St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church sits on Park Ridge Boulevard in the San Carlos neighborhood of eastern San Diego, where it has been a parish fixture for more than seven decades. The church is known for an unusually strong commitment to welcome: a mission of "Welcoming everyone and empowering all, to love and serve God and neighbor," a tradition of inclusive language, deliberate accessibility for people with disabilities, a thriving music program, and an outreach ministry that supports dozens of partner agencies across San Diego County and beyond.
From a Campus Chapel to a San Carlos Parish
St. Dunstan's began as St. Dunstan's Chapel at San Diego State University, and only later moved into its present home on Park Ridge Boulevard. The current church building has now served the congregation for more than half a century, and the parish is raising money to refresh the structure so it can continue for another fifty years. The capital effort, called Build in Faith, is funding a long-overdue pitched roof for the church, parking lot repaving and landscaping, a courtyard trellis, new Parish House windows, and a replacement furnace.
Worship Rooted in the Prayer Book
Sunday services follow the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, with two distinct musical styles.
At 8:00 a.m., the congregation gathers in the main church for a quiet Holy Eucharist with traditional hymns and organ music. At 10:00 a.m., the Choral Holy Eucharist fills the same space with the Parish Choir, the organ, piano, guitars, handbells, and the Children's Victory Choir, blending traditional Anglican liturgy with a more contemporary sound. The 10:00 service is also livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, and recordings remain available to watch anytime during the week.
Worship includes prayers, several readings from Scripture, music and singing, a sermon, and Holy Eucharist, also called the Lord's Supper or Communion. The priest's sermon draws on the day's lectionary, with recent preaching rotating among the rector, the assistant clergy, and lay preachers in the parish. Follow-along bulletins are handed out at the door; the red Book of Common Prayer, the blue hymnal, and a white spiral-bound songbook sit in each pew rack.
The congregation stands to sing, recites the Nicene Creed, passes the peace with a handshake, bow, or peace sign, and kneels at the prayer of confession and during Communion. All baptized Christians are welcome at the altar rail. Gluten-free wafers are always on hand; communicants can receive the bread alone, dip it into the chalice, or drink from the cup directly. Anyone who prefers not to receive Communion is invited to come forward and cross their hands over their chest for a blessing. After each service, everyone is welcome to stay for coffee and conversation.
What Episcopalians at St. Dunstan's Believe
St. Dunstan's is a parish of the Episcopal Church and part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the third-largest Christian body in the world. Worship is rooted in Scripture and the ancient liturgical tradition of the Book of Common Prayer, with the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds as the parish's statements of faith. Members renew the promises made at baptism in the Baptismal Covenant and follow the practices described in "The Way of Love: Practices for a Jesus-Centered Life": turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, and rest.
The parish centers its life on Jesus Christ and seeks a loving, liberating, and life-giving relationship with God, with one another, and with creation. Its mission statement, "Welcoming everyone and empowering all, to love and serve God and neighbor," appears on every page of the church's literature.
All Are Welcome, No Exceptions
Inclusion is more than a slogan at St. Dunstan's. The parish has invested in physical accessibility and in the spiritual welcome of people with intellectual, developmental, and neurological differences. All of the church's children and youth leaders have disability-related experience.
A hearing loop system runs through the interior of the church and the parish hall and connects to the sound system. Worshippers who use hearing aids with a T-coil can hear directly through their devices; portable receivers with headsets or ear-bud jacks are available for everyone else. Reserved seating for wheelchair and mobility-device users is offered throughout the sanctuary, with companion seats next to it, and accessible restrooms are located nearby. The parking lot and front entrance are fully accessible, and the memorial garden is reachable from the street.
Large-print Sunday bulletins are available at every service, and a quiet room is open for anyone who needs a break from sensory stimulus. Gluten-free wafers are always offered at Communion. A volunteer Accessibility Minister, David Jespersen, is the point of contact for anyone who wants to discuss accommodations ahead of a service.
Music in Every Key
Music is woven through St. Dunstan's identity. The 8:00 a.m. service leans on organ and traditional hymnody; the 10:00 a.m. service expands the palette with the Parish Choir, the Children's Victory Choir, handbells, and guest instrumentalists who have brought violins, cellos, standup bass, flutes, guitars, trumpets, and even the occasional tambourine into worship. Guest trumpeters and brass players help make Christmas Eve and Easter mornings especially resonant.
The Parish Choir is the heart of the program. The choir is open to anyone who can carry a tune and count to four, and rehearsals are built around laughter as much as singing. A Bell Choir rings throughout the year, and the Children's Victory Choir welcomes singers from second grade through high school for Tuesday-evening rehearsals and monthly anthems. Each September the Parish Choir gathers for a one-day retreat to sing, pray, and play together.
Outside the sanctuary, the choirs have hosted concerts at the church, sung at Grossmont Center during the holidays, and brought yuletide music to seniors in local convalescent homes.
A Place for Every Child
Children are not just tolerated at St. Dunstan's; they are planned for. The nursery, located on the right side of the church building, is staffed from 7:45 a.m. to noon and welcomes children up to age three during every worship service.
