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 is traditionally the Christmas Play. Here is a review of the past plays. It is kept fresh with each play written for that year though you can expect to see the usual characters – angels, shepherds and sheep. There seems to be a part for everyone which makes this play unique. The bulletin is here. We had 58 in attendance on a beautiful sunny Sunday, with moderate temperatures, for a change.
This year the play is not inserted in a separate service but was almost the entire service. We did light the 4th Advent candle and drew the winner of 3 water colors with the proceeds going to the Heifer Project. (The paintings were graciously donated by Mary Peterman). $200 was raised.
Sunday a large congregation met at 11am for the Annual Meeting of St. Peters which held during the church service led by Rev. Tom Hughes. Speakers included John Davis ( Sr. Warden), Larry Saylor (Jr. Warden), Ken Pogue (ECM) & Andrea Pogue (ECW).
A Valentine Social Honoring the Ladies of St. Peters -by ECM The Episcopal Church Men (ECM) would like to cordially invite you to help coordinate, host and pay tribute to the wonderful, hard-working and gracious ladies of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church as well as the blessed ladies in Port Royal and beyond that contribute their time and efforts in support the mission of the church.
Cuisine – Our mission is to provide a heartfelt and joyful experience for our wives and lady attendees that will include a light, picnic style meal of fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, mixed green salad, green beans, baked beans, dinner rolls and dessert; consisting of cherry cheesecake.
Entertainment – Entertainment will consist of a series of randomly, self-selected melodies, popular standards and seasonal favorites; all sung together in “sing-along” fashion, lead and accompanied by the talented Meistro, Lawrence (Larry) Saylor and his guitar (Bessie). It promises to be wildly entertaining, and yes, the words to every song will be readily available for the divas in all of us. Of course there will be beverages; coffee, tea, soda, and wine sufficient enough to loosen the vocal cords of even the most inhibited among us. So let’s sing together and celebrate the ladies in our lives to the glory of His name.
Attire – The preferred attire for gentlemen is Blazer/Sportscoat (No Tie); Ladies – Go for it. We love it when you Show Out!
Gentlemen – Please help us demonstrate our love (your love) and appreciation for the ladies in our lives by donating whatever time you can spare towards the coordination, set-up, errands and the anticipated cleanup duties. Also donations in the amount of $30 are requested to cover the costs for this illustrious event. Please make your contributions payable to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and write “ECM” on the memo line.
A Case for Love”, the movie is now available for home viewing on satellite, cable and digital rental outlets
Here is the link for Amazon and a list of the other outlets:
• Amazon Video Direct
• iTunes
• DIRECTV
• U-verse
• Sling TV
• Vudu (Fandango At Home)
• Dish Network
• Verizon Fios
• Microsoft
• Google Play
Seven people from St Peter’s went to the Paragon Theater in Fredericksburg on Jan 23, 2024 to see “A Case for Love” movie. It was 3+ years in the making by an Episcopalian filmmaker and is based on Bishop Curry’s “Way of Love” concept.
The movie spotlighted 13 stories involving unselfish love plus many more “man on the street” questions about Love. “What is love? Is love dead?” A number of prominent individuals were spotlighted including Episcopalians, Bishop Curry, Senator Danforth, and Al Roker.
As Bishop Curry writes in his book Love is the Way “Love as an action is the only thing that has ever changed the world for the better..” “Love is a commitment to seek the good and to work for the good and welfare of others.”
“A CASE FOR LOVE reminds us that no matter who you are or where you are from, love and kindness is a thread that connects us all. We just have to be willing to choose it. Through wide-ranging interviews, the audience realizes that each of us is unique and has our own story to share. But it is the power of love and kindness which helps us overcome challenges, differences, and division.”
Jaclyn Lindsey, Co-Founder & CEO, KINDNESS.ORG
Three links including the trailer, our promotion and Brian Ide one of the organizers:
General Convention is the Episcopal bicameral legislature that produces policy from resolutions that come before it. Deputies from 110 dioceses in the United States and abroad which include lay leadership and diocesan bishops, as well as members of the Episcopal Church Women, and other visitors went to Louisville. The 81st General Convention took place June 23 – 28, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky.
