April in Worship
The month of April started off with Holy Week and Easter. Wednesday, April 1 was our Tenebrae Service and there was at least one service each day through Easter Sunday. Our Easter services (Saturday Vigil and Sunday) brought 1,526 people to worship in person, up from 1,236 in 2025. Our gratitude to everyone who made it happen!
We also chose in early April to continue our Wednesday noontime Holy Eucharist with Healing prayers. This has had a small but faithful attendance throughout Lent and is continuing through Wednesday, June 10.
April in Outreach
We had another successful toiletry drive collecting five bins of supplies, improving upon the four collected in 2025. This total came to an approximate $2,400 worth of supplies which were distributed to our partners including St. Mary’s Chester, St. Gabriel’s, Chester Eastside, and Family Promise. These items are essentials that are not covered by SNAP benefits or other support systems.
We then started up our Eastertide Food Drive with a goal of five bins. This drive is vital as we’re trying to stock up ahead of the high-demand, low-donation season in summer. This drive runs through Pentecost Sunday, May 24.
On Sunday, April 12 we welcomed the Rev. Kyle Evans, chaplain; Anne Rice-Burgess, CEO; and Susan Smart, director of individual giving from Episcopal Community Services (ECS), to talk about the services offered by and the impact of their organization. We were blessed by a sermon from the Rev. Kyle Evans to kick off the visit. If you’re interested in getting involved with ECS you can contact the Rev. Tanya Regli for details. Watch Kyle’s sermon below.
Formation
The Cross Connections Podcast made a road trip to Princeton Theological Seminary for a lecture by Matthew Novenson, “Exegesis and other Kinds of Eisegesis.” Regular hosts, the Rev. Rick Morley, Elliot VanHoy, and Natalee Hill were joined by the Rev. Tanya Regli. Following the lecture, they gathered in the library to record an episode. The episode will be called “The ‘right way’ to read the Bible.” Watch for the podcast episode later this May. If you’re curious about the lecture in the meantime, you can watch it on YouTube here.
In mid-April our Director of Communications, Natalee Hill attended the annual Episcopal Communicators Conference, held this year in San Diego, CA. As a part of the conference, they held the Polly Bond Awards for Excellence in Communications celebrating work done in the prior calendar year. The Cross Connections podcast won an Honorable Mention for their episode, “Paul’s Letter to the Romans with Douglas Campbell.”
April also saw the wrap up of our Age-Level formation year particularly for Godly Play, StoryMakers NYC, and our Wednesday evening Primary and Children’s Choirs. On Sunday the 19th StoryMakers had their last outreach project making Easter egg bird feeders by reusing the plastic eggs that you returned to the church after the egg hunt.
Youth Confirmation classes also ended in April and we’re looking forward to Sunday, June 14 for the Bishop’s visit when this year’s group of young people will be confirmed. If you, as an adult, have not yet been confirmed or received into The Episcopal Church, please talk to the Rev. Thomas Szczerba right away.
Fellowship
At the Men’s Fellowship Breakfast on Saturday, April 11, Dr. Manuj Agarwal spoke about longevity. He offered “a practical playbook to protect energy, mobility, cognition, and long-term disease risk—with simple habits and a few key metrics you can start using immediately.”
The Edge fellowship for our 4th and 5th Graders also had a fun and color-drenched spring picnic on the lawn. They tie-dyed socks and threw powdered colors at each other to stain t-shirts.
At an All-Parish fellowship lecture, Gordon Smith presented on the Legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. These WWII pilots, sometimes known as “Red Tails,” broke barriers as the first African American military aviators, overcoming segregation and discrimination to fly over 15,000 missions and earn more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. As the son of Tuskegee pilot, Capt. Luther H. Smith, Gordon brought history to life with personal reflection to drive home the struggles through which these pilots persevered and the lasting impact of their service.
The Young Adults held their monthly third Sunday potluck brunch in the Parish House, the Szczerba home. The group has a lot of consistent members with energy for more involvement. Out of that group was birthed a new twice-a-month Bible Study, Gospel Chat, which held its first session on April 26 at 11:30 a.m. Open to all, this study meets on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month to talk about the day’s Gospel without any preparation or need to be there one week to understand the discussion the next week. Just come and explore the Bible within community.
Rounding out the month…
The clergy and lay staff celebrated Administrative Professionals Day on Thursday, April 23, with a luncheon in honor of our administrative staff. Organized by our Chief Operating Officer, Joy Karsner, the lunch included games to identify “the person who…” Members of St. David’s Vestry also attended to share their gratitude, a gesture which was especially appreciated by the administrative team. Thanks to the administrative whole team, pictured L-R, Natalee, Sharon, Diane, Dina, Grace, Roe, and Julieann.
We hosted events by both the Daughters and the Sons of the American Revolution on the same weekend, and the DAR Gravestone Preservation spent time in our Churchyard cleaning up the historic stones ahead of their event. We’re grateful for their assistance in the care of this important part of our and our country’s past.
April brought a rotation of our art displays, with Gabriel Regli’s Stations of the Cross closing out and “Whispering Wonders” by AnnMarie Carmack opening. You can see her words, a wonder of soft, calming pastel colors in acrylic paint, through June 5th.
Sunday, April 26 was a big day to close out the month, including six baptisms, three each at 9:15 and 9:30 a.m. worship. Twelve people attended a Newcomers Meet and Greet with Tour led by the Rev. Thomas Szczerba that morning. We finished out with a fantastic Fair Spring Sale, which was very busy and brought in lots more money to our outreach ministries.