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.
The New Testament treats the Ascension as an integral part of the Easter event.
It is the final appearance Jesus’ physical and resurrected presence on earth. It is the final component of the paschal mystery, which consists also of Jesus’ Passion, Crucifixion, Death, Burial, Descent Among the Dead, and Resurrection.
Along with the resurrection, the ascension functioned as a proof of Jesus’ claim that he was the Messiah. The Ascension is also the event whereby humanity was taken into heaven. There is a promise he will come back again.
So when is it ? The Ascension in Luke 24 is on Easter Sunday evening or, at the latest, the next day; in John 20, sometime between the appearance to Mary Magdalene (who is told not to touch the risen One because he has not yet ascended) and the appearance to Thomas (who is invited to touch him); in Acts 1, after the forty days (which, however, are symbolic of the time of revelation; there may be no intention to suggest that the ascension actually “occurred” on the fortieth day). We celebrate Ascension on the 40th day.
The main scriptural references to the Ascension are Mark:16:19, Luke:24:51, and Acts:1:2 and vvs. 8-10. Luke 24 says "While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven". In Acts " he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen." Jesus commissions his followers, rather than simply blessing them; and we have an appearance from two men in white robes.
Mount Olivet, near Bethany, is designated as the place where Christ left the earth. The feast falls on this Thursday, May 9 and it is one of the most solemn in the calendar, ranking with the feasts of the Passion, Easter and Pentecost.
The Ascension is the beginning of the church’s mission.
1. It is powered by the Spirit
2. It is a call to be witnesses
3. It is worldwide is scope
The Ascension holds the promise of Christ’s return.
WHAT? What Happened to Jesus.
A. He ascended to a place invisible to the mortal eye
1. Acts 1:9 “A cloud received him out of their sight”
2. He did not go up into some mountain that was covered with clouds as some men have speculated.
B. Luke 24:51 “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”
1. He is on the right hand of God
2. I Peter 3:22 “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him.”
Where is heaven ? When the early church confessed that Jesus had ascended into heaven, the emphasis was not so much on a place – the emphasis was on God’s immediate presence. The church was confessing that Jesus had entered into the divine glory – that the risen Jesus now dwelt in the immediate presence of God. This may explain the meaning of the phrase, "a cloud took him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). Oftentimes in scripture, a cloud represents the shekinah glory of God, the sign of God’s presence (cf. Exo. 33:7-11; Mark 9:7).
“Thy Kingdom Come” is celebrating its 9 year anniversary in 2025. Since May 2016, The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the people of Thy Kingdom Come have been bringing the world together in prayer. St Peter’s has been part of this international prayer initiative for several years. Here is the website.
In the Gospel according to Luke, before Jesus ascended, he told the disciples to go to back to Jerusalem and await the coming of the Holy Spirit. They did as he asked, spent ten days absorbed in prayer as they waited, and the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost.
Through these prayerful disciples, the Holy Spirit brought the Church to birth. Following the example of these disciples, we can spend time in intentional prayer praying for people around the world to be filled with the Spirit and to come to know Jesus more fully.
Download the card. This card will easily fit inside your wallet, purse or book. Choose five people you would regularly like to pray for and write their names down onto a list. If you’re not sure who to pray for, ask God to guide you as you choose. Once you have settled on 5 names, commit to praying for them regularly. Use this card as a daily reminder to pray for them.
Once you have settled on 5 names, commit to praying for them regularly by praying the following:
Loving Father,
in the face of Jesus Christ
your light and glory have blazed forth.
Send your Holy Spirit that I may share with my friends [here, name your friends]
the life of your Son and your love for all.
Strengthen me as a witness to that love
as I pledge to pray for them,
for your name’s sake. Amen.
Each day there are a few things to read, a prayer to offer and then an invitation for you to make your own reflections on what it means to follow in the way of Christ. You don’t have to write anything down, but you may find it helpful.
The nine days from Ascension Day to the Eve of Pentecost are the original novena–nine days of prayer.
Before he ascended, Jesus ordered the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. After his Ascension, they returned to the upper room in Jerusalem where they devoted themselves to prayer. These last days of the Great Fifty Days of Easter can be a time for us to prepare for the celebration of Pentecost.
