We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

Advent 4, Christmas Eve, Year B

The Advent mystery is the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ. – Thomas Merton

Explore Advent, Part 4 – Over the Sundays in Advent there will be a presentation each week focusing on that week’s scriptures, art and commentary and how they demonstrate the themes of advent. Let’s continue with Advent 4.

Explore the Christmas Scriptures Let’s move to the Christmas scriptures

From the Presiding BishopMessages since 2012

 

Diocese of Va. Advent Meditations, Week 4

Feast of the Annunciation –  9 months before we celebrate the nativity there is the related Feast of the Annunciation on March 25 which is described here .

Art of the Annunciation – The Annunication has been depicted in art for a thousand years. Here are 30+ images of that history .

Nativity art, all around the world.

“I will light candles this Christmas” – Howard Thurman

Blessed Like Mary- David Lose invites us to understand that we are Blessed Like Mary
 

National Geographic explores"How the Virgin Mary Became the World’s Most Powerful Woman"

A Digital Nativity.

What if current social media like Facebook, Gmail, etc had been available at the birth of Christ ? Watch the Digital Nativity

Advent 4 – Cry of a Tiny Baby

A post from teacher and theologian David Lose: "So maybe I shouldn’t describe this Christmas carol as “unlikely” in that Bruce Cockburn has explored the Christian story and theology, along with issues of human rights, throughout his forty-year career. But it may very well be unfamiliar to you. If so, you’re in for a treat, as the Canadian folk and rock guitarist, singer-songwriter’s beautiful retelling of the Christmas story blends elements of both Luke’s tender narrative of the in-breaking good news of God to the least likely of recipients – a teenage girl, her confused fiancee, down-and-out shepherds – with Matthew’s starkly realistic picture of a baby that threatens kings by his mere existence. 

Here’s the link to a video with the words .   

Advent 4 – Blessed like Mary

By David Lose

Notice one thing: before Mary says “yes,” she is blessed.

Why does this matter? Because I think it captures not only the important role Mary plays in the Gospel story but also reveals a central dynamic of the Christian life.

First, to Mary. She is regularly hailed as a model of faith for her acceptance of the role God invites her to play as the mother of Jesus. And for good reason. Throughout Luke’s Gospel, the willingness to trust the promises of God is the mark of discipleship. And so Elizabeth believes that in her old age she will nevertheless bear John, and the disciples believe they will fish for people, and the repentant thief believes Jesus is innocent and asks his blessing and so on. Similarly, Mary also believes God’s promises.

But what is it, exactly, that Mary believes? Yes, she believes Gabriel’s announcement that she will bear Jesus. But before that, she believes that God noticed her, that God favors her, that God has blessed her and has great plans for her.

And this, I think, leads us to a central dynamic not only in the Gospel but also the Christian life itself: the first, and in some ways the most important, thing we are called to believe is that God similarly notices, favors, and blesses us. And once we believe that, we can do incredible things.

Blessing, you see, is a powerful thing. And, sadly, a rare thing. We live in a world that seems geared toward rewards and punishments. Whether at work or school or even home, we have been conditioned to expect people to give us only what we deserve. But blessing operates on a different logic. Blessing is never deserved, but always a gift. Blessings intrudes into, interrupts, and ultimately disrupts our quid pro quo world to announce that someone sees us as worthy and special apart from anything we’ve done.

And perhaps because it’s so rare, it’s also hard to believe. Certainly this is true of Mary. She is perplexed by the angel’s announcement that she is favored by God. “What have I done,” Mary may wonder, “to merit God’s notice and favor.” But that’s of course just what blessing is – unmerited and undeserved regard and favor. And as the blessing sinks in, Mary is able to open herself to the work of the Holy Spirit to use her to bless the whole world through her willingness to carry Jesus.

Which is why I think it matters that we notice that before Mary says “yes,” she is blessed.

You see, here’s the thing: I think our people have a hard time believing that God favors them, too. Even that God notices them. Not on Sunday. Most of us figure God is watching us on Sunday, if only to see if we’ll make it to church. 🙂 Rather, we wonder if God even notices us, let along favors us, the rest of the week. Work, school, our home life – these can seem like such mundane things and hardly worth God’s attention. And yet in this story we hear about God noticing and blessing someone who by all accounts is a nobody in the ancient world. And when this nobody young girl believes God’s blessing and accepts God’s favor, the world begins to turn.

