Our worship at the 10:15 service on May 17 will feature service music from “Belfast Centenary Eucharist,” composed in 2004 to mark the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Nave at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Kristina Sheppard, the artistic director of the Valley Chorale and the director of choirs at Gainesville High School, will be the guest conductor.

We’ll also recognize our church community’s high school graduates and Saint James’ Episcopal School fifth graders, with a special Coffee Hour to follow.

Also on May 17

Café and the Campaign for Ministries — Café, our weekly buffet breakfast in the Parish Hall from 8:45 to 10 a.m. , is free for everyone on May 17. This is the last Café before it resumes in September. Please thank a Café volunteer for providing such amazing breakfasts each week this program year! Additionally, Patrick Heijmen will give a presentation during Café on the “Campaign for Ministries,” what it is, and how you can be a part of it.

Youth groups go to Carousel — As is our tradition, each youth group will walk to Carousel on May 17 for the final gathering before summer break — the ice cream is on us! All middle schoolers and current fifth graders are invited to meet at the church at 5 p.m. before walking to Carousel together. (Pickup at the church at 6:30 p.m.) All high schoolers and current eighth graders are invited to meet at the church at 6:30 p.m. before walking to Carousel together. (Pickup at the church at 8 p.m.) If you have any questions about youth groups at Saint James’, email Jen Taylor at jennifer.taylor@saintjameswarrenton.org.

Café is free for all women this Sunday, and we’ll have “mom-osas” and other special treats.

The Fauquier Community Coalition’s Firewood Initiative provides firewood to local residents identified by the Department of Social Services who need firewood to keep their homes warm during the winter. Volunteers from several churches gather each week at the Warrenton Baptist Church property behind Brumfield Elementary School to split and stack wood for delivery to almost 60 individuals and families.

This is where you come in. We’ve committed to providing volunteers from Saint James’ on the second Saturday of each month. The time commitment is about two hours, and all adults and teenagers are welcome to volunteer.

Email Judy Williams at jwilliams0721@gmail.com if you have any questions.

All ladies are invited to join us in this fun twist on bingo and yard sales.

Bring three to five gently used items* to donate to the prize table, then enjoy several rounds of bingo. Winners choose their prizes from the collection.

Please bring a beverage and snack to share, and friends are welcome!

If you’d like to be added to the Episcopal Church Women email distribution list, email Jen Taylor at jennifer.taylor@saintjameswarrenton.org or Margy Thomas at mweastham@gmail.com.

*No clothing or food items, please.

This service will incorporate children into our worship even more than usual. The liturgy will follow the format used by Saint James’ Episcopal School, and the service music and Father Ben’s message will be especially inclusive of children. We’ll also celebrate Holy Eucharist using the bread made by the children participating in the Communion instruction class.

Since this service is especially geared toward children, there will be no Children’s Church. Nursery for kids under 4 years old will still be available.

Come and get your hands dirty in the Saint James’ Episcopal School vegetable garden and Audubon-certified native wildlife garden. We need volunteers to tackle a short to-do list of replacing worn out materials and planting new native species to support pollinators and other wildlife.

No experience necessary, and all tools will be provided with the exception of gloves — please bring your own. Children are welcome with their parents/guardians.

Please RSVP to Elaine Dubin by call, text or email: elaine.dubin@gmail.com or 540-273-2196.

In lieu of our regular 10:15 a.m. service, we will instead walk together to First Baptist Church on Alexandria Pike to worship there at 11 a.m. This is to celebrate the Rev. Dwayne Brown’s third pastoral anniversary at First Baptist, and Father Ben will be the guest preacher.

Please meet at Saint James’ at 10:45 a.m. if you’re able to walk with us.

Some other notes:

• There is no 10:15 service at Saint James’ on April 26.

• The serving line at Café will be open from 8:45 to 10:15 a.m. You are welcome to stay and socialize in the Parish Hall until we walk to First Baptist.

• The children’s Communion instruction class will take place at Saint James’ from 9:45 to 10:30 a.m.

• Adult formation will go ahead as normal, 9:15 to 10 a.m.

• Children’s Church will not take place at Saint James’, but children are encouraged to come with us to First Baptist.

• The regular 8 a.m. service at Saint James’ will go ahead as usual.

All children from second through fifth grade are invited to join Father Ben and Jen Taylor for this instructional class on three Sundays — April 19, April 26 and May 3.

As a culmination of these lessons, the 10:15 service on May 3 will be especially geared toward children, and we’ll use the bread we made during the class for Communion.

Communion is a precious, holy reminder that our life was bought with a price by a savior who loves us intensely enough to die in our place. We believe one of the greatest gifts we can offer our children is helping them learn about the meaning of Communion and how it is a sacred part of our relationship with Jesus.

