OUR PREACHER:  DAVID KENDRICK

Our Communications Director, David Kendrick is preaching today, with the Rector returning late last night from Youth Minister Jonathan Stube’s wedding in Pennsylvania.

David was born in 1961, and raised in Vero Beach, Florida.  As we remember the legacy of the 1970s, David is truly a child of that decade.  He actually knows who sang the eminently forgettable “Kung Fu Fighting.”

David has the legacy of a happy childhood in the 70s.  His legacy from that decade is also one of loss.  In 1978, when he was 17, David’s mother died.  But in the years since, David has gained an even greater legacy – that of God’s constant care and love.

“What I have lost, God has restored many times over in friends and family.  And by family I mean my wife and son, and the brothers and sisters I have discovered in the community of those who belong to God and each other.”

Raised Southern Baptist, David was baptized at the age of nine.  As an adult, David discovered the Episcopal Church.

“In the Episcopal Church, I came to a relationship with Jesus Christ through the bread and wine that is blessed every Sunday.  Sharing that bread and wine with others led to relationship with them as well.”

In 1983, David graduated from Wofford College in South Carolina.  His future wife, Laura, attended nearby Converse College.  David, Laura and their 17-year-son, John, have lived in the Washington area for many years.  For most of those years they have attended Grace Episcopal Church in Alexandria.

Throughout the 1990s, David worked in communications for several political groups, seeking to make a difference in the life of this country.  But after years in the polarized environment of our nation’s capitol, David became dissatisfied with his use of God’s gifts to him in skilled communication.

“The more active I became in church ministry,” he said, “the more I knew that God was calling me to help bring people together, not drive them apart.”

In 2004, with the approval of the Diocese, David began his religious studies at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.  He graduated this past May, and was ordained a Deacon in June.  God willing, he will be ordained a Priest on December 17 at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Burke.

David is glad to be here in his new church home.  He expresses his commitment to this covenant community principally in his work with the newsletters and the Web Site.  He also expresses that commitment in his observance of Morning Prayer every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 9 am in the Church, where he prays for members of the Parish.

“With God’s help, I hope I can communicate how much God loves each and every one of us, and that I stand with the people of this Parish.”

We are blessed by David’s coming to us.