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Sunday Service
9:00 for July and August
and 8:00 am & 10:30 am
from Sep. through Jun.
Nursery avail
during services
Sunday School
10:15 - 11:30
during school year
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ST. JOHN'S LEADERSHIP
Ruth Anne Cumberland, Senior Warden.
 I was born in Philadelphia, Pa. in 1954; and I will be 50 this year. My parents divorced when I was a baby, making my brother and I good examples of children raised in a loving single parent household. My brother is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and I am the Chief Scheduling Engineer for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project.
I was educated in public schools and graduated from Utica College in upstate New York. I was the first woman to graduate with a degree in Construction Management from Utica College in 1977. After graduation I went to work for an engineering firm in Boston, Massachusetts, where I lived until I moved to Fort Washington, Maryland in 2001.
I have always been fascinated with how things are constructed. My career, though rather unconventional for a woman, affords me the opportunity on a daily basis to be involved with heavy construction, including all of the people, equipment, concrete, steel, noise and dirt. Remember building sand castles in that sand box of your youth? That is what my job is like. It is truly a wonder to see an idea evolve into a set of plans, and then come to life piece by piece before my eyes into a solid structure.
As a child I attended a vibrantly active low Episcopal Church. The architecture was similar to Saint Johns. There must have been a Swedish connection because every year there was a Lucia fest at Christmas. I remember that almost every member in the pageant had a candle to help bring light. I always wanted to grow up and be Santa Lucia so that I could wear the crown of candles. I thought she was glorious. However, that honor was not to be mine. By the time I was old enough to be Santa Lucia I had drifted from the church and was away for a long time. I thought I didn’t need the church in my life, but I WAS WRONG. While in my thirties, I went through a lot of uncertainty. My career wasn’t on track; my personal life wasn’t going well; nothing seemed to be working for me. Then my mother suggested once again that I go to church to find the peace of the Lord.
In Copley Square in Boston there is a grand historic church named Trinity Church. It was within walking distance of my condominium. Services were at 11:00 AM, not too early on Sunday morning. I started attending. It was the Lucia Fest every Sunday!. The church architecture is spectacular, the stained glass windows are intricate, the music was heavenly and the pageantry was over the top. I started going for the show. I sat in the same place every week and Passed the Peace to the same older woman, Margaret, every Sunday. Then, I missed a Sunday or two and when I returned Margaret said that she had missed me. Now I had to go every Sunday because I was missed! I was noticed! I mattered! I started listening to the message., I started to pray. I felt better and my life was better!
I learned that I need God and the Church in my life. I will always need God and the Church and I have been blessed since moving to Maryland because the people of St. John’s are an important part of my life. You have supported me after the death of my husband, you have missed me when I wasn’t there, you have noticed me and you have let me know that I matter. Now, part of my work on the Vestry is to find a way for others in the Fort Washington community to experience the peace provided to me by all that is Saint John’s Church.
Alfonso A. Narvaez, Junior Warden
Alfonso is our Junior Warden and as such is responsible for the parish properties at St. John’s. He has been on the Vestry since 2001. He has been an advocate for the strategic planning process at St. Johns and lately been up to his ears in insurance settlement issues from the October storm damage. An Episcopalian since age 10 (RC before that), Alfonso grew up in a very church family. His father was ordained an Episcopal minister when he was in high school.
 Born in New York City (the Bronx), Alfonso grew up in the northern New Jersey town of Montclair. He attended Cornell University, graduating in 1984 before going on to Columbia University for a Masters in Historic Preservation. Alfonso is married to Heather Narvaez, who recently stepped down as Director of Religious Education at St. Johns. She is an annual giving specialist for the Girl Scouts Council for the Nation’s Capital. Together they are raising their daughter, Teresa who, at 4 , keeps both of them on their toes and is a constant source of delight in their lives.
