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.

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St. Peter’s Wildflowers

“You belong among the wildflowers You belong in a boat out at sea Sail away, kill off the hours You belong somewhere you feel free” – Tom Petty

These pictures were originally taken 3 Mays ago plenty of sunshine with a warming trend.The date was May 2, 2021. Time to look for some wildflowers beneath our feet…

Ajuga. Also known as carpet bugleweed. This plant quickly fills in empty areas, smothering out weeds while adding exceptional foliage color and blooms. It’s also good for erosion control. The flowers of bugleweed are normally bluish to purple but they can be found in white as well.

Geraniums and Cranesbills are perennial plants that belong to the genus Geranium and thrive in temperate climates with cool summers and cool summer nights. They are generally easy to grow and constantly bloom over the season from spring to fall though they require well drained and moist soil.

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Anything but Ordinary! Ordinary Time

Ordinary TimeBeginning on Pentecost 2, we enter the Church year known as Ordinary Time. After Easter, Jesus’s ascension into heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit to us at Pentecost, we accept responsibility for being and becoming Christ’s body in the world. We are called by Jesus to live in community, our lives together guided not only by the example of Jesus, but by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 

Basically, Ordinary Time encompasses that part of the Christian year that does not fall within the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter. Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary. According to The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, the days of Ordinary Time, especially the Sundays, “are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects.” We continue our trek through the both the Gospels of Luke and John- through parables challenges, healings – some great stories and teachings.  

Vestments are usually green, the color of hope and growth. Green has long been associated with new life and growth. Even in Hebrew in the Old Testament, the same word for the color “green” also means “young.” The green of this season speaks to us as a reminder that it is in the midst of ordinary time that we are given the opportunity to grow. 

Ordinary Time, from the word “ordinal,” simply means counted time (First Sunday after Pentecost, etc.). we number the Sundays from here on out in order from the First Sunday after Pentecost, all the way up to the Last Sunday after Pentecost The term “ordinary time” is not used in the Prayer Book, but the season after Pentecost can be considered ordinary. 

The Church counts the thirty-three or thirty-four Sundays of Ordinary Time, inviting her children to meditate upon the whole mystery of Christ – his life, miracles and teachings – in the light of his Resurrection.

You may see Sundays referred to as “Propers”. The Propers are readings for Ordinary Time following Epiphany and Pentecost, numbered to help establish a seven day range of dates on which they can occur. Propers numbering in the Revised Common Lectionary begins with the Sixth Sunday in Epiphany, excludes Sundays in Lent through Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, and resumes the Second Sunday after Pentecost (the first Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday), usually with Proper 4. 

In some ways, it might be right to think of this time as “ordinary”, common or mundane. Because this is the usual time in the church, the time that is not marked by a constant stream of high points and low points, ups and downs, but is instead the normal, day-in, day-out life of the church. This time is a time to grapple with the nuts and bolts of our faith, not coasting on the joy and elation of Christmas, or wallowing in the penitential feel of Lent, but instead just being exactly where we are, and trying to live our faith in that moment.  

It is a reminder of the presence of God in and through the most mundane and ordinary seasons of our lives. . It is a reminder that when God came and lived among us in the person of Jesus Christ, he experienced the same ordinary reality that we all experience. And that God, in Christ, offered us the opportunity to transform the most ordinary, mundane experiences into extraordinary events infused with the presence of God. God is there, present in the midst of the ordinary, just waiting for us to recognize it.  

Only when the hustle and bustle of Advent, Easter, and Lent has calmed down can we really focus on what it means to live and grow as Christians in this ordinary time in this ordinary world. It is a time to nurture our faith with opportunities for fellowship and reflection. It is a time to feed and water our faith with chances for education and personal study. It is a time to weed and prune our faith, cutting off the parts that may be dead and leaving them behind. And we have a lot of growing to do, so God has given us most of the church year in which to do it.  

Jonathan Roumie (Jesus, the Chosen) & Gen Z

See what happens when the nine of the Gen Z generation (approximately age 12 to 27) who just binged Season 1 of the Chosen get a surprise visit from the actor who plays Jesus. An interesting discussion!

Chosen schedule for Season 4

Episode 1, “Promises”: June 2, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
Episode 2, “Confessions”: June 6, 2024 at 8:30 pm ET
Episode 3, “Moon to Blood”: June 9, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
Episode 4, “Calm Before”: June 13, 2024 at 8:30 pm ET
Episode 5, “Sitting, Serving, Scheming”: June 16, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
Episode 6, “Dedication”: June 20, 2024 at 8:30 pm ET
Episode 7, “The Last Sign”: June 23, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
Episode 8, “Humble”: June 27, 2024 at 8:30 pm ET

Lincoln’s “House Divided Speech”, 1858

"If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South.

