Everything we do at St. Paul’s—daily worship, special services,  welcoming visitors, grounds keeping, the parish office, altar flowers, and more—is made possible by countless hours of volunteer labor. The varied ministries of the parish offer everyone an opportunity to get involved, no matter what talents or gifts one brings. Every parish ministry welcomes volunteers—just contact the ministry leaders listed on this page.

Or, get involved with our missions to the needy outside the parish or pastoral care for our own members in need.

Acolytes

The 35+ members of the Acolyte Guild are women and men of all ages, and school-age children and youth, who prepare the altar and sanctuary for worship and assist the clergy in conducting worship services. Acolytes lead Morning and Evening Prayer and daily prayers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. They also serve at weddings, funerals, and a variety of special services. If you feel a call to this important and rewarding ministry, or have questions about what it means to be an altar server at St. Paul’s, please speak to the clergy, or to acolyte coordinators Allen Payne (apayne71@comcast.net) and Michael Vreeland (mwvreeland@verizon.net).  

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild is the ministry of preparing the sanctuary for worship. The work of the Guild is done largely “behind the scenes” by members who are faithfully on duty year round. The duties of the Guild involve the preparation of the sanctuary and chapels for Mass on weekdays and Sundays, holy days, festival days, and special occasions including weddings, funerals, and baptisms. Altar Guild members provide “set-up” and “clean-up” for services throughout the week and are assigned to a mutually agreeable duty schedule. The Altar Guild also cares for the linens and vessels used at Mass as well as brass furnishings, altar frontals, vestments, and other liturgical garments. If you would like further information, please contact the Rector or the Director of the Altar Guild at the church office (202-337-2020), or the Director of the Altar Guild, Lynne Walker at 703-643-0142 or by email at momamouse@hotmail.com.  

Flower Guild

The altar flowers at Saint Paul's, which add to the beauty of the church and enhance our worship, are planned and arranged by the volunteers of the Flower Guild. The Flower Guild provides flowers for 43 Sundays of the year (every Sunday except the five Sundays of Lent and the four Sundays of Advent), plus special feast days, weddings and funerals upon request, and the elaborate and beautiful provisions for Christmas and Easter.

We are always looking for new volunteers. Experience is not necessary, and other volunteers will work with newcomers as you learn our ways. Volunteering on the flower guild is a rewarding way to minister to the parish and a great way to connect with and and have a wonderful time getting to know the company of your fellow parishioners. We try to balance coordinating together artistically with giving space for personal creative freedom, and we’re able to use whatever time or abilities you have to share (whether you're arranging flowers on the high altar or helping haul out trash bags before Christmas Eve Mass, you're needed!). We also take time to coach anyone who really wants to work with flowers but lacks experience or confidence; we all stood in your shoes when we started too! Call David Boulet at 202-548-0494 (work) or 202-588-9030 (home) or at dvdboulet@hotmail.com, if you have questions or to volunteer.

Grounds

The gardens of St. Paul’s are planted almost entirely with perennials in the interest of low maintenance requirements. The plantings include arbor vitae, autumn joy, azaleas, begonias, black-eyed susans, bleeding heart, butterfly weed, camelias, chionadoxis, chrysanthemums, coneflowers, crocosima, crocuses, daffodils, day lilies, forsythia, galtonia, grape hyacinths, ground ivy, hellebores (lenten roses), hollies, hostas, hydrangeas, impatiens, irises, Japanese anemone, Japanese maple, lambs ear, lilyleaf ladybell, liriope, lithrum, ornamental grass, pachasandra, peonies, phlox, photinia, pushkinnias, purple cornflowers, rhododendron, roses (tea, tree, and climbers), Russian sage, scabioasas, snowdrops, solomon's seal, star of Bethlehem, trout lilies, trumpet lily, tulips, veronica, yarrow, and yews.

The Grounds Committee conducts Spring, Summer, and Fall cleanups—mulching, trimming, weeding, deadheading, fertilizing, and other routine garden chores. To volunteer with the Grounds Committee, contact Tom Easton at teaston1@verizon.net.

Hospitality

Festive Reception: Click to Enlarge (Photo: Laurita Liles)The Hospitality Committee organizes receptions that complement our liturgical life, Lenten dinners, the coffee hours following the Sunday masses, the traditional parish party, and other events from time to time. Working with the Hospitality Committee is a wonderful opportunity to meet new friends while serving the wider parish community. Because we are spread so geographically across the Washington Metropolitan area, the Hospitality Committee provides most of the opportunities that we enjoy as a parish to get to know each other and develop fellowship within the parish. For more information contact Linna Barnes at barneslinnam@aol.com.

Lectors

Reading the Lesson: Click to EnlargeThe St. Paul’s Lectors’ Guild exists to fulfill the rubric at page 322 of the Book of Common Prayer that at celebrations of the Holy Eucharist, “lay persons appointed by the celebrant should normally be assigned the reading of the Lessons which precede the Gospel.” The Lectors’ Guild is composed of approximately 50 persons who have been selected and trained to read the Lessons at the three Sunday Masses, at Evensong and Benediction, on major Feast Days and at the Great Vigil of Easter. Lectors are assigned to read the Lessons on a rotating basis and are expected to do so clearly and with dignity and to be able to project their voices throughout the church. Recruitment and qualification sessions for persons seeking to become lectors are held annually, and refresher training sessions for those already serving as lectors are held as needed. If you are interested in participating in this important ministry, contact Larry Toombs by email at SPC@Toombslaw.com or 703-548-8847.

Resources for St. Paul’s Lectors:

• Sunday and Daily Office Readings
• Table of Revised Common Lectionary readings
• Lector Schedule for Advent 2011 through Epiphany 2012
• Lector Schedule for Lent and Holy Week 2012

Office Volunteers and Receptionists

The parish office is staffed in part by volunteers who help the parish administrator with answering phones, copying and filing, and other basic office tasks. Volunteers prepare the weekly service bulletins, lay out bulletins for special services, maintain the parish website, and myriad other administrative tasks.

In addition, a small office in the Atrium is staffed Monday through Friday so that weekday visitors receive a warm welcome and a hot cup of tea. For more information on these ministries, contact the parish administrator, Melva Willis, at willis@stpauls-kst.com.