This is why I think this passage is so important, not because it lifts up Mary as the exception, but rather because it identifies her as an example of what can happen when you believe that God notices, favors, and blesses you: you may just change the world!  

We might invite folks to take just a moment or two to imagine where they will go this week, what they will do, whom they will meet, and how in each of these circumstances God is noticing them and blessing them so that they might be a blessing to the world. It might take a while for your people to believe this. After all, so many of the voices in our lives conspire to make us feel like nobody and nothing. But in time, if we can say it again and again, it may just sink in that God has noticed, favored, and blessed us so that we might in turn bless and change the world. 

Toward helping God’s blessing sink in, I’d even invite you to consider ending the sermon – or perhaps the whole service – by re-creating some of this scene, where you might say to your folks, “Greetings, favored ones. The Lord is with you and plans to do great things through you.” In turn, your people might answer, “How can this be?” And you may answer, “Whether at work or school, whether at home or in the world, the Holy Spirit is with you and will guide you in all you do and say so that you may be a blessing to the world.” And your folks may conclude, “Let it be according to your word.”

Christmas Flowers

Flowers cut on Dec. 13 just after Bible study and then arranged. Thanks to Alice Hughes for leading this effort. (In the full post, click on the photos for a lightbox)

Freshing up the flowers, Sun., Dec 17

Shadows from the window panes

Looking up

The full arrangement

With the poinsettias

Christmas Play, 2023

We had about 50 people to view and participate in our play, including members from other churches. New this year – 3 live goats in the field for the shepherds and a reconstructed star to display. Of course there were all the ingredients of a typical Christmas Play.

There were 5 scenes around the church and the next door home:
1. Annunciation
2. Joseph and Mary on the way to the Inn
3. At the Inn
4. Shepherds and Angels in the field
5. Manger scene with Shepherds and Angels and the arrival of the wisemen. Conclusion. See photo above.

Thanks to all who those who directed, acted and viewed the play. It is our gift to our larger congregation and the spread of the Christmas spirit.

1. Photos

(full size gallery)

2. Video – 26 minutes

Arts and Faith- Advent 3, relating art and scripture

Commentary is by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, director of ministerial formation at Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary.

On this third Sunday of Advent, we witness the prophetic call of St. John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord. Anton Raphael Mengs’ Saint John the Baptist Preaching brings us face-to-face with John, as he addresses us with expressive gestures. Mengs’ portrayal is intensely psychological, inviting us to encounter John’s deep conviction, prophetic presence, and sense of urgency. John’s penetrating look, coupled with his raised arms, make a burning appeal for us to listen, to look for “the one among us whom we do not recognize,” and to wait attentively for the coming of him whose sandal this prophet is not fit to untie.

In this portrayal, Mengs dares to move St. John the Baptist away from more traditional interpretations. Rather than the heroic portrayal of a martyr, the serene portrayal of a devoted servant recognizing the Lord, or a dutiful prophet preaching to a crowd, Mengs shows us a John who is caught up in emotion. This John is making his passionate appeal stirred by the dangerous knowledge of Christ coming, dying, and rising. In this image, John exists not in the historical moment of Jesus’ early ministry, but in the post-Resurrection reality of the Church that now awaits the final coming of the Risen Lord. The red shroud draped across his body and the cross-shaped staff to his right hint at this. The shroud is a symbol of his martyrdom, and the staff points to the crucifixion of Christ. Here John comes to us not as the wild preacher in the desert, but as the saint who has lived the whole story, who exists now in God’s eternal presence, and who intercedes for us as we continue to watch and wait. He is not the light, but he now dwells in it—demonstrated by Mengs by illuminating his body brightly from above.

St. John’s intercession is as intense as his preaching was—a voice that is still crying out with urgency, this time for the Lord’s Second Coming. His urgent voice comes before God filled with love for the Body of Christ, a love that seeks desperately to rouse this Body to readiness.

St. Peter’s Christmas Play – A 25 year Tradition

St. Peter’s Christmas play has been different from the typical Children’s Church play. The above is the 2015 play.

First it has involved parishioners of all ages and not just children. Second it takes up most of the Sunday service. Lastly the play is written fresh every year. No repeats. The tradition began in the 1990’s under the Rev. Karen Woodruff when there were many children in the parish.

