Who we are

St. Barnabas is an Episcopal church seeking friendship with God and one another in Jesus Christ.

We think there are four things you need to know about us.
We love kids. It’s hard and holy work to raise children in our fast-paced and confusing world. We strive to come alongside parents to share with kids enduring values capable of sustaining them throughout their lives, foremost the knowledge of God’s unconditional love for them in Christ. We have lots of fun programming for kids on Sundays and throughout the year. We don’t mind if they make noise or break out of the pew to run laps around the altar.
We love beauty. One of the readiest ways to experience God for yourself in our secular age is through beauty, and we pack as much of it as we can into our life together. We worship in a beautiful midcentury modern church whose every stone was chosen and placed by its architect. We have a long tradition of extraordinary music, supported by our world-class organ, director of music, and choir. Beautiful music in a beautiful space can leave you awe-struck. And it’s loads of fun to sing in our super-resonant sanctuary.
We love each other. If you are looking to make friends, you have found the right place. We are a close-knit community of friends who are there for one another when times are good and when times are hard. We live in a culture that is so divided and siloed, and we also value the fact that our friends at St. Barnabas are all over the political and ideological map. We have something bigger than all of us in common here—indeed, something bigger than our world.
We love the Lord. We seek to know him and to love him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. We cherish preaching that connects the Gospel to our lives in ways that are relevant to a world in which little can be taken for granted, including faith. We then try to chase our Lord into our day-to-day lives and vocations, serving God as we work and play. We also try to chase our Lord into our community, tucking in behind the ways he is already bringing new life to people who are hurting. We don’t do all this because we think we have to serve him to please him. We do all this because we’re just so overjoyed by his grace we can’t get enough of him.

WHEN WE WORSHIP

We have one service on Sunday at 10AM, in-person and livestreamed. We gather around the preaching of the Word and the sharing of the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Children are always welcome in worship, and we regularly offer a Sunday School program for kids of all ages called “Children’s Church” during the first half of the service. On these Sundays, children begin at 10AM in our Children’s Chapel and then rejoin their families in the church for communion.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe in the God revealed in Jesus Christ, whose business is mercy and forgiveness. This God is not in the business of making a list and checking it twice in order to find out who’s naughty or nice. The God of Jesus Christ frees us from the burdens of sin and death so that we can live lives of hope and joy in the world. The business of God is forgiveness, and the business of Christians is to enjoy it.

We are all seeking better to know and to love the mystery of this God. We don’t think we need to have all the answers to every question we may have about God. Jesus has been a puzzle to those who encountered him from the very beginning. His disciples didn’t always know what he was up to, and they rarely, if ever, realized completely who he was. Likewise, we should not expect always to know what to do with him. What matters is that he always knows what to do with us.

We trust that this God is at work in and through the church, and through our community at St. Barnabas, to renew our lives and heal our world. We are a church that’s small enough to make close friends but resourced enough to support inspiring teaching and preaching, beautiful music, and opportunities to grow in faith for kids and adults alike.
We pray that wherever you are on your spiritual journey, God will give you new hope and strength for your life through our common prayer.