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.
On Sunday, May 19th, The Day of Pentecost, The Rt Rev Gayle Harris, Assisting Bishop in The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, will join us at St Peter’s for a joyful time of worship and celebration and for Confirmation and Reception.
Jennifer Gamber explains that “Confirmation is one of the Church’s seven sacraments. Sacraments are “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.” In the sacraments we recognize God’s active presence in our lives.
The Episcopal Church recognizes the two great sacraments of the Bible, which are baptism and Eucharist, and five sacramental rights, which include Confirmation. For Confirmation, the outward visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace is the laying on of hands by the bishop, and the inward spiritual grace is the strengthening of the Holy Spirit.” (see Jennifer Gamber’s book, Your Faith, Your Life, An Invitation to the Episcopal Church for more details.)
The Book of Common Prayer reminds us that “in the course of their Christian development, those baptized at an early age, are expected, when they are ready and have been duly prepared, to make a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism and to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop.”
“Those baptized as adults, unless baptized with laying on of hands by a bishop, are also expected to make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism in the presence of a bishop and to receive the laying on of hands.”
For those who have been confirmed in another denomination, the Book of Common Prayer provides for the formal reception into the Episcopal Church, which honors the commitment already having been made in the person’s previous denomination.
May 9, 2024, the first video featured Right Rev. Stephen Cottrell. the second-most senior bishop of the church and the most senior in northern England.
Key parts
“At supper with his friends on the night before he dies the other Judas asks Jesus a question in John chap 14:22. He says to “Jesus why is it that you reveal yourself to us but not to the world now now thisis a really interesting question in fact ”
“It’s a question that takes us right to because the great focus of thy kingdom come is that we pray for people who do not yet know Jesus but here’s Judas asking Jesus the question that we ask Jesus. So why is it that we need to do this. Why is it that you reveal yourself to us but not to others ? why is that why do we have to pray for these five people ? Lord why don’t you just reveal yourself to them ? Jesus tells us elsewhere in the gospels that our father knows what we need before we ask him so so why do we have to ask him so anyway
“The answer is in John 14:23. Jesus answered him, those who love me will keep my word and my father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.
“I think he’s saying something profoundly beautiful about the nature of prayer itself. Prayer isn’t just us asking stuff from God, it isn’t what if we could just get enough signatures on the prayer petition maybe God wou ld change his mind on this one.
“It’s about placing ourselves in right relationship with God that God will change us that we will become channels of God’s beauty, God’s goodness, God’s purposes for the world we are praying in this period between Ascension when Jesus Takes our Humanity into heaven to Pentecost the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”
“Come Lord Jesus Come Holy Spirit make your home in us and when we pray thy kingdom come when we pray Lord Jesus take your place at the center of my life when that happens we do indeed become channels of God’s grace, that God is at work through us and we dare to Hope and dare to believe and even see this happening in our world others coming to know Christ and even the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ.
We have an online quiz of 10 questions which could stump the best of you. You don’t have to register, give your name, blood type, etc. The results are only known by you. But give it a try.
Mother’s Day prayer – “We give thanks and pray for our mothers and for all who have loved and cared for us as mothers in this life. We pray for mothers who rejoice; shield them. We pray for mothers who are weary, frustrated and overwhelmed; give them rest. We pray for those who have lost children; comfort them. May we love one another with your own tender compassion. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.”
Mother’s Day prayer – BCP 829 #46 (adapt for “mothers”) Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children: Give to all mothers calm strength and patient wisdom as the bring them up, that they may teach them to love whatever it is just true and good, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
Mother’s Day prayer – “Dear Lord, we come before you today to thank you for those who have brought new life into this world. We thank you especially for Mary , the mother of our Savior Jesus Christ, who brought to birth your Son who shared our human nature and lived and died as one of us. Give us the grace, all of us, to welcome you into our hearts and minds and spirits and bring your love to birth in this world. In the name of your song and through the power of the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen”
Smithsonian in the May, 2015 issue writes about a new trend in planned living involving farm life. Housing is connected not to golf courses or lakes but to gardens.and farm land. Interconnectively is the key concept. In some developments, apartments and homes are wedged together to make use of limited space and encourage social interaction.
There are already dozens of agritopian developments and, fueled by the local-food movement. There is highly planned housing together with an environmental focus . Waste water, for example is filtered in a biological treatment system and reused for irrigation. There as much focus on providing bike and hiking paths as streets. Parks become common meeting grounds.
Serenbe is perhaps the country’s most popular and profitable “agritopia,” outside Atlanta. It tries to combine what it would term the “good life.” – arts, agriculture, education.
At Serenbe, there is a 25-acre organic farm. Plus there farmlands all of which produce enougth vegetables to supply a number of restaurants, a farmers’ market and a Community-Supported Agriculture program
Their website provides an attractive description “Year-round cultural events include outdoor theater from Serenbe Playhouse, culinary workshops and festivals, music events, films and lectures, boutique shopping, art galleries, a spa and trail riding, plus a robust Artist in Residence program featuring dinners and talks. “ Currently there are 400 homes
May is a month of prayer with the National Day of Prayer and Thy Kingdom come in two weeks Not to be forgotten is Julian of Norwich who was one of the first women authors.