During the 10:00 a.m. service, the Pray Ground at the front of the church gives children of all ages a space to color, craft, and wiggle while still hearing the liturgy and music. After the Gospel reading, the rector gathers the children for a brief Children's Moment and then dismisses them to Children's Chapel, where they return to the sanctuary at Communion, around 10:40 a.m.
From September through May, the parish runs a 9:00 a.m. formation hour for all ages. Children ages three through six gather in the Atrium, a Montessori-style space built just for them, for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a child-centered curriculum developed in Italy in 1954 by Scripture scholar Sofia Cavaletti and Montessori educator Gianna Gobbi. Children ages seven through eleven meet in Classroom 1 for Children's Sunday School, with Bible lessons, games, and crafts that wrap up in time for the family to attend the 10:00 service together.
Middle and high schoolers (grades six through twelve) gather in the Youth Building for Bible study at 9:00 a.m. and return in the afternoon for Youth Group from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. The summer calendar includes mission trips, fellowship outings, and an annual pilgrimage to Disneyland.
Vacation Bible School is offered each summer for children ages four through twelve, with older youth invited to register as leaders. Family Mardi Gras, an Easter Egg Hunt, and the Christmas Pageant round out the children's calendar.
Pastoral Care and Lay Ministries
St. Dunstan's extends pastoral care beyond the walls of the church. Licensed Eucharistic Visitors take consecrated Communion to homebound parishioners in nursing homes, hospitals, and private residences after being sent out by the priest. The Daughters of the King chapter offers a free reception of coffee, punch, and cookies immediately following a funeral. Prayers and Squares creates prayer quilts for members in need of comfort. The Flower Guild arranges the sanctuary each week and the Flower Ministry breaks the arrangements down after the service into smaller bouquets delivered to the sick, the bereaved, and those celebrating birthdays or anniversaries, along with the note: "These flowers have been graced by their presence at the altar of God during a worship service at St. Dunstan's church."
Weddings, Baptisms, and Funerals
The Sacraments of Holy Matrimony and Baptism are available to all who want them. Couples preparing for marriage at St. Dunstan's take part in a multi-week course of prenuptial conversations with the clergy. Baptisms are scheduled several times throughout the year. Confirmation, Reaffirmation, and Reception are administered by the bishop at his yearly visitation, with a required course of instruction for interested youth and adults ahead of the visit. Funerals are arranged in cooperation with the priest, who walks the family through a planning sheet that includes readings, favorite hymns, and other service details.
Reaching Out from San Carlos
The Outreach Ministry funds and staffs an annual rummage sale that draws more than one hundred volunteers, then channels the proceeds and the congregation's time, talent, and treasure into a long list of partner programs. St. Dunstan's sponsors an Angel Tree at Christmas, supports the San Diego Agape Lutheran-Episcopal campus ministry at San Diego State, distributes food and gas cards through emergency assistance and discretionary funds, and awards scholarships to graduates of Patrick Henry High School and to young members of the parish.
In San Diego County, the congregation partners with the ISN Rotational Shelter (hosting up to twelve guests for two weeks each year), ISN El Nido (an apartment for battered women and their children), the San Diego Youth Services Teen Shelter, Amikas, the East County Transitional Living Center, Helping Empower Community Refugees, 29:Eleven Maternity Home, St. Paul's Senior Services, and Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and CoDA, for which the church provides meeting space. Through the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, St. Dunstan's supports Episcopal Community Services, the Uptown Safe Haven, and RefugeeNet. Beyond the border, it contributes to Heifer International, the Mexico Ministries and Mission in Puerto Vallarta, and ROWAN, a network serving residents of rural eastern Uganda.
The People Who Lead the Parish
The Reverend D. Rebecca Hansen is the rector and pastor. Ordained in 2003, she was called to St. Dunstan's in 2023 and serves the wider diocese as its Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer. She previously served parishes in Oregon, Missouri, and Ohio, and as a chaplain at the University of Michigan, and discovered her call to ministry while serving as a young adult missionary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She writes sermons for the national Episcopal Church podcast "Sermons that Work." The Reverend Lonell Wright serves as Honorary Clergy Assistant. Greg Funk is the Parish Musician; Debbie Berglund directs the Children's Victory Choir; and Thomas Gerhart directs the Children's Ministry.
A twelve-member elected Vestry, with four elected each year, shares governance with the rector. The Wardens and members serve three-year terms and gather on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month, with a daylong retreat once or twice a year for prayer and planning.
Getting Involved and Giving
Members and friends support the parish through annual pledges, one-time gifts, and a Scrip gift-card program that returns a percentage of each purchase to the church. Donations may be made online through the church's ACS portal or PayPal, by check mailed to the church office, or by placing a card in the weekly offering plate. Facility rentals are available for meetings, receptions, parties, and banquets in the Parish House, which is equipped with a modern industrial kitchen, pull-down screens, microphone system, and flexible table arrangements.
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The parish is located at 6556 Park Ridge Boulevard in San Diego.