Stories to remember 2010-2024

July 5, 2024July 1, 2024

Catherine, Roger, Lamar and Travis left St. Peter’s after church on Dec. 1, 2012 to journey back to Staten Island. Another clothes distribution was getting organized but not one for school children, but for the entire island devastated by Hurricane Sandy a month earlier. Catherine’s sister Lynnette, pictured with the group above, worked with a local Congressman to have clothes from Idaho and other places delivered. St. Peter’s group along with others, including Moravians from Bethlehem, washed them at a local laundry, carried them in and worked on sorting the clothes. This group sorted mountains of donated clothes into four hundred boxes of clothes that are now ready for the next clothing distribution to benefit those who lost everything in the hurricane, and others who are in need on the island. These clothes will be distributed this February.

In addition to providing hands-on help, our parish gave generously to the fund for hurricane relief run by the Moravians on the island, and the money given has gone directly to families in need as a result of the storm.

In 2012, we dedicated the beautiful cross that Helmut Linne von Berg made for the door behind the altar. He made the cross from one of the wooden beams that was removed from church roof during the belfry restoration.

That same day we also dedicated the two restored stained glass windows in the back windows of the church. One was cracked on the right side and there was a missing rose medallion on the left. Through a generous donation, the work was completed and installed on Feb. 23, 2012. Stained Glass by Shenandoah in Front Royal, VA had to order special paint from France to complete the work

Later in Oct., 2012, we held a Belfry Celebration Day and installed a framed list of donors on the back wall of the church who gave to the rebuilding of the belfry. The sermon was about sacred spaces defined by the architect of the new VTS chapel – “Sacred spaces are a way of structuring the ineffable, that is making something visible that is otherwise impossible to describe.” Link to the Belfry book. and an article in the Caroline Progress in 2010.

Two very generous anonymous donors gave St Peter’s the gift of a brass Advent Wreath/paschal candle which we blessed on the first Sunday of Advent.

For Easter, 2012, Helmut made the “Good Friday Cross”. INRI represents the Latin inscription IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum), which in English translates to “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews” (John 19:19).

The cross became not a symbol of defeat but symbol of victory—”victory over death, victory over evil, victory over sin” (From The Cross of Victory – Dr. Rocco Leonard Martino). Furthermore “the crucifixion was not the end but only the portal to the resurrection which is the beginning.”

Finally in Aug. 2016, Helmut made the “Children’s Cross”, lighter weight cross and one easier to carry than the other ones.

Easter 2012 was also noted for the the composition of the procession – one young adult, Justin and the remainder of the children in the parish – Tierra and Cheyenne, Kimberly and Tucker. See the article

2012 – National Acolyte Festival

Three Fishers, Eunice and Catherine represented St. Peter’s at the National Acolyte Festival at the Washington National Cathedral on Oct 6, 2012. The procession of 700 acolytes took 35 minutes before the main service. After the service there were various workshops.

Starting in 2012 with Handel’s Messiah we offered 6 Advent programs on Christmas-related subjects. By 2018, they were being transformed to online courses.

1. 2017- Dickens A Christmas Carol and the Bible. A deep read into the Christmas classic for references to the Bible and Dickens’ religious beliefs.

2. 2012- Handel’s Messiah, Prophecy and Birth of the Messiah. The story of the Christmas part of the Messiah together with the music.

3. 2015- Luke Canticles – Based on a book which examines 4 canticles in the Gospel of Luke, including the infancy story. 

4. 2016-Matthew’s Infancy stories – Comparable to Luke but with a decidedly Jewish character and an emphasis on Joseph.

5. 2020- The Twelve Days of Christmas Carols – 15+ carols for the days leading to Christmas. The background and musical selections are included.

6. 2023 Renaissance Art and the Christmas Story

2013 – Catherine won the John Hines preaching award for a sermon preached in 2012. Hines was presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1965-1974. At a time of extreme turbulence within the country and the Episcopal Church, Hines guided the Church labeling himself a, “theological conservative and social progressive. The sermon preached.

Shelagh Casey Brown from VTS came to St. Peter’s on Sept 7,2014 to present Catherine’s award. An unusual Sunday. Two former priests appeared- John Wall (2005-2009) and Macon Walton (1958-60). John” one of Karen Woodruff’s friends (1994-2003) was here. That’s the third priest.

2013 Godly Play. Dr. Barbara Ann Fisher, from the Diocese of Easton (in Maryland), led our Vestry retreat in April of this past year. An initiative that grew out of this time of discernment was the subsequent decision on the part of the Vestry to establish a one year position, The Children’s Ministry Coordinator, so that we could put the Godly Play curriculum into place for our children from preschool to second grade and train others to carry on this program in the years to come. Thanks to our teacher this new curriculum we have been able to provide quality education for the young children in our church during the second half of 2013, and continuing through May of 2014.

Rev. Amy Turner became our first Godly Play teacher. She taught to June, 2014. Prior to that both Amy and Catherine were certified in Godly Play instruction, traveling several weeks to Northern Virginia

Godly Play in 2014 and the room

2013- Feasting with Jesus This was originally a Lenten Christian education series that stretched out through much of the year. It was based on a book – The Food and Feasts of Jesus: The Original Mediterranean Diet with Menus and Recipes by Douglas E. Neel and Joel A. Pugh.

Here is a photo gallery from Sept and the group from Sept., 2013

This series was both education and dinner! “It isn’t too late to try out some of the food that is typical of that Jesus would have eaten during his ministry in Galilee, and to learn about some of the culture and customs of the first century that provide helpful background information to us as we read and study scripture.” Here are the sessions:

Feasting with Jesus – The Sabbath Feast
Feasting with Jesus – Details of each week
Feasting with Jesus – A First Century Family Dinner
Feasting with Jesus – A Banquet feast
Feasting with Jesus – The Wedding Feast
The Todah Feast
Feasting with Jesus – Seder Supper, March 28, 2013 – 5pm
Return of “Feasting with Jesus”
Feasting with Jesus – The Harvest Feast, Oct 10, 6pm
Feasting with Jesus on Agriculture, Oct. 10, 2013

2013 – Dog and Duck. Dog and Duck lived across the street and they captured the attention of parishioners. They were devoted to each other. Additionally, The dog was always on the job providing a warning of intruders, providing much comic relief.

In later years there were a handful of chickens that would like to come to church early to eat as well two cats, Smudge and a little black kitty that loved the birds.

2013 – Bathroom renovation – June, July 2013. Rob Dobson and crew donated their services to renovate the 1st floor bathroom in the Parish House to make it handicapped accessible. Before and after construction

Vacation Bible School 2013-2017

VBS stands for Vacation Bible School and the consummate summer event for kid for children and youth usually up to middle school age. The expressions in VBS pictures speak volumes about these children and their personalities. It was great getting “our gang” together on relaxing, summer days. It’s a wonderful time for them to have fun with and learn from each other.

We held VBS from 2013 through 2017. Becky Fisher was one of the primary organizers, motivators and teachers though many others were called on to help.

2013 – A busy week with Vacation Bible School (VBS) from Monday Aug 12 through Thursday Aug 15 and then the Community Dinner on Aug 16. Thanks go out to the Vacation Bible School team this past week – the Fishers, the Wisdoms, Liz Heimbach, Catherine, Marion who taught or supported it with food. We had 8 to 10 children a night for four days plus two adults studying Galatians with Catherine. The theme was Paul. It was taught on 3 levels – friendship with children, travels with the older children and teens and a full study of the Letter to the Galatians for the adults.

2014 – The kids had a great time hearing stories all about hospitality and welcoming. They learning about people who welcomed travelers, cared for strangers, and demonstrated peace. The children heard about Sarah making bread for visitors (Genesis 18:1-15), the Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), and many other great stories.

2015 – This year the children learned about specific Bible verses. – Day 1, “God is Love”, Day 2 “Make a joyful noise to the Lord”, Day 3 “Be kind to one another.” It was water day on the last day of Vacation Bible School on Day 4! They finished filling the jars with beans and made labels with the instructions for making the soup. This is for the Village Harvest food distribution next week.

2016 – The children heared and learned about the Bible stories in which Jesus appears to his friends after this resurrection. Each day, the children go to various stations and open Easter eggs, which contain objects that have significance for the story that they were about to hear. They experienced the resurrection events through their senses.

2017 This year was the Harry Potter year! Thanks to Becky for the idea of using Harry Potter with VBS , for the extensive amount of work in gathering materials and other tasks to make it work at St. Peter’s. Of course, she was the lead teacher also! Thanks to Catherine for handling the music, borrowing the labyrinth and other details and to all the helpers for lunch and other needs. And most of all for the Class of 2017 – the largest number of children served (17) in several years over a longer period of time.

Why did it end after 2017? The program had run its course. In 2018 activities for youth continued but not concentrated in a week and with different themes – a nature hike, a visit to Maymont in Richmond, and a children’s Evening Eucharist, all which took place in 2018. In 2019, there was a cooking class for local children.

