A Message From Our Rector
Grace to all who pass through this place!
Whether you are looking for a spiritual home or simply popping on this site to remember what time the Sunday services are in the summer (8 am in Union Chapel, 9 am in the Parish House, and 10:30 at our partner parish St. Paul’s, I pray that you have an awareness of the grace of God as you pass through.
What is grace? Grace is the spontaneous, unmerited gift of God’s favor upon us. And that’s what we experience when we gather together in our joys and in our sorrows. That’s what permeates the work of the congregation as we reroof a house in Appalachia or help our sponsored Afghan refugee family sign up for their first checking account. In our best and most spiritually clear moments in life we experience this grace flowing between us, within us, and all around us.
Worship offers us a practice of expressing our thanksgiving to God for this unmerited gift of grace. When we gather for worship, we praise God, we share Good News, we pray for those we love and for those whom we struggle to love.
The flowing grace of God at work in our community changes us for the better. It draws us to focus on what is life giving, and calls us to reach out in love for one another. Because we have received such a gift, we long to share it with others.
I wonder how you experience God’s grace in your life today. Perhaps your cup runneth over with blessings. Perhaps you are seeking a place to draw near to God. Perhaps you are in the midst of a struggle. There is grace in all of it. There is grace in blessing and in the longing for God. There is even grace in struggle, because God is with you in the struggle, right there with you. God is with you, and we would like to be with you, also, as you move through challenges.
If you come to worship this summer, you will enjoy lively worship led by Deacons Amy and Jennifer and a variety of guest clergy preachers. I am traveling this summer on sabbatical, and will return to the parish community on September 1st. I am so grateful for the opportunity to take a sabbatical.
Grace to you,
Dina
The Rev. Dina van Klaveren
Rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Glenwood, Maryland
Contact us by phone at (410) 489-4035
or by email at [email protected]
Physical Address
2892 Route 97
Glenwood, MD 21738
Mailing Address
PO Box 52
Glenwood, MD 21738