While the year had challenges that impacted many of our lives, it was a fulfilling year at St. Patrick’s. We had the first full year of The Rev. Andrew Ogletree’s service, a successful Rummage Sale, new Adult formation classes, impactful outreach, beautiful music, and so much more!
Strengthening our ties through community, our year was highlighted by our Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfast, the Maundy Thursday Agape meal, St. Patrick’s Feast Day, participating in the Palisades July 4th parade, Kick-Off Sunday and our Christmas Eve events. Always opportunities for celebration and fun, these are occasions to reach our broader community and get to know one another better. Our Sunday Coffee Hours provide moments to catch up with each other and listen to our friends’ concerns each week. Thanks to all those who have hosted these; we welcome everyone’s participation.
Our focused groups thrived in 2024, providing outlets to deepen friendships among parish members. These include: Bible Babes, Senile Sinners, St. Patrick’s Seniors, and Women Together in Fellowship. We are also exploring how we might partner with Palisades Village.
Last fall, Andrew led the Vestry to consider how to build up parish relationships to support each other and our mission. Friendship suppers are an outgrowth of that consideration and intend to mix fun with furthering relationships among parishioners to get to know each other better and perhaps expand the groups of parishioners beyond those with whom they typically interact. Our thanks to Nancy White, Mari Foret and Kim Griffith who organized this activity with hosts, vestry, and attendees. We appreciate the efforts of the hosts and participants. Let us know if you’d like to become involved.
While we gather in faith on these many occasions, hearing and supporting each other in fellowship builds a vibrant community.
Children and Youth Formation
This fall was a time of reflection for the Youth Formation Program at St. Patrick’s. Melanie Gilbert, Vestry Chair of the Youth Formation Committee, convened a meeting with Rev. Andrew in August 2025 with interested parents. Nearly 25 parents and interested parishioners attended, and child care was provided. We talked about what parents experienced in their youth formation, and what they wanted from the St. Patrick’s Program.
Several new initiatives were started this year:
1) Youth Sundays – once a month, youth are active participants in the Sunday service. They serve as acolytes, readers, and junior ushers.
2) Confirmation Class – class is held once a month at 9 am for middle schoolers who are preparing to be confirmed at the National Cathedral in the spring. There are 9 confirmands.
Continuing Sunday School Offerings:
1) Godly Play – Children K – 2nd grade meet in the library and Lisa Addison and Adele teach them a lesson each week with manipulatives and music. Average attendance is 1 – 3 children.
2) Connect – Children 3rd – 6th grade meet in the Day School Conference Room and teachers Jocelyn Hall, Tricia Duncan and Monica Martinez teach a lesson based on scripture. This year we had a second adult in the classroom each week (either Melanie Gilbert or the Vestry Person of the Day) to assist and comply with Episcopal mandates. Average attendance is 4-6 children.
Next Steps:
Adult formation
This past year, Andrew hosted a Lenten spirituality series, designed by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist, the Episcopal Monastery in Cambridge, MA), with light dinner and conversation. He also hosted two book studies on Tuesday nights in autumn and Advent – we read On Living, by Kerry Egan, and My Soul in Silence Waits, by Margaret Geunther. He led two further confirmation classes: an adult seekers class and a high school confirmation class on Sundays during Lent where we read Being Christian and Being Disciples, by Bishop Rowan Williams.
Inspired and led by Carol Hylton, we hosted a screening of the documentary about The Philadelphia 11, the first women to be ordained priests in the Episcopal church at a forum after church in October. Nearly 50 people stayed for the forum and we had a meaningful discussion. Women Together in Fellowship and the Bible Babes groups hosted a sumptuous coffee hour.
Our usual efforts continued this year with Samaritan Ministries, SOME, Grate Patrol, Rummage Sale, and Haiti. Of particular note we had a laundry pod collection a couple times this year which was very popular. The SOME kitchen renovations are complete and we are working out when we can return to cooking in the kitchen. We have a couple new leaders behind the scenes in the Grate Patrol sandwich making, giving us new life and ideas. The Rummage Sale raised a record amount due to a variety of factors including: the April sale included inviting 5 area school’s teachers to pre-sale, a parish December holiday pop-up, off season clothes sales at a consignor throughout the year, and selling gold and silver items
to a dealer. The political climate in Haiti continues to be challenging. We have been in touch with our friends there and remain committed to them.
