Neighboring Parish Helps St. David's Rebuild

This story was updated on Monday at 11:05 a.m. 

Last week, The Anglican Parish of Christ the Redeemer (formally ) its property at 905 East McMurray Rd. in  on Thursday, May 31, and relocate to Canonsburg.

The rebuilding will be led by a team of priests from a neighboring parish in Mt. Lebanon who will serve the congregation that remains on E. McMurray Road after others have moved on.

Beginning May 27, the Rev. Louis B. Hays, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon, and the Rev. Kris Opat McInnes, St. Paul’s associate rector, will expand their ministry to include leading services and caring for the congregation at St. David’s.

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh announced that services would resume at St. David’s immediately after the clergy and some members of the current congregation, who had left the Episcopal Church, moved to a new location. The diocese committed itself to serving those members who want to stay and restore a vibrant congregation.

“We will be welcoming all who want to know and love God," said Hays in a press release. "Our focus will be on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who invites us to look beyond our differences and to be reconciled and healed."

Some of St. Paul’s parishioners were once members of St. David’s and others have close connections with the congregation, as stated in a release.

Among them is McInnes, who will be serving the parish where he grew up.

“St. David’s is in a season of renewal,” McInnes said. “Christians of all ages who seek a place where their souls will be nourished and their convictions respected will find this to be a welcoming community.”

Services on May 27 are scheduled for at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. An informational meeting will take place between services at 9:15 a.m.

Under an arrangement approved by St. Paul’s lay governing board, called a vestry, the parish will provide spiritual guidance and other non-financial assistance to St. David’s for the next two years. 

“We are not taking over," said Hays. "We will be there to support and encourage them until they can be self-sustaining and we can say goodbye as they continue on their journey."

Lay parishioners from St. Paul’s will be volunteering to help the Peters congregation, and the staffs of the two parishes will be cooperating on programs.  

St. Paul’s director of children’s ministry, Lisa Brown, and Jennifer Yoon, who directs St. David’s preschool, have already planned a summer Vacation Bible School.  

It will be open to local children ages 4 and up, and will take place at St. David’s the mornings of July 30 through Aug. 3.

St. Paul’s provided a similar companionship to Grace Episcopal Church in Mount Washington in the early 1990s. Membership at Grace had dwindled to a few. A priest was sent from St. Paul’s and the parish provided other services to help the city congregation rebound.

To help support the current collaboration, the Episcopal Diocese is providing funding to hire an additional priest, the Rev. Michelle Boomgaard, as a full-time assistant rector at St. Paul’s. She is one of three recently, or soon to be, ordained clergy being assigned to Episcopal parishes where they can be mentored by seasoned clergy while gaining experience in ministry.  

In each case, their salary is split between the diocese and the local parish.

“We are so happy that we can invest in our congregations and in our future leaders this way,” said Bishop Kenneth L. Price Jr. “I am also happy that the people of St. Paul’s have agreed to invest their time and attention to helping their brothers and sisters at St. David’s move toward a future full of health, vitality and blessings.”

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