5. Listen to the Bishop Tom Wright’s podcast. Wright is a both a prominent theologian and author. He was the Bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He then became Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s College in the University of St Andrews in Scotland until 2019, when he became a senior research fellow at Oxford University. He has written over 70 books but has specialized in Paul.
In a 2003 interview, he said that he could never remember a time when he was not aware of the presence and love of God and recalled an occasion when he was four or five when “sitting by myself at Morpeth and being completely overcome, coming to tears, by the fact that God loved me so much he died for me.”
Firstly, they have introduced new daily themes for our resources. These themes focus on the character of God – ‘Our Father in Heaven’ – the One to whom we are petitioning and inviting people to know, to love and to serve.
Secondly, this year they are introducing a new sub-theme ‘Living the Kingdom’. Whilst Thy Kingdom Come will always have its focus as a call to prayer for evangelism we want to invite participants to go one step further. Mission always comes from the place of prayer, so how can we in this time go the extra mile, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to love and serve those we are praying for or others who are in need? This is about living the Kingdom – individually and corporately – in our context.
Finally, returning to the early days of TKC, they are encouraging Christians to gather together (in-person where possible) and collaborate ecumenically locally, regionally and nationally – being a truly united witness to the world.
For families, there is an 11-part children’s video series called Cheeky Pandas – packed with Bible stories, prayers, animation, worship songs and interviews with special guests including Adventurer, Bear Grylls, CBeebies Presenter Gemma Hunt, Revd Nicky Gumbel (HTB and Alpha) and Pastor Agu and Shola (Jesus House) to name a few. The video series (which will be available from early April onwards) can be used as part of church at home, gathered church (online and offline) and in school assemblies. Similar to last year, the series will be the main content in the Family Prayer Adventure Map and App.
June 1 -The Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after Ascension Day—John 17:20-26
As Jesus prays for his disciples before his death, his focus is on the unity that he and God share, and his request that we may share this unity, so that the world will come to know God. The world will know God through the love of God that we, the disciples, share with the world.
June 8 – Day of Pentecost – John 14:8-17, (25-27)
John 14:8-17, 25-27 is part of Jesus’ final discourse to the disciples before his death, sharing the promise that the disciples will not be left alone—that the Holy Spirit will come and be among them.
Jesus tells the disciples about the Advocate, the Spirit. We do not have to fear, because we know God is present with us, always. The Holy Spirit will be with the disciples, continue to instruct them, and to empower the followers to come. That’s us, folks! Troubled hearts, and fear will be taken away by the Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, God will complete the transformation of our world.
June 15 – Trinity Sunday – John 16:12-15
Jesus promises an Advocate who will lead the disciples into an ever-deeper understanding of all that Jesus has taught them in his time on earth with them. The Spirit will glorify Jesus, as Jesus did the Father, by revealing Jesus to the world. Through the inspiration of the Spirit, the mission of the disciples will be one with that of Jesus.
In verse 15, Jesus says that everything that belongs to God belongs to Jesus, and Jesus promises that the Spirit will take what belongs to Jesus and declare it to us—in other words, the Spirit will speak of God in new ways to us. God will continue to surprise us, to do the unexpected, and be revealed in new ways. Here the verbs are in the present tense in understanding the on-going work that God does with us. The Spirit “guides”, “speaks”, “declare”, and “glorifies.”
June 22 – Second Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 7 – Luke 8:26-39
Luke 8:26-39 is the story of the healing of the Gerasene Demoniac. Jesus turns his attention to the Gentiles by crossing the Sea of Galilee into Gentile territory. There, Jesus meets a man who is possessed by a multitude of demons—so many that they are identified as a legion (the name for a large Roman military unit of 3000 to 6000 men). Jesus confronts the demons and requires that they reveal their name—thus giving Jesus power over them. In a strange twist, the demons beg to be cast into a heard of pigs instead of “going back into the abyss” (vs. 31). The demons enter the pigs and run over a steep bank into a lake and are drowned. Many people were afraid at what Jesus had done and asked him to leave, but the demoniac becomes a disciple, “sitting at the feet of Jesus” conversing with Jesus “in his right mind” and then goes and proclaims Jesus’ message in the city.
