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.

Recent Articles, March 24

Palm Sunday, March 24
Bulletin
Sermon
God’s Garden, 10:00-11am
Photos
Palm Sunday Introduction
Lectionary, 11am service
Visual Lectionary – Vanderbilt
Commentary
Setting – “We’re Going up to Jerussalem”
Curry Sets the Scene
Feelings and Emotions
Palm Sunday Scenes
Meanings, Path and Art of Palm Sunday
Voices, Palm Sunday

Holy Week
Holy Week introduction
Summary of the days
Why was Jesus killed?
Holy Week services
Holy Week Day by Day
Tenebrae, March 27
Maundy Thursday, March 28
Good Friday, March 29
Good Friday is essential
Easter Voices, Year B
Easter Year B
Easter Commentary

Ministries
Portland Guitar Duo at St. Peter’s
Help us advertise the concert!
Past Concerts at St. Peter’s


Village Harvest, March, 2024
Village Harvest, Feb., 2024


Creed Class, March 20 – Conclusion
Creeds class, March 13 – Holy Spirit
Creeds class, March 6 – Jesus
Creeds class, Feb. 28- God
Creeds class, Feb. 21
Lenten Study – The Creeds


God’s Garden- “Resurrection Eggs”
God’s Garden – Holy Week
God’s Garden – “Let the Children come to me”
God’s Garden – Making pretzels
God’s Garden- Learning the Lord’s Prayer
God’s Garden – The Alleluia Banner, Part 2
The Alleluia Banner, Part 1


Discretionary Fund donations Feb. 11


Sacred Ground, Jan., 2024
Sacred Ground, Feb., 2024

“Letting Go” – Diocese of Atlanta, Week 5

Letting Go of the Fear of Death

“Rather than a face-to-face meeting with some spiritual seekers at a festival, Jesus sent them faith-to-faith words, “…Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains just a single grain; but if it dies it bears much fruit.”

“Singer Stevie Wonder expresses that idea this way,“… today I know I’m living, but tomorrow could make me the past for that I mustn’t fear. For I know deep in my mind the love of me I’ve left behind.” Take your pick or choose both, the big idea is the same, let go of your fear of death!

“Both Jesus and Wonder accept the biological inevitability of death but both agree that death is spiritually surmountable! Each sees the blessing of life clearly enough to understand the necessity of death. Both know the blustery cold of the winter intensifies the gratitude for the sunny summer day- both seasons being part of a genius, unified whole.

“Jesus and Wonder want us to see ourselves as participants in a vast parade of humanity, here for a season to share and prove the power of love before returning to the close company of God who is love. Rather than providing anxiety management techniques about death, Jesus and Wonder both imply a fear shrinking question with their words,What must I do to die a good death?

“You see, the great irony is that those of us who struggle with the fear of death also really struggle with the fear of living life abundantly. And yet, living life abundantly is precisely the medicine that will set our fear of death to flight.”

SALT blog for March 17, Lent 5 – “The Hour has Come”

Gospel. John 12:20-33

As with the story in John about the Temple, this portion has a different chronology. “This is Jesus’ last public teaching.

What comes next is his private goodbye to his disciples (the so-called “farewell discourse”), followed by the passion story. Tensions have been rising, and now, as Passover approaches, those tensions reach a breaking point. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, and this astonishing act — along with the widespread excitement about it — has set in motion the local authorities’ plot to kill both Jesus and Lazarus. Lazarus’ sister, Mary, has come to anoint Jesus for his death.

Here is the different chronology. “But Palm Sunday apparently had already happened. And Jesus, enacting ancient prophecies in Zechariah and the Psalms, has just entered Jerusalem on a donkey. John goes out of his way to underline that the crowds who gather along the roadsides waving palm branches are there because they had either seen Lazarus’ resurrection or heard about it. Looking at the crowds from a distance, the authorities are concerned, and whisper to each other: “Look, the world has gone after him!” (John 12:19).

