Interim Chaplain & Religion Teacher

ST. PATRICK’S EPISCOPAL DAY SCHOOL

INTERIM CHAPLAIN & RELIGION TEACHER

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Position Available: August 2024

We invite potential candidates for this position to learn more about St. Patrick’s by visiting the Day School website at www.stpatsdc.org, including the redesigned Careers page under “Who We Are,” and the Church website at www.stpatrickschurchdc.org.

MISSION STATEMENT

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School strives to create a diverse and inclusive learning community of students, faculty and staff, and parents who recognize the infinite value of every participant as a child of God. We are committed to developing character, advancing human understanding, and promoting academic excellence to shape engaged citizens who live with integrity, empathy, and purpose.

INTRODUCTION

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School, located in the Palisades section of northwest Washington, D.C., is a parish day school enrolling approximately 465 students on two campuses. The program begins at the three-year-old level and continues through Grade 8. St. Patrick’s students, whose families live throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, go on to a variety of fine schools—including local independent day schools, boarding schools largely in the Middle Atlantic and New England regions and, less frequently, public schools—upon graduation. The school also has an infant-toddler center serving approximately 40 children from 6 weeks to two years old.

St. Patrick’s has grown and changed significantly over its more than 65 years of existence. Originally a pre-school for families in St. Patrick’s Parish, the school is now a thriving school, serving children through Grade 8. Yet, with all of that growth and the change that has come with it, the core of the institution has remained constant. St. Patrick’s continues its tradition of providing a vibrant, challenging, coeducational school environment in which a diverse community of students can grow as healthy intellectual, social-emotional, and moral-spiritual beings.

The Day School’s relationship with St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church is a central, distinguishing feature of our existence and the foundation of the system of values we embrace. The education of our children is guided by our church-school identity and reflected in: our commitment to children’s moral-spiritual growth, their participation in the liturgical life, their service to others found at the heart of the Episcopal tradition.

Indeed, our Statement of Philosophy concludes with these words:

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School and the Parish that brought the school to life fulfill their sense of purpose in the acceptance, the care, and the nurture of God’s children. Through our efforts within a Christian community we enable young people of all races, creeds, and cultural backgrounds to achieve wholeness in their intellectual, social, emotional, moral and spiritual, and physical lives, in the present and well into the future.

THE INTERIM CHAPLAIN & RELIGION TEACHER

The Day School Chaplain represents a continuing ecclesiastical presence in the school in a manner that is both loving and supportive. Through classroom teaching, chapels, community service, and conversation, the Chaplain interacts with students and families at important times of spiritual and moral formation. The chaplaincy provides a confidential and thoughtful support system for students, parents, faculty, and staff.

Specifically, the Interim Chaplain’s responsibilities include:

• planning, organizing, and leading four chapels a week (Early Childhood Division, Kindergarten to Grade 2, Grades 3 to 5, and Grades 6 to 8), as well as special chapels that occur about once a month to mark various holidays and important celebrations in the church calendar and in the life of the school, such as the Opening Chapel, St. Francis Day, All Saints Day, Christmas Pageants, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• ensuring that the chapels for each grouping are developmentally appropriate and working with the Division Heads, the Music Department, and other entities to achieve that goal
• leading the Middle School Chapel Council
• fostering an understanding of and an appreciation for the interfaith nature of Episcopal schools, in general, and of St. Patrick’s, in particular
• teaching religion classes to Middle School Students (grades 6, 7, 8)
• ministering to Day School students, parents, and faculty and staff, including confidential pastoral care and being available for general chaplaincy duties
• Participating as a member of the Pastors and Counseling Team (PACT)

THE CHAPLAINCY: PARISH RESPONSIBILITIES

The Parish of St. Patrick’s founded the Day School with a vision of serving the Palisades section of Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas, with an Episcopal education steeped in Christian ethics and morals. This Episcopal identity continues to provide the foundation for the Day School’s life and ministry. The Day School is an important ministry of the Parish, which takes an active role in ensuring its character, its health, and its vitality. The Chaplain serves an important and unique role bridging the Church and Day School communities.

Specifically for this year, the interim chaplain is invited to preach and preside on select Sundays, including Episcopal School Sunday, in October. There is no expectation that the chaplain be present each Sunday, but is always invited to participate and contribute in discussion with Rector.

REQUIREMENTS

A successful candidate for the position of Day School Chaplain will demonstrate:

• preferably ordination as a member of the Episcopal clergy
• a nuanced understanding of what it means to be an Episcopal parish day school chaplain in a religiously pluralistic school community, city, and greater metropolitan area
• an ability to plan, organize, and lead developmentally appropriate worship services for children and young people—in St. Patrick’s case, students from three years old to 14 years old
• the ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, and Rectory and church staff, as well as with parents, parishioners, volunteer leaders, and service providers
• highly effective organizational skills and the ability to express themselves effectively both verbally and in writing
• successful completion of the required background check

BENEFITS

The benefits available to the Day School Chaplain include:

• a competitive salary commensurate with experience
• payment by the Day School of life and health insurance premiums according to diocesan guidelines
• payment by the Day School of the required assessment to the Church Pension Fund for clergy

CONTACT 

Candidates for the position of Interim Chaplain & Religion Teacher should submit a cover letter, resume, and list of names and telephone numbers of at least three professional references to Jalene Spain Thomas, Head of School (thomasjs@stpatsdc.org) and The Rev. Andrew Ogletree (rector@stpatrickschurchdc.org).

Contact Information