LETTER FROM KATIE • September 16, 2026

Hi Friends,

This week’s letter is mostly full of updates on upcoming events as we head into the fall, so you can make sure they are on your calendar.

Sermon Series on Philippians

We kicked off our sermon series on Philippians this past Sunday, which will take us through the letter until Advent begins on November 29.

As I mentioned on Sunday, I love this letter because it is a joy-filled love letter from a church planter, Paul, to a church he planted probably a decade earlier. I hope that Paul’s hopes and prayers for the church in Philippi will encourage, challenge, and revive our hearts for the work of planting and growing a church here in Hyattsville.

We’ll have a chance to dive deeper into Philippians in our Compline and Dinner small groups, which meet on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I’m looking forward to hearing what emerges from those times of conversation and prayer.

Good Shepherd Atrium and Life with God

It was exciting to see how many of you visited our Atrium and picked up reading materials on Catechesis of the Good Shepherd on Sunday. (We’ll have the reading materials available again this week.)

We’re very excited to welcome our 3- to 7-year-olds to Atrium on Sunday, September 20, at 4 pm and then have them join us for Communion at the Peace.

And we’re excited for Life with God for ages 8 and older (including adults), which will also meet at 4 pm in the Fellowship Hall and wrap up just before the service.

Parents, please drop your children off at the Atrium at 4 pm and then join us downstairs for Life with God, spend some time in silent prayer in the sanctuary, or enjoy the beautiful garden at the back of the parking lot and join us for Holy Eucharist at 5 pm. 

Fall Retreat on Oct. 2–4

I am excited that most of the Holy Comforter community will be able to join our fall retreat with Incarnation Anglican. It should be a sweet time of rest, connecting with one another, and reconnecting with our friends at Incarnation in a beautiful new location.

We will not have a service at HMC on Sunday, October 4.

Fall Parish Meeting on Oct. 11

It may feel like it is a long way away, but I encourage you to put our October 11 parish meeting on your calendar. We’ll have a potluck after the service and hear an update on the life of our congregation. (We try to hold these meetings twice a year—once in the spring and once in the fall.)

There is a lot to look forward to as we take some important next steps in the life of Holy Comforter. This fall and winter, we’ll be laying more of the groundwork for becoming an independent congregation, particularly in the areas of administration, financial management, and governance. I’m grateful that we get to do this work together, and I’m excited to share more with you about where we’re headed and what it will mean for the life of our church.

As always, please reach out if you want to talk about any of this or simply to pray together.

Grace and peace to you,
Katie