Dear People of St. David’s,
On Sunday we will be joined by our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez, at the 9:15 a.m. service in the chapel. It’s always a full and festive day when the bishop comes and our young people receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
It’s also a yearly reminder of our connection to the broader Church. We’re a pretty self-reliant and self-sufficient bunch here at St. David’s! There’s always a wide variety of activities, and a healthy community to lean on when things get busy, or heavy, or hard.
But, as self-reliant as we are, we are not alone. We are part of something much larger. St. David’s is one of the missionary outposts of The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. Our diocese is, in turn, part of The Episcopal Church throughout the United States (and in Central America and Europe). AND, of course, The Episcopal Church is a part of the global Anglican Communion, the third largest Christian denomination in the world.
A bishop serves as the Chief Pastor of the Diocese and provides professional and pastoral support to the clergy of the whole diocese. Hopefully, when you are experiencing a life emergency you know that you can always call the clergy of St. David’s. When the clergy of St. David’s are experiencing an emergency, we call the bishop—who is “our priest.”
One of the instructions that our bishop gives us prior to coming on a Sunday is to not “welcome” him during the announcements. He doesn’t want to be “welcomed,” because this is his church! He belongs here with us, and among us.
So, when Bishop Gutiérrez walks through our doors on Sunday, he isn’t just an honored guest. He is, in a very real sense, our pastor—the one who ordains clergy, who holds us accountable to the wider Church, and who carries the apostolic thread that connects St. David’s, Wayne, Pennsylvania to Canterbury, to Jerusalem, and all the way back to the earliest communities of faith.
And the young people being confirmed on Sunday? They are stepping into that same vast story. Confirmation is the moment when the faith that has been nurtured here—in this community, in this chapel, in Sunday Christian Formation classrooms, and youth group gatherings, and around family dinner tables—is claimed publicly and personally. They are saying, in front of God and this congregation and the Bishop of Pennsylvania: this is mine. I chose this. The bishop, in turn, lays hands on them and says on behalf of the whole Church: we receive you. You belong to something ancient, and living, and larger than you know.
That’s worth celebrating. Come and be part of it Sunday at 9:15 a.m. and if you see Bishop Gutiérrez before or after the service, introduce yourself. He is, after all, your priest too.
The Rev. Rick Morley
Rector
Published on June 11, 2026.