St. David's of Aurora

St. David's Episcopal Church is a family-size congregation with a passion to serve its neighbors. The congregation has spent the last ten months discerning God's vision for St. David's; our new mission statement is based on our vision statements:

The people of St. David's strive to continue Christ's mission to unite people to heal the

world.

We love, respect, and care for all persons.

We celebrate and pray together.

We share Christ's teachings.

We are now ready to discern our path into the future with a new priest. Together, we will find

how St. David's can best serve God in our community.

Our Church in our Community

Aurora, Illinois, a city of about 198,000 people, is located in the far western suburbs of Chicago. We have easy access into Chicago by expressway and the Metra rail system. Aurora, the second largest city in the state, is diverse ethnically and socio-economically. Although the city has struggled over the past thirty years with urban issues of poverty and crime, community leaders have worked to make Aurora a safe and vibrant community in which to live and work. New recreational and business opportunities are developing, and there are numerous social service agencies to assist those in need.

The church is located on five acres at the corner of two well-traveled roads. In addition, we have a rectory and memorial garden on the grounds. We utilize both the church and the grounds for the benefit of our community.

St. David's opened its doors on March 1, 1956, St. David's Day, and our church building was completed in time for Easter Sunday, 1959. Rectors serving St. David's have been The Rev. Robert Harvey, 1956-61, The Rev. Donald Aitken,1961-1966; The Rev. John McAdams, 1966-1986; The Rev. Michael Long, 1987-1997; and The Rev. Susan Holstrom, 1999- April, 2012. The Rev. Caroline Bavaro was our regular supply priest until our Interim Rector, Father Bob Lambert, arrived. Our congregation has developed its personality over these years.

St. David's Worship

We presently have two Sunday services, both Rite II, which are quite different and serve the need for diverse ways to worship. The early service at 8:00 is quiet and contemplative, and the 10:00 service incorporates music, including a choir with talented individuals. We have a

fine pipe organ with 17 stops and 20 ranks. Our music is important to us; the congregation sings mostly from the 1982 Hymnal, plus Lift Every Voice and Sing, while the choir uses many sources. We have an especially warm and welcoming Peace during our services. Christian education takes place between services, at 9:00. Healing prayers are offered during services on the first Sunday of the month.

Since 2001, our worship attendance numbers have declined from 80 to under 50. Through the grace of God, we have made ends meet every year, an ongoing challenge. We are working on our website as the best way to reach people.

St. David's Outreach

For more than 25 years, St. David's has embraced outreach to our neighbors in Aurora. Our discernment process this year highlighted our desire to maintain this passion for involvement in our community. We have learned, through outreach, that “healing the world” also brings healing to us. Our current Outreach includes:

--Sandwich Board. We prepare and serve a hot lunch every fifth Thursday for an average of 150 people at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Aurora.

--Support of our neighborhood elementary school, McCleery, by providing necessities and extras, with donations of school supplies; buses for a field trip; winter hats, scarves, and mittens, and a gift-wrapped book for every first-grader at Christmas. Some of us volunteer during school hours to help first-graders with reading.

--Regular donations to the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry. We also support each other's individual outreach efforts. We donate a substantial portion of our own fund-raising activities to different causes, as well. --World Relief. It has been ten years since, through the volunteer work of one of our members, we became involved with World Relief, a refugee organization, and sponsored a family from Burundi. This was an entirely new experience, with unexpected challenges and joys. The small acts of one person thus became a meaningful ministry, as we have shared our building and grounds with World Relief, and have been blessed to worship with people who have joined us from several nations. A diversity of cultures has become part of our identity, and we embrace our continuing friendship with World Relief. More than 300 people attended the June 2013 World Relief picnic, held on our grounds.

St. David's CommunityWe are a welcoming, open and diverse congregation. We worship and serve together, and we enjoy each other's company. Lively coffee hours follow every 10:00 service, and on the first Sunday of the month there is a special pancake breakfast from the Men's Group. We have potlucks and parties throughout the year, with special events to commemorate

milestones for parishioners and staff. In prayer, and with cards, calls, and visits, we work to support and care for each other through life's ups and downs, and live out our mission statement as we keep on doing the “little things.”

Be joyful, and keep your faith and creed.Do the little things that you have seen me do and hear about.

--St. David of Wales

We cherish our traditions, but are by no means static; we need someone to help us build on our past. Our discernment process over the past ten months showed a renewed energy in the congregation, and a desire to thrive. We are seeking a part-time priest-in-charge. We want our new priest to also feel passionate about healing the world, and to join us as we determine how we will move forward in being faithful in the little things. We invite you to prayerfully consider a call to St. David's, and grow with us.