holy-comforter-preschool

Pickup Choir

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 19:22:42 GMT

Pickup Choir

August 24 @ 9:15 am

Do you like to sing? Join the pickup choir! If you have ever considered joining the choir, now is your chance to try it out—with no long-term commitment! Simply meet in the nave at 9:15 a.m. for a brief rehearsal; then sing at the 10:00 service. No vestments needed; no midweek rehearsals. If you have any questions, contact David Boulware-Kelley .

Rector’s Book Discussion: Abundance

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 21:11:40 GMT

Rector’s Book Discussion: Abundance

August 24 @ 11:15 am - 12:30 pm

In the Community Hall

Dive into a stimulating discussion with the Rector on Abundance, a timely book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson that challenges us to rethink how the US can unlock its full potential for progress and innovation.

This conversation will also examine the intersections of the book’s themes with theological perspectives on human capacity and the role of institutions.

Ice Cream Social

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 21:13:59 GMT

Ice Cream Social

August 31 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Stay after church and cool down with us! Join us at the Front Circle to enjoy delicious ice cream, lots of toppings, and share a sweet time with friends, family, and newcomers alike.

We look forward to celebrating the end of summer and the new program year to come. All ages are welcome. Invite a friend.

All-Parish Retreat for All Ages

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 21:30:05 GMT

All-Parish Retreat for All Ages

September 5 - September 7

Families, Couples, Singles, Kids—all are welcome at our annual All-Parish Retreat at Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs, VA. You don’t want to miss this weekend in the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains with activities for all ages.

This year, our theme is “Praying with Nature.”

Come away for a weekend of spiritual renewal and discovery as we explore the sacred connection between prayer and the natural world. Led by our own Amy Heard-Davison, Amy Brown, and Margaret Bain, this retreat will guide us through moments of reflection rooted in nature, prayer practices, and Celtic Spirituality. Kerry Gilpin will enrich our experience with a guided naturalist walk through God’s creation. Reflect. Rejoice. We hope to see you there.

PLUS options for rest and/or recreation for all ages!

Duckpin Bowling
Fire Pit with S’mores
Hiking
Planet Gazing
Square Dancing
And Much Mo re

To register, complete the electronic form below and click SUBMIT at the end.

If you prefer to fill out a hard copy form, you can download one below and turn in your completed form to the Church Office.

Please pay online (choose “Parish Retreat – Shrine Mont 2025” from the Fund drop down menu), or make checks payable to Church of Holy Comforter, with “Shrine Mont Parish Retreat” in the memo line. Leave checks in the Church Office. Financial aid is available (contact Peggy Miller ).

A non-refundable fee of $20 per person is due with your registration form to hold your place for the weekend. The remaining balance must be paid in full by Sunday, August 31. Your registration is not complete without your deposit. You may also pay the entire balance due with your registration, if you prefer.

Senior Saints Lunch and Program – “Climate Change: Preparing for the New Normal in Virginia”

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 21:42:23 GMT

Senior Saints Lunch and Program – “Climate Change: Preparing for the New Normal in Virginia”

September 5 @ 11:45 am

I n the Community Hall

Our guest speaker will be Dr. Jim Kinter, Director of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies at George Mason University.

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” This old saying neglects the fact that all of us are inadvertently doing something about the weather—we are changing it.

The reality of global climate change is now undeniable and the likelihood is high that human activities have caused the majority of the changes observed in the past half-century.

No one is exempt from the changes Earth will experience during the rest of this century—there will be a new normal and we all need to prepare for it. Knowing where, when, and by how much climate will change in the Commonwealth, and where and how to exploit natural resources, are critically important aspects of planning and preparing for changes that are decades in the making.

Dr. Kinter will describe research that is focused on these questions, emphasizing what we have learned about predicting future weather and climate in the mid-Atlantic region.

Dr. Jim Kinter is Director of George Mason University’s Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), which conducts research on climate predictability. Dr. Kinter is also a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences and the Climate Dynamics Ph.D. Program of the College of Science. He teaches courses on climate dynamics, predictability and climate change.

After earning his doctorate in geophysical fluid dynamics at Princeton University in 1984, Dr. Kinter served as a National Research Council Associate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and as a faculty member of the University of Maryland prior to helping to create COLA in 1993.

Bring your own lunch. Desserts and beverages will be provided. If you would like to bring a dessert to share, please let Barbara Fitzsimmons know so she can make sure there’s plenty for everybody to enjoy.

PS – You are always welcome to bring a friend. No membership or dues needed, and there are no age requirements.

