St. Margaret’s Parish
1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20009
202/232-2995
www.stmargaretsdc.org
Established 1894, 700 members
The Rev. Susan N. Blue, Rector

Body of Christ aims to introduce readers to a different parish in the church family of the Diocese of Washington each month. This month, writer Diane Ney speaks with the Rev. Susan N. Blue, rector of St. Margaret’s, D.C., to learn more about the life, history, plans and character of that congregation.

WW: What do you feel sets St. Margaret’s apart? What are you especially proud of about your parish?

BLUE: First of all, St. Margaret’s is wildly diverse in its membership, in race, gender, age, sexual orientation. We have a very healthy and stimulating mix of people. The second thing is the parish has a long history of commitment to justice and outreach. And that goes quite far back in the history of the parish. For instance, we have a program for the homeless, Charlie’s Place, that operates four days a week. We served 18,000 meals last year. This program, which was started by Charles Gilchrest, has evolved from simply serving meals to providing a registered nurse twice a week and a barber and linking with other social service providers for legal and other services.

WW: It’s very unusual for one parish to be able to sustain a program that  extensive.

BLUE: Well, we have some extraordinary staff people. There is a man in our development office who had never written a grant proposal in his life, but he’s come through for us time and again. Another thing is something I’ve only truly grasped in the last few years, and that is that our members take wonderful care of each other. We have about 30 trained Eucharist ministers, so four or five are making the rounds every week. We have a guy who shovels snow for elderly parishioners. One of our parishioners donated a very large sum of money for a young woman who needed child care for her son following her surgery. It is almost always done under the radar. 

WW: So there’s much more to it than simply coming together on Sundays.

BLUE:  I remember being told once that the job of a priest is to build up the congregation to go out and do their ministry in the world. If a priest is spending more than 20 percent of his or her time out of the parish, then he or she is not doing the job, and if the lay members spend more than 20 percent of their time in the parish, then they’re not doing what they’ve been called to do. I go to very few night meetings. Everything is lay led.

WW: Members give their time and energy, rather than just their financial contributions.

BLUE: St. Margaret’s is not a wealthy parish, but it is a very well-educated parish. So, we have a lot of people who are really smart and have know-how and experience they can share.

WW: And there are those beautiful Tiffany windows. 

BLUE: People adore those windows. We also have some lovely Willet windows and mosaics. We have Plexiglas protecting them on the outside, and we’re always looking for funds for upkeep of the windows because they really are a treasure. Something else that’s very special here is our music program. Our music director, Theodore Guerrant, is incredible. Some 25 of our parishioners play instruments, which augments our wonderful choir. We have a fine bell choir. Four times a year, we have what we call Maggie’s Cabaret. One of our choir members belongs to the Cabaret Society, and the cabaret singers donate their time and talents to perform here.

WW: What events do you have coming up?

BLUE:  We have two big events here every year. The first, which is always the Saturday before Halloween, is a rummage sale that takes over the entire church, including the sanctuary. It’s a huge fund-raiser and, besides raising money for parish programs, it serves our Charlie’s Place population, as well as neighborhood people who are invited to look through the donated clothes. We have a book sale in the winter that’s always very popular. And then, of course, we do other outreach activities throughout the year. We provide complete Thanksgiving dinners for 80 families at Marie Reed School, and Christmas gifts for 50 families at Mary’s Center in Adams Morgan. We also provide  Easter baskets for Mary’s Center. In addition, we furnish apartments for Transitional Housing Corporation on a regular basis.

WW: I understand you’re retiring soon.

BLUE: Yes, at the end of June. I’m heading west, to Durango, Colo., to be with my children and grandchildren. But I want to say that this has been the best 13 years of my ministry. It has opened my eyes about so many things. This is a parish that takes the whole business of taking care of the poor very seriously. It’s a Gospel and justice oriented church. I have been absolutely delighted by this place; it has given me great joy.