Recent Articles, Dec. 17, 2023

Advent 3, Dec. 17, 2023
Christmas play – photos, video
Bulletin
Lectionary for Advent 3, Dec. 17
Sermon
Sermon and Offertory
Videos, Dec 17, 2023
Photos, Dec 17, 2023
Advent Candle 3, Joy
Advent 3 Commentary
Arts and Faith, Advent 3
John the Baptist in Art – National Gallery, London
Advent compline
Christmas without Anglicans
Origins of the 12 Days of Christmas

All About Advent
Getting Ready for Advent

Living Compass Advent meditations
Shape of Scriptures in Advent
Advent Season Resources
Advent Online Learning

Ministries
Chancellor’s Village Eucharist, Dec. 12, 2023
Flower arranging for the church windows, Dec. 13, 2023
Christmas play – 25 year tradition
Golden Hour at St. Peter’s
Music of compline, Dec. 7
ECW takes dinner to the “House”, Dec. 5
Giving Tuesday results (updated Dec. 4)
Advent Workshop – the Nativity blocks
Advent Workshop – the Christmas trees
Christmas play poster download

Discretionary Fund in 2023
End of year gift to the Endowment Fund

Voices, Advent 3, Year B

1.  "In Advent the church emphasizes these ways of continual change: Repentance. Conversion of life. Self-examination. Awakening. Deepening.  "

– Suzanne Guthrie
2.

"Advent invites us instead to pause for a moment that we might reflect long enough to assess our deep need and longing for something more, for something beyond ourselves, for something of the divine to penetrate the ordinary even if for just a moment to remind us that there is indeed, something beyond the possible that will save us.  "
 

– David Lose

Read more

Advent 3, Year B

Advent 3

Explore Advent, Part 3 – Over the Sundays in Advent there will be a presentation each week focusing on that week’s scriptures, art and commentary and how they demonstrate the themes of advent. Let’s continue with Advent 3.

A. Voices for Advent 3

“In Advent the church emphasizes these ways of continual change: Repentance. Conversion of life. Self-examination. Awakening. Deepening.  “

– Suzanne Guthrie

B. “You Don’t Want to Be a Prophet (Isaiah, Luke)

Christmas without Anglicans?” – Anglican contributions to Advent and Christmas carols.

Advent 2

Explore Advent, Part 2

“Advent is a time to look for “desert places”: the place of solitude, the place of true silence in which we can become fully awake to our sin and God’s forgiving grace which alone can heal it.”-Br. Robert L’Esperance

This week we focus on John the Baptist through scripture, art and commentary. Let’s move to  Advent 2.

John the Baptist      

John the Baptist in art

 

John the Baptist Presentation

 
St. Nicholas      

St Nicholas Day is December 6. 

 

Here is a presentation that provides the background of this saint who has had a colorful and varied history over 1800 years.

 

Arts and Faith- Advent 2, relating art and scripture

Commentary is by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, director of ministerial formation at Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary.

The voice of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness and gathering great crowds invites us into the Second Sunday of Advent. Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s St. John the Baptist Preaching captures this moment as he presents a wooded wilderness embracing a colorful crowd. Left of center is John the Baptist, clad in camelhair, though we have to search the scene to find him. Instead of standing as a dominating figure, John is one of the crowd, one of the people who serves his peers with prophetic passion.

For Brueghel, the crowd itself seems to be the dominant figure. It fully saturates the landscape as one body that reveals its diversity only upon closer inspection. A chief way Brueghel shows that diversity is through hats, hoods, and headdresses—each signifying a different culture, vocation, or profession. Brueghel shows not only the mix of people that might have been present in the region, but the great diversity of all of humankind as the intended recipients of the Good News that John is heralding. John prepares the way of the Lord to go beyond boundaries, starting with the colorful cavalcade of people who come to hear the prophetic message.

The body of the crowd becomes vertical, as people all around the perimeter climb the trees to get a better view. Sitting on branches, they foreshadow the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector, a figure of conversion and repentance from the Gospel of Luke. Thus, the tree climbers also underscore the message of conversion that John is preaching. Ascending the trees also foreshadows the cross itself as the ultimate place of reconciliation.

In the background, we see a clearing in the woods that presents a vista of a river, a walled castle, and misty mountains. This is an invitation to see beyond the immediate message to the possibilities of God’s ultimate home for us. The river, evocative of Baptism, is especially important as it winds like a road into the mysterious beyond.

We too are called to look beyond and see ourselves as part of a body of people who are gathered by the Good News. Like John, we are also sent to share the Good News so as to help open the horizon of possibilities that lead us all into God’s eternal love