“Pray, even if you feel nothing, see nothing. For when you are dry, empty, sick or weak, at such a time is your prayer most pleasing to God, even though you may find little joy in it. This is true of all believing prayer.” Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich was a 14th century mystic and writer. Julian’s book, Revelations of Divine Love is based on a series of sixteen visions she received on the 8th of May 1373. That’s 651 years ago today May 8, 2024. She became one of the first known female writers and one of the first published writers.
We also know her by her famous quote “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” We celebrate her day on May 8, 2023.
At the age of thirty, stricken by a grave illness and believed she was on her deathbed. She was living at the time of the Black Death. (Records indicate half the population died during the plaque). She hints that at this time she had nothing to live for and so she welcomed death.
The medical crisis passed, and she had a series of fifteen visions, or “showings,” in which she was led to contemplate the Passion of Christ. These brought her great peace and joy. In her “showings,” Christ revealed his bleeding and his dying as acts of unconditional love. Her concept of Christ changed over her life from a God of wrath to one warm and welcoming.
The experience transformed her life. She became an anchoress (one who lived a life prayer and contemplation), living in a small hut near to the church in Norwich, England where she devoted the rest of her life to prayer and contemplation of the meaning of her visions.”
It is worth pointing out that Julian of Norwich was not a hermit. Even though she spent more than forty years living in a small cell attached to a church, she had a window that looked out onto the busy city street of Norwich. From this window she offered spiritual guidance to her community. She kept tabs on neighborhood news and soothed broken hearts. She accepted loaves of fresh baked bread and shared honey from the hives she kept. She was simultaneously protected from the world and connected to her community.
There were no barriers for Julian with Christ. She talks of the “glorious mingling” of body and soul, matter and spirit. She insists on the marriage of nature and God, on panentheism as the very meaning of faith, and on the marriage of God and the human (for we, too, are part of nature): “between God and the human there is no between.”
Here is a podcast about her from Christianity Today – “In this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Amy Laura Hall, the author of Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich and a Christian ethics professor at Duke Divinity School, tell us why we know so little about Julian’s identity but why we still read her writings on the vision she received while sick today.”
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
John Mark is the author of the Gospel of Mark which we read in Year B.
The painting was done in 1625 by Frans Hals, a Dutch painter, who painted portraits of all the Gospel writers.
Mark’s work was the first Gospel probably written in the 60’s AD. Gospel means “Good News” of Jesus Christ reflecting His life and work. The Gospel says the Kingdom of God is at hand and brings new life, sanctification and hope to the world. It is also one of the Synoptic Gospels.
Eastertide is the period of fifty days, seven Sundays from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. Easter is not a day but a season and it is one to examine the Resurrection, more broadly and deeply. There are a number of questions.
Is Resurrection just about death has been swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-56) ? Is Resurrection of Jesus is a precursor to your own resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) ? Does it say something about our own ability to expect to see Jesus (Luke 24) ? How does the new Christian community begin to function making Christ the central part of daily life ? (Acts 2)
Jesus physically appears in Easter 2 and 3 making the Resurection tangible. The shepherding part of his ministry is explored in Easter 4. From Easter 5-7, Jesus must prepare the disciples for his departure. He is going to leave them. Jesus prepares his disciples for continuing his ministry without his physical presence. Themes explored include the holy spirit, the Prayer of Jesus and God’s glory through His Son and the church.
Christ ascends on the 40th day with his disciples watching (Thursday, May 9th). The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.This fifty days comes to an end on Pentecost Sunday, which commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, the beginnings of the Church and its mission to all peoples and nation. Note that the Old Testament lessons are replaced by selections from the Book of Acts, recognizing the important of the growth of the church.
Eastertide is the period of fifty days, seven Sundays from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. Easter is not a day but a season and it is one to examine the Resurrection, more broadly and deeply. There are a number of questions.
Is Resurrection just about death has been swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-56) ? Is Resurrection of Jesus is a precursor to your own resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) ? Does it say something about our own ability to expect to see Jesus (Luke 24) ? How does the new Christian community begin to function making Christ the central part of daily life ? (Acts 2)
Jesus physically appears in Easter 2 and 3 making the Resurection tangible. The shepherding part of his ministry is explored in Easter 4. From Easter 5-7, Jesus must prepare the disciples for his departure. He is going to leave them. Jesus prepares his disciples for continuing his ministry without his physical presence. Themes explored include the holy spirit, the Prayer of Jesus and God’s glory through His Son and the church.
Christ ascends on the 40th day with his disciples watching (Thursday, May 9th). The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.This fifty days comes to an end on Pentecost Sunday, which commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, the beginnings of the Church and its mission to all peoples and nation. Note that the Old Testament lessons are replaced by selections from the Book of Acts, recognizing the important of the growth of the church.