“In chapter 12, “the world has gone after him,” waving branches and singing praises, and two foreign pilgrims in town for the Passover festival approach Philip and ask “to see Jesus.” In short: the word is out. Jesus’ purpose — to make the unseeable God known — is at last being fulfilled, and for this very reason, storm clouds are gathering overhead.

“Remember, the rationale behind the authorities’ plot (11:47-53) is tied directly to Jesus’ growing fame: if the people believe in Jesus in great numbers, the commotion may well attract attention — and even provoke a preemptive attack — from the Roman imperial occupiers worried about the potential for Jewish rebellion. Thus for the authorities, the more Jesus’ celebrity grows (and what’s more spectacular than raising someone from the dead?), the more the temple and the whole people are put at risk.

“Apparently sensing this tipping point when he hears that two foreign pilgrims want to meet him, Jesus declares for the first time that “the hour has come” (12:23). At several points earlier in the story, beginning with the wedding at Cana (2:4), Jesus has said that his hour has not yet arrived — but now it’s at hand. Now he will come fully into view, for all to see. Now he will be “glorified”

“What is that mean Jesus turns to an agricultural image: a grain that falls to the earth and dies, and then grows as a seed grows, bearing much nourishing fruit. In other words, being “glorified” will look like a human life freed from self-centered isolation, a generous life lived for others in community, in which both self and others flourish.

“It’s worth noting that Jesus isn’t referring only to his death here, but rather to his death, resurrection, and ascension (“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (12:32)). The seed dies, yes, but then rises again and bears fruit. Jesus goes on to spell out this theme in his subsequent private farewell to his disciples, casting his ascension (i.e., his departure) as a way of making room for the disciples to do even greater things (14:12). This is why Jesus came in the first place, he declares, for this hour of his death, rising, and ascension, all for the sake of the birth of a new community. With the two Greek pilgrims, then, in this choreography of growth and nourishment we may truly “see Jesus.” God’s self-giving love for humanity is so strong that God will undergo our rejection, even to death, and then transform that rejection into new life and flourishing for the sake of “all people” (12:32).

“Jesus says all this, John reports, “to indicate the kind of death he was to die” (12:33)

“First, for John, the focus is not on the death per se but rather on what the death makes possible: the resurrection, the ascension, and not least, the bearing of “much fruit,” the birth of the church who will do even greater things (14:12)

“And second, for John, the story of Jesus’ death is shot through with a kind of sacred, subversive irony. They thought they were burying him in a grave, but actually they were planting him like a seed. They thought they were killing him to ward off the Romans, but actually they were making possible a new harvest of “much fruit,” a “lifting up” through which Jesus will “draw all people to myself” (12:32). This kind of sacred irony is itself a comfort, since it illustrates how God can work through even the worst we can do, redeeming and remaking what seems irredeemable into the service of new life. Seen through this lens, the cross is an act of subversive, redemptive divine irony: one of the worst objects on earth remade into one of the best, a sword into a ploughshare. What kind of death did Jesus die? A fruitful death, a death that subversively enabled even greater things, including a new community: men and women, young and old, Jews and Greeks.”

 

 

The Creeds Class, Part 4, March 13, 2024

“Worship the Holy Spirit” – Lance Brown

I believe in the Holy Spirit

Collect for Trinity Sunday – ” Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.” Amen

This session completes the Trinity with the Holy Spirit. There were 6 participants.

The Holy Spirit

In Hebrew and in Greek, the word spirit means “breath.”  Our spirit is the breath of life that allows us to be active.  God’s spirit is God’s activity throughout all the ages, beginning with creation and continuing into our lives today. 

Read more

Salt Blog, Lent 4 – “The Saving action of God” for everyone

The bronze serpent (which Moses erected in the Negev desert) on Mount Nebo created by the Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni, visually merging the healing bronze serpent set up by Moses in the desert, and the Crucifixion of Jesus.

“In any case, the center of gravity in stories from Numbers in the Old Testament (Bronze Servant) and the Gospel (“For God so Loved the world” — and the key link between them — is the saving action of God, as well as God’s intention to save not just a select few but rather “everyone” who looks upon the bronze serpent (Numbers), and indeed the entire world (John).”