Have we no tendency to the latter condition?"

Lincoln’s speech quotes from the Gospel. Lincoln gave this speech June 16, 1858 at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois. A speech that, under normal circumstances, would have been an acceptance speech for the Republican U.S. Senate seat nomination actually was a bold attack on the divisive issue of slavery. 

Lincoln hoped to use a well-known figure of speech to help rouse the people to recognition of the magnitude of the ongoing debates over the legality of slavery. Our Gospel this week contains the phrase, "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come."

The "fifth year" refers to Kansas-Nebraska, the act that was focal point of the debate on the expansion of slavery in 1854. The violence in this area foreshadowed that of the Civil War.

The speech just came a year after the Dred Scott decision. In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that all blacks — slaves as well as free — were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country’s territories.

The "house" refers to the Union — to the United States of America — and that house was divided between the opponents and advocates of slavery. Lincoln felt that the ideals of freedom for all and the institution of slavery could not coexist — morally, socially, or legally — under one nation. Slavery must ultimately be universally accepted or universally denied.

This speech, given two-and-a-half years before South Carolina would become the first state to secede from the Union, foreshadowed the coming storm of the Civil War. Although Lincoln lost the election to Stephen Douglas, his eloquent political arguments put him in the national limelight and paved the way for his election to the presidency in 1860.

Reading Compline

In celebration of the Summer solstice on June 20 you can read the compline service here. People have been reciting this last service of the day since the 6th century and takes less than 30 minutes.

“May the God of peace…equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight.” — Prayer from An Order for Compline, The Book of Common Prayer

The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning ‘completion.’ The office provides quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day. Compline begins on page 127 in The Book of Common Prayer.

Kate Mears wrote the following for Maundy Thursday in 2016 to illustrate how Compline helped her through a hard time.

“It’s hard to think about what enough means after a disaster. With so many people so acutely struggling right in your own community, you know you must do something. But how many things can you do? Who can you serve? Who are you missing who is still in desperate need? And when can you stop and catch your breath? When are you allowed to rest?

“This concept of enough, these questions kept me up at night when I was helping clear out flooded homes in the months following Katrina in New Orleans. Had I done enough? Had I forgotten anyone? Had I prioritized those we could serve properly, justly? I could never answer those questions. I still can’t.

“But in the months following the storm, I found that I could quiet them through prayer. I lit a candle next to my bed almost every night and read the Compline service to myself, whispering both parts in the darkness.

“Most nights, that routine, those words I grew to know by heart, were all the prayer that I could muster with my scattered, distracted mind. But somehow that ritual, that flame, those whispers and that connection to God kept the anxiety at bay.

My time in prayer reminded me that while the challenges are many, they’re not mine to shoulder alone. There will always be enough work for tomorrow, but in the meantime, we can sit with the darkness and the quiet and try, for a moment, to find some peace and strength for what lies ahead – and to know that God is always enough.”

Scripture on the Screen

Two online shows,  both educational and entertaining  in how they cover the scriptures, are generating substantial and devoted audiences.

The oldest show is “Drive Thru History” (DTH). Since we are in Eastertide, they have a program “Acts to Revelation”, basically the New Testament beyond the Gospels that is relevant to this season. It is in 18 episodes, each 25 minutes or so. 

Dave Stotts is the host and is a seminary graduate.   He writes “At Drive Thru History® (https://www.drivethruadventures.com/ ), we think history education should be culturally engaging, fact-filled, and super fun.  That’s why for the last 15 years, I’ve traveled the world to share history on location. We call it ‘Adventure Learning’.” The photography is excellent and the scenery can be breathtaking.  He also has a sense of  humor.

In this series, using a Land Rover, he will take you to sites such as the Upper Room and Solomon’s Gate in Jerusalem as well as Paul’s birthplace of Tarsus, now in Turkey and the road to Damascus where Paul  “saw the light” and moved from a persecutor of Christians to a leader that would undertake missionary trips in support of Christianity. Scripture leaps off the page in this series and you can hear it and see where it took place. Stott quotes scripture but links it together into a story. It flows together well.

You can see portion of all the 18 episodes  here through amazon – amzn.to/3vJFuwu. DTH  is only one series of many they have done.  

