A Parish Shaped by Word and Sacrament
On a quiet block just east of Denton's downtown square, the gothic arches and pointed windows of St. David's Episcopal Church mark a parish that takes its Anglican heritage seriously. The church, known affectionately as St. David's Denton, gathers under the patronage of St. David of Wales and exists to draw people into community through Word and Sacrament. The parish belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas and to the worldwide Anglican Communion, and it has bound itself to four ancient rhythms that guide its life together: regular public worship, daily prayer and self-discipline, service to the church and neighborhood, and generous stewardship.
St. David's describes itself as a parish in the Anglican tradition that is committed to preserving the historic catholic faith and passing it on to new generations. That self-understanding has practical consequences. The congregation is made up of Texans of differing politics, sports loyalties, and backgrounds, and the parish is honest about the fact that, on paper, a community like this is an anomaly. The thing that holds it together, the rector teaches, is not common taste but Jesus Christ and him crucified, revealed in the Scriptures and made present in the Sacraments.
Ancient Worship in a New Gothic Home
The parish moved into its present building in August 2024, and the space itself shapes everything that happens inside. In a recent letter to the parish, the Rev. Paul A. Nesta, rector, recalled standing alone in the nave shortly after the church was consecrated, struck by the way the large gothic structure directs the eye to the majesty of God. Within the year that followed, worship attendance grew by 19%, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
The worship there is unabashedly traditional. The primary liturgies used at St. David's were written in Elizabethan English hundreds of years ago. Priests and liturgical ministers wear ancient vestments. The congregation chants, sings hymns accompanied by an organ, and fills the church with incense on holy days. Canon Pamela Youngblood, DMA, DMus, serves as organist and choir director, and the 10:30 Sunday liturgy is a sung Eucharist. The parish is careful to add that it does not believe its way of worshipping is the only way, but it does believe that in a culture of individual preference and instant gratification, week after week the same liturgy forms habits the Holy Spirit uses to shape believers into the image of Jesus.
Sundays and Weekdays in the Rhythm of Prayer
A first-time visitor walking up to 623 Ector Street on a Sunday will find three distinct gatherings. At 8:00 AM the spoken Holy Eucharist draws those who prefer a quieter liturgy, with childcare available. At 9:30 AM, during the school year from Labor Day through Memorial Day, Christian Formation meets across the parish for Sunday School for all ages. At 10:30 AM the principal service takes place, a choral Holy Eucharist with both childcare for the youngest and Children's Church for ages four through eight.
The daily rhythm extends well past Sunday. Monday through Friday at 8:00 AM, Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist are celebrated in the chapel. Confession is heard after Daily Mass or by appointment with a member of the clergy; the parish publishes a printed Guide to Making a Confession to help those who have not made one before. Sunday bulletins are made available for download each week.
Children as the Church of Today
St. David's treats children not as future members but as full members of the present Body of Christ. A staffed nursery is offered at both Sunday morning services for children from six months to three years of age, and parents are welcome to keep young children with them throughout the Mass. Christian Education at 9:30 AM introduces children of all ages to the great stories of Scripture and to the practices that shape Episcopal worship. At the 10:30 liturgy, Children's Church gives children ages four through eight a formation of their own.
Once children reach the age of ten, they are encouraged to serve as acolytes, processing with the cross and torches and assisting the priest in preparing for the Eucharist. Jessica Increases leads Children and Family Ministries across these efforts, working with parents and clergy so that growing up at St. David's means growing closer to Jesus.
Youth and the Wider Parish
The youth ministry gathers middle and high school students twice a month for prayer, fellowship, teaching, and games. They are encouraged to serve throughout the life of the parish, helping in Children's Church, in the nursery, and at Vacation Bible School. Each July the youth embark on a mission trip to a different part of the country, and the parish reports that 52 adults and 63 kids joined together for Vacation Bible School in 2025.