Please email Jen at jennifer.taylor@saintjameswarrenton.org if your child plans to attend.

The Fauquier Community Coalition’s Firewood Initiative provides firewood to local residents identified by the Department of Social Services who need firewood to keep their homes warm during the winter. Volunteers from several churches gather each week at the Warrenton Baptist Church property behind Brumfield Elementary School to split and stack wood for delivery to almost 60 individuals and families.

This is where you come in. We’ve committed to providing volunteers from Saint James’ on the second Saturday of each month. The time commitment is about two hours, and all adults and teenagers are welcome to volunteer.

Email Judy Williams at jwilliams0721@gmail.com if you have any questions.

You can help Saint James’ Episcopal School keep its adopted stream clean and beautiful. Wear rain boots and clothes that may get dirty. We’ll provide gloves, grabbers and bags. Children should be accompanied by an adult.

The stream site is at the intersection of Walker Drive and Academy Hill Extended.

RSVP by April 8 to Cortney Arnold at cortney.arnold@saintjamesepiscopalschool.org.

This class offered by the Parish Health Team at Saint James’ teaches skills to provide assistance in an emergency. It's open to anyone 12 or older, and there is no written test. Each participant received a manual and a first aid kit to take home.

This is the morning when we find the tomb empty and proclaim the resurrection with joyful songs and a refrain of “Alleluia!” The service begins with children flowering the cross before it is brought to the chancel in recognition of the new life this day symbolizes. The full choir will lead us in triumphant songs as we proclaim, “Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!”

An Easter egg hunt for kids of all ages will follow the service, and nursery is available during the service for young children.

This is the morning when we find the tomb empty and proclaim the resurrection with joyful songs and a refrain of “Alleluia!” The service begins with children flowering the cross before it is brought to the chancel in recognition of the new life this day symbolizes. The choir will lead us in triumphant hymns throughout the service as we proclaim, “Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!”

An Easter egg hunt for kids of all ages will follow the service.

Frequently asked questions

This is the culmination of the Christian story: that in the depths of darkness, “Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.” The Great Vigil of Easter is the most profound service of the year, and harkens to the early Christian tradition in which baptismal candidates kept an all-night vigil until their baptism on Easter morning, thereby reflecting the truth that “we are buried with Christ by Baptism into his death, and raised with him to newness of life.”

The service begins in the courtyard around a small fire representing the hope of new light. As the service continues in the church by candlelight, we hear the story of creation, of the Israelites’ deliverance from the Egyptians and of Ezekiel’s vision of a multitude of dry bones receiving life. We renew our own baptismal vows in solidarity with those early Christians.

Then, the lights come on and bells sound as we proclaim in that moment of light overcoming darkness, “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!” We then celebrate the first Holy Eucharist of Easter, proclaiming to the world, “by his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life.”

In recognition of the end of Lent, a reception in the Parish Hall with sparkling wine, chocolate-covered strawberries and other treats will follow the service.

About the music

The Easter Vigil is the most profound liturgy of the year. It unfolds in a tapestry of symbol and song as we journey from the darkness of the tomb into the radiant joy of the Easter proclamation. In the hush of night, we hear the ancient stories — creation spoken into being, the Israelites led through the waters to freedom, and Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones rising to life — woven with paraphrased psalms accompanied by the rich sound of a string quartet.

After these lessons, we renew our baptismal vows with the faithful of ages past. Then, in a moment of holy transformation, darkness gives way to light as the choir and altar party process to an organ meditation on “Victimae Paschali Laudes,” the ancient chant echoing across centuries. At its triumphant climax, we proclaim, “Jesus Christ is risen today. Alleluia!”

Joyful music from choir and strings, including Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” carries us into the first Holy Eucharist of Easter, as we celebrate the mystery of life restored and hope made new.

On this day of Jesus’ crucifixion, a minister holding a simple cross leads a silent procession toward the bare altar as the congregation kneels in silent prayer. We stand symbolically with Jesus’ family watching as he was led to the cross and reflect on the lament of Psalm 22 — “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — and take in the story of Jesus’ arrest, suffering and death.

This service will feature the choir.

This is the only day during Holy Week in which Holy Eucharist is not celebrated. Instead, we leave the church in silence after praying “to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death.”

On this day of Jesus’ crucifixion, a minister holding a simple cross leads a silent procession toward the bare altar as the congregation kneels in silent prayer. We stand symbolically with Jesus’ family watching as he was led to the cross and reflect on the lament of Psalm 22 — “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — and take in the story of Jesus’ arrest, suffering and death.

This is the only day during Holy Week in which Holy Eucharist is not celebrated. Instead, we leave the church in silence after praying “to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death.”