The second show is “The Chosen”, about the life of Jesus. Several parishioners are following the series. 

From Prime Video- “The focus does not center just on Jesus but also the  Apostles such as Peter and Andrew and also who followed him at distance, including Nicodemus.” The reviews have been positive based on the acting and their approach to the Gospels.

From VOX – “Issues that plague the modern Christian church get their fair share of attention in the series. Poverty is a constant reality for the disciples and most people they meet. Multiple episodes focus on the racial tension between the Jews and Samaritans with Jesus roundly castigating his followers for their own prejudice.”

But is it accurate ? Here is “The Chosen’s” response – “The Chosen is based on the true stories of the Gospels of Jesus Christ. Some locations and timelines have been combined or condensed. Backstories and some characters or dialog have been added. However, all the bible and historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures. “

Most people who have seen one of these episodes get instantly hooked. The quality of the acting and dialogue are superb.  Here is an interview with some of the actors and actresses

The entire story is in 7 seasons. 3 seasons have been completed and released and season 4 is on tap to be released. As of April 11, filming has begun on season 5, 68 days of filming in Utah dealing with Holy Week.

So where was Season 4 ? They had issues with Angel Studios, the original distributor of the series on the terms of their contract and they submitted the dispute to an arbitrator which voided the contract. The Chosen believed the contract had been breached.

The release for season 4 has been on hold since March, 2024 but will be released on Sundays, beginning June 2, 7pm and then the next episode on Thursdays at 8:30pm. This pattern will be repeated in future weeks.

There are four ways to watch the Chosen:

1. Livestream from the Chosen website
2. Social media pages
A. @TheChosenSeries – YouTube
B. InsideTheChosen – Facebook
C. @thechosentvseries – Instagram
D. @thechosentv – Twitter
E. @thechosentv – TikTok

3. Chosen app in the Appstores –Apple and Google Playstore They recommend updating your Chosen app on your device.

4. Buy the DVD in their gift store

It will eventually be available on Apple TV, Google TV, Fire TV and Roku.

Other Links

  • Web site
  • Educational – For discussion groups for Season 4, guides are available

    • Visualizing the Trinity

    Holy Trinity - Antonio de Pereda 
    The Trinity is most commonly seen in Christian art with the Spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the Gospel accounts of the Baptism of Christ; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. However depictions using three human figures appear occasionally in most periods of art. 

    The Father and the Son are usually differentiated by age, and later by dress, but this too is not always the case. The usual depiction of the Father as an older man with a white beard may derive from the biblical Ancient of Days, which is often cited in defense of this sometimes controversial representation.  

    The Son is often shown at the Father’s right hand.[Acts 7:56 ] He may be represented by a symbol—typically the Lamb or a cross—or on a crucifix, so that the Father is the only human figure shown at full size. In early medieval art, the Father may be represented by a hand appearing from a cloud in a blessing gesture, for example in scenes of the Baptism of Christ.  

    Holy Trinity Master of Flemalle

    Later, in the West, the Throne of Mercy (or “Throne of Grace”) became a common depiction. In this style, the Father (sometimes seated on a throne) is shown supporting either a crucifix[111] or, later, a slumped crucified Son, similar to the Pietà (this type is distinguished in German as the Not Gottes)[112] in his outstretched arms, while the Dove hovers above or in between them. This subject continued to be popular until the 18th century at least. 

    El Greco

    By the end of the 15th century, larger representations, other than the Throne of Mercy, became effectively standardised, showing an older figure in plain robes for the Father, Christ with his torso partly bare to display the wounds of his Passion, and the dove above or around them. In earlier representations both Father, especially, and Son often wear elaborate robes and crowns. Sometimes the Father alone wears a crown, or even a papal tiara. 

    Trinity as 3 men

    In the 17th century there was also a brief vogue for representing the Trinity as three identical men (example), conceivably influenced by Hospitality of Abraham images. This period coincided with the Spanish ascendancy in Latin America and the Philipines, so examples can be found in older churches in those areas. One odd example represents the Trinity this way in an image of the Coronation of Mary.

    Holy Trinity 1

    Soon, however, this type of Trinity image was condemned and supplanted by one in which the Father is represented as an older person, the Son as a younger one seated at his right and shouldering a large cross, and the Holy Spirit as a dove that hovers above the space between them. In the latter type the Spirit is represented as casting light upon the other two persons (symbolically, making it possible for humans to know them), but in one unusual variant he emanates from both their mouths simultaneously, a reference to the Latin trinitarian theology in which the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son” (a phrase from the Roman Catholic text of the Nicene Creed that reads simply “proceeds from the Father” in the Orthodox and Anglican versions). 