This year, it was particularly meaningful to see such a diverse collection of folks come together after church throughout the year. Whether it was making sandwiches, filling ziplocks with laundry pods, or marking IKEA bags for Rummage, the cross-section of participants was inspiring. Newcomers, longer term parishioners, young children, teens, people who hadn’t been back since before the pandemic – all had a hand in this work to help others. What I also saw was our community spending time with one another and deepening our collective relationships through service.
Over the course of the year, I have tried to focus on meeting the pastoral needs of everyone I encounter. At its core, I believe that we are all called to be pastoral to one another, which begins by listening to one another without judgement or rejoinder, seeing folks with empathy and compassion, and by just being with/walking with them. So many of our parishioners do this automatically, and intentionally. I want to lift up the extraordinary and loving ways you pastor one another, including the 3 meal trains we organized this year for parishioners in need of support after surgery and giving birth, where about 15-20 different parishioners and Day School folks participated. We have a couple of dedicated Lay Eucharistic Visitors who regularly go see folks who are homebound, bringing them communion and conversation, and a few other parishioners who have consistently visited and showed up for homebound parishioners weekly and monthly.
For me, pastoral care often happens through unscheduled conversations
at coffee hour, during the week, via phone call, text and email. I have made over 30 home/hospital visits, sometimes with communion and anointing, and sometimes just with conversation. I have had at least 70 scheduled/impromptu meetings with folks in my office, or at lunch or coffee. I have corresponded with numerous folks via email about 300 times.
With your help, this year, I hope to codify a more structured and accessible pastoral care ministry, that uplifts and supports the work that is already happening, and gives our people a means to connect and be supported pastorally.
Faithfully, Andrew+
Worship
Worship is at the core of our discipleship as Christians, and especially as Episcopalians. This year we initiated Youth Sundays, where youth from 3rd grade – 12th grade had the opportunity to be acolytes, readers, intercessors, and Jr. ushers, leading us in our worship. We initiated a Wednesday evening prayer service in the autumn that meets at 6:30, and alternates between services of Evening Prayer and Holy Eucharist Rite II.
This year we continued all of our wonderful St. Patrick’s traditions, with some new ones added. We began with our incredible Mardis Gras Sunday before Lent; we added a mid-day Ash Wednesday service, which was well attended by parishioners, faculty and staff of our Day School; Adele and I managed to work with our partner parish of St. Patrick’s and St. John’s in Northern Ireland in a joint service for our Feast Day that was in person and online, in which both congregations participated. We had a robust Holy Week schedule, with an added Agape meal before the Maundy Thursday service of foot washing and stripping of the altar, a Stations of the Cross service midday on Good Friday, and we joined St. John’s Georgetown for a joint Easter Vigil Service. We combined St. Francis’s Day blessing of the animals with Episcopal School’s Sunday this year, where we blessed our new altar hangings and vestments, as well as our favorite creatures and critters. We continued our pattern of an All Soul’s Evensong where we read the names of the faithfully departed, and we also continued our patterns of offering an Advent service of Healing before Christmas Eve, where people who were hurting or grieving could come for laying on of hands, anointing and special prayers.
During Advent, Bishop Mariann Budde visited us. She preached and presided at a wonderful Youth Sunday and stayed after to meet with our Vestry for lunch and conversation.
There are plenty of opportunities for everyone to get involved in worship, from being part of our music programs to serving on the Altar Guild or becoming a Lay Eucharistic Minister, Reader or Usher. If everyone over the age of 10 could serve in any of these capacities 6-8 Sundays out of 52 a year, then all positions would be filled.
Music
One of the most important things about Music at St. Patrick’s is that there really are opportunities for everyone to work together to help offer music that uplifts, inspires, and beautifies our services here as we worship together.
