Our Clergy
We welcome you and look forward to seeing you!
Working Together to Build Christian Unity
We honor each other's faith tradition
Msgr. Raphael Peprah, Roman Catholic Chaplain (pictured on right)
Deacon Gary Harmeyer, Roman Catholic Sr. Pastoral Associate (pictured on left)
Special Note: Our Episcopal Priest Rev. Melendez has recently taken a new position in Northern Virginia. This has resulted in a vacancy that we hope to fill soon. We are looking for a priest with a heart for ecumenism and interest in a half-time position in beautiful Virginia Beach.
Our Vision
The people of Holy Apostles share a vision with their Bishops and Priests to be a visible sign of Christian unity. Ours is a Christ-centered community which draws on the best of renewal in both Churches and on two decades of ecumenical dialogue. We are committed "to do all things together which deep conviction does not require us to do separately." (Summary Statement 1977).
We are:
· eucharistically centered
· intent on mission
· involved in shared ministry
· creative in the liturgy
· expressive in total stewardship
· committed to Christian education and formation
· ecumenically optimistic
Our Mission
Remembering that we, as a unique community of Episcopalians and Roman Catholics,
are entrusted with a vision of God’s action in His people,
we declare that we have been called to a new venture
In the history of the Church.
As the Church of the Holy Apostles, we are called to be a living sign
of the Church’s efforts toward organic unity,
and to promote ecumenical ventures among Christian bodies.
We are called to share the gifts of ministry with one another,
and to be channels of God’s love in the world
by involving ourselves with all others.
As Apostles, we commit ourselves to build community
by discovering our wants and needs and those of others
through calling members to share their gifts freely and to grow;
by nurturing in faith and tradition;
by celebrating renewed life together in worship and fellowship.
We commit ourselves to spread the Good News
of our life in Jesus Christ, who calls us into oneness.
History and Mission
Our story begins with a small seed - a dream, an idea, a hope. And like the parable of the mustard seed...
'It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come shelter in its branches.'
The concept of a shared Episcopal/Roman Catholic parish was conceived during an after-dinner conversation in 1974 between two men with a dream - Walter F. Sullivan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Richmond, and David S. Rose, Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia. A year later the two Bishops announced the formation of a Joint Committee charged with giving that vision shape, to develop guidelines for the establishment of an ecumenical shared parish.