    Exploring Rublev’s famous Trinity Icon

    This was written by Bill Gaultiere published by Trinity Episcopal

    “Andrei Rublev painted “The Hospitality of Abraham in 1411” for the abbot of the Trinity Monastery in Russia. Rublev portrayed what has become the quintessential icon of the Holy Trinity by depicting the three mysterious strangers who visited Abraham (Genesis 18:1-15).

    “In the Genesis account the Lord visits Abraham in the form of three men who are apparently angels representing God. Abraham bows low to the ground before his three visitors and they speak to Abraham in union and are alternatively referred to by the Genesis writer as “they” or “the Lord.” Abraham offers them the hospitality of foot washing, rest under a shade tree, and a meal and they offered him the announcement that God was going to give he and his wife Sarah a son, though Sarah was far past the age of childbearing.

    “Rublev was the first to paint only the three angelic figures and to make them of equal size. Rublev depicts the three as One Lord. Each holds a rod in his left hand, symbolizing their equality. Each wears a cloak of blue, the color of divinity. And the face of each is exactly the same, depicting their oneness.

    “The Father is like the figure on the left. His divinely blue tunic is cloaked in a color that is light and almost transparent because he is the hidden Creator. With his right he blesses the Son – he is pleased with the sacrifice he will make. His head is the only one that is lifted high and yet his gaze is turned to the other two figures.

    “The Son is portrayed in the middle figure. He wears both the blue of divinity and reddish purple of royal priesthood. He is the King who descends to serve as priest to the people he created and to become part of them. With his hand he blesses the cup he is to drink, accepting his readiness to sacrifice himself for humanity. His head is bowed in submission to the Father on the left.

    “The Spirit is indicated in the figure on the right. Over his divinely blue tunic he wears a cloak of green, symbolizing life and regeneration. His hand is resting on the table next to the cup, suggesting that he will be with the Son as he carries out his mission. His head is inclined toward the Father and the Son. His gaze is toward the open space at the table.

    “Did you notice the beautiful circular movement in the icon of Father, Son, and Spirit? The Son and the Spirit incline their heads toward the Father and he directs his gaze back at them. The Father blesses the Son, the Son accepts the cup of sacrifice, the Spirit comforts the Son in his mission, and the Father shows he is pleased with the Son. Love is initiated by the Father, embodied by the Son, and accomplished through the Spirit.”

    From Henro Nouwen, Dutch priest (psychology professor, writer, theologian) writing more than 500 years after this painting, “The more we look at this holy image with the eyes of faith, the more we come to realize that it is painted not as a lovely decoration for a convent church, nor as a helpful explanation of a difficult doctrine, but as a holy place to enter and stay within.”

    Celebrating the Rappahannock River

    In Year A The first reading is taken from the creation story in Genesis, Genesis 1:1-2:4a. There is a portion which deals with the waters.

    “And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”

    “And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”

    It led me to think of the Rappahannock River, a portion which flows by St. Peter’s and Port Royal. We celebrate the river in a yearly celebration “Gospel on the River” and on Easter Sunday in the Sunrise service.

    We usually sing “Shall We Gather at the River”, a hymn of the River which was written one afternoon in July, 1864, when Robert Lowry, the author, was pastor of the Hanson Place Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. The weather was oppressively hot, and the author was lying on a lounge in a state of physical exhaustion. His mind raced through various symbols of life – the heavenly river, the throne and the saints.

    The river is a constant factor today as it was in the past. It was the reason why Port Royal was created in the 18th century. Today it is celebrated for its beauty, peace, and recreation.

    The King Singers released “Down in the River to Pray”, recorded acapella from their homes during COVID-19 which was the basis for our video. The original album it was on goes back to 2005. They write, “From our homes during isolation, we recorded a song which has been very special to us ever since it was arranged by our former baritone, Philip Lawson, in 2002.” The song is much older. The earliest known version of the song, titled “The Good Old Way,” was published in Slave Songs of the United States in 1867.The song (#104) was contributed to that book by George H. Allan of Nashville, Tennessee, who may also have been the transcriber.

    This video was put together as a another means of celebrating the river. It was created for Trinity Sunday in 2020. Photographs of the Rappahannock river in various seasons at various events (Gospel on the River) were combined with their vocal adaptation to create a video celebrating the peace and spiritual nature of that river.