St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
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Our mission: “To do God’s Will”
February is beautifying our grounds with snow but services go on and we are so thankful for the support of our members and friends. If you read the annual reports of our many activities last months, you know how busy we all are!
This month the Men’s Group (ECM) has been busy planning a “Ladies Night Out” which has been moved to Sat. Feb. 22 at 6pm at the Parish House. This fundraiser ($30 per man) will help the ECM fund their philanthropic partnership with the Caroline County Dept. of Social Services. There will be wine, food, music and time to “sing along” with your friends! Please call Ken to chat /RSVP at 540-847-9017.
The Food Bank at the Parish House will be this coming week also. Meet the truck that appears magically (loaded down) at 9:20am on Tuesday 2/18! Help is always needed to unload and organize food items inside. Then on Wed. Feb. 19 another team meets those who come in need of food and other supplies. Thanks to all who take time to help. (This is a St. Peters Ministry that has helped the needy for more than 10 years!)
In other news we’d like to welcome Jan and Larry Saylor back from a successful visit to family in Africa! Johnny and I spent 5 days in Williamsburg relaxing and visiting members of his family. Both his brother Jimmy and his wife have been ill and have mobility problems. (It is ironic that we both had brothers named Jimmy Davis.) My brother graduated from Va. Tech, married and taught school several years. He died of leukemia at age 25. He is buried at St. Peters next to our parents.
There is a wonderful new voice in the choir….thanks for joining our team Jim Monroe! Your recent solo was spectacular!!! He and Robin have been wonderful new members of our church and community. We continue to welcome them!
COMING IN MARCH
The first week of March brings us Shrove Tuesday on 3/4/25 with a pancake supper cooked by the men of the church at 5pm.
Then on Wednesday 3/5/25 we will celebrate Ash Wednesday at 7pm in the church. The Rev. Tom Hughes will be with us that evening sharing the ashes from last years palms.
Our Day by Day tells us that Ash Wednesday is like a trumpet telling us to stop…it is time to set aside our daily routine and focus on God’s call…to see where we go astray….and to seek shelter in God. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that our shelter is found in God…”In returning and rest you shall be saved.”
Episcopal Church Women
The Ladies of St. Peters had a busy year as you saw in our Annual Report. Soon they will be meeting to share ideas for 2025. Andrea Pogue, our president is planning a gathering of the women later this month when the snow is gone!
The Thanksgiving Dinner was such a success last year that I feel sure all will want to participate in that again. The food was delicious and everyone enjoyed eating in or take out. (I had surgery that day and it was wonderful that JFD could pick up that dinner for us to take home.) Others enjoyed meeting old & new friends at the dining area of the Parish House and it was a great fundraiser!
The Diocese of Va. will send information soon on the Fredericksburg Regional Gathering and the May 1st Spring meeting. Last year Andrea and I attended and it was inspiring! Let’s hope more of us can go this year. We’ll keep you informed.
An interview with the Rev. Pete Gustin
This California native’s journey includes a variety of life experiences, like working in the hotel industry while studying at St Mary’s Seminary, completing his B.A. at Coppin State College, and a long career as a government contractor while living in Manassas, Pete was received into the Episcopal Church in 1979 and served Trinity Church, Manassas, as organist and choir director until he entered Virginia Seminary in 1983.
After graduating from Virginia Seminary and serving on the Diocesan Race Relations Committee and the Mid-Atlantic (Clergy) Training Program, Pete served churches in Ashland, Hanover, Boyce, Millwood, Lucketts, and Burke. He received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Seabury-Western Seminary in Evanston, IL, in 1999. Throughout his ministry, he has worked as an emergency management consultant and was co-founder and co-chair of the Diocesan Emergency Preparedness Committee and also serves on the Diocesan Native American Ministries Committee. He retired from St. Stephen’s, Catlett, in April 2024. His wife Debi enjoyed a long teaching career at Powhattan School in Boyce and then at The Langley School in McLean, from which she retired in 2022. Pete and Debi have two grown children (one in Springfield, VA; the other in Tampa, FL) and one granddaughter, who will enter Randolph-Macon College next fall.
We are blessed at St. Peters to have two wonderful priests who lead us in worship each Sunday. Next month we will interview Rev. Tom Hughes.
See you at church! cd