2013 Dancing in the church? sermon May 26, 2013.

From the sermon – “Brendan O’Malley tells us that in the Christian Church for the first thousand years Christians danced in procession to and from the church. This dance was known as the “Tripudium, which means three steps or transport of joy… The dancers linked arms and danced in row after row…moving through the streets and into the church and around it during the hymns of the service, and then out through the streets as a recessional.” So we danced through the church. In a society that closely linked life and church it is not surprising. It was one of the things the Puritans reacted against in the 17th century.” Here is how it went in the procession:

2013 –

The recent concert series began in 2013 as a way of inviting people into St Peter’s and to the town of Port Royal and to provide additional inreach for our own congregation. Our church with its excellent acoustics are attractive to both performers and audience. We have enjoyed vocal ensembles, guitarists and other string instruments.

The concert series was revived with the Thirteen performing in 2013. We would go on to schedule 10 concert performances through 2024 including a repeat of the Thirteen in 2018. St. Asaphs provided the reception for the first one.

Here is the list of past concerts:
10. Portland Guitar Duo, April 19, 2024

9. Beausoir, Oct. 14, 2022

8. The Philharmonia, Nov. 2, 2019

7. 13 concert Feb. 11, 2018

6. Magical Strings in Concert April 22, 2017

5. Lyra – Sept 23, 2016

4. Portland Guitar Duo -April 15, 2016

3. Flamenco Concert – Sept 15, 2015

2. Lyra Sept 16, 2014

1. The Thirteen Oct 22, 2013

2013 – Trailer Park Bible Study – This warm weather Bible study (Sept. 2013) tooks place outside in the trailer park. St Peter’s provided lunch and people gather to discuss scripture and share food and fellowship. This Bible study was a visible way to show our care for the community of Port Royal.

2013 – Dinner for the Caroline County Football Team Many members of St Peter’s cooked and served a delicious meal for the Caroline County football team before one of their home games. We were one of several churches in Caroline County who participated in this project. Coach Jeremiah Ross declared that our meal and the presentation of it was the best of the season! This project is a way of reaching out to young people in our community and working together with other churches to make a positive difference for the people of Caroline County

2013 – International Projects—Tools for the Sudan and Toilets for Haiti. We supported two Region One initiatives. St Peter’s provided $1300 to help purchase tools for farmers in South Sudan. In addition, we raised money to help fund the Toilets for Haiti project for the Episcopal school for children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The new bathroom was constructed for over 300 children at the school. St Peter’s also donated $750 of the John Hines Preaching Award money to The VTS Missionary Society, which provides financial support to international projects through grants.

2013 Blessing of a stole for Army chaplain in Afghanistan. Barbara Porterfield, the mother of the Rev. Amy Turner, our Godly Play teacher, joined with the 27 other stole makers to make 41 stoles for U.S. Army chaplains serving in Afghanistan. In addition to making a stole that was blessed by the congregation at Zion Episcopal Church in Charles Town, Barbara also made a stole to be blessed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg; a stole that we blessed here at St Peter’s and then sent off to be given to an Army chaplain serving in Afghanistan.

2013 – Community Dinners and food donations. We received a gift from the Diocese for $250 to continue our community dinners in Port Royal. For our Easter and Christmas Community Dinners, we partnered with Caroline’s Promise and also with Caroline County Parks and Recreation. People from all over Port Royal and the surrounding area came to these dinners and enjoyed food, fellowship and entertainment. We had over 100 people at the Christmas dinner.

2013 – FredCamp. FredCamp was pioneered by Jan Saylor when she was youth director at St. George’s in 1999. A much larger model was the Petersburg work camp which St. George’s had participated . FredCamp was an ecumenical Christian work camp for high school youth working to change hearts and homes in the Fredericksburg area . St Peter’s supported this group financially.

This year, many of us ate together at Ruby Tuesdays and in doing so provided a donation to FredCamp. Several of us provided some hands-on support and prepared and delivered lunches for a FredCamp work team during their week of work on a trailer in the Dogue area of King George. It continued to 2017.

2013. Field trip to the Sight and Sound theatre in Lancaster, PA

14 went to the Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster on July 16, 2013 to see “Noah” in Lancaster, PA. The scenery of that area with the Amish farmers was an unexpected treat. It was an all day trip with Catherine driving the bus.

Here are Eunice’s reflections on the trip:”I recall getting goosebumps three times during the NOAH performance. The singer/actors were extraordinary, as was the choreography. As a matter of fact, seeing this entices me to want to see every performance that is put on by Sight and Sounds theater.”

Sermon of symbols -Palm Sunday, 2014

This is one of the sermons remembered long after that time Palm Sunday, 2014

From the sermon. “Each of the items that has been brought to the altar today has something to say to us about the story of the crucifixion and death of Jesus.” “And each one of these items has something to say about our human nature, some of the biggest temptations we face, and God’s saving grace for each one of us.”

The objects included fair linen, thirty pieces of silver, sword, bowl of water and towel, stone, scarlet robe and crown

2014 – Creation of the Village  Harvest. An essential ministry which brings in people from several counties to receive donated food in a market-style format or through bags . This came after a retreat with Sally O’Brien (below) from the Episcopal Church Building Fund encouraging a resourceful use of our buildings and creative ways of being “church” in our community.

After a study from the Vestry it was concluded Port Royal exists in a food desert, meaning that fresh produce and healthy food choices year round is not immediately available for those who lack money and transportation. Thus the creation of the Village Harvest in Nov, 2014.

With help from the Northern Neck Food Bank and the willingness of Johnny and Cookie Davis to pick up produce, we have been able in just two months in 2014 to distribute to 21 families fresh produce including collards, potatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelons, avocados and acorn squash. In addition, we provided these families with Kleenex, soup, peanut butter, bread, and other food staples.

2014. One of the most unusual Christian education programs was “Frog and Toad”, an adaptation of Arnold Lobel’s children books from the 1970 in Lent, 2014 for adults. Each book contained five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant, short stories chronicling the exploits of a frog and his friend, a toad. Catherine presented it both at St. Peter’s and for another church at Shrine Mont.

In the first week in the story “The Garden”, Frog and Toad delved into the Lenten themes of what it means to wait patiently in a world in which we expect instant results. In the story “Cookies,” in ther second week, Frog and Toad gorge the delicious cookies that Toad andreflecting on times of testing and temptation in our own lives.

Finally in the third week, the story highlighted the ups and downs of living in community, and how communities can be empowered by positive effort and persistence.

2014. During 2014 we also shared our building with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service for their “Food Fridays” program. This group met once a month at St Peter’s for several months in 2014. This program teaches people about healthy eating and how to prepare healthy foods. The groups of people who came prepared recipes and shared the results by eating lunch together.

In October, we once again cooked and served a delicious meal for the Caroline County football team before one of their home games. We were one of several churches in Caroline County who participated in this project and this year we partnered with Second Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dawn, Virginia. This project is a way of reaching out to young people in our community and working together with other churches to make a positive difference for the people of Caroline County.

2014 – Port Royal Tutoring – From March to June, 2014 there were 100 student encounters, 9 tutors over 3 months with Easter intervening.  Many thanks to Ken Pogue for his organization, time and effort with this ministry.

The program lasted until 2016. Ken Pogue wrote in the Sept, 2016 newsletter. “The goal of the Port Royal Educational Program (PREP) is to foster and support the academic growth and enrichment of the students and adult learners that reside in town of Port Royal, Virginia and its surrounding communities. At this time, the program’s principle educational activities include, but are not limited to the following: Math/English SAT/ACT/PSAT Preparation; GED Preparation;  Remedial Instruction and Tutoring Across Core Subject areas; and Career Mentoring and Encouragement.

“Its contributions have been credited with helping two local students increase their ACT scores which contributed to their acceptance and enrollment into Virginia Tech and Christopher Newport, respectively.” Included in the photos below is Roger tutoring, March 25, 2014:

During 2014 we continued to offer the Godly Play curriculum to our children from ages three to eight. The Rev. Amy Turner, who put this program into place and taught it for a year, left at the end of May, and the class resumed in September under the leadership of Callie Towler, who grew up in the Methodist Church and graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2014 took over the program. We had eleven children in the Godly Play class at that time. We continued to offer a nursery for our youngest children every Sunday morning.

2014 We began Advent with a Candle Tea at Coffee Hour during which we learned about Moravian Advent customs. We used several Moravian hymns in our Advent worship services, including our Advent wreath lighting hymn, Candle Glowing.

On Christmas Eve, we held a traditional Moravian Christmas Eve Love Feast instead of our normal Episcopal Christmas Eve service. The visual effects with the candles and the serving of Moravian coffee in mugs made it a distinctive Christmas.

2014 We applied for a Mustard Seed Grant from the Diocese of Virginia in 2014 which wrote and $7000 was awarded to us so that we could re-leather the organ bellows (the lungs of our organ). This is the second Mustard Seed Grant we have received from The Diocese of Virginia in the past four years, in addition to a financial gift from the Diocese that helped pay for our continuing community dinners this past year. The bellows job is described here

2015 2015 was a year of planning for the future. Catherine wrote a UTO grant for $15,000 which we were awarded for the renovation of our church kitchen, badly in need of improvements. The announcement of the grant is below:

The Vestry has also revised the St Peter’s Church Endowment Fund and has reactivated the Fund so that can be put back into play as a financial resource for outreach and church projects at St Peter’s for years to come.

CPR training for parishioners in 2015 was the first of various activities that addressed safety issues at St Peter’s.

The Christmas Plays

A St. Peter’s tradition – a Christmas play that involves not only children but much of the congregation. Recently it has been scheduled on 4th Advent.