June 29 – Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8 – Luke 9:51-62
Today’s reading begins a large section of Luke’s gospel, the great travel narrative (9:51–18:14) telling of Jesus’ journey from Galilee through Samaria towards Jerusalem. It is the turning point of Luke’s account, where Jesus “resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem” and his destiny there. Luke packs the passage with explicit and symbolic statements about the costs of being Jesus’ disciple, in view of Jesus’ journey toward his death.
We were in the middle between Ascension, last Thursday and Easter 7 which looks a week ahead to Pentecost. Easter 7 is a Sunday of Christian unity in the face of the disciples in their uncertainty. This is a result of the events of the recent past, the Resurrection and Ascension.
After his resurrection 40+ days ago, Jesus has appeared to three followers on the road to Emmaus, to Peter, and to those gathered in Jerusalem. When they have thought that they were seeing a ghost, he has invited them to touch his wounds and eats in their presence. The community is not sure of the outcome of all this. Will he stay ? They feel terrified both as to their own safety.
Today’s readings give us a sense of comfort. In today’s readings, we catch a glimpse of the glorious unity of God’s people. Paul and Silas show their concern even for their Gentile jailer, who becomes a believer through their example. John, in his Revelation, describes the believers’ urgent longing for final union with Jesus. In the gospel, Jesus prays for us, who have come to faith and unity in him through the testimony of the disciples
On the night when He was betrayed, Jesus interceded for His Church — for His apostles and all who believe in Him through their word — that all of His disciples “may become perfectly one” in the Father and the Son (John 17:21–23). For Jesus became flesh and dwells among us in order to reveal the Father and His name, to share with us the glory of His righteousness, and to bring us to the Father in Himself. As the Father loved the Son from “before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24), so He loves the whole world (John 17:23, 26). Through the apostolic witness to the baptism, cross and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 1:21–22), the Lord gathers His disciples throughout the world “with one accord,” as one body in Christ (Acts 1:14). And so with one voice and by one Spirit, His Bride prays, “Come!” (Rev. 22:17). And He comes to us. He gives us“the water of life without price” to wash our robes and quench our thirst (Rev. 22:17); and He feeds us from “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit” (Rev. 22:2).
This Sunday, we are reminded that the world-view we hold now is not the same as the ancient Israelites, nor is it the same as the people of Jesus’ day and of the first century, nor will it be the same in the future. We must be prepared for new understandings and insights, new ways of thinking about and understanding God and God’s works in the world
Rogation Sunday, a time of celebration and prayer, is a time set aside to appreciate and recognize our dependence upon the land for our food and most importantly upon our dependence of God for the miracles of sprouting seeds, growing plants, and maturing harvest.
The Rogation Days, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, originated in Vienne, Francein 470 after a series of natural disasters had caused much suffering among the people. Originally, the Christian observance of Rogation was taken over from Graeco-Roman religion, where an annual procession invoked divine favour to protect crops against mildew. Archbishop Mamertus proclaimed a fast and ordered that special litanies and prayers be said as the population processed around their fields, asking God’s protection and blessing on the crops that were just beginning to sprout.
The Latin word rogare means “to ask”, thus these were “rogation” processions. The tradition grew of using processional litanies, often around the parish boundaries, for the blessing of the land. These processions concluded with a mass. The Rogation procession was suppressed at the Reformation, but it was restored in 1559. The poet George Herbert interpreted the procession as a means of asking for God’s blessing on the land, of preserving boundaries, of encouraging fellowship between neighbours with the reconciling of differences, and of charitable giving to the poor. The tradition of ‘beating the bounds’ has been preserved in some communities. In the latter a group of old and young members of the community would walk the boundaries of the parish, usually led by the parish priest and church officials, to share the knowledge of where they lay, and to pray for protection and blessings for the lands. Others maintain the traditional use of the Litany within worship. In more recent times, the scope of Rogation has been widened to include petition for the world of work and for accountable stewardship, and prayer for local communities, whether rural or urban.
