St. David's Mission Statement
The people of St. David's Episcopal Church are committed to a life of faith in Jesus Christ. Our worship, centered in the Holy Eucharist, nurtures us to be a community engaging with an ever-changing world, living a faith of spiritual growth, mutual support, and outreach through service in our everyday lives.
St. David's Welcome Statement
St. David's extends a warm welcome to all visitors and newcomers. We, the people of St. David's, believe that God's love is expansive and unconditional and that through Christ, God has called us to love one another as God loves us. We welcome all people regardless of race, gender, age, culture, ethnic background, sexual orientation, economic circumstances, family configuration or difference of ability. We celebrate the worth, dignity and gifts of every person as a child of God.
A Brief History of St. David's
On Sunday. January 23, 1966, forty hardy Episcopalians attended church services in the basement of the Yarmouth Town Hail. That event marked the beginning of what was to become St. David's Episcopal Church in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts.
Over the next four years, while services continued in the Town Hall, land was purchased, a church building was built and dedicated on January 12, 1970.
The first clergyman to serve St. David's was the Rev. James L. Nelson, who was appointed Vicar of the Mission in Yarmouth on December 27,1965. He was a dedicated churchman, with strong sense of public service, ideally suited to bring the parish through its beginning years. His courage and vision in establishing the Mission House Project - an emergency drug program for young people - gave St David's an early experience with social service. Mr. Nelson resigned to pursue other opportunities in the priesthood on December 1, 1972.
The Rev. Sherill B. Smith Jr. was called to serve as a replacement clergyman on Sundays. This forced the laity of the church to take care of things from Sunday to Sunday. Finally, in October, 1973, Sherill Smith accepted the call to be a worker priest at St David's. The parish grew in size and complexity through the years, continually developing its mission as a servant church. After 23 years as rector, The Rev. Sherill Smith retired in September 1994.
The Rev. William B. Heuss answered our call and became Rector of St David's in September of 1996. Dr. Heuss serves our parish as a full-time clergyman, and he has brought a noticeable verve and vigor to our church life. Of note is the growth and enthusiasm in many of our church groups, particularly those involved with children and youth.
Following his final service on September 28, 2008, Dr. Heuss retired after 12 years as Rector of St. David's. While the Search Committee goes through the process of seeking a replacement, The Revs. Marshall and Victoria Hunt will serve as interim co-rectors.
A major thrust of St. David's has been to assist others beyond the limits of the parish. When the $100,000 mortgage on the church was burned in 1978, it was determined that St. David's would never give less than 20% of its annual operating budget to support a Special Ministries Fund, designed to assist those in need both locally and beyond. In addition, we entered into a partnership in 1992 with the Housing Assistance Corp. to secure eleven units for the homeless families.
The real thing to note is that the missionary vigor of St. David's remains as strong as it was when that group of forty first came together. St David's is handicapped accessible, and the doors of St. David's are always open. People still come to St. David's to learn about Jesus and then go out into the world to help as he would have us do.