This tradition began in the 1990’s under the Rev. Karen Woodruff when there were many children in the parish. We have pictures back to 1999. The play is not the same script from year to year but is written fresh each year and focuses on the talents of the congregation.. Catherine has written the scripts during her years.

Here is an article covering the plays from 2011-2018

Possibly the most unique and creative one was 2015. It was set in 13th Century Italy. Names of members of the congregation were blended into the script in an amusing way.

Here is a slideshow of that year, covering most of the script as well as the beauty of the day

2015 – After finding an old letter about work that the Vestry had done in the early 2000’s regarding the restoration of the “altarpiece” behind the altar in the church, Catherine brought this project back to the Vestry’s attention, and by working through the Virginia Historical Society, we were able to find an art conservator in Richmond, Cleo Mullins, who led the restoration of this altarpiece during 2016. We will receive a $5,000 grant from The O’Neill Fund for the Stewardship of Historic Resources, administered through The Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region, to help fund this project.

2016– Restoration of the frontpiece (tablets). High up on that scaffolding, Cleo Mullins, Beth Fulton, and the crew of the Richmond Conservation Studio, along with Rusty Bernabo were working magic on the altarpiece, restoring it to its former glory. Johnny and men from the church saved money by picking up, erecting and returning needed scaffolding for the 3-month job. This project included plaster work, painting of the gold framing, removing and repainting the 4 wooden tablets, etc.

The cost was approximately $50,000 which was generously donated by the membership and friends, and a grant from the O’Neill Fund for the Stewardship of Historic Resources. The ECW ladies asked that the kitchen be remodeled to better service.

We have a separate article about this project. Before and after pictures are included. Here is an example of the difference it made in the church:

2016 The restoration of the kitchen this past year, planned by Eunice Key, Cookie Davis, Betty Kunstmann and Cindy Fields, made possible with the help of a UTO grant as well as your generosity, has given us new opportunities for outreach. Here is a gallery on the renovation, 2015-2016.

We celebrated the completion of the Kitchen and Altarpiece at the same time on Nov 6, 2016, All Saints Sunday with 63 in attendance. The gallery is here.

Cleo Mullins, Beth Fulton, and Russell Bernabo of the team were here. Charles Sydnor preached the sermon linking the the Altar piece, kitchen and All Saints together. All three help to build community.

2016 Year of maintenance – Work included the scraping and painting of both the church and the parish house, new and improved plumbing in the parish house along with the renovation of the kitchen, the painting of the nursery roof, a new roof on the church (Ivory Home Solutions of Fredericksburg after leaks and other damage was noted. This cost was donated by one church member) and refinished floors in the sacristy and altar areas.

St. Peter’s sings St. Peter’s Sings was an effort to educate the congregation in music. The first part said -“Knowing how to read music enhances our ability to sing!” There were 10 parts printed as a handout to the the bulletin from Jan 2, 2016 through April 1, 2016. We designed a logo and started with the staff.

This summer we had two lunches for those who come to the food distribution, and in December we made soup for people to enjoy when they came to the food distribution. The distribution gave us the ongoing opportunity to fulfill another of our baptismal vows, “to seek and to serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbors as yourselves.” We have also carried out those vows through the jail ministry at Peumansend Creek Regional Jail. An invitation that we send out is below:

In 2016 we reached halfway across the world to provide help to a family in Nepal who lost everything in the April, 2015 earthquake there.

We came up with a name for the project, “Family to Family.” At its August meeting, the Vestry voted to provide $125 for a shelter and to adopt a family (the Tamangs) to see how we might help in a more long term way.

David Caprara spoke on behalf of Global Peace Foundation and more specifically about our Family/Family Nepal program in Dec. 2015. He was in Nepal both before and after the April, 2015 Earthquake.

In November, Caprara went to Nepal and hiked through the mountains to visit the Tamangs and to deliver a note on one of our St Peter’s postcards to introduce all of us and our church to them. The Tamangs didn’t understand why Caprara was there but the personal letter made all the difference in the world. “When I read them the letter from your church their faces lit up with joy and appreciation. They were actually transformed by your sentiments and heart – spiritually as well as a physically with the home (the church provided.”

The work to support the Tamangs was carried on internally in 2016. With a home they next requested a toilet. Shrijana Sitikhu, toilet was built by the Environment and Public Health Organization in Nepal which was in place by Oct., 2016. They were on the way to recovery opening a small convenience store in their town.

2017 – The Vestry worked on a comprehensive safety plan for St Peter’s due in part to continuing gun violence in this nation, including violence carried out in churches and other places of worship. Chris Hall and Scott Moser from the Caroline County Sheriff’s Department did a safety assessment of our property in September and reported their findings to the Vestry, including both the things we are doing well, and the areas in which we could make our buildings and grounds safer. They were highly complimentary of the well-kept grounds. Cookie has pruned the large boxwoods behind the church in response to their suggestion so that these shrubs should not provide hiding places for those who might cause trouble.

2017 – Helmut Linne von Berg, the Junior Warden, installed locks on the heat pump and the basement doors of both the church and the parish house as another easily implemented safety improvement.

Other plans included installing an AED to help with medical emergencies (see below with Chris Fisher explaining this in church), and the purchase of additional fire extinguishers for the back of the church which can be used both for any fires and as deterrents against anyone intent on harming our congregation when it is gathered for worship.

2017 – Another completed project was the sign that hangs on the outer front wall of the church. Rance Rupp, a woodworker and artist, provided new lettering on the sign and made it more weather resistant.

2017 – Throughout the year, we made various improvements to our buildings and grounds, including the raising of the bell tower (below) and new sidewalks for the sacristy entrance, the parish house kitchen entrance, and the nursery.

2017 – Early in the year included the MLK Community Walk and Celebration in Bowling Green on January 16th. St Peter’s was one of the supporters of this walk, and the Roger and Eunice Key and Catherine joined in the walk and the worship service in Bowling Green that day.

2017 – On the first weekend in May, ten people from St Peter’s joined Christ Church, Spotsylvania, for a joint parish retreat at Shrine Mont. Catherine prepared the various worship services, all designed with our Celtic theme in mind.

A related event was a concert by Magical strings who presented a stunningly beautiful concert of both traditional Celtic music and original compositions played on instruments made by Philip and Pam Boulding, the musicians.

2017 – On the last Sunday in June, Bishop Shannon Johnston, our Diocesan Bishop, and The Rev. Ed Jones came to St Peter’s for the Bishop’s annual visitation. Bishop Johnston participated in a prayer walk through Port Royal before the service, and we prayed at various spots throughout the town.. See the Prayer Walk photo gallery

We made stops at both Shiloh Baptist Church and Memorial Baptist and prayed with members at both churches. And down on the pier, as we headed back toward church and the close of the prayer walk, we remembered our baptisms as we prayed while looking out over the Rappahannock River.

A prayer walk was repeated in 2018. We have some video as well as photos.

The Season of Creation. Bishop Shannon granted us permission to observe The Season of Creation for five weeks, beginning on September 1 and ending on St Francis Day, October 4th. The goal of this season in worship was to deepen our understanding of God as Creator, to celebrate God’s role as Creator, and to examine, deepen and widen our own relationships with God, creation, and with one another. The children collected rocks on Oct 1 to be painted the next Sunday.

With the Bishop’s permission, we used the Eucharistic Prayer, “We Give Thanks” which Catherine put together and is unique to St Peter’s. This Eucharistic Prayer highlights the role of God as Creator and Jesus dwelling in nature as one of us to bring us abundant life. It made it real with Hurricane Harvey devastating Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city in the US. We are collecting funds for its relief. As part of that, an anonymous donor has pledged to match the first $1,000 of donations and we eventually collected over $3,000 for Houston.

2017 In connection with the Season of Creation we added the rain barrel (bottom, right) and  composing bin (top, middle) and other support for the environment.

2017 – The Season of Creation observance came to an end on Wednesday, October 4, St Francis’ Day. Before the Village Dinner, Susan Tilt led an art project, and Catherine designed a Stations of the Cross that drew attention to familiar pieces of the natural world around St Peter’s. Several dogs showed up for the blessing of the pets, and a hermit crab got blessed as well.

2018

The Holy Week services took place as usual, with the addition of a foot washing and pizza supper Catherine did over at the trailer park before the Maundy Thursday service at St Peter’s. Easter Day fell on April 1st. Catherine preached at the Community Sunrise Service as well as at St Peter’s.

After Easter, St Peter’s, Shiloh and Memorial held a potluck lunch and invited Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Moser to speak with us on the topic of church safety and to hear his suggestions for how to keep our people and church buildings safe from harm.

Also in April, several members of St Peter’s went to Memorial Baptist Church for a gospel concert by The Miller Family.

Between Ascension Day and Pentecost, we joined with Christians around the world and participated in “Thy Kingdom Come,” a prayer initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Cookie in 2019 organized “A Cup of Tea and an Hour of Prayer” at her house and had Marilyn Newman play the harp.

During “Thy Kingdom Come,” we spent intentional time in prayer with those who came to the food distribution. In addition, several people took lunch to the trailer park for the children one summer day in July .

During April, we formed a discernment committee for Salli Hartman, led by Thomas Haun, from the Diocese of Virginia. We affirmed her call to the diaconate. She began her training for the Diaconate in January of 2019.