Professionally, Alfonso has twenty year’s experience as a preservation professional. He has fifteen year’s experience with John Milner Associates, Inc., a nationally recognized cultural resources firm, as an architectural conservator and senior project manager. Prior to his service with JMA he served as an historic architect at the National Park Service’s North Atlantic Historic Preservation Center for four years. As head of JMA’s Preservation Technology Group, Mr. Narvaez heads a unique team of individuals who actively seek out the most appropriate technologies, means, and methods to preserve the Nation’s historic resources. Conservators under his direction are experienced in testing of existing materials to identify and characterize them or the problems affecting their stability; testing of new treatments to determine efficacy and impact on historic fabric; researching and testing of potential new treatments; and working with manufacturer’s and craftsmen to modify existing treatments and methods to best serve the interests of historic preservation. In addition to materials testing, Mr. Narvaez directs individuals who work with established and emerging technologies such as digital laser scanning, computer modeling, thermal imaging, and other non-destructive means of documentation; data collection; restoration and replication of historic features. He has directed JMA’s efforts to develop computer-based facilities management tools for historic properties.
Outside of work, he serves as an instructor for the National Preservation Institute teaching a variety of courses nationwide on the stewardship of historic properties including historic structure reports; preservation maintenance; historic building materials; holistic stewardship of historic properties; and management of historic properties (next week he will be at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne Wyoming!). He serves as a trustee for the Prince George’s County Historical and Cultural Trust.
Doug Tower, Treasurer
I am a “Cradle Episcopalian”, born in December, 1946 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I lived in a middle class suburb called West Allis. I ran away from home once because my mother wouldn’t let me play with my earthworms on the living room carpet. I proclaimed, “If you don’t love my worms, then you don’t love me!” Then I left, but I was back home in time for dinner. I rode my bike, played Cowboys & Indians, kick the can, caught fireflies in a Mason jar, and in general, bugged my older sister. Now I treasure the moments that I can spend with my Dad, my sister and her family at their lake cottage in Northern Wisconsin.
I went to University of Wisconsin right after high school where I played really hard and went to some classes. By Springtime I realized that this concept was not working out. I joined the Air Force and after a rather unpleasant trip to Texas (basic training), I was stationed in Oregon for two years and Colorado Springs for four years.Thenit was on to the Washington DC area where I spent the last fourteen years of my Air Force career.After retiring from the Air Force, I went back to school and graduated from University of Maryland with aBachelors of Science in Computer and Information Sciences at the age of 54.I am currently a contractor working at the Department of State in Rosslyn, Virginia as a systems analyst testing financially oriented software.
I came to St. John’s in 1974 after two years at St. Timothy’s in DC. Since then I have been Fair Chairman, a Sunday School teacher, choir member, Lay Eucharistic Minister, Acolyte, Vestryman (multiple times), coordinator of “Christmas at the Creek” and the Community Concert Series, Sexton, Junior Warden, Senior Warden, Incoming Treasurer (pledge clerk) and Outgoing Treasurer (check writer and bookkeeper). I dearly love singing in the choir and am enjoying the new digital organ with all of its expanded capabilities to enhance our services. I feel it is a critical part of our growth initiative.
Assistant Treasurer: Ruth Ann Cumberland
Finance Chair: Alan Ritter
Vestry:
Sandra Bouchelion, Karl Boykin, Royce Daniels, Gloria Simon, Doug Tower, and Peter Ulrich
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The Rev. Marc Lawrence Britt, Rector
Choir
Kathy Doyle
Organist/Music Director
 Jean Anderson-Jones, Office Manager
I was born and raised in Uncasville, CT. (about 1 mile from the Mohegan Sun Casino) I am the second of 5 children. My mother, father, and 2 siblings still live in CT. I have a younger sister in New Hampshire and a younger brother in Florida. So I guess we have the east coast covered. I attended public school
through 6th grade, and then attended catholic schools grades 7-12. When I graduated from high school, I worked as a Dental Assistant. After my first husband
and I were married, we moved to Maryland, and I worked in the Dental Clinics at Walter Reed and the Pentagon. I was re-married in 2002. I have two children, one attending College of Southern Maryland and the other at University of Maryland. My husband has two grown children - Tom lives in VA, and Jim lives in Accokeek. Bob’s parents live in Waldorf.
I have been at St. John's for over 17 years. St. John's has been more than just a job for me. I have made many special friends here. It was members of St. John's that helped me through Bob's health problems and other difficult times. I may be a transplant from CT but I feel like St. John's is my home.
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Telephone: 301/248-4290