St. Andrew’s Transition
May 15, 2020
Dear St. Andrew’s Family,
It’s been 1 year and 17 days since Father Tim’s last Sunday with us. Since that day, we have laid the life of our parish before God and prayed that he would renew in our Church a sense of his love and mission, help us to patiently listen and hear the Holy Spirit, give us grace and power to follow him, and guide us to the priest who will care for us as our new spiritual leader.
With profound joy and gratitude, we’re excited to proclaim today that God has answered our prayers! Upon the Discernment Team’s enthusiastic recommendation, and with Bishop Goff’s approval, your Vestry has called the Reverend William L. (“Will”) Packard as St. Andrew’s Priest-in-Charge, starting July 1st! Alleluia!
Will is currently Assistant to the Rector at St. David’s, Ashburn. He grew up throughout the Southeastern United States, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Sewanee, received his Master’s in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained a Priest in 2017. Prior to ordination, he worked as the Bishop’s Clerk for the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, retired bishop of Virginia, and spent seven years working for The Pew Charitable Trusts in their Philanthropic and Government Relations departments.
Will has found passion in his ministry as a pastorally-centered priest. At St. David’s, he worked significantly in youth formation, overseeing the administration and formation of teens and developed particular joy in preaching, outreach, and fellowship. He describes a team approach to ministry, inviting each person to know Christ and to participate.
Will serves at the diocesan level as a member of the Committee on Priesthood. He also enjoyed serving on the Constitution and Canons and Resolutions Committees at Annual Conventions of the Diocese of Virginia.
Will and his wife Paige have lived in the Northern Virginia area for the majority of their lives and are familiar with the Burke/Fairfax area as graduates of W.T. Woodson High School. They have two young daughters who are looking forward to their new church family. He enjoys biking, exercise, soccer, and generally spending time in the outdoors. As a family, they enjoy Friday movie nights and spending time with their newest family member Lucy, a quickly growing Goldendoodle. They currently reside in Northern Fairfax and are contemplating a move to the Burke/Springfield area.
We were blessed with a robust response to our search. While each candidate possessed unique strengths, Will stood out as a match to our needs as reflected in our listening sessions and parish survey. And equally as important – since Discernment is a two-way street – it was clear to us that he feels a strong call to be our priest!
It’s also worth noting that we have several connections with Will: he attended Sewanee with Margaret Peel (our former Associate Rector) and did his VTS Field Education at St. John’s, McLean under the tutelage of one Rev. Ed Miller (our current Interim Rector, who enthusiastically endorses our choice!). Finally, those of you who attended Shrine Mont two years ago may recall we celebrated at the Shrine on Sunday with another group, whose priest joined Margaret at the altar. The group? St. David’s, Ashburn. The priest? Will Packard!
It’s certainly a challenging time for our flock to welcome and get to know a new shepherd, but the love and fellowship that are the hallmark of St. Andrew’s will prevail. We look forward to opportunities in the coming days and weeks for you to get to know Will and his family. Stay tuned!
We would like to thank the Diocese of Virginia for their steadfast support and guidance through this process, which worked “as advertised”; to all of you for your prayers, support and participation; and above all to God for bringing us and Will together. Finally, the Vestry invites you to join us in expressing our deepest heartfelt thanks to our fantastic Discernment Team for the hours of prayer, hard work and passion they poured into this endeavor. We will find a way to celebrate them in an appropriately St. Andrew’s way!
St. Andrew’s Vestry
Mark Foster, (Interim Senior Warden), Doug Wood (Junior Warden), Ed Colliton, Betsy Cotten, Christie Dasher, Jane Girondo, Christine Kelly, Stacey Peters, Martha Turner, Rebecca Umberger, Darren Williams, Karan Wright
St. Andrew’s Discernment Team
January Layman-Wood (Chairperson), Debby Braun, Bob Gleason, Andrew Guccione, Alice McGuin, Betsy Pugin, Pam Rozelsky, Joe Steele