After the service, the church will remain open until 3 p.m. for anyone to meditate on the Stations of the Cross.

This day and service are named for the “new commandment” (“mandatum novum” in Latin) that Jesus gives to his followers at the Passover meal on the night he was arrested: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” We hear as an example of that love how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

This is also the moment when Jesus institutes the Eucharist, telling his followers on that solemn night, “I am with you only a little longer,” but that “as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

This service includes the choir and the celebration of Holy Eucharist. After we break bread together, we acknowledge Christ’s impending death by stripping the altar. Finally, we silently depart with the reserve sacrament into the courtyard for a time of silent prayer and reflection — our Garden of Gethsemane — to pray and “stay awake” in solidarity with Christ.

Named for the branches the people laid on the road before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem for the culmination of his earthly ministry, this first day of Holy Week takes us on a liturgical journey from the hope of Jesus’ triumphant entry to the despair of his death five days later.

The 10:15 service begins in the courtyard. After children from the church and Saint James’ Episcopal School sing a prelude, the congregation waving palm leaves as the procession makes its way forward, asking God to “Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life.” The children’s choir leads us in singing “All Glory, Laud and Honor” as we process into the church.

At the end of the service, we hear the poignant story of Jesus’ arrest and execution. As the story ends with Jesus’ body laid in a tomb, we pray “that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection.”

Nursery is available for young children during the 10:15 service, and all kids through fifth grade are invited to Children’s Church during the service.

Named for the branches the people laid on the road before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem for the culmination of his earthly ministry, this first day of Holy Week takes us on a liturgical journey from the hope of Jesus’ triumphant entry to the despair of his death five days later.

The service begins in the back of the church, with the congregation waving palm leaves as the procession makes its way forward, asking God to “Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life.”

Turning abruptly from the triumphal procession to the gravity of the coming days, the liturgy quickly reminds us that the altar for Jesus took the form of a cross, and we hear the poignant story of Jesus’ arrest and execution. As the story ends with Jesus’ body laid in a tomb, we pray “that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection.”

The Fauquier Community Coalition’s Firewood Initiative provides firewood to local residents identified by the Department of Social Services who need firewood to keep their homes warm during the winter. Volunteers from several churches gather each week at the Warrenton Baptist Church property behind Brumfield Elementary School to split and stack wood for delivery to almost 60 individuals and families.

This is where you come in. We’ve committed to providing volunteers from Saint James’ on the second Saturday of each month. The time commitment is about two hours, and all adults and teenagers are welcome to volunteer.

Email Judy Williams at jwilliams0721@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Gita Grady will be leading this time together to “reset” during our Lenten journey.

Living as a faithful Christian requires thought, discipline and action. This commitment happens best when it is sustained by more than what we see at the surface of our lives. This weekend is meant to support ways to sustain faith and examine the different wells from which we draw as we journey as Christians.

This event takes place over two days — March 13 at 5:30 p.m. and March 14 at 9 a.m. — and participants are welcome to join for either one or both sessions however they feel led.

On Friday evening, March 13, we will have an informal dinner discussion in the Parish Hall. We will take a look at our spiritual journey to date during Lent, and discussion may include the study, prayer time or service projects we have taken on. Special attention during the discussion will be focused on what we wished to do, what we have been able to do, and barriers to the spiritual path. Participants are encouraged — but not required — to share from their own experience. We will end with a brief Compline service.

On Saturday, March 14, we will get started at 9 a.m. with morning prayer in the Side Chapel. We will briefly learn about centering prayer and meditation, have some time to learn about the lectio divina (divine reading) steps and process, and then have some time to deeply read and discuss the story about the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John. We will conclude with a prayer service in the Side Chapel.

On Friday, we’ll order pizza — please bring cash to help cover the cost. Lunch will be provided on Saturday.

Margreta Grady is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of experience working with groups, families and children. She is a lifelong Episcopalian who has enjoyed many different retreat experiences all over the country. She is currently a postulant to Holy Orders in the Diocese of Virginia and plans to attend seminary in the near future. She is also an Associate of Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, which means she follows a rule of life based on Benedictine principles. She has been a member of Saint James’ Warrenton for over 10 years.

Gita Grady will be leading this time together to “reset” during our Lenten journey.

Living as a faithful Christian requires thought, discipline and action. This commitment happens best when it is sustained by more than what we see at the surface of our lives. This weekend is meant to support ways to sustain faith and examine the different wells from which we draw as we journey as Christians.

This event takes place over two days — March 13 at 5:30 p.m. and March 14 at 9 a.m. — and participants are welcome to join for either one or both sessions however they feel led.