With Bishop Shannon’s permission, on the Sundays of September we observed Year B of the Season of Creation, delving more deeply into our interconnectedness with one another, with God and with all of Creation. The Season of Creation ended on St Francis’ Day with the blessing of the pets at St Peter’s. Gospel on the River took place on the last Saturday of September at the home of the Heimbachs. The stewardship campaign coincided with the Season of Creation. We ended the stewardship campaign by taking home daffodil bulbs to plant.

The Season of Creation allowed us to “change up the service”. We used an alternate lectionary plus a special Eucharistic Prayer, “We Give Thanks”.

Catherine also wrote “Personally I think it is the most important part of our church year behind Advent and Lent. It connects us all to the world around us and unites us all to the common goal of being both in awe of God’s Creation and making us aware of our shortcomings in our day of being God’s stewards”

From the sermon in week 1:

“Today’s scriptures illustrate the premise that God is always working toward a new creation right here, on this earth. This new creation is marked by peace and by joy.

“When that baptismal water pours over our heads, we are given the opportunity to open our eyes to God’s creating powers throughout our lives. We have the desire to seek that new creation even when all around us has grown old and hope seems to have vanished.

“When we choose to live in God’s new creation, we grow, and contribute to the good of the world around us.

Our opening hymn 9 on the first Sunday of the five weeks ,”Not here for high and holy things” focused on creation themes. You can see why it was chosen:

“Not here for high and holy things
we render thanks to thee,
but for the common things of earth,
the purple pageantry
of dawning and of dying days,
the splendor of the sea,
the royal robes of autumn moors,
the golden gates of spring,
the velvet of soft summer nights,
the silver glistering of all the million million stars,
the silent song they sing…

Here is a selection sung in 2018

Highlights of this Season included the creation of mandalas at the end of September, 2018, led by Karen Richardson:

We did an assessment of 2018’s Season of Creation. We work with the season through sermons, readings, prayers, education, and special activities.

Late in December, We provided the food for the Port Royal Tree Lighting and several people from St Peter’s helped serve the food, along with Memorial Baptist Church and Shiloh Baptist

In November we welcomed Melanie Karpinos, from Heifer International, to speak with us about the work of Heifer International. In addition to the other donations made to Heifer during the Season of Giving, Mary Peterman donated three watercolors of “charming cows” which we raffled off and in doing so raised almost $200 additional dollars for Heifer International.

Our congregation was aging. Several families would be looking at major changes over the next few years. In an effort to encourage visiting and pastoral care among church members, Catherine put together a visiting program called OneDay, which began with some helpful hints about paying visits to parishioners. Then we prayed together, and went out to visit and then returned for a time of conversation and prayer.

2018. Other ministry

In February, Catherine and the Dukes met in Fredericksburg and attended a program at the Fredericksburg Area Museum called Waterways. We learned about the impact that the Rappahannock River has had on life in this area, and also talked about the waters of baptism. We ate pizza together after the program.

Instructed Eucharist. Catherine led an instructed Eucharist on June 10, 2018. An Instructed Eucharist is a special service for new Episcopalians, which is narrated in order to teach the meaning of the service. There is no established form in the Episcopal Church for doing so. We had 40 people to hear it. It actually was more than the Eucharist and was more of a instructed service.

It was also a day we celebrated 3 couples with 45 years of marriate each as well as having a brother/sister server duo in the service.

Here are 9 videos of the Instructed Eucharist”

Catherine led the children on a hike around Portobago Bay in June. Stopping at various places along the way, we read scriptures, prayed, and ended with the Eucharist by the river. The children spontaneously contributed to care for the environment by cleaning up the area near the river near our Eucharist and lunch spot.

In July, the children took a field trip to Maymont in Richmond, VA. They enjoyed spending the day in nature, feeding the animals there, playing in the creek, and learning from the educational exhibits about nature in the visitors’ center.

In October, Catherine put together a Sunday afternoon family Eucharist followed by a Halloween dinner for families and children.

For adults, the Christian Education included a Sunday morning Lenten program that looked at helpful ways of praying for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. On Wednesday nights during Lent, Catherine offered a class on the book of Revelation.

The ECW took a field trip to Belle Grove in February and learned more about what being enslaved on a plantation would have been like in the pre-Civil War years.

In June, Catherine and most of the Vestry attended the diocesan Church Vitality Day at Aquia Church in Stafford.

During Advent, Sunday morning Christian education for adults centered around three words, “Behold, Rejoice, and Proclaim.”

2019 –On Sunday mornings , we studied Romans and then delved into an in-depth study of First Corinthians, which culminated in a visit from Bishop Ihloff, who played the part of Paul in our class.

To conclude our 2 month First Corinthians study, we planned an agape meal. We had 10 people in attendance.

The agape meal is known as a Lovefeast and was originally part of the Eucharist in the early church but split off by 250AD. These foods are typical of the food that would have been eaten by the Corinthians and we had them today -Grapes, dried fruit of various sorts, dates, olives, green peas and basil, hummus, pita bread, lentils, mint, goat cheese.

We have also traveled around the world in a series of pilgrimages through presentations and have spent some time with The Rev. Deacon Carey Connors discussing mission and how best to carry out our mission of proclaiming God’s love to the world. (Her first Sunday as Deacon was Sept 8, 2019 and she served until Sept 13, 2020)

The Spanish Bible Study. In 2018, thanks to help from St. Peter’s, the Fredericksburg Region and the Diocese, Catherine was able to attend the Latino Ministries competency course at VTS. This study led to the Spanish Bible study which began last Lent and then continued through the year, with commitment from those attending to continue to meet in 2020 until the pandemic.

This Bible study (Friday nights) was geared toward Spanish speakers. During Lent, we listened to a short talk in Spanish, followed by a discussion. Since Lent, the group has continued to meet, and our current study consists of each person bringing a Bible scripture that illustrates a certain theme such as faith or blessing. We share a meal together and then join in conversation around the theme of the evening. All are welcome at this Bible study, even those who don’t speak Spanish.

Countries represented in this one Bible study are Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Mexico

July 4 at St. Peter’s

Historic Port Royal has used St. Peter’s for many of its activities on July 4. The festivities usually go from 10am to 2pm. For several years the men provided a concession. As an example in 2019, many parishioners were involved. Cookie Davis, the President of Historic Port Royal opened the event. Nancy Long and Thom Guthrie helped with the music, Mike read the Declaration, Marilyn presented 2 harpists. Johnny Davis along Charles McGuire, Eunice Key, Andrea Pogue sold concessions.

Links
Photos
Videos

The St Peter’s music program. From Catherine. “Many churches are no longer fortunate enough to have a choir, especially smaller churches. I’m so grateful to the choir members who have been so faithful over the past several years—Nancy Long, Helmut Linne von Berg, Mike Newman, and Roger Key. With the addition of Thom Guthrie, Mary Peterman, Denise Gregory and Tucker Fisher, our choir has been able to add beauty and quality music to our worship each Sunday. ”

“We are also blessed with several instrumentalists who are willing to share their time and talent: Helmut Linne von Berg, violin; Marilyn Newman, harp; and Mary Peterman, flute; Thom Guthrie, organ. Brad Volland, our music director and organist, as done a masterful job of putting all of these talents together to make some wonderful music, as well as contributing his own talents by playing our little tracker organ.”

From Christmas Eve, 2019.

An example is a selection from “Advent Meditation” by Patrick Liebergen which the choir performed Dec. 1, 2019.

Every year Helmut Linne von Berg and Jim Heimbach produce Gospel on the River (or “Gospel on the Rivah”), an enjoyable afternoon of singing gospel hymns together. It has been on the riverbank at St. Peter’s, at the Pavilion at Portobago Bay and at the Heimbach house next to the church since 2007.

As Helmut explained “It really began with the formation of the “Rappahannock Baroque Music Group” in Portobago Bay Estates. The group consisted of: Denise Symonds, piano, Helmut, first violin, Mildred Bohlmann, second violin and occasionally we had a base player from Vauters church. At times, my violin students would participate as well. “From our residence, we see the river front improvement here at Portobago. The Lord has created this beautiful spot for us. So, why not thank him and praise him right there in the midst of his beautiful creation.”

The Concert Series. St Peter’s offers a world class concert for the community each year, thanks to your generosity and commitment to this outreach program for the community. In 2019 we welcomed PhilHarmonia, a chorus of over twenty young people from Philadelphia, PA. The Heimbachs hosted the reception before the concert.

Two new worship services took place this year—The Blessing of the Backpacks for the children, and The Christmas Service of Comfort (“Blue Christmas” service) for those who have suffered losses during the year and may not have felt overwhelmed with joy during the Christmas season. The Connexion Chamber Choir from Colonial Beach came over and sang for this service.

The Season of Creation this year brought us to the end of the three year Season of Creation lectionary cycle. During this season, we not only celebrated the wonders of creation, and thanksgiving to God for all God has made, but we also looked at some of the current problems that the earth is experiencing and how scripture applies to current environmental crises.

Our beautiful property brings us closer to God. Robert Bryan cleared the riverbank and worked on the old colonial road bed next to the church, opening up the river view. We are so blessed with the beautiful view that we enjoy of the Rappahannock River and of the many flowerbeds around the buildings that Cookie Davis maintains.