– Our youngest group N/PK – 2nd Grade Music in Motion continued to share fellowship and music each month learning about their faith through song, and taking home a faith story craft to share with their families. Oh, and there’s pizza…
– Our 3rd – 6th Grade Jubilate Deo singers gathered to rehearse and share music to offer in our worship, centered on a theme, a particular Sunday reading or season of the church year. You’ll hear them again in February and we hope to share a mini-musical later in the spring.
– This year we have expanded our teen Handbell group to include 7th-12th graders. They meet a couple of times a month and offer their music every month or so in our worship service. It’s a great way for busy teens to stay involved and we love hearing them!
– Our Adults and HS students have had the opportunity to join our faithful Cantoris Choir who anchor our congregational singing and offered music to complement scripture and season throughout the year. It’s a wonderful group with plenty of laughter and hugs as with any group who truly care for one another.
– Within our Cantoris we are so grateful for our dedicated soloist/section leaders. Andy Green and Lesley Riddle are our “veterans” and this year we welcomed three new singers into our midst (Donald Snyder, Öznur Tülüoglu and Hannah Briceño) They have all shared inspiring music and anchored our Cantoris offerings. Thank you, all!
After 25 years or so, Soprano, Suzanne Wynn this year has taken a step back from regular duties. We celebrate and appreciate the gifts she has given us through the years. Thank you, Suzanne!
– Our Family Choir continues to provide an opportunity for those who can’t make a regular rehearsal or just want to jump in and sing occasionally. We call it our “Family Choir” in the spirit of “we are all part of the St. Patrick’s family.” It is for all ages meeting every 6 weeks or so for fellowship (read: donuts!) and worship leading.
– In addition to these great group experiences, we continue to have a number of guest instrumentalists, both student and professional, who provide wonderful musical offerings throughout the year. We are especially grateful to our own Louis Orphanos who has offered his extraordinary talents at the piano many times this past year, including duet collaborations with our Cantoris Choir for our Thanksgiving Sunday and Christmas Eve service. Thank you, Louis!
– As part of our wonderful group of musicians who share their talents with us throughout the year, don’t miss our Youth Winter Music Tea coming up on Saturday, Feb. 22nd at 5pm, and our New Orleans Jazz Quartet on March 2nd.
– Our music program review wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging and celebrating our congregational support. Many of you have contributed financially to the music program and I want you to know that it is appreciated so very much. And I want you to know that you ALL contribute every Sunday as you sing and help us make music together. Remember – when you sing, you pray twice!
With gratitude, Adele
The Day School remains strong and healthy in its 68th year. Our programs operate within a vibrant, mission-centered community where respecting the infinite value of each individual as a child of God is a centering principle.
Enrollment for the 2024–2025 academic year stands at 465 students, supported by 121 dedicated faculty and staff. Notably, our student body includes 102 new students, reflecting an 18.6% increase in new enrollment compared to last year.
This year, we have focused on refining how we communicate our value proposition through a storytelling campaign, with refreshed language now featured on our website.
Following our opening prayer, we will start our meeting by voting to approve the minutes from the annual meeting on February 4, 2024. Please be sure to review the minutes in preparation for revising (if needed) and approving the minutes.
The Vestry Nominating Committee is charged with discerning parishioners to serve in leadership positions in the parish. This year’s Nominating Committee included Jo Anne Nelson, Bill Pugh, Melanie Gilbert, Bob Brookhiser and Eleni Lobene. Thank you all for your service!
The nominees for the Vestry, to be elected at the Annual Meeting on February 2, 2025, are:
Officers
Sr. Warden: Ellen Terpstra
Jr. Warden (Church): Susan Mulvany
Jr. Warden (School): Ellen Teplitz
Class of 2026 (ending at the Annual Meeting of 2027)
Alex Cassell
Susan Saulny Kenney
Eleni Lobene
Diocesan Delegates
Maurice White and Charlie Johnson III (alternate)
Other Vestry Members (not up for election at this meeting):
Officers (appointed by the Vestry following the Annual Meeting)
Treasurer: JB Meek
Clerk: Donna Murphy
Class of 2024 (ending at the Annual Meeting of 2026)
Mary Clute and JB Loveland
Monday through Friday: 10am – 3pm