On Friday evening, March 13, we will have an informal dinner discussion in the Parish Hall. We will take a look at our spiritual journey to date during Lent, and discussion may include the study, prayer time or service projects we have taken on. Special attention during the discussion will be focused on what we wished to do, what we have been able to do, and barriers to the spiritual path. Participants are encouraged — but not required — to share from their own experience. We will end with a brief Compline service.

On Saturday, March 14, we will get started at 9 a.m. with morning prayer in the Side Chapel. We will briefly learn about centering prayer and meditation, have some time to learn about the lectio divina (divine reading) steps and process, and then have some time to deeply read and discuss the story about the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John. We will conclude with a prayer service in the Side Chapel.

On Friday, we’ll order pizza — please bring cash to help cover the cost. Lunch will be provided on Saturday.

Margreta Grady is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of experience working with groups, families and children. She is a lifelong Episcopalian who has enjoyed many different retreat experiences all over the country. She is currently a postulant to Holy Orders in the Diocese of Virginia and plans to attend seminary in the near future. She is also an Associate of Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, which means she follows a rule of life based on Benedictine principles. She has been a member of Saint James’ Warrenton for over 10 years.

This class offered by the Parish Health Team at Saint James’ teaches skills to provide assistance in an emergency. It's open to anyone 12 or older, and there is no written test. Each participant received a manual and a first aid kit to take home.

All ladies of Saint James’ are invited to our next get-together at O’Brien’s Irish Pub. Order dinner or appetizers, or just sit and visit — whatever works for you.

RSVP to Jen Taylor at jennifer.taylor@saintjameswarrenton.org or Margy Eastham at mweastham@gmail.com so we can tell the restaurant how many people to expect.

The Saint James’ Adult Choir will sing the Compline liturgy as part of our Lenten observance. “Compline” is derived from the Latin “completorium,” meaning the completion of the working day. The Episcopal Dictionary of the Church explains that this liturgy includes a confession of sins, one or more psalms, a short reading from scripture, versicles and responses, the Lord's Prayer, prayers asking for God’s protection during the night to come, and the canticle Nunc Dimittis. The music for this service draws from our heritage of plainsong, and will be offered in the intimacy of the Saint James’ Chapel. As we journey through Lent, we hope this service provides you a moment of calm before you begin the new week.

The church will open at 6:30 p.m. for those who wish to practice centering prayer before the service begins. Guidelines for centering prayer will be provided.

This men’s gathering in the Parish Hall will feature a dinner of homemade spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread and a toffee tiramisu dessert, along with libations and trivia.

Bring a favorite beverage to share, alcoholic or non-alcoholic (bourbon, beer, wine, iced tea or whatever). If you’d like, you will have the opportunity to tell us why this beverage is so great.

Contact Greg Arthaud at gjarthaud@yahoo.com or Matt Rose at matt@barkingrose.com if you’d like to be added to the email distribution list.

Ash Wednesday, named for the practice of placing blessed ashes on the foreheads of worshipers, is the first day of Lent and a day that reminds us to be penitent before God and to reflect on our own mortality. This service features the choir, the imposition of ashes and the celebration of Holy Eucharist as we ask God to “create and make in us new and contrite hearts.”

Ash Wednesday, named for the practice of placing blessed ashes on the foreheads of worshipers, is the first day of Lent and a day that reminds us to be penitent before God and to reflect on our own mortality. This service will include the imposition of ashes and the celebration of Holy Eucharist as we ask God to “create and make in us new and contrite hearts.”

The service will be livestreamed here.

Featuring the Silver Tones Swing Band, this festive Saint James’ tradition includes a New Orleans-style dinner complete with a king cake, dancing, fun activities for kids, the crowning of a king and queen, and a parade down the street. We’ll have beads and masks for everyone, and costumes are welcome. Beer and wine will be available.

Adult admission is $15 per person, and kids 12 and under are $10 per person.

Menu

Cole slaw • Cajun shrimp • Red beans • Rice • Collard greens • Mac and cheese • Garlic bread • Pancakes • Breakfast sausage • King cakes • Coffee • Iced tea • Apple juice • Beer (Barking Rose) • Wine (red & white)

Photos from 2025

The Fauquier Community Coalition’s Firewood Initiative provides firewood to local residents identified by the Department of Social Services who need firewood to keep their homes warm during the winter. Volunteers from several churches gather each week at the Warrenton Baptist Church property behind Brumfield Elementary School to split and stack wood for delivery to almost 60 individuals and families.

This is where you come in. We’ve committed to providing volunteers from Saint James’ on the second Saturday of each month. The time commitment is about two hours, and all adults and teenagers are welcome to volunteer.

Email Judy Williams at jwilliams0721@gmail.com if you have any questions.