Video from the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:41:33 GMT

“De Virginia a Puerto Rico: Una Misión de Fe y Comunidad”

“From Virginia to Puerto Rico: A Mission of Faith and Community”

June 16–22, a group of 19 Holy Comforter youth and adults traveled to Puerto Rico, seeking to serve and work in the way that Christ taught us; to be connected to the Body of Christ in new places, and to find out what that means. Check out this video produced by the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico! If you don’t speak the language, we hope the sentiment is clear.

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 7

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 18:32:16 GMT

Hi there! To conclude our final hours in Puerto Rico, the group attended a lovely church service at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Cathedral in San Juan. We were quickly welcomed by an enthusiastic and hospitable group, who graciously set out a delicious arrangement of food after the service. The spread included homemade brownies, lemon pound cake, sugar pastries, watermelon, and an assortment of beverages, most notably a fresh pitcher of ginger juice! After coffee hour, the youth embarked on individual excursions throughout Old San Juan. Groups had fun shopping, exploring the city, and tasting local cuisine until we headed for the airport around 3:00.

This year’s mission trip to Puerto Rico was packed full of adventures, mission work, and excitement, and we are very grateful for all of the kindhearted people we’ve met. Thanks for following us throughout this journey!

—Bella

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 6

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 18:37:44 GMT

Hi!! Saturday was so much fun! After zip lining, We all got ready and, I got to straighten my hair (yay)! I got to hangout with my friends while getting ready and it was so much fun! Then Carlos, the leader of my group, and we got to walk around old San Juan, taking pictures. Then after we went out to dinner at this SUPER nice restaurant; the food was amazing! I got the chicken parm with rice and it was so much fun! Ps: thank you so much to Holy Comforter for paying! I had an amazing time on Saturday and I can’t wait for next year’s youth mission trip!

—Julia

Here’s a video of zip lining

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19LEWe6m2HPldS1_5w0EdcakYOes4Fvgk/view?usp=drivesdk

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 5

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:17:52 GMT

Hey all! This is Levi. Although we didn’t have a service day today, our connection with the community here in Puerto Rico was increased by a similar amount. However, the first thing we had to do was say goodbye to our home for the past week, and move to our new housing closer in San Juan.

After our goodbyes, breakfast, and morning prayers, we headed off to Father Carlos’ church- he’s assisted us through the week helping organize the houses that we help paint. There, we were welcomed by the parish there and were able to play soccer with some of the youth there.

Despite our large age gap, with us being much older than them, the kids there were able to beat us by many goals. (I was able to score one for Team Holy Comforter) After lunch and some socializing with the kids, we were off once more to our next home, where we are currently staying.

It’s a residence with a monk there, who is very nice, and he welcomed us with open arms. However, we didn’t have much time to explore the area, because soon we were off to the beaches in San Juan, which were quite clear and a quite nice temperature. After the beach, we went over to a pizza place nearby and I enjoyed the meal quite a bit.

Next, we went over to Ben & Jerry’s and another beach area (just to take some pictures) and then drove back to our residence.

Thanks,

Levi

Here’s a video with game highlights—

https://drive.google.com/file/d/104xaHmRxHRbfc3hoPvCI38FS2Sn6dCZj/view?usp=drivesdk

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 4

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 18:12:04 GMT

Hi this is Lilly, one of the youth on the Puerto Rico Mission Trip! Today we started our morning early with breakfast and morning prayer. In morning prayer we meditated on the 3rd verse of Psalm 23, “He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.” After our morning prayer we split into two groups. The group I was in went to one house nearby Senora Abigail home where we were the day prior. We began the first half of our work scraping and painting the front of the fence. We then went back to Senora Abigail’s to sit and eat our lunch. After lunch we went back to the house we were working on and finished the back of the fence and the front walls of the house.

Following our work day we took a pit stop at the pharmacy to pick up a few things we had ran out of. We then got back after what felt like the longest work day and relaxed by the pool. We then got all cleaned up and ate dinner. Instead of ending our night with compline we had a campfire in the woods. By the campfire we each picked a song and explained what it meant to us. After we each had said our songs, Jana and Cesar went into the town and picked us up s’more stuff!!

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 3

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 18:02:21 GMT

Today was our second day of work. We painted a house for a wonderful lady. As we were working we saw many cats wandering around and we also met the lady’s granddaughter. Day 3 was a very fun day full of mission work and meeting new people.

Even saw an iguana….

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C-ioI4Vg7h3SLV8I8I65PcvtxC8v6jqa/view?usp=drivesdk

—Brooke

Click below to see our Video—

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UGki5OTNAUS4WnVucP6UGeliwIj3Adu0/view?usp=drivesdk

Puerto Rico: Day 1

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:39:05 GMT

Hi, this is Moira from the 2025 High School youth group! Today we took off from DCA and landed in San Juan’s airport, SJU. This was my sister and I’s first flight (personally) and throughout the day, youth explored the airport terminals before landing in the city. We ate at a local restaurant outside San Juan before heading up the winding, and seemingly endless mountain roads. Several bonus factors of our Resort were the salt-water pool and various wildlife!