2019 – Trex Bench placed overlooking the river. The Trex Corporation makes all sorts of products out of recycled plastic. In 2019, they had a program for nonprofit organizations who save plastic and turn it in to the company for a reward. The reward is a free bench that will never need painting and will last for many generations. Thanks to Eunice Key for leading this effort to gather plastic. We met our goal and at the same time supported the Season of Creation goal of increasing recycling. The bench was placed overlooking the river for all to enjoy.

2019 witnessed new opportunities for Community outreach

On the first weekend in May, some members of St Peter’s joined Shiloh Baptist for Shiloh’s MS Walk, and others went to Shrine Mont with Christ Church, Spotsylvania. It represented 5 years of retreats with Christ Church and the Rev. Jeff Packard.

Way of Beauty Retreat. The Way of Beauty Retreat took place at St Peter’s on Saturday, November 9, 2019. Carol Maher, the founder of Many Waters Ministries, led the retreat for a group of fifteen people from St Peter’s and from St Mary’s in Colonial Beach.

After we spent some time in prayer, listening to God, we made collages that reflected what we feel most passionately about in our lives, what means the most to us, what inspires us, where we go for refreshment and peace.

What was fascinating is that people not normally associated with producing art did do. Also, the focus on Native Americans and their spirituality was an area the church would return to later years – in Sacred Ground, the use of prayers in our service and the land acknowledgement in our bulletin.

Other Ministry, 2019

Weekly summer fun for the neighborhood kids. This year, instead of Vacation Bible School (VBS), we tried having a series of study and activities that included our friends around the neighborhood. Elizabeth Heimbach and Catherine held cooking classes for neighborhood kids and Jim Heimbach taught everyone how to make omelets.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Families The Episcopal Church Men took dinners to many families at Thanksgiving, and with the help of the ECW, St Peter’s adopted a family for Christmas and bought and delivered the requested presents. Both projects were done in conjunction with The Caroline County Department of Social Services.

St Peter’s provided the pizza for the Port Royal Christmas party. The Town Council, Caroline’s Promise, Caroline County Parks and Recreation, the Port Royal Fire Department and the churches come together to provide this annual gathering for Port Royal residents. Santa Claus made his appearance as usual.

We have also been blessed at St Peter’s to have those in discernment for ministry join with us in a variety of ways. Phil Fitzhugh, who helps with the food distribution and is a regular at the Wednesday Ecumenical Bible Study and who has preached at St Peter’s, is in the process of becoming a locally licensed pastor in The United Methodist Church. Salli Hartman, who did her discernment work at St Peter’s, is in the diocesan school and is being trained as a Deacon in The Episcopal Church. She has been approved to move forward with her candidacy.

The Reverend Deacon Carey Connors, who was currently a Deacon is at VTS, graduated May, 2020 was ordained as a priest in The Episcopal Church. We are blessed by having her with us two Sundays a month. She is sharing her extensive knowledge in missions with us as well as preaching once a month and serving as the Deacon in our worship services. On Dec. 8, 2019 she preached the sermon:

2019–  Stations of the Cross, watercolors created in 2019 by choir member Mary Peterman with posters added in 2023 in the cemetery to encourage community support.

2020

Before the pandemic struck, we had our normal Congregational Meeting in January – with a twist or with a dig!

Dave and Arthur Duke made a presentation of some of their metal detecting finds at St. Peter’s as part of the Parish Meeting, Jan. 19, 2020. Their finds include a buttons, a fork, coins including one from the British American ambulance corps during World War II, and Scottish Kilt pin. The US Cartridge Box Dave said was the best object they had found. Dave put them into a display cabinet at St. Peter’s. Here is a link to their presentation. Dave put them into a display cabinet at St. Peter’s:

Genesis Bible Study – Jan- March, Epiphany to Lent

Catherine combined PowerPoints with the Genesis readings to teach it during the Christian Ed hour on Sundays in Epiphany. 11 sessions are available below though it was not completed in part due to the pandemic and due to the onset of Lent.

The links to the individual sessions are here. It was the one of the longest Christian education classes programmed at St. Peter’s.

The sessions started out in the Parish House but moved online due to the pandemic using the PowerPoints.

From the newsletter. “Covenant and blessing are themes that run throughout Genesis. God continues to desire to be in covenant with us, and to bless us. Studying the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings during the Season after the Epiphany will help us to see how God is carrying out the work of covenant and blessing even now, among us”

2020 was a time of dealing with exceptional challenges with the elimination of gathered services after March 8 due to the pandemic. We moved forward by figuring out alternate ways to worship.

The theme of “Persevering in the Pandemic” we used for the congregational meeting of that year is certainly relevant to our experience in 2020. Services were presented using video technology or taken outside along the river bank. Whether in church or ministries we had to figure what we had to cut out, what could be presented in an alternate way and what we could do that was new.

The theme of restoration from the Old Testament and God doing a new thing in the New Testament was apropos to St. Peter’s in 2020. God is creating, redeeming, and sustaining. We learned to be both flexible and adaptable and found creativity in the process.

Themes for the year included:

1. The church moved to Zoom with scattered outside services along the river in the fall.

The Zoom services offered additional ways for parishioners to contribute through photographs and discussion. In July and August, we held Morning and Evening Prayer outside. In September, we celebrated the Eucharist twice.

The evening service on July 12 was our first gathered service since the pandemic began in March. The Gospel was on sower reminding of the surety with which God’s salvation will come. The service ended with 15 ears of corn distributed to each person from Johnny, demonstrating the abundance of the sower. The photo gallery is here

One benefit – Because we’ve not been able to sing together during the pandemic, we have done a lot of listening to music during this time. We’ve heard music that we wouldn’t normally get to hear from all over the world in many different settings. Worship online in addition to our in-person worship may also be something we will continue to provide diversity during worship services to blend in resources from the internet. Would you drive to St Peter’s in the dark to participate in a twenty-to-thirty-minute service of Compline? Probably not! But spending thirty minutes of quiet worship on Sunday night online could continue to be a satisfying way to close the day in prayer. We continued Compline at 7PM on Sunday nights for awhile since it offered a peaceful prayerful close to the day in community.

2. New services (Compline) and educational opportunities (Sacred Ground).

The latter considered racism against various group from the 19th century to the present. 16 people, including people from other churches, participated in the ten-week Sacred Ground study that offered by The Episcopal Church. We continued to learn by meeting in a book group, adding to our knowledge about racism and exploring ways to we could tackle the effects of racism in our own community.

3. Ministries regrouped under the restrictions due to the pandemic These included the ECW (Episcopal Church Women), ECM (Episcopal Church Men), Village Dinner, and Village Harvest. One exception – Children ministries could not be scheduled.

4. Within the ministries there were alternate means of connecting – ECW, for example, made cookies for members not able to connect. We used our ample driveway to distribute food for the Village Dinner and Village Harvest food ministry (See below). We also provided messages of assurance in the food with the latter, an idea from one of our parishioners. There were untold phone calls, email, and outside visits to preserve the connections. In December, the ECW added an activity. They packed and delivered plates of cookies to members of our community who have been especially isolated due to the pandemic.

5. Filming of worship segments began inside the church in Dec. and was integrated within the online service from Zoom. We have bought a hotspot for St Peter’s, which allow ed us for the first time in the history of St Peter’s to have internet access in our church buildings.

Another casualty of time. The nursery had to be demolished due to deterioration rather than being upgraded. The roof was saved. Johnny took windows we had purchased from Window World and could not use to Habitat for Humanity in Hanover. The space was converted into a pavilion after much discussion and has been a favorite space in later years.

2020 – Creation of the Tree Fund. An investment for the present and future.

2021 –In 2021, we regathered in person for worship on Palm Sunday (March 28, 2021) after having met almost exclusively on Zoom for most of 2020.

By the summer of 2021, we were doing most of our work together in person again. We learned to adapt quickly to the constantly changing challenges of the pandemic. The Village Dinner returned in 2021 as take out only. The in-house dining option has resumed in those months when the virus rate has decreased. The Village Harvest food distribution went from a market style distribution to one in which already packed bags are delivered to the client’s vehicles. This has continued to the current time. Worship services have both in church participants as well as those who attend on Zoom.

Both the ECW and the ECM came up with new activities along with Sacred Ground. The ECW did a day of soup deliveries in March to 18 families in the area that we have not seen as much during the pandemic. The soup used is a combination of recipes from ECW members.

The ECW held a plant sale in the fall as part of our observance of The Season of Creation. Twelve people came to the Tea and Plants on the Patio sale of native (and other) plants at the Davis residence, held on Wednesday, September 29. Maple trees, beauty berry bushes, and an oak tree went to new homes, along with aloes, day lilies, and Christmas cactus plants. Money from the sale, $400, went to the Tree Fund at St Peter’s.

The ECM sent out Thanksgiving cards. (see below). Sacred Ground, the group working on racial reconciliation and healing, continued learning about the effects of racism in our nation by reading three books, and then coming up with action plans focused on continued work to promote racial reconciliation in the community.

