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.

Village Harvest

Congregational Meeting, 2025

JANUARY 26, 2025          

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.

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Village Harvest – 6 months 2024

2nd Quarter 2024 was positive for the Village Harvest in almost every category which boosted year to date trends for six months.

For the year St. Peter’s served 575 clients the best in the 4 years, 2021-2024 (compared to 480, 543, and 535 in earlier years. Growth for 6 months in 2024 was 20% compared to (12%) a year ago. Second Quarter 2024, client growth only was 8% (compared to 6% and 3%, previous 2 years.)

Pounds provided grew significantly in the  2nd Quarter. For the year, St. Peter’s has provided 7,539 in 2024 compared to 6,370 in 2023. It is slightly below 2022 and 2021 at 7,590 and 7,664.

2024 growth was 18% compared to a decrease of (16%) in 2023 and (1%) in 2022. If the 2nd quarter only is considered, then 2024 is the best 2nd quarter in pounds provided in the 2021-2024 period.

Pounds per client in 2024 still lags in earlier years. For the 6 month period 2024 pounds per client was 13.1 under last year at 13.3 and the previous 2 years over 14 pounds.  If the 2nd quarter only is considered pounds was client 14.4 and the best in the 2021-2024 time period.

Looking at the composition of foods, there is another favorable trend. If we combine produce and grocery, it is up from 79% to 83% from 2023 to 2024 and 65% in 2022. These are basic staples and sustainable foods and exclude meat and drinks.

Costs were the highest over the period at $566 for the 2nd quarter compared to $500 last year.  For the year they total to $1,077 compared to $1,004 in 2023. Cost growth was 7%, highter than the previous two years at (4%) 2023, 1% in 2022.

Clients and food relate directly to those receiving food. The issue of costs is significant to an operation like the Village Harvest which runs not off parishioner pledges but restricted or special giving.

Costs are directly related to pounds of food purchased. The actual costs per pound have decreased in 2024.  Costs per pound for half year 2024 were $0.14  and lower than $0.16 for 2023. $0.14 is the same for 2022 but above $0.13 in 2021.

Thus, at half year June, 2024, the higher cost relate more to the volume of food purchased and not increasing cost per per pounds.

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Sunday’s Thoughts, June 2, 2024

A lovely collect this Sunday was a good start – “On this day of rest and gladness, we praise you, God of creation, for the dignity of work and the joy of play, for the challenge of witness and the invitation to delight at your table. Renew our hearts through your sabbath rest, that we might be refreshed to continue in your work of restoring the world to wholeness. Amen”

It is all about energy – work, play, witness, renewal and restoration.

This sense of energy carried through to the blessing-
“May the light of God illumine the heart of our souls.
May the flame of Christ kindle us to love.
May the fire of the Spirit free us to live.
This day, and forever more.”

We had the Rev. Shirley Smith Graham to talk to the congregation about the transition, planning and next steps. Johnny and the Vestry are handling this.

The sermon use the clay pots metaphor to illustrate Paul’s reading from Corinthians – “We have this treasure in clay jars.” In one case light can shine through and another it cannot. This was acted out by three children helpers. It provided examples of how St. Peter’s lets light shine through – the Village Harvest distributing food, the Jamaica project providing educational materials, the work with other organizations in the area including the schools, Sacred Ground providing scholarships.

We had another one coming up this month in June. Some of the best ministries are home grown and we have Shred-It that is a combination of fellowship, ecological goodness and outreach. On June 12, 1:30pm bring your documents to the church to be securely shred. Enjoy the fellowship with neighbors. Make a monetary contribution to St. Peter’s outreach for keeping your documents safe, secure and out of the landfill.

“Only God could give this small church the power to accomplish these things. God’s power works in us so that God’s glory can shine out through us.”

A nod to the transition – We are going to get broken in this life and suffer “big and and little deaths”. But these can be beneficial ” Change cracks us open so that new light and life can flow in and then back out into the world. Churches in transition are in the process of dying to what has been so that they can be open to the new life that will be, new life and light that they can then pour out into the world.”

Paul had the last word in the sermon – “Paul was right. We do have this treasure of God’s light in clay jars. So may we welcome the breaking, the spilling, the hardships, and the changes that life brings to each one of us and to our church. For through us, Jesus is already coming again in glory every time we get broken apart and his light shines and pours out through our brokenness into the world”

A Very Productive Village Harvest, May 15, 2024

Below are some of the foods and workers on Tuesday, May 14 unboxing, sorting and bagging the distribution. Thanks to Cookie and Johnny for obtaining the food from the Healthy Harvest Food Bank as well as working with the food, assisted by Elizabeth, Andrea, Lin, Dave, and Catherine and Ben.

May was an explosion in both food provided and clients receiving!  (A nice 188th birthday present for St. Peter’s, consecrated on this day in 1836.)The weather was drizzly but thankfully that didn’t affect the turnout. May featured the largest number of clients, 119 since Nov. 2020 when it was 135. (A year ago the number was 93). Elizabeth reports that “The 119 includes the people Catherine and Jan and Lin pick up for. This may have been more than usual, and we also seemed to have more people from Essex and from Port Royal itself than before.”

The pounds available in May was 1,400 the largest since Dec. 2022 at 1,468  (A year ago in May, 2023  1,143)

Year to date we have  served 487 people compared to 415 last year representing a 17.3% increase. The client total also exceeds both 2022, 447 and 2021, 465.  However, it would be under the pre-pandemic years of 2019,  593, and 2018, 501 (with one month cancelled). Still, it represents an important improvement over the last few years.

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Update on Snacks for Caroline County Public Schools

Based on information discussed at the February CERVE meeting regarding the need for snacks at the elementary schools in Caroline County, St Peter’s Vestry made a donation, along with many other churches, to raise $1268 to be spent on snacks for the three schools. Teachers at these schools have been individually providing snacks for their classrooms since many of the children cannot afford to bring a daily snack to school.  

One of the CERVE members coordinated with personnel at the three county elementary schools, getting input about what snacks would be wanted.  She then purchased juice boxes, fruit cups, apple sought and other healthy snacks and delivered snacks to the three schools.  With the donations received, the schools will receive snacks through the rest of this school year.  Needless to say, everyone is extremely grateful for this direct help for our Caroline County children.