Overview
On the last Sunday of every month, the children of St. Paul's, Ivy get called up to the front of the church partway through the 10:30 service. They gather at the steps for the Children's Homily, a short message pitched to them and to anyone, as the parish puts it, young at heart. Afterward, at least in warmer months, the whole congregation spills outside for something cold: Sundae Sunday one week, Cookies & Lemonade through the summer. It is a small ritual, but it tells you a lot about the place, a church that takes its liturgy seriously and still makes sure there is ice cream on the lawn.
St. Paul's is an Episcopal parish in Ivy, the wooded stretch of Albemarle County just east of Crozet along Route 250. The physical church sits at 851 Owensville Road, Charlottesville, VA 22901, though its mailing address is PO Box 37, Ivy, VA 22945, one of those quirks of rural Virginia where the post office and the property don't quite agree on where you are. The greeting on the front of everything they publish is direct: whoever you are, and wherever you find yourself on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here.
Sunday mornings
The Sunday schedule is layered, and it rewards knowing your own preferences. It opens at 8:15 a.m. with Holy Eucharist Rite I, the older, more formal liturgical language for people who want it. At 9:15 comes Kairos, the parish's formation hour for all ages, which pauses over the summer and picks back up in late August. The main service is at 10:30, a Rite II Eucharist with choir and Children's Chapel most weeks, and the Children's Homily on that last-Sunday rhythm.
During the program year the day doesn't end at noon. A 5:30 p.m. slot rotates between Choral Evensong, the sung Anglican evening office, and a quieter Contemplative Evening Prayer. Both go on break for the summer and return in mid-August, so if candlelit polyphony or contemplative silence is what draws you, it is worth checking the calendar before you make the drive out Owensville Road.
Through the week
The building isn't only a Sunday concern. On Mondays at noon there is Centering Prayer in the Parish Library, a practice of silent, wordless prayer, and for those who can't get to Ivy in the middle of a workday, it's also offered on Zoom. Wednesdays at 10 a.m. bring a midweek Holy Eucharist with Prayers for Healing in the Sanctuary, the kind of small, steady service that tends to matter most to the people who come.
The church office keeps regular weekday hours, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday until 1 p.m., and the parish sends out a weekly news roundup called The Vine for anyone who wants to keep track of it all.
Feeding neighbors, and showing up
A good share of St. Paul's energy points outward. The parish runs the St. Paul's, Ivy–Mt. Calvary Food Pantry, a joint ministry that supplies groceries to families in the area, with monthly shopping lists that members fill and return. Around the start of the school year it expands into a backpack drive, sending dozens of bags of school supplies home with pantry families so that, in the parish's words, children begin the year prepared, confident, and supported. Filled backpacks come back to Neve Hall, the parish's gathering space.
That outward tilt shows up in Crozet, too. On the Fourth of July the church takes itself on the road, sending clergy, staff, and volunteers to greet the crowds at the Crozet Independence Day Celebration at King Family Vineyards, an easy, unfussy way of being present in the wider community rather than waiting for the community to find them.
The parish also keeps up a lively conversation life. Its Rector's Forum brings in outside voices; one recent session welcomed Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, for a talk on the nation's 250th anniversary and the Declaration of Independence, the sort of programming that suits a church twenty minutes from Charlottesville and its historians.
You can reach St. Paul's at (434) 979-6354, watch recent sermons on the parish's YouTube channel, or learn more at stpaulsivy.org. The church's own standing invitation is about as low-pressure as it gets. Under "What We Do," the website answers in three words: come and see.
More faith in Crozet
Frequently asked questions
Where is St. Paul's, Ivy, Episcopal Church?
St. Paul's, Ivy, Episcopal Church is located at 851 Owensville Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA, in Crozet, Virginia.
What are St. Paul's, Ivy, Episcopal Church's hours?
Monday: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM Tuesday: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM Thursday: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM Friday: 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM Saturday: Closed Sunday: Closed
How do I contact St. Paul's, Ivy, Episcopal Church?
You can call (434) 979-6354 or visit http://stpaulsivy.org/. Hours and current information are most reliable directly from the business.
What kind of business is St. Paul's, Ivy, Episcopal Church?
St. Paul's, Ivy, Episcopal Church is categorized as faith in our Crozet directory. See the description and quick facts above for what makes this listing distinctive.
Sources: stpaulsivy.org