The most audacious act of the year was certainly the Jamaican mission trip. Andrea Pogue inspired St Peter’s and friends to raise $3,000 for the Victoria School in Jamaica. St Peter’s provided and shipped school supplies to Jamaica and seven people from St Peter’s went to Jamaica to meet the faculty and the students of the Victoria School and to hand out the book bags in person. Both the ECW and the Vestry provided additional funds for the school at the end of the year from their outreach budgets. The 2021 event has become a launch pad for additional support we can provide to that community.

In 2021, St Peter’s contributed over $12,000 to the local community, the nation and the world.

1. The church collected 292 bottles of hand sanitizer for Caroline’s Promise for their school supplies distribution for Caroline County Schools on July 31, 2021. (see below)
2. The ECM raised $2,300 and worked with Caroline County Social Services to provide Thanksgiving and Christmas help to various families.
3. Giving Tuesday raised $900 for the Village Harvest. Our food distribution celebrated its 7th anniversary in November, 2021.
4. The Vestry contributed $3,000 to various charities.
5. ECW donated $3,000 to various charities – locally, nationally and internally. These funds were raised from the monthly Village Dinners.

2021 – After a several years of work, we dedicated our outdoor pavilion in September 2021 in memory of Dr. John R. Sellers, Sr. The dedication program featured music that had special connections to John and his life, and was performed by Helmut Linne von Berg and Jim Heimbach. After the service, many in the congregation provided a lovely reception for John’s family that took place in the shelter of the pavilion on that rainy afternoon. The pavilion gives us an outdoor space for prayer, reflection, meetings, and gathering for coffee hours. The pavilion starred in the Christmas pageant as the stable at Bethlehem. This space is truly a gift to our parish.

In 2021 the Sacred Ground group continued learning by reading Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How we Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGee, and All that She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, by Tiya Miles. We have been talking recently about ways that St. Peter’s can become part of what Bishop Curry calls the Beloved Community. We scheduled some breakfast meetings to discuss.

As a first step, we invited the Diocese of Virginia Missioner for Racial Justice and Healing, Dr. J. Lee Hill, Jr., to speak at St Peter’s, either in person or via Zoom.

In addition, the group has asked the Vestry to provide $500 to establish a scholarship allowing a Caroline County minority student to attend Germanna. Our hope was that the new scholarship fund would be well supported by the congregation with the own monetary donations as part of the “Beloved Community.”

2021 –  Christmas play was cast outside which was repeated at Christmas, 2023. The idea of a Christmas play goes back to the 1990’s when there were a large number of children in the church. This put our unique and beautiful outdoor spaces to work as we enacted the Good News of Jesus’ birth. Many thanks to the Heimbachs for sharing their front porch for the beginning of the pageant. This outdoor pageant brought our community together. In addition to members of St Peter’s, friends of St Peter’s, an angel from Memorial Baptist, and others in the community, we presented the Christmas story to those who came from as far away as Bowling Green and King George to see the Christmas story unfold outdoors in scripture and in song.

Past Christmas celebrations and Christmas 2021 back in the church We were back in the church for this Christmas Eve after being on zoom exclusively a year earlier. Masks continued as the omicron variant of Covid19 swept the world. Some churches like the Washington Cathedral moved all of their services online. We held ours in the church but with masks required.

Story and photo gallery

Videos

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things — not the great occasions — give off the greatest glow of happiness.” -Bob Hope

Christmas 2010-2020, photos

There is at least one image or memory that tends to dominate each Christmas Eve. Actually there can be several for each year but only one picture was chosen in the above photo story . Each year has a link to the story of that Christmas Eve with additional pictures.

Two memories from most Christmas celebrations:

1. Catherine’s reading of the Christmas story in Luke by memory

Video link

2. Silent Night – a high point of the service with Helmut linne von Berg singing the first verse in German with candles lit throughout the congregation

Christmas 2021 was special in that we were back inside the church. It was also bittersweet as it was the final time Helmut sung “Silent Night”, v1 in German due to his wife’s sickness in subsequent years.

Video link

Another memory from 2021 was the collection of Nativity objects from all of the world that Jsn and Larry Saylor displayed. Here is one from Zambia:

The story

2022 –

Larry plays his news guitar, Feb. 20, 2022.

Larry just didn’t just buy his guitar – he made it! Larry has been building his first guitar over a 3 year period. He played his new creation on a piece “Praise You in This Storm.” Two years later, a second guitar was played at St. Peter’s in 2024.

Lent 2022 arrived along with an unexpected and sudden upheaval in Catherine’s family which meant that Catherine had to take an unexpected leave of absence from St Peter’s. Under the leadership of the Vestry and Becky Fisher, our Senior Warden, the church put a plan into place and proceeded on with worship, study, outreach and pastoral care in my absence without a glitch.

A great blessing that came from my absence was the arrival of the Rev. Tom Hughes and his wife Alice. When Catherine returned after Easter, Tom and Alice decided to continue with us, with Tom in the role of Assisting Priest. Tom and Alice have joined wholeheartedly in the life of our parish and have contributed to our well-being as a parish on many levels. Alice served as lector, chalice bearer, joined the ECW and provided flower arranging lessons at Easter.

Sermon in April, 2022

ECM Thanksgiving and Christmas Collection provided $1250 to the community through our collaboration with the Caroline County Department of Social Services. The Department of Social Services uses the money to provide families with store specific grocery gift cards. This is the third year since 2020 that over $1000 was provided for this ministry to Caroline County.

Hands on assistance to parishioners from ECM included support for John and Toni Faibisy. Toni came home from months in the hospital and in rehab and the house had to be made ready for her arrival. John said of this assistance from the ECM that he ‘received a mighty assistance from ECM, who arrived in force at his house to clear furniture for him in anticipation of the arrival of Toni’s new medical equipment and supplies. This equipment included a medical bed, wheelchair and the like. Additionally, the ECM team had solid ideas about rearranging furniture to maximize space in the house to accommodate the incoming equipment. John greatly appreciated the space-saving interior rearrangement ideas, most of which were put into effect. He also appreciated aid he’s been given over the months, such as “soul food” delivered to agent who can barely operate a microwave or acting as a shuttle service to pick up a car from the auto dealer twenty miles away. Thank you ECM!’”

The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) contributed to St Peter’s outreach as well as tending to needs within the congregation. Elizabeth Heimbach, ECW President, provided the following report.

Throughout 2022, St. Peter’s ECW continued to serve grab-and-go Village Dinners each month. At their annual meeting in October, the group planned the menus for the upcoming year and voted to donate the money earned by the dinners, approximately $2,500

In November, the ECW gathered to write Christmas cards to members and friends of St Peter’s who are scattered far and near and to enjoy some time socializing together.

The ECW also delivered toys, clothes, and food as a Christmas gift to a family in Bowling Green and prepared Christmas cards to enclose with the food bags for Village Harvest, as well as for church members who have moved away.

The Discretionary Fund

In 2022, the Discretionary Fund provided $5715 to those who called St Peter’s for assistance. Thanks to the generosity of the people of St Peter’s, Catherine was able to help approximately 60 families with emergency financial needs, including rent and utilities, car payments, and medical bills. This ministry brings not only funds, but also hope to the people who call St Peter’s for help.

Vestry Outreach donations on behalf of the Congregation

At the end of each year, the Vestry sends money out to various organizations that represent God at work in the world.

Other Outreach projects:

St Peter’s members contributed snacks to the Blessing Cart for Nurses at Mary Washington Hospital in February.

In July, we contributed 250 boxes of markers for Caroline County students, which were distributed along with other school supplies by Caroline’s Promise. In September, St Peter’s partnered with the Caroline County School System to help sponsor a family evening of kickball in Port Royal.

Beau-Soir concert, Oct., 2022. Beau Soir was founded by harpist Michelle Lundy in 2007.They played at St. Peter’s Oct 14, 2022. It was our first concert since 2019 due to the Pandemic. They are a flute, viola, and harp trio in the Washington, DC area dedicated to the performance of standard and contemporary repertoire spanning a variety of musical genres.

Prayer, Study and Worship

1. For most of the year, Monday morning meditation took place at 6:30 on Monday mornings on Zoom, giving people the opportunity to pray together for twenty minutes at the beginning of each week.

2. In January and February of 2022, St Peter’s offered a program called “Preparing our Legacy,” an online series of talks from various experts regarding the issues that we need to take care of as we age—financial and legal matters in place, wills done and updated, and for our families, information about what we want medically at the end of our lives. Working with a funeral home, planning a funeral service, where to be buried—all of these things in place mean peace and less stress for ourselves, our families, and those we leave behind. Twenty people from several churches attended. Resources from the series have helped people as they plan for the future.

3. During 2022, the weekly Wednesday Bible study continued. Each week, this group prays together and then studies the lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. The group met in person, and also on Zoom. The planned Lenten study on the Psalms was postponed and will be held in 2023 during Lent.

4. In December, a group from St Peter’s went to The Bethlehem Walk sponsored by Salem Baptist Church in Manokin-Sabot and experienced Bethlehem as it was at the time of the birth of Jesus. In its 19th year, the Bethlehem Walk has presented the Christmas story and the story of salvation to thousands of people each year.

Worship continued both in person and also on-line. St Peter’s members participated in the community sunrise service at Townfield, the home of the Longs, on Easter morning. Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services were held. After the Christmas Eve service, the young people, along with the Hicks family, went caroling at the home of the Linne von Bergs, who were not able to attend the Christmas services.

