Announcing the Retirement of DistricT Superintendent Rev. Gerry Green
Our District Superintendent Rev. Dr. Gerard Green will retire effective July 1, 2023. Rev. Green has served faithfully and with deep commitment as superintendent of the Greater Washington District since 2016.
For information on our interim district superintendent, visit the BWC site: www.bwcumc.org/news-and-views/vitality-prompts-changes-for-greater-washington-district/.
County Grant for Safety Improvements
St. Paul's is excited to be one of 91 organizations in Montgomery County awarded a grant from the County’s Nonprofit Security Grants program, designed to improve safety and security, and to deter hate crimes and vandalism in places of worship and local nonprofits.
St. Paul's leadership and facilities teams are examining options to add security cameras to church grounds, something we do not currently have.
“In Montgomery County, we have a community of diverse residents who wish to practice our faiths and cultures freely. Schools and places of worship should be sanctuaries of peace and acceptance, not fear and violence,” said County Council Vice President Friedson. “While we regret that this program is so needed at this time, I am proud to have worked with the Executive Branch and community partners to establish this grant program so we can provide added security for our residents.”
You can read the full press release from Montgomery Country by clicking here: "Montgomery County Announces Total of $800,000 Awarded to Nonprofit and Faith-based Organizations to Deter Hate Crimes and Support Security Needs"
Pastor Vacation
Rev. Dr. Patricia Allen will be on vacation Feb. 27 - March 5, 2023.
She will return to work on Monday March 6, 2023.
In her absence, Pastor Joey will lead St. Paul’s. Please contact him for pastoral need at joeyhm@stpaulsk.org.
Pastor Pat's REtirement Annoucement for 2024
On February 5, 2023, Pastor Pat delivered the following address at the close of the 10:30 AM worship service:
Whether you are aware or not, January of each year begins, for clergy, appointment season. The bishop and cabinet assess the needs of each congregation and discern who should be sent to each assignment.
What you probably also don’t know is that this is also the season when those who will be retiring effective July 1 will be announced.
If you happen to receive the conference’s electronic newsletter, this past Monday, if you scrolled down and read the list of retirements, you saw my name was the very first one. And you were surprised. And so was I!
I was surprised because I am not retiring in 2023.
But I have requested and been approved to retire effective July 1, 2024.
In the first chapter in the gospel of Luke, the 23rd verse reads. “When his time of service was ended, he returned to his home.” Our assignments in life are only for a season, a season for which only God holds the beginning and the end. After much prayer, discernment, and conversations with my family, I fully embrace and accept that how I have been called to serve in this season is ending. And I praise God for the privilege of having served so many, and especially you. But beloved, I am going home.
So, what does that mean? Well for you, it means for the next 16 months, you are stuck with me.
We will continue the work God has begun, raising up leaders, baptizing, marrying, celebrating lives that now reside in eternity, teaching, preaching, mentoring, and building.
And if you recall from the sermon somebody preached a couple of weeks ago, sometimes the best gift you can give is to boldly step back and make way for the NEXT.
So I pray that you understand. I pray that you know we are only called for a season, and it is my heartfelt intent to be your pastor until the day that I leave here. Because God loves you, and so do I, and ain’t nothing you can do about that.
You may view the announcement in the worship broadcast recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyFvQoApe8&t=4041s, beginning at the 1-hour 7-minute mark.
2023 Visioning Retreat
As we move forward as a faith community it is important that each person have the opportunity to be part of the work of crafting the vision for St. Paul's UMC.
On Saturday, January 21, 2023, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, about 50 members and friends of St. Paul's participated in the 2023 Church Wide Visioning Retreat, engaging in the sacred work of creating a vision for St. Paul's UMC, Kensington. They represent new members and heritage members, young people, professionals, and those in their golden years.
With help from our facilitator from the BWC, Rev. Rod Miller, we began the hard and rewarding work of imagining how the St. Paul's community can grow in faith and encourage members to develop their spiritual gifts, and how to empower people to responsibly represent St. Paul's while engaging in direct ministry and outreach with the broader community.
Of course, there were people interested in the event who were unable to attend. The pastors will share a summary of the activities at a future date.
Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. (Habakkuk 2:2)
Holiday Schedule
St. Paul’s will be closed and staff will be unavailable on federal holidays, with some adjustments for major church holidays like Easter and Christmas.
For 2023, the building will be closed and all staff will be off for the following holiday observances:
Jan. 6 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday
Feb. 20 - Presidents Day
April 17 - Easter Monday
May 29 - Memorial Day
June 19 - Juneteenth
July 4 - Independence Day
Sept. 4 - Labor Day
Oct. 9 - Indigenous Peoples Day
Nov. 22-24 - Thanksgiving
Dec. 25-29 - Christmas Day and Winter Break
Jan. 1, 2024 - New Year's Day
Walk-ins are welcome during office hours (Monday-Thursday, 10am-3pm), but we strongly recommend making an appointment if there's someone specific you wish to see. Due to the unique nature of our work, staff and clergy availability may vary on any given day.
For inclement weather: We follow Montgomery County Public Schools' students announcements for inclement weather delays and closures. Click here to go to the section about weather-related schedule changes.
Click here for more information about the office hours our staff and clergy generally keep.
Email is often the best way to reach us; click here to find staff email addresses and more information on our Meet the Staff page.
ChurcH Conference:
Our Church's ministry, mission, & health
Our annual church conference was held Tuesday October 11, 2022 at 7:00 PM via Zoom.
This is the annual “business” meeting of the local church where decisions are made about our church leadership, updating the church membership roll, hearing the report of the pastor and approving the clergy compensation packages. All members in attendance had a voice and vote. Church Conference attendees approved changes to the church's committee organization structure as recommended in the Simplified Accountability Model, and approved salary changes for the senior pastor.
The UMC's Baltimore-Washington Conference requires reports on several areas of the church's ministry, mission, and health. The following reports were discussed during the Sept. 28 meeting of St. Paul's Church Council and are available here for review. Click the buttons below for a *pdf version of each report.
Clergy Compensation - P. Allen
Clergy Compensation - J. Heath-Mason
SIMPLIFIED ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL (SAM)
Questions may be directed to Pastor Pat at pallen@stpaulsk.org.
A Special Message from Pastor Pat
There are absolutely no words to adequately express how deeply touched and grateful I am for your overwhelming outpouring of love and support as my family and I grieve my dad’s death. Truly each and every card, every donation made in his memory has been the soothing and comforting presence that helps in times such as these. What a blessing you are to me!
-- Pastor Pat
February 6, 2022
Clergy and Staff Schedules
