ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, POINT OF ROCKS, MARYLAND
Who we are
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church is a small, historic church in southern Frederick
County. The building was constructed in 1842 using bricks that were made on
the property and timbers cut from trees on the land. It is of the late Federal
style, and features a Dutch gable with a Palladian window. During the Civil
War, St. Paul's Church was used by Union Army troops as a barracks and hospital.
The church building was restored and reopened in 1969. Hickman Hall was built
in 1983.
The people of St. Paul's Church live in the town of
Point of Rocks, Maryland, and the surrounding region, once the farmland
of Frederick County, now increasingly a part of the growing suburban area
of metropolitan Washington. While preserving our historical roots, we seek
to be a lively network of Christian friends sharing the Good News of Jesus
Christ and serving those among whom we live and work. (Click here for the
history of St. Paul's Church.)
Our mission
The Mission of St. Paul's parish is to bear witness to Jesus Christ as a
Church family of faith, proclaiming the Gospel in word and action through
ministries of reconciliation, justice, and love. We gather together to worship,
sing praises, celebrate the Eucharist; welcoming all and believing all are
loved by God. As members, we strive to carry Christ's mission into the world
by living as Christ in the world. We serve Christ and one another through
prayer and community outreach, hoping to restore all people to unity with
God and with each other.
Our vision
The members of a congregation are the agents of Christ's mission in each
of the arenas of their daily lives: our homes, our work (school for students
and volunteer work for retirees), our local community, the wider world, our
leisure, and our church. God's characteristic work is reconciliation, justice,
and love. "Reconciliation" means working to restore broken relationships.
"Justice" has to do with organizing the work place, for example, so that everyone
is treated fairly and with dignity, and so that the public is served by the
product or service our organization provides. "Love" has to do with fostering
genuine friendship, for the purpose of building up others and helping them
grow towards the maturity God has in mind for every person. The leaders of
the congregation, clergy and lay, will work to help the members to discern
their mission in each arena and draw on the power of God to carry it out.
(For further information, see the article, THE LAITY
AS MISSIONARIES, in the Clapham 21 Newsletter, written by Wayne Schwab
and Jim Anderson.)
Our Goal
Our goal is to build on and strengthen the existing networks of friendship
and mutual care in the congregation by delineating "Neighborhoods," such as,
"Point of Rocks," "Adamstown," "Jefferson," "Lovettsville," and "Diaspora;"
assigning a Coordinator for each one; and then implementing the "each member
an agent of Christ's mission" vision, fitting our plans to the specific needs,
resources, and opportunities of each Neighborhood as we go along. (For further
information, see Guidelines for Putting Our Vision
Into Action.)
[Return to Home Page.]