Toward the end of 2022, the Vestry hired Fredericksburg Technology to update the sound system in the church and to improve our on-line worship offerings by switching to YouTube from Zoom.

The Sacred Ground Group continued its work on racial reconciliation during 2022, reading for education. To address historic and systemic inequities in education for African Americans, St Peter’s created the Sacred Ground Scholarship, available to students in Caroline County of African American or Native American heritage. In the spring of 2022, two scholarships for $1000 each were awarded to two African American seniors at Caroline County High School.

In July, The Rev. Dr. Lee Hill, now the Canon for Racial Justice and Healing in the Diocese of Virginia, visited St Peter’s. Lee preached and then joined us for lunch afterward to discuss various ways forward in our work for racial reconciliation. In October, the group traveled to Washington, DC, to visit The National Museum of African American History and Culture.

With Lee Hill in the Parish House

Creation Care

In May, Andrea Pogue brought Shred-It back to Port Royal for the tenth year. (On the same day as Bible study.) This outreach service, created in 2012 helps in our care of the environment by giving people the opportunity to dispose of and to recycle their documents securely, rather than have them pile up in a land fill.

On Earth Day, Saturday, April 23rd, approximately thirteen people, including scouts from Troop 304, Zeke Fisher’s scout troop, met to work on the church riverbank and to provide better access to the river. The group cleared an open space and removed trash from the area. We partnered with Friends of the Rappahannock, represented by Brent Hunsinger, who joined in the work.

St Peter’s observed The Season of Creation in worship from September 1- October 4, St Francis’ Day. Ben Hicks led a four week study on Zoom based on the book Goodside’s M.O.R.E Model for Effective Climate Action. The four people who participated learned more about how to reduce our use of greenhouse gases, and how to come up with a specific plan of action to do so.

5. Re-establishment of the Youth group

The youth group was re-established in late Sept, 2022. Many of the youth are taking music so they brought their instruments at that time so the idea emerged to work up performances for Christmas. They chose the music!

This year St Nicholas visited the 11AM service on Dec. 4 and the St Peter’s youth played holiday music for the congregation led by Larry Saylor.

2023 – .

This is Catherine’s sermon for the Parish meeting in early 2024 reflecting on 2023…

Jesus doesn’t wait around for people to come to him. He immediately calls followers, those he hopes will help him in his work of sharing the good news so that all will know that the kingdom of God has indeed come near.

As he walks by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus sees the brothers Simon and Andrew, who are busy casting their nets, hoping to catch fish. And then two more, the sons of Zebedee, James and his brother John. They too are fishermen, and Jesus finds them in their boats mending their nets. These four immediately leave their nets and follow him. Jesus tells them that they will still be fishing, only now they will be fishing for people.

Since today is the day of our congregational meeting, I’m going to focus on how this passage applies to all of us here at St Peter’s.

Jesus has called us to be his followers. So here we are, approximately forty-eight people, thirty-five of us actively involved in the mission and ministry of this church. We are small in number, but mighty in what we do as followers of Jesus. What I am going to say now will serve as our annual report for the year just past, 2023.

We are the ones that Jesus has called not only to believe in the Good News, but also to proclaim the Good News. The time has drawn near, and we don’t have any time to waste. The world needs this good news, not just news about someone doing something kind, although that news is important. This good news is about specifically turning toward Jesus, finding a new way to go that differs from the ways that the world offers, and following Jesus in trust and hope, believing that not only does God have a place prepared for us when we die, but that God’s kingdom is here and now, life changing, that new life is not only a possibility but a reality, if only we follow him where he would have us go.

And the good news is that this new life is available not just to us, but to all people who will follow. Imagine! If people believe this good news and follow, God’s kingdom will become much more a reality on this earth than it is currently.

The Good News is ours to share! Jesus’ trust in us to share this news is a huge, undeserved gift. So out of gratitude, we want to carry the Good News out into the world.

Even though the disciples left their fishing nets behind when they followed Jesus, they still needed the skills they had learned—casting their nets and mending their nets.

Both casting nets and mending nets are necessary parts of discipleship. As disciples, we must cast our nets but we also must mend our nets as well. Here are some of the ways we have been both casting and mending the nets that Jesus has given to us to use here at St Peter’s.

Jesus fed the hungry and asked us to do the same thing. The Village Harvest, our food distribution, is one of the major ways that we cast the Lord’s nets out into the community. In any given month, seven to ten people here at St Peter’s work to make food available to those in need—and we provide food for an average of about 90 people a month. This physical work of going to the food bank, loading the truck, unloading it, sorting and packing the food, and distributing food would be impossible without all of those of you who donate money to this project, and these donations come from people outside the church as well. This project is completely funded by donations. A sign of your generosity—at the end of 2023 we had almost $1750 in our Village Harvest fund, which will help us to cover the purchases of food in the coming months. We get the food from our partner, the Healthy Harvest Food Bank. Even though we get the food at a much lower price at the food bank, we still have to buy the food, so your funding is crucial in order for us to cast out the nets that help to address hunger in this county and beyond.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the fresh food that we have left over? That food gets taken over to the Caroline County Social Services food pantry in Bowling Green—a way that we partner with Social Services.

Another important way that we cast out the Lord’s nets in conjunction with Social Services is to support their Thanksgiving and Christmas projects for people in need in this county. We do this through the ECM collection for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Again, your financial generosity is a way to cast the Lord’s nets out into the world.

We also partner with Social Services in some other ways. We participate in CERVE, a group of churches in Caroline County who work with Social Services and the Sheriff’s Department to provide emergency help to people in Caroline County. We are the only church in this part of the county involved in this group, and our presence is important in maintaining a link with the churches across the county.

The Caroline County Public School System holds family nights periodically throughout the year, and we get to support them through your generosity in bringing snacks and other supplies. Also, we help the school system through Caroline’s Promise, providing school supplies for their school supply distribution that takes place each year right before school starts.

We also cast our nets through the annual Shred-It project. People come to St Peter’s for a needed service that is not otherwise available in this part of the county. And their donations help us in turn.

This past year we cast out nets out to college students at The House, the Episcopal ministry to students and faculty at the University of Mary Washington and to Germanna. The Episcopal Church Women did the cooking and provided dinner for the students and we got to spend some time with them. The ECW also made many donations to groups out the world who are casting their own nets on God’s behalf.

We cast our nets abroad by partnering with The Victoria School in Jamaica, providing needed supplies, educational funds, tablets for the students and computers for the school with the help of people in Andrea’s family not directly connected with the church. And money has also been made available for the school to provide breakfast for students who would otherwise come to school hungry.

Our outdoor Christmas pageant is another way to cast a net out into the community, making a central story about Jesus come alive for the people who came to witness the story of his birth. And one thing I love about that net casting is that people in the community wanted to participate—two angels flew in, and we even had a resident of Caroline County bring his goats to be part of the pageant.

One new way that we are casting nets is through helping to provide a weekly Eucharist to the people at Chancellor’s Village. I go at least once a month to celebrate the Eucharist for a group of Episcopalian residents, and this year we St Peter’s people may decide to go as a group to provide a time of fellowship afterward for the people there who attend.

Having our services available on YouTube is another way to cast the Lord’s nets out into the world, making our worship available any time for anyone who would like to join in from anywhere in the world. Paying for Breezeline is an added expense that we have taken on, but it is essential for this 21st century net casting that we are called to do. In addition to putting our worship services online, Ben also has created a website that serves as a huge resource for education, and helping people to grow in faith and knowledge in addition to exhaustively documenting our life together here at St Peter’s.

I’ve talked so far about how we cast our nets as we fish for people with whom we can share the good news.

But just as important is net mending. Nets and the people who cast the nets need care to keep themselves and the nets in optimal working order.

And so we mend our nets when we come together to worship each Sunday. To get to praise God together, to hear God’s word, to pray together, to sing together and to participate in the Eucharist—this is the most important net mending that we do each week, and this is why I try to make sure that our worship service is one that people will want to attend, because they find some strength and encouragement for the week ahead in the time we have spent together praising God. And all of you pitch in to make our liturgy happen. Don’t forget that the definition of the word liturgy is “the work of the people.” Lectors, chalice bearers, ushers, music makers, bread bakers, altar tending, flower arrangers, and those of you who show up to worship and to participate—every one of us here makes worship possible and meaningful for all of us each week. We are grateful to have Tom and Alice Hughes bringing their talents to our church and pitching in. They have both been a blessing.

Education is another way that we mend our nets. Our weekly lectionary Bible study, which has gone on for years now, is a central way for us to learn, and in doing so, to strengthen our nets.

Meeting in 2024.

Bible Study is ecumenical with participants from other churches. We have pictures since 2001 but it goes back to the 1990’s. They study the upcoming lectionary and pray for one another and for those in the congregation and community who are sick, suffering or in any need. Here is 2001 with Cleo Coleman baptist, left and Jim Patton, right.

The group in Sept., 2015:

This past year we had a class on the Psalms, and best of all, people have come together to have a class for four youngest children from ages five to nine. This kind of strengthening our nets, through education and participation in worship by our children, is of the utmost importance. I’m glad that we have had some growth in this area this past year, especially after the isolation that Covid created.

We support one another and mend our nets when we care for one another by making calls, sending cards, visiting and showing our care for each other in a variety of ways. What we do for one another strengthens not only the recipient, but the giver as well.