It was a busy week – 396 resolutions were part of the 6 days and only two were incomplete with no action taken
We pass Midsummer’s Night in June . European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. This year it is being celebrated on June 24.
In the US, we tend to celebrate the solstice, a one day event which occurs June 20, 4:50pm.
The solstice occurs when one of Earth’s poles is tilted toward the sun at its most extreme angle, and due to Earth’s tilt, this happens twice a year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice falls in June (while the Southern Hemisphere experiences the winter solstice), and in the Southern Hemisphere, it falls in December (while the Northern Hemisphere experiences the winter solstice).
The Midsummer’s night celebration began in pre -Christian times when it was believed that forces could slip between this world and the next at a time when there was more light than at any time of the year. Fires were lit to ward off the evil spirits.
We may think of Midsummer’s Night in terms of Shakespeare’s play of the same name. Ironically, most of the play takes place in a dark forest in a wild, mysterious atmosphere, rather than in the light, in which the magical elements of Shakespeare’s plot can be played out. One of the subplots involves the brawl of the ferries, Oberon and Titania which creates a disturbance in nature.
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. “
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.
“Thy Kingdom Come” is celebrating its 8 year anniversary in 2024. Since May 2016, The 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. Check out their new mobile app.
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.
A blustery night greeted us for the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple on Feb. 2. The wind was howling and blowing against the doors. The bulletin is here. The readings are here.
On January 23, 2024, there will be a one night showing of a new movie entitled “A Case for Love“. The movie originated in 2019, prior to the pandemic by a team led by Brian Ide, a film director in California.
The movie may be a good tie-in to our 2024 theme. St. Peter’s has a 2024 theme of “ Walk in Love” with 4 distinct seasons. The movie will be shown during one of those seasons, Epiphany, with a title of “Walk in the Light”. Light has been viewed as a metaphor for righteousness and goodness. As Bishop Curry writes in his book Love is the Way “Love as an action is the only thing that has ever changed the world for the better..” “Love is a commitment to seek the good and to work for the good and welfare of others.”
Ide writes about how the movie idea came to him “Recently, I had grown more and more troubled by the increasing divisive state of our culture, and found myself contemplating, “What can I do to help?”
“While that led to many considerations, at the end of the day, all I really knew how to do well is make movies. Combining this glaring need with my skills, I went about the task of making this documentary —to give voice to my own thoughts as well as many others around the country.
“Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, inspired the film’s focus as he offered a solution to what ails us: “Love.” Specifically, “Unselfish Love.”
“As Bishop Curry wrote in his latest book, “When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. When love is the way, we will lay our swords and shields down by the riverside to study war no more. When love is the way, there’s plenty of room for all of God’s children. When love is the way, we actually treat each other, well, like we are actually family.”
“Could the answer to society’s problems really be that simple and actually within the grasp of each of us? This film presents what I observed and encountered while criss-crossing back and forth across the U.S., in search of the answer. Viewers must decide for themselves, and if their answer is “yes,” they will hopefully be inspired to live—intentionally—more selflessly and become part of the solution, making their own case for love
“In the documentary, our film team travels the U.S. searching for people living their lives selflessly and interviews them about how that way of living affects others and themselves. We also interview random people on the street, discussing where they’ve witnessed unselfish love and where they’ve seen its absence. We also learn what well-known figures, including Pete Buttigieg, Al Roker, Sam Waterston, John Danforth, Becca Stevens, Jon Meacham, Russell Moore, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Jim Clyburn, have to say about the topic. Finally, Bishop Michael Curry places all we’ve seen into context.
“Subjects explored: Racial Justice, Sexual Identity, Military Service, Foster Care, Politics, Sexual Trafficking, Disability, Loss of Loved Ones, Refugees, Volunteering, Food Justice and more.
“What’s the verdict on “A Case for Love“? Is unselfish love the antidote to what ails us? Join us January 23, 2024 and decide for yourself!
“The film will be shown on one night in about 1,000 locations. The closest location to us is Paragon movie theatre in Fredericksburg. There are two times – 4pm, 7pm. The film is about 2 hours. The admission is $12.75 adult and seniors $9.50.”
“Thy Kingdom Come” is celebrating its 8 year anniversary in 2024. Since May 2016, The 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 
