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 2024, the building will be closed and all staff will be off for the following holiday observances:

Jan. 16 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday

Feb. 19 - Presidents Day

April 1 - Easter Monday

May 27 - Memorial Day

June 19 - Juneteenth

July 4 & 5 - Independence Day

Sept. 2 - Labor Day

Oct. 14 - Indigenous Peoples Day

Nov. 27-29 - Thanksgiving

Dec. 24, 2024 - Jan. 1, 2025 - Christmas Day, Winter Break, New Year's Day

In the event of a pastoral emergency when the office is closed, please phone 301-933-7933 ext. 101, and Pastor Pat will be alerted to your voicemail message.

Walk-ins are welcome during office hours (Sept.-May: Monday-Thursday, 10am-3pm, reduced hours in the summer). 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 in-office 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.

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.

Rev. Joey Heath-Mason attended the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in Charlotte NC this year, April 25 - May 1, 2024. 

General Conference is the worldwide meeting of UMC church leaders. Decisions made here affect the entire United Methodist community and every UMC church in the world, from retirement and pension rules to official language about human sexuality and church policy. 

Pastor Joey offered a post-General Conference Q&A session on May 8, 7:00-8:00 PM by Zoom. For those unable to attend, Pastor Joey has recorded a recap, covering the questions addressed during the Zoom session. You can view this message at

https://www.facebook.com/stpaulskensington/videos/420721850709112/

(No Facebook account required!)

During our church wide meeting on Sunday February 11, 2024 a question regarding our membership was posed which I tentatively addressed. I promised to research the question and provide a response. The question was “Since COVID, how many members have we lost and how many have we gained?"

Each January, we prepare a required statistical report for the Baltimore-Washington Conference which captures information about our membership, as well as other church data. That report is the source from which the following response is prepared.

Since 2020, a total of 155 persons have been removed from the membership rolls of St. Paul’s UMC Kensington, for one of the following reasons: 

• withdrew from the denomination
• transferred to another UMC church
• transferred to a non-UMC church
• removed by church conference action
• passed away

Of these 155 persons, the largest group (53) were removed by church conference action. These are persons who have not in any way participated in the life of the church, joined in worship, or contributed to the ministries of the church over a three-year period AND have not responded to any attempts of the church to engage them by mail, phone, or email.

The Book of Discipline lays out the rules for an annual "care of members review," resulting in the removal of such inactive members from the membership roll every year at church conference. So, there will most likely be more persons removed by church conference action in the fall of this year, for the same reasons.

Since 2020, 45 persons have been received into membership at St. Paul’s UMC Kensington through confirmation, transfer from another UMC church, or reaffirmation of faith (received from another denomination).

Our current membership is 687. 

At the beginning of 2020, our membership roll carried 803 names. 

However, since our vitality and vibrancy are measured by our ministry and living out our mission, I would offer that St. Paul’s is succeeding in feeding the hearts, minds, and souls of the people God sends our way, in ways that are not solely defined by membership numbers.

-- Pastor Pat

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"