St. George’s Church

Glenn Dale Parish – The Episcopal Diocese of Washington

The People of God, Ministers
The Rev. Connie Reinhardt, Rector
Mr. Roy Peterson, Senior Warden
Ms. Carol Thomas, Junior Warden
Mrs. Marion DePriest, Treasurer

December 2, 2009

Dear Friends,

This Monday night, November 30, the St. James vestry met to discuss where they were in the merger exploration, and they decided to end the process.  Their vestry had concerns that there were ultimately too few people participating in the process and that those participating did not have enough energy to do the necessary work of building a truly merged congregation. This ending comes sooner than we had anticipated, as the vestries were scheduled to vote on December 14, but St. James had become clear and decided not to extend the process unnecessarily.

It is difficult to know what to say given all that we have done together over this past year or so.  Both of our congregations had some hope that we could make this work, given how much our parishes have in common and how hard many of our members have worked on this process.

Two questions come to mind:  what happens to St. James, and where does St. George’s go from here?  St. James will work with the diocese and come up with a time line for their closure.  Ultimately, their building will be sold and their congregation will disperse to other churches; most likely some will end up at St. George’s.

As for us, we have a lot of work to do.  This process has allowed us to learn more about who we are as a community and where we need to grow; it has been an opportunity for self-reflection and examining the role this community plays in our lives.  We have had to ask ourselves how resilient we are, and how we are doing measured against a standard of openness, honesty, and generosity in our dealings with others.  And, it has been an opportunity to reflect on the gift of authentic community.  All of this will ultimately strengthen our parish.

Moving forward, the St. George’s leadership will continue to discern not only where God is calling us to go, but how best to get there.  We have the unwavering support of our Bishop and our Diocese, and we also have the Merger Plan many have worked so hard on.  That plan can and will be adapted for our purposes and should be a good road map for us as we continue our journey.

Over the next few weeks, we will be saying goodbye to St. James.  We will do our Advent Program jointly and continue to worship together through Advent, then have Christmas services separately.

Thank you for the meetings you have attended and the feedback you have given the Merger Exploration Team and the Vestry.  Please know how much the time and energy you have given to this process is appreciated, and thank you for your commitment to St. George’s.

This Sunday, December 6, you are invited to stay after worship for a conversation to answer any questions you might have, talk about this turn of events, and discuss any other merger-related issues that are on your mind. I hope you will be there for this conversation.

Blessings,

Connie+