, 21210) to watch the Ravens take on the Cowboys in Dallas. Joe and Tom Washburn will provide worthy food, but we ask y’all to bring a beverage of your liking and some to share. Please feel free to come and go, whatever suits your schedule. RSVP to Tom Washburn.
Day School: Taharka Ice Cream Fundraiser
St. David’s Day School is doing a fundraiser with a favorite local business, Taharka Brothers Ice Cream. Go to https://deliver.taharkabrothers.com/, click School Fundraisers, enter the code STDAVID, and order ice cream (the minimum order is a case of 8 pints, you pick the flavors); order by 11pm on Saturday, September 26th to support St. David’s. It will be delivered to St. David’s, and you can pick up beginning Tuesday, September 29th, at 11:30am.
Notes from the Vestry
At our September 15th Vestry meeting, Fr. Todd announced in his Rector’s Report that our Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) as of September 13th is 156; our attendance numbers continue trending upward! Sunday School for Adults and children were well attended on kickoff Sunday, and our Chancel Choir debuted in glorious fashion with 9 professional singers and 3 volunteers. The recent Pizza and Popsicles party for young families on the playground was a great success with about 75 people attending.
Fr. Todd presented a draft operating budget for the year ending 12.31.27; this draft budget will be presented to the congregation during the Adult Sunday School hour on Sunday, September 27th. The Vestry approved a revised investment policy presented by Treasurer Joe Hovermill on behalf of the Finance Committee. A $2,700 50th Anniversary Fund grant for the new Clover Hill diocesan retreat house was also approved.
Our Junior Warden Jen Spencer reported that the Buildings and Grounds Committee and office staff met with our HVAC vendor to resolve some ongoing issues which have caused increased utilities costs. Jen also mentioned that a problematic tree was removed from the Memorial Garden, and that the church will be replacing existing emergency lights with LEDs at all exits in order to be compliant with Dept. of Education requirements. The next Vestry meeting will be held on October 13th. ~ Lloyd Burdette, Senior Warden
Thanksgiving Eve Service Survey
Attendance at St. David’s Thanksgiving Eve service has been declining for many years; while it seems to be around 20, some years it has been low as 2. Seeing the declining numbers, when I got here I called the nearby churches on Roland Avenue to see if they might be interested in a combined neighborhood service, and they all told me that they had canceled their Thanksgiving services due to lack of interest. We might consider canceling ours, but before we do that, I feel like I need some more information; I would hate to cancel it if we really just need to change the day or time. If you are interested in attending a Thanksgiving service and are pretty sure you would make the time and effort to attend, please click this link and complete the survey about days and times. Thanks! ~ Fr. Todd+
Outreach: Thank You!
Thank you to all of you for your continued support for our Outreach Committee and to those of you who contributed school supplies to our annual Holy Nativity Pimlico Back-to-School Backpack project. We’re glad to have helped the kids get off to another great start to the school year. ~ the Outreach Committee
Bishop Rabb’s Book Group
We will have another book group and it will be The Heart of a Stranger by Angela Buchdahl. She is a nationally known rabbi, and we are seeking to have a Jewish-Christian group. We are in the middle of the Jewish High Holy Days, and so there is not fixed schedule yet, but it will be either in early winter of at the start of 2027. I appreciate your patience, and this will be an important opportunity. Contact me for more information and with any questions. ~ +John Rabb
Christmas Bazaar Christmas Shop
As we begin to plan for this year’s Bazaar, please remember the Christmas Shop welcomes your donations of holiday decor. Please contact me for further information or questions. ~ Kate Kenny
Parish Retreat
The theme of our parish retreat will be “Holy Hospitality,” facilitated by Dr. James Buckley of Loyola University Maryland. There will be time for learning, fellowship and relaxation, and worship led by Bishop Rabb, Fr. Todd, and Mtr. Santana. The retreat will be held Oct 2nd-4th at the Claggett Center, south of Frederick; it’s a very fine space with all rooms en-suite, comfortable gathering spaces, and a beautiful natural setting. The cost is $450 for a single room and $385 (per person) for a double. To register, contact Kelly in the Church Office; make checks payable to St. David’s Church, memo “Retreat.” ~ Bishop Rabb
Confirmation 2026
The Rt. Rev’d Carrie Schofield-Broadbent, Bishop of Maryland, will be visiting us on Sunday, December 13th, 2026. She will be offering the rite of confirmation and reception at the 10am service that day. Confirmation is for folks who are baptized and are ready to make a mature affirmation of their faith. We’ve had many adult confirmands here at St. David’s in addition to youth confirmands. The diocesan “minimum recommended age” is 15, but I will make exceptions for youth as young as 12, just talk to me! If you were confirmed already as a Roman Catholic, ELCA Lutheran, or Eastern Orthodox, or were baptized as adults, will be received rather than being confirmed. Those confirmed in churches outside of the historic apostolic succession (churches other than the ones named above) will be confirmed in The Episcopal Church. There will be classes; we’ll choose a time once we know who is wanting to be confirmed or received. The first step is to fill out this form and let us know you’re interested!
Sunday Mornings for Children
The Children’s Sunday School class (generally for kids ages 3 and up) begins at 9:50am in the Day School chapel; they join us in the church for Communion.
Our professionally-staffed Nursery is open from 9am until noon. If you want to attend the Adults class, your kids are welcome in the Nursery until the Children’s class begins. If your kids are too young for Sunday School, the Nursery is open and your kids can be there throughout the service or you can go down and get them at the offertory so that they can join you for Communion.
The 10am service is broadcast live on the TV in the Great Hall so that you don’t have to miss anything if you or your child need a break from being in the church for a few minutes during the service.
Please Pray For:
Debbie and family, Helen, Corky, Tod, Kathleen, Darlene, Robert, Mark, Jane, Quinn, Bill, Amy, Nancy, Meg, Caleb, Manish, Arthur Thomas, John, Jenny, Katie, Laila, Linda, Barbara, Eleanor K., Judy, Allison, Brendan, Cole, Randy, Peter, Dockery, Anne, David, Jim, Dianna, Will, Nathaniel, Penny, Elizabeth, Betsy, Anne, Mike, Patricia Ann, Russell, Til, Betsy, Braeden.
Serving This Sunday:
8am: Lector: Cleaveland Miller
Intercessor/Chalice: Travers Nelson
Usher: Chris Alevizatos
Altar Guild: Corby Pine
Flower Guild: Wendy Albert
10am: Lectors: Stuart Smith, Daniel Casasanto
Intercessor: Mike Olson
Chalices: Mary Louise Dawson, Jane Stone
Acolytes: Peter Casasanto, Gabriel Casasanto, Julianna Casasanto
Ushers: Brooks Kitchel, Brad Kunhardt
Altar Guild: Judy Pittenger
Flower Guild: Wendy Albert
Tech Team: Scott Martinet
Coffee Hour: Leslie Norton Bethell