"Groundbreaking on Foxhall" - The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard, June, 5, 2011

[The following remarks were delivered by the Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard, Rector of St. Patrick's, at the Groundbreaking for the new field the first phase in the development of St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School's Foxhall Campus. The ceremony was held on Sunday, June 5 beginning at 4:00pm. The Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington, officiated the ceremony. Peter Barrett, Head of School, and Keith Powell, past Day School Board Chair, also spoke.] 

Thank you Bishop Chane, Keith and Peter. Without your leadership, this groundbreaking would not be possible. On behalf of the Parish, I want to thank the past and present faculty and staff, the students and their extended families, the wardens and Vestry, the Diocese and Bishops of Washington, the Board of Trustees, and my predecessors as Rector of this Parish for the many seeds sown on behalf of St. Patrick’s that continue to provide a grand harvest. 

Jesus called us to teach and share the Good News. He wanted his followers to ask questions and to challenge the status quo by doing extraordinary things. That is the expectation of the ministries of St. Patrick’s, to continue fulfilling God’s mission in the world.  This Parish, in its 100 years of service in the Diocese of Washington, has taken that responsibility seriously.

We have and continue to be on the forefront of developing discerning minds and reaching out in service to those on the margins. This takes form in our worship and programs for spiritual development and pastoral care but also through our involvement at St. Phillip’s in Anacostia, at Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington, with our food ministries at So Others Might Eat, and our long-standing relationship with St. Etienne in Buteau, Haiti.  This spirit of service and commitment to the community is embodied in our Day School ministry that opens our doors to a diverse student body from DC and the surrounding communities. We are blessed by the hard work of many people on behalf of St. Patrick’s who have left us a culture of passionate service in the name of God.

On behalf of the Vestry, I am excited about this new chapter in the life of our Day School ministry. When St. Patrick’s decided to open a school to educate children in 1956, it was an opportunity to serve the Palisades neighborhood by providing a Christian education in the Episcopal tradition. In the early years, the Day School was housed in the basement of the church building on the corner of Foxhall and Reservoir and later in others buildings in the area (as the ministry grew, it spent some years wandering in the desert) before attaining land for a permanent Day School home on Whitehaven Parkway in the 1970’s, just blocks from where it all began. The Parish purchased the adjacent land, sold the property on Foxhall in the 1980’s and, after a capital campaign, built a building attached to our Day School. As we celebrate our centennial year, it is fitting that we continue to grow and change to meet new calls to serve the Palisades and the greater metropolitan area of Washington and it seems appropriately coincidental that we return to a new campus on Foxhall, just a short walk from where St. Patrick’s opened in October of 1911.

We continue to mark new and exciting moments in the life of this Parish. I look forward to many years of transformation in the ministry of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School as it fulfills God’s mission through Jesus Christ.

Thank you, Bishop Chane, for joining us on this special day in the life of St. Patrick’s Parish and for your strong support of school ministries across this diocese. We are eternally grateful. [to the congregation] Thank you for being here this afternoon, and may God’s blessings be with you now and always. 

The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard - kurt@stpatrickschurchdc.org

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church 

Groundbreaking for the Field on Foxhall

June 5, 2011