Praying together is another net mending activity. We have an active prayer list, and in addition we pray for people in our church and community each week in Bible Study. Also, this past year, we had a prayer vigil that focused on the war in Gaza, a way to remember that we must turn to God in these challenging times and not become discouraged or to lose faith when God’s kingdom ever coming on this earth can seem so improbable in these dire situations.

One net mending project that we have created at St Peter’s is the group that we call Sacred Ground, committed to learning more about racism (mending our own nets) and to then to get creative about faithfully creating ways in which we can be part of dismantling racism in this country (mending nets out in the world). A direct result of this net mending is The Sacred Ground Scholarship, which this year is helping three students at Germanna Community College go to trade school without incurring debt, so that when they graduate and work in their new trade, they will be able to do so debt free. We have been able to do this by actively partnering with the administration at Germanna Community College.

None of this casting and mending would be possible without your presence and also your financial support. Net mending this year has included the physical mending of our buildings, big unexpected expenses—new furnaces for both buildings, repairing termite damage and painting. We had several trees that had to be either removed or severely pruned this year. Here I want to thank Cookie Davis, our Junior Warden, and Johnny Davis, who have been nothing short of heroic in dealing with all of the emergencies in our buildings and on our grounds that we have faced this past year.

Topical review, 2023

1. New ministry –God’s Garden

A new ministry debuted Sept 17, 2023. God’s Garden for 5 to 9 year olds began with 4 children and two experienced teachers, Elizabeth Heimbach, the originator of the class and Jan Saylor.

First week.

One of the first activities was to “God’s Garden” which explored what it meant to be a saint, today (Oct. 1, 2023) for St. Francis Day on Oct. 4. As an example they told the story of St. Francis taming the Wolf of Gubbio. Then, they made Pet blessings with treats to give out in church to make pets happy on St. Francis Day, Oct. 4.

2. New expressions in ministry – Stewardship tree

Thanks to Jan Saylor for her artistic ability to create the stewardship campaign tree. Pledges to the campaign helped the tree grow another leaf. The campaign began Oct. 8. By Oct 29, it had grown about 18 leaves!

Lent -Stations of the Cross in the graveyard and more services
Using Mary Peterman’s artwork, we created banners for the stations of the cross in our graveyard.

After Palm Sunday, Jan taught us to make Palm crosses. The Tenebrae Service and Maundy Thursday were added back to Holy Week this year after COVID.

Chancellor Village Eucharist – During early August, 2023, the local Episcopal region organized a weekly Eucharist at Chancellor’s Village. Catherine participates once or twice a month and shares the pulpit with the other priests of the Fredericksburg Region.

Advent Workshop – Jan Saylor organized an Advent Workshop on Nov. 26 from 3:30pm to 5pm. This was our first such workshop for the entire congregation.

It was a wonderful intergenerational event with 16 people participating. It was a good kickoff for Advent, creating items to be taken home.

Jan had organized the Parish House into 4 stations:

-Creating a block based nativity scene. The characters were drawn on small blocks of wood.
-Bird feeder made with pinecones covered with peanut butter and bird seed.
-Advent wreath intended for tables with candles and greenery.
-Decorated Christmas trees that started with sugar cones and were covered with different frostings, white and green, decorated with assorted sprinkl

3. Expanded and revised ministries

Mission trip to Jamaica

The group of 3 on the mission team distributed our donations in Jamaica on Aug. 26

We not only brought the usual school supplies but added 6 tablets. Separately, 7 used computers were donated to a school that had never had a computer.

Anniversary of the Village Harvest Food Ministry.The Village Harvest ended its 9th year and began its 10th year in November, 2023 and ended the year serving the most people since 2019. For the year, we recovered from a slow 1st quarter, 2023 and ended the year serving 1,063 people compared to 1,051 in 2022. It was the best yearly total since 2019.

Sacred Ground revised.
Sacred Ground voted unanimously by email in early December to fund the recommendation forwarded by Jessica Thompson at Germanna for scholarships for students entering the trades. Each student is “in financial need and from underserved populations.” The $2,700 would be split equally to pay for their training.

ECM (Episcopal Church Men) end of year expanded donations and use of an art auction.

The ECM collected $1,545 for Christmas and Thanksgiving. $500 went to Social Services for 10 Thanksgiving dinners. $800 was sent in December for Christmas donations. This was made possible in part by auctioning off 3 of Mary Peterman’s artworks. This is the second largest donation over four years since 2020.

Wi-Fi. Online worship moved from Zoom to YouTube. This allows viewing the service on the day but also at other times since recordings are stored on a YouTube web site.

Community Prayer service

We also held a 2 hour Prayer service for the Mid-East after war broke out on Oct. 7. Our time together included a short prayer service at noon, other prayers at 1pm and concluding prayers at 2pm. Larry Saylor provided meditative music throughout the 2 hours.

Outside Christmas pageant
We revived the outside Christmas pageant and added to it. 3 live goats were in the field for the shepherds plus a reconstructed star to display

Work with community organizations

St Peter’s served as a Partner in Education with the Caroline County Public Schools adding snacks for bingo night at the Fire house.

We collected 95 packs notebook paper in conjunction with Caroline’s Promise for the beginning of the school year. We donated snacks to the schools upon request.

2023 was the 11th appearance of the Shred-it truck since 2012. Shred-it’s goal is to safely dispose of records no longer needed using a professional shredding company After costs of $335,the project made $305 for St Peter’s ministries

Key parishioner volunteering

-Johnny Davis cut up and cleared a large limb that fell from the sycamore tree earlier this summer. He led the effort to recover after the July 29 storm that sheared off the top of the sycamore tree. He has also cleaned the gravestones in the graveyard. He organized the painting for the parish House and recovery after termites were discovered in the church

-Jim Anderson has adjusted the pew doors on the south side of the church,
-BJ Anderson continues to make the delicious gluten free bread that we use each Sunday.
-For many years, Cookie Davis has created flower arrangements for the church each Sunday, a labor of love that involves gathering what is blooming in the area and then artfully arranging the flowers for our altar.
-Alice Hughes organized the Christmas flower cutting and arranging with 5 other people. She provided instruction to several who had never arranged flowers before.

ECW (Episcopal Church Women) projects

St Peter’s Episcopal Church women welcomed a group of youth and children from Port Royal for lunch and games on Wednesday, August 9th. School started the next week. This was the first summer event for Port Royal since the pandemic and was sponsored by the ECW.

Sept 25 The group met to make donations for 2023:
1. Donate $100 to CERVE, (the Caroline Emergency Relief through Volunteer Efforts),
2. $250 to Catherine’s Discretionary Fund,
3. $500 to Village Harvest,
4. $500 to Social Services for their Christmas program.

Dec. 5, 2023 – ECW took dinner to the “House”

4. Music provided new delights

The choir continued to excel beyond their numbers with its mix of instruments and pieces. There were many variations of their performances – 1 the full choir, 2 Larry Saylor, guitar, 3 Mary Peterman and Denise Gregory, flute and piano, duo, 4 Larry and Helmut linne Von Berg, vocal duo, 5 Mary, Denise and Ken – trio. The first three are highlighted below:

Some of the best examples of their work were at Easter:

A.“When you prayed beneath the trees” – Denise Gregory, Mary Peterman

B. “Were you there when they crucified my Lord” – Helmut linne von Berg, Larry Saylor. Male duo acapella

C. O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded”- Denise Gregory, Mary Peterman

D. God’s Right Hand and Holy Arm

The above examples did not include Larry Saylor on guitar. Dec. 3, featured Larry Saylor on an original work Waiting as well as vocal piece Welcome to Our World

One surprise was the vocal trio over the summer.

Although the choir takes a summer break, Denise Gregory, Larry Saylor and Ken Pogue covered Brad’s unexpected absence one Sunday in July and provided music for our worship service that day.

“Nearer my God to Thee”>

Christmas highlights

“I Wonder as I Wander” – Denise Gregory, Mary Peterman

“In the Bleak Midwinter” – St. Peter’s choir

The Little Falls Bluegrass Band from Stafford, entertained us at Pentecost.

These gentlemen have played bluegrass music for many years in many bands, including this one. They comprise all ages – the banjo player celebrated his 18th birthday on Pentecost. They have played for weddings, social and church services. They were tight both in music and friendship – and it showed! Their acapella numbers were especially wonderful. They returned in 2024 at Pentecost.

5. Losses connected with two historic trees and two heating systems.
We lost the pear tree just behind the Parish House which was over 100 years old. The pear tree was probably planted by the wife of Rev Ware, who served at St Peter’s from 1888 to 1918. She planted an orchard of fruit trees on the church property. This pear tree was probably the last member of her fruit tree orchard, connecting us to the faithful witness of past St Peter’s members. Ironically, we had one of the best pear years this year.

Our large sycamore tree now stands as a sentinel with no branches. The branches that remained after the freak storm at the end of July did not have enough support from the tree trunk to safely remain on the tree. The sycamore tree bushed out in the spring with small branches and leaves. Meanwhile, it too provides a witness to our past. It is estimated at 200 years old, possibly planted before the church was built.

The Parish House heating system was replaced over the summer and was a planned upgrade. However, the Church heating system failed on Christmas Eve and will need to be replaced in 2024.

2024
See Mid-year review 2024