To make his case, Jesus alludes to the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 21) and to Abraham and Isaac (“gave his only Son”; John 3:16; Genesis 22)… Jesus puns on the phrase, “lifted up”: Moses lifted up the bronze serpent and Jesus will be lifted up on the cross, and at the same time the phrase also alludes to Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (John 3:14). Above all, however, the reference to the story from Numbers highlights God’s character as the One who saves even and especially in the face of rebellion. The Israelites had self-destructively turned against God, but when they asked for deliverance from the consequences of their sin (and please note, their plea isn’t out of any high-minded piety, but rather is driven by self-preservation!), God gracefully delivers them.”

Read more

“Letting Go” – Diocese of Atlanta, Week 4

Letting Go of Condemnation

If God had a tattoo, like some of us do, across God’s strong forearm it would read, “I love the world.” Everything God seems to do flows from that reality. God loves the world so much, God responded by giving God’s self, God’s son, to the world. Jesus coming among us is God’s love-errand, so that we wouldn’t “perish” or be “condemned” but have “eternal life.” That is life beyond biological definition now, and life so long and deep that years fail as a measurement tool.

The purpose of God coming among was/is not to “condemn” but to “save.” If that is so, I’m pretty sure that means as recipients of this gracious purpose and act of God, we have to let go of the right to condemn others. Decades ago I was a U.S. Navy Search and Rescue Diver. We were deployed in helicopters when things went really bad. We were deployed for rescue not to condemn people for being in situations that required rescue.

Forgoing condemnation of others or even ourselves is deeper than performing politeness toward others or better, kinder, self-talk. Letting go of condemnation is about the appreciation of how God uses power. And, mercy is a sublime expression of power. Having received mercy, our pride and insistence on one-upmanship is purged and real relationship is now possible.

The Creeds Class, Part 3, March 6, 2024

We had 8 participants. Thanks to all who attended.

The second part of the creed deals with Jesus  (Who do you say that I am?)  Look at the creed, The first part of section 2)

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father.  Through him all things were made. 

Lord—The very oldest Christian creed is one sentence.  “Jesus is Lord.”  (I Corinthians 12:3) The Greek term is Kyrios, which means Sir, this term is also used for pagan gods.  When early Christians confessed that Jesus was their Lord, they deliberately rejected the many lords and at some personal risk, also challenged the claims to dominion on the part of secular rulers.  To call Jesus Lord is to testify that our lives are oriented around Jesus and his teaching about the will of God for our lives. 

The name Jesus—comes from the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua, meaning Yahweh is salvation.  Both Matthew and Luke write in their gospels that Mary’s son be given this name. 

Christ, Greek Christos, is a translation of the Hebrew Messiah, the anointed one.  A king, descended from David, who would conquer the enemies of Israel in a decisive battle,  and establish a universal kingdom of peace and justice for all.  We can’t know precisely why the early Christians called Jesus the Messiah, but it is clear that they found his kingship to be other than a geographical realm on earth.  “My Kingdom is not from this world.” 

Read more

The Stations go up…

The Stations of the Cross were put up on Wed., Feb. 28. Thanks to Catherine and Larry for their labors:

These are Mary Peterman’s drawings from 2019 that we put on posters for Easter, 2023.

The Stations of the Cross began as the practice of pious pilgrims to Jerusalem who would retrace the final journey of Jesus Christ to Calvary.

Later, for the many who wanted to pass along the same route, but could not make the trip to Jerusalem, a practice developed that eventually took the form of the fourteen stations currently found in almost every church. This allowed people to follow the way in their hearts as they meditated on the last hours of Jesus’ life.

The stations can be walked in a small group or in solitude. Meditating on the words for each station, and on Mary’s watercolors, will be a spiritual experience that will deepen your relationship to Jesus and your faith.

Walking the stations of the cross also remind us that Jesus lived and died as one of us, and knew horrible suffering. As we travel with him through his last hours, we come to know that Jesus travels with us in our hours of greatest need.

Here is a gallery from last year of the complete set :

(full size gallery)