We feel asleep to the sounds of the coqui frogs every night…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ftZty25HsGwsfnVUqF2VZqTHL9prcZpJ/view?usp=drivesdk

Puerto Rico: Day 2

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:43:19 GMT

Hola!

We have officially finished our first day of work in Puerto Rico! For our first day we woke up bright and early at 730 to get ready for breakfast at 8. Although some of us woke up at 7 to do some strength training by the pool with our very own Jon Strand. For breakfast we had oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and some meat! We headed over to do some morning worship and we meditated over the phrase “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” after worship we put on plenty of sunscreen and bug spray and hit the road to our first 2 houses. While some of our adults left to Home Depot to grab supplies, all youth played some fun indoor games for a while before eating our lunch that we prepared before breakfast. We split up into 2 groups and worked on two separate houses, one house needed a little bit of scraping and a lot of paint, and our second house needed more scraping some different colors of paint! We worked until around 4 pm and cleaned up. We realized that some of the youth forgot some items from home so we stopped at cvs where we grabbed snacks, drinks, and other needed items. After Walgreens we headed back to our current home, Cristo de Redentor, and we all took a much needed break before dinner. For dinner we had pasta, bread with olive oil, and salad, and some pineapple for dessert.

We went to the pool after dinner to explore the outdoors a little and we found and cracked open a coconut! Some of us drank some coconut water and tried the meat. After our first great day, some of the youth played a fun round of uno before calling it a night and heading to bed. We are so grateful to be blessed with the opportunity to help those in need and we can’t wait to continue our worship here In Puerto Rico! We’ll see you tomorrow.

¡Adios! – Gilly

Puerto Rico Blog: Adios

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:31:26 GMT

At the airport ready for our adventure. Looking forward to working with the Episcopal parishes in Puerto Rico to serve the local communities.

Thank you to our Holy Comforter family for your blessing and commissioning yesterday.

—Jana

Puerto Rico Blog: Counting Down the Days!

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 15:26:08 GMT

¡Bienvenidos a nuestro blog! Welcome to our blog!

In just three days, fifteen youths and four adults (Rev. Jon, Rev. Ann, Carlos, and Jana) from Holy Comforter are heading to Puerto Rico for a mission trip. We will be there from June 16-22, 2025, helping people with their homes. While there, we’ll work to strengthen our relationships with each other, God, and those we meet along the way.

As one of the adult leaders this year, I’m thrilled to join this mission. I went on mission trips when I was in high school and also helped lead my daughter’s mission trip to Rural Appalachia. These experiences shaped me and gave me a greater understanding of myself, others, and God, and I’m excited to share that with our youth.

We’ve spent the past year preparing and raising money, through the Christmas Greens Sale, Pancake Brunch, 007 Casino Dance Night, Easter Bake Sale, and May Car Wash. Thank you to our friends and Holy Comforter family for supporting us in this trip—not only financially, but with your prayers and blessings too. This couldn’t have happened without you and we are so grateful.

We hope to see many of you this Sunday at the commissioning ceremony and blessing of our mission team during the 10am service.

We’ll be sharing more of our journey with you here at this blog! Stay tuned…

~Jana King Allen

Puerto Rico 2025

joel@d2design.com (Joel Townley) — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:42:19 GMT

June 16–22, our Youth Group will be in Puerto Rico creating friendships in the task of helping others; exploring and reflecting on new places and cultures. Please check back soon for updates from the Puerto Rico trip.

holy-comforter-preschool

Pickup Choir

Pickup Choir

August 24 @ 9:15 am

Rector’s Book Discussion: Abundance

Rector’s Book Discussion: Abundance

August 24 @ 11:15 am - 12:30 pm

Ice Cream Social

Ice Cream Social

August 31 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

All-Parish Retreat for All Ages

All-Parish Retreat for All Ages

September 5 - September 7

Senior Saints Lunch and Program – “Climate Change: Preparing for the New Normal in Virginia”

Senior Saints Lunch and Program – “Climate Change: Preparing for the New Normal in Virginia”

September 5 @ 11:45 am

Video from the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico

“De Virginia a Puerto Rico: Una Misión de Fe y Comunidad”

“From Virginia to Puerto Rico: A Mission of Faith and Community”

﻿

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 7

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 6

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 5

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 4

Puerto Rico Blog: Day 3

Puerto Rico: Day 1

Puerto Rico: Day 2

Puerto Rico Blog: Adios

Puerto Rico Blog: Counting Down the Days!

¡Bienvenidos a nuestro blog! Welcome to our blog!

Puerto Rico 2025