LETTER FROM KATIE • October 14, 2026
Corita Kent (American, 1918–1986), life-new life, 1966. Serigraph, 27 3/4 × 25 in. © The Corita Art Center, The Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles.
Dear Holy Comforter,
It was such a joy to be together again on Sunday, and I’m grateful to everyone who was able to join our fall parish meeting. Thank you, too, to all who contributed food for our potluck, helped reset the sanctuary and Atrium, and organized the fellowship hall. You’re all such a gift!
I know some of you weren’t able to join us because of illness or travel, so I wanted to share a recap of the major points from our meeting. More than anything, I hope this gives you a sense of where we are as a church, where we see God at work, and where we are prayerfully discerning what comes next.
Summer and Fall
I shared that we had a restful and refreshing summer, with three prayer walks in Hyattsville, Takoma Park, and on the University of Maryland campus, as well as two church hikes. We were also blessed by visits from Mike Niebauer from Heritage Mission and Miranda, who serves in South Asia.
As we’ve entered the fall, I’ve been especially encouraged by the growth of our small groups. We now have four groups (in the winter we had two). Two groups are gathering for dinner and evening prayer, one is discussing Happy Are You Poor, and our daytime group is devoted to listening to God together. I’m grateful for the ways God is drawing us closer to one another and deepening our life together.
We’re also preaching through Paul’s letter to the Philippians this fall, listening together for how its joyful encouragement speaks to our lives today.
We also enjoyed a wonderful fall retreat with Incarnation at Camp Manidokan on October 2–4. I was grateful that so many of us could get away to deepen our friendships, connect with folks from IAC, and make space for rest and reflection as we explored the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand together.
Looking ahead, we’re prayerfully exploring two opportunities for ministry: developing a partnership with a local nursing home or care facility, and finding more intentional ways to welcome college students, particularly those from the University of Maryland. Please pray with us for wisdom, open doors, and the willingness to follow wherever God leads—even if that means changing course along the way.
Our Children’s Ministry
Erin Payne, our Lead Children’s Catechist, shared a joyful update on this summer’s Wild Wonder camp, which included contributions from children whose names begin with E–L–I. If you didn’t hear Erin’s update, ask a kid on Sunday what they enjoyed most about Wild Wonder summer camp!
Our Atrium for children ages 3–7 and Life with God, for our older children and adults, both opened on September 20 and have enjoyed wonderful attendance. It’s great to see our community growing in faith across the generations!
We also reviewed a few important safeguarding practices. Children in the Atrium need to be accompanied by a parent when using the downstairs bathrooms, and children should play only in the back garden and designated playground area, not in the parking lot. Please take a moment to review all our safeguarding measures in the HMC site plan.
We’d love to grow our team of Atrium assistants and increase the number of adults who have completed safeguarding training. We hope to offer another training this winter. If you’re interested in observing the Atrium or becoming an assistant, please reach out to Erin or Katie.
End of Year Financial Update and 2027 Budget
Matt Wooldridge, our Children’s Formation Coordinator and Jack of All Trades, shared an update on our year-end finances and presented our FY 2027 budget. Thanks to your faithful giving, we ended 2026 with a budget surplus and are in a healthy position entering the new year.
Our 2027 budget projects a deficit, though we have conservatively estimated giving and hope the actual deficit will be smaller as we grow. Deficits are not unusual in the early years of a church plant, and we are grateful for Incarnation’s generosity in covering any deficit we realize.
Much of our projected income for 2027 still comes from grants and partner churches, and our long-term hope is to grow toward financial self-sufficiency as our congregation grows.
We shared all this now so that we can plan wisely and pray together for God’s provision. As we look toward the year ahead, I invite you to pray about whom you might welcome into our community and whether God might be inviting you to grow in your own giving.
I’m deeply grateful for the generosity that sustains the ministry God has entrusted to us. You can read our year-end finance report here and review the FY2027 budget summary here.
Thanks for Our Faithful Volunteers and Worship Planning Team
We are grateful for everyone who serves our community so faithfully: those who help on Sundays, open their homes for small groups, prepare meals for new parents and others in need, host community events, and welcome visitors with warmth and generosity.
I’m especially thankful for our worship planning team, which has met most months over the past year:
Joel and Anna, our lead parish musicians;
Erin, our Lead Children’s Catechist;
Galen, our assisting priest;
Elena and Tom, who lead our post-service hospitality;
Elena, who has also served as junior warden on Incarnation’s vestry, offering wisdom and guidance to both Incarnation and Holy Comforter;
Lauren, who faithfully sends my weekly letter, maintains our website, and prepares our worship materials; and
Matt, our Children’s Formation Coordinator, who also provides invaluable administrative support.
Facilities
Our agreement with Hyattsville Mennonite Church has been renewed for another year so we can continue worshiping at HMC through December 2027. We are deeply grateful for HMC’s hospitality and generosity in sharing their space with us. Please join me in giving thanks for this partnership and praying for its continued fruitfulness.
Next Steps Toward Mission and Congregational Status
With the beginning of a new fiscal year, we’re taking important steps toward becoming a mission and, eventually, a congregation. You can learn more about the requirements and stages of this process here.
By January 1, 2027, we plan to incorporate Holy Comforter as a Maryland nonprofit. A proto-vestry will serve as our initial board of directors. This group will include members from both Incarnation and Holy Comforter. I’ll let you know once the proto-vestry has been established.
Following incorporation, we will continue reporting to the Incarnation vestry until we become a congregation. In the meantime, our proto-vestry will begin overseeing Holy Comforter’s temporal affairs, including finances and other administrative responsibilities.
When we become a congregation, our members will elect our vestry, and the proto-vestry will give way to this elected leadership.
These are important steps in the life of our church, and I invite you to pray for wisdom, unity, and faithfulness as we continue this process of formation.
Staffing
We’ve also begun advertising and interviewing for a full-time Pastoral Resident. This person would serve with us for two to three years, or perhaps longer, while exploring a call to pastoral ministry, Anglicanism, and potentially church planting.
The resident would focus especially on outreach and building relationships with our neighbors. They would also take on the administrative responsibilities currently carried by Matt and Lauren, allowing us to strengthen and sustain the work of ministry as we grow.
We have budgeted for this position to begin January 1, 2027. Approximately 75% of the salary would be funded through our operating budget, which includes a small diocesan grant. The remaining portion would be raised by the candidate through fundraising.
Please pray with me for wisdom in this discernment, and that God would bring us the right person for this particular season of Holy Comforter’s life. You can see the position description for the Pastoral Resident here.
A Poem and a Closing Prayer
Before we closed with a final prayer from Galen, we had the gift of hearing a poem by Joaquin Realmo-Carey. If you weren’t there to hear it, I encourage you to ask Joaquin about it next Sunday!
As I reflect on all we shared, I’m struck by how much there is to be grateful for: the quiet faithfulness of our volunteers, the growing life of our children and adults, the generosity that sustains our ministry, and the small steps we’re taking toward discerning who God wants us to be in Hyattsville.
We don’t know exactly where all these steps will lead, but we can keep walking together in faith, trusting that God will give us what we need for the work we’ve been given to do.
If you have questions, ideas, or anything you’d like us to be praying about, please reach out. I’d love to hear from you.
Much love,
Katie