The Sunday before the Rogation Days came to be considered a part of Rogationtide (or “Rogantide”) and was known as Rogation Sunday. The Gospel formerly appointed for that day was from John 16, where Jesus tells his disciples to ask, and ye shall receive.
At St. Peter’s we have used this occasion to plant trees, “beat the bounds” by reviewing our property condition, pray for rain and to ask God to bless us with a good harvest later in the year.
Today’s readings remind us that God dwells with God’s people. In Acts, Paul’s preaching brings about the conversion of Lydia, who opens her home to Paul and Timothy. John, in his Revelation, imagines life in the new Jerusalem, where the lord will be our temple, our sun and moon, our life. In the gospel, Jesus promises us the continuing presence of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
It’s clear from our Christian Scriptures that the historical Jesus was deeply concerned his ministry be carried on after his death and resurrection. That’s the problem: how do we know what Jesus practically wants us to do in our everyday lives? He certainly didn’t give his followers a step by step journal outlining what he expected. He simply gave them the Holy Spirit, his own Spirit which would not only “remind” us of the things he told his original disciples, but would also “teach” us.
As we prepare for Pentecost, in a sense we are preparing for the renewal of the Holy Spirit. God’s love is powerful and transforming. People we would never expect, like Lydia—a woman who made money by her own means and seemed to have a satisfying life—she was still yearning for more. The man who waited beside the pool for years in the second Gospel ofJohn reading had to help break down the walls of oppression himself before he could escape the oppression that kept him from the healing waters.
From John’s Gospel , we know that the Holy Spirit is working among us and reminding us of what we know, assuring us that we are part of something greater than ourselves, reminding us that God’s love is with us when we love Jesus. And we love Jesus by keeping his words—living out his commandment to love one another.
As we prepare for Pentecost, however, we are preparing for a revival, a renewal, a re-appearing of the Spirit in our lives. Perhaps the Spirit has never left us and has never left the world, but in preparing for it to come again, perhaps we will find the Spirit at work in us in a new way
Four Sundays in May and June commemorating agriculture, the Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday – are four feasts of great importance in the life of the Church. They are distinctively “named” Sundays.
Rogation Sunday on May 25 (Easter 6) goes back to prayer and fasting in early Christian times for protection for crops from disease. It was also a reflection of the Roman holiday of Robigalia at which a dog was sacrificed to propitiate Robigus, the god of agricultural disease. In England they were associated with the blessing of the fields at planting. The vicar “beat the bounds” of the parish, processing around the fields reciting psalms and the litany. In Christian years it involved fasting and abstinence in preparation for celebrating the Ascension. Traditionally, Rogation days are the three days before Ascension Day on which the litany is sung (or recited) in procession as an act of intercession.
The Ascension (June 1, celebrated May 29) is usually described as marking the completion of Jesus’ ministry on earth as he returned to Heaven. But it is far more than that. It marks the exact moment when Jesus, Son of God, commissioned his disciples to begin the gigantic task of converting the whole world. As recorded in St Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”
Luke tells us that Pentecost (June 8) occurred a short time after the Ascension, and marked the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, at his Ascension, to send the Holy Spirit on the disciples.
The gift of the Holy Spirit electrified these fearful followers – who only weeks before had run away when Jesus was arrested, and were still hiding for fear of those who had been responsible for their Lord’s death – and transformed them into men and women willing to lay down their lives for their faith, as many of them did.
The feast of Holy Trinity (celebrated June 15), though logically linked with the other two, was established much later. Although its existence was clearly stated in the New Testament, and early recognized as a doctrine of the faith, it was only when the Arian heresy – which denied Jesus was God – was spreading in the fourth century, that the church Fathers prepared an Office with canticles, responses, a preface, and hymns, to be recited at Mass. From these, the feast we now celebrate as Trinity Sunday gradually evolved.
Together, these latter three great feasts mark the promise which Jesus gave to his disciples, and its fulfilment in the Church on earth. As recorded by Matthew, the very last words Jesus said to his Apostles before going up to Heaven, were: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of time.”