Adults Formed in Small Groups and Study
St. David's believes that God wants more of its people than an hour on Sunday. Small groups are the primary vehicle for that growth. Roughly eight people at a time, hosted on Sundays and throughout the week both at the church and in parishioners' homes, the groups pray, study Scripture and the Christian tradition, and support one another. Past studies have ranged through books of the Bible such as Isaiah and Acts to works like C. S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters. New rounds begin every January and September, and in 2025 the parish reported its highest participation yet, with 87 adults taking part in a small group at some point in the year.
Alongside small groups, the parish gathers for an Advent Dinner, a Lenten Lecture Series, and Summer Bible Studies. The Rev. Craig Reed serves as assisting Priest, and Elliot Ritzema serves as curate, joining Fr. Paul in preaching, teaching, and pastoral care.
Feeding Neighbors Across Denton and Beyond
Witness at St. David's is concrete. The parish reads Jesus's answer to the greatest commandment, love God and love your neighbor, as a call to embodied love, and three named efforts put that call into practice.
St. David's DovePax began in October 2025 with a simple goal: feeding hungry families in Denton ISD during the long stretches when children are away from school meals. The ministry works with school counselors at Calhoun Middle School, the parish's neighboring middle school, and the elementary schools that feed into Calhoun: Evers Park, Newton Rayzor, and Anita Reeves. Before each major break, parishioners assemble bags of food intended to feed a family of four for four days. The clergy bless the bags at Sunday services and parishioners bring them to families on the Monday before break. In the lead-up to Spring Break 2026 the parish assembled close to 400 bags of food for 200 local food-insecure families.
Snack Packs, the parish's longest-running outreach, began in 2013 when the men's ministry noticed that many of the organizations feeding and caring for Denton's unhoused population were closed on Sundays. Since then, parishioners have assembled and distributed more than 20,000 packs of food, hygiene essentials, and undergarments to people experiencing homelessness in the city. The packs are handed out downtown each Sunday after the 10:30 service, and in 2025 the parish distributed its 20,000th Snack Pack.
The Kellermann Foundation, founded in 2004 by California physician Dr. Scott Kellermann, provides health care to displaced Batwa pygmies in southwest Uganda. St. David's partners with Kellermann to fund three full-tuition scholarships for young women to study at the Uganda Nursing School Bwindi. In 2025 the parish sent more than $10,000 to mission efforts locally, including Gateway of Grace in Dallas and the Snack Pack ministry, nationally to seminarians at Nashotah House, and globally to nursing students in Uganda through the Kellermann Foundation.
What Anglicans Believe Here
St. David's offers a four-point summary of its teaching. First, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the revealed Word of God and contain everything necessary for salvation; in them, God is revealed and fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Second, the Nicene Creed is a sufficient statement of the Christian faith, highlighting the triune God, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the new creation God is bringing to pass, summed up in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Third, the two great Sacraments stand at the heart of worship and Christian life: Holy Baptism and the Eucharist, sometimes called the Mass or Holy Communion. The parish leans on the sixteenth-century priest Richard Hooker's description: Baptism begins our life in Jesus, and the Eucharist continues that new life. People of all ages are baptized at St. David's, and all baptized persons are invited to share in the Eucharist.
Fourth, being episcopal means the church is governed by Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. These orders date back to the New Testament and unite the parish to the Body of Christ in every age, both to Anglican Christians around the world today and to the teaching, practice, and witness of the Church throughout history. The Catechism of The Episcopal Church is published for newcomers who want to go deeper.
Clergy and Musicians Leading the Parish
The Rev. Paul A. Nesta serves as Rector, the lead priest of the parish, and is the primary preacher at the principal Sunday liturgy. The Rev. Craig Reed serves as Assisting Priest and preaches regularly through the year. Elliot Ritzema serves as Curate. Canon Pamela Youngblood, DMA, DMus, directs the music of the parish as Organist and Choir Director, and Jessica Increases oversees Children and Family Ministries. Wendy Martinez serves in communications and welcomes newcomers into the life of the parish.
Joining the Work
Visitors are welcome at any of the Sunday liturgies. Those interested in getting involved can fill out a Connect card, subscribe to the weekly e-news, or speak with a member of the clergy after a service. Pledges and one-time gifts are accepted online, and the parish publishes an annual report and an annual parish meeting packet for those who want to see how the ministry is sustained.