​Dear people of St. David’s,

We are so thankful for your patience as we have navigated each iteration of our policies and protocols for safely gathering for worship. Thank you for your constancy in worship, in your financial support of the parish, and in your continual prayer for our community. You are a blessing!
 
This week we met as a Vestry with new freedom to develop policies and procedures related to our gatherings for worship, formation, and fellowship. We began this conversation with a reaffirmation of our highest values: love, inclusion, unity, and mutual respect. From those values flowed a conversation about our procedures, and today we will outline a few important changes. Please look to the communication channels of this church – The Weekly Illumination, the app, the website, and our social media channels for additional information.
 
Beginning June 6 there will be a change to our worship schedule that will last through the summer. Worship services will be at 8:00 in the nave, 9:00 in the memorial garden, and 10:30 in the nave. We will continue to offer an online option at 10:30 AM each Sunday as well. The Hispanic Worship Service will move to 12:15 pm in the nave and online. For those gathering in the memorial garden, please remember to bring your own chair or take advantage of the chair rack in Jeffords Hall. 
 
At every gathering on our campus, we ask that you first honor Christ’s command to love your neighbor as yourself – making decisions that demonstrate that love for your neighbor. Also, we must continue to comply with the CDC’s COVID guidelines. Those guidelines provide that:

• Those who are fully vaccinated may attend gatherings without masks.
• Those who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated are safest when wearing masks when gathering indoors and when outdoors for large gatherings. 
• We continue to encourage you to get vaccinated, in order to create a safer environment for our parishioners and guests.

Additionally, we will no longer require reservations or seating assignments for Sunday services. We will still reserve some pews for spacing, however, our seating capacity will increase significantly as a result of this change.
 
We know that for some of you, this will be welcome news, and for others, this will cause some trepidation. Wherever you fall on that continuum, St. David’s is here for you and committed to providing meaningful ways for you to connect to worship, fellowship, and formation – whether indoors, outdoors, or online. Parents, please note that our children’s ministry will retain mask-wearing and distancing policies until such a time as children have access to COVID vaccines. 
 
Finally, we expect that there will be additional changes coming over the course of the summer. Our thanks to the newly formed Reentry Committee, which will help us navigate some of these new patterns in our life together. And again, our thanks to you for your patience, your flexibility, your commitment to this parish, and most importantly your commitment to Christ.

God bless you all,
​

Common Purpose
Tuesday, May 11
6:30-8:30 pm via Zoom
Avoid, Deny, Defend: Protecting Oneself in an Active Shooter Situation

It's impossible to escape the news of the recent mass shootings in Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Boulder, among others. Have you ever wondered how you would respond if you found yourself in an active shooter situation? Officer Hal Shoffreitt of the Alpharetta Police Department will share the Avoid/Deny/Defend (ADD) program designed to help civilians be better prepared in an active shooter situation or any act of violence. ADD is an awareness tool that will empower and instill confidence to civilians of all ages, helping us understand that “what we do matters” in an active shooting event. Hopefully, none of us will ever need to use this information, but being informed and educated can empower and strengthen us.

As is our custom, after Officer Shoffreitt's presentation, we will gather in small groups for confidential discussion. For more info, contact LeeHunter@kw.com.

The Zoom invitation is included in your Weekly Illumination and is on the App.

​Help us celebrate Rev. Dean Taylor on his last Sunday, May 9th. We not only want to honor the gift of his ministry here at St. David's but are also excited to congratulate him on his upcoming retirement.

If you are unable to make it to a service that morning, all are invited to attend a celebratory "drive-thru farewell" from 9:15 - 10:00 a.m., where you can personally express your best wishes to Dean.

Please also consider the following ways you might join in honoring Dean:

1. There's nothing like a heartfelt note! Express your gratitude in a card, which you can bring with you on May 9th, or send into the church at the address below.

2. If you would like to contribute to a parish gift (or love offering) the deadline is May 9. You can:

a. Click this link to make a one-time donation online.


b. Bring or mail in a check (marked "Father Dean Offering") at:
St. David’s Finance Office
1015 Old Roswell Rd.
Roswell, GA 30076

We are so grateful for the leadership that Dean has provided during this season in our parish life. This is our chance to make sure he knows just how much we appreciate him!

Meet the Rev. Remington Slone, the next Rector of St. David's Episcopal Church.

We thank God for sending St. David's this amazing person to be our next Rector and look forward to Rev. Slone beginning his ministry here May 20th.  We look forward to planning events, in different formats, for us to meet him.  Stay tuned!

Join Kristen Acker, St. David's Senior Warden, and Marilyn Hedrick, Chair of the Nominating Committee, as they announce the new Rector of St. David's Episcopal Church.  

​

​Kristen Acker, St. David's Senior Warden, and Marilyn Hedrick, Chair of the Nominating Committee, invite you to join them at THIS SUNDAY for a very exciting announcement regarding our Rector Search!

This announcement will be made at all services. Additional information will be available on all of St. David's media channels at noon.

We hope you can join us!

To make reservations for Sunday:

• Email Jan Georges at Jan@stdavidchurch.org with your name, the number of your party, and which service you would like to make reservations for.
• We advise you to make reservations quickly to avoid disappointment as space is limited.
• Reservations will close at 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon.
• Social Distancing and Safety protocols are in place.

Hello, St. David’s friends,
 
I have some very good news that we have ALL been waiting to hear!
 
We’re going back in the Church!
 
On SUNDAY, March 21, (that’s a week from this Sunday), we will be worshiping back inside our beloved Sanctuary at St. David’s!
 
Like all other churches, we will of course be observing all the CDC guidelines: masks, bread only at communion, the pews will be marked for social distancing. Oh, and reservations are needed. We’ll go into those reservation details later, including service times, and whether we’ll still need outdoor services.   
 
But we need to know from you, how comfortable you are with going inside at this time to help us plan.
 
So please, fill out this one questions survey here:
​www.surveymonkey.com/r/FVCPYLL
 
Please get it back to us as soon as possible. This will help us plan—or re-plan Holy Week and future services.
 
So, we will  see you THIS SUNDAY—THE 14th—OUTSIDE at 10:30 a.m. as scheduled, and then  NEXT SUNDAY - THE 21ST,  in our beloved Sanctuary.   
 
There are more details to follow but let us rejoice with this good news!
 
 
Rev. Dean Taylor
 
Interim Rector. 

​
St. David’s Nominating Committee is overjoyed to announce that they have completed their search process and have presented a slate of stellar candidates for our rector position to the Vestry. We cannot thank our St. David’s family enough for your continued support, prayers, and love in these unprecedented times.

With God’s help, the next update you’ll receive regarding our search will be the announcement of our next rector! Please continue to pray that God’s hand be upon our candidates and Vestry as they discern over the next several weeks who that individual will be!