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.

A Union Soldier’s take on Solomon’s Prayer (Old Testament reading this week 1 Kings 3:5-12)

An unknown civil war soldier wrote this eloquent testimony:

"I asked for strength that I might achieve;

"I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

"I asked for health that I might do greater things;

"I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

"I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise.

"I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

"I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I had asked for, but everything that I had hoped for.

"Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered; I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

"So the Bible says that It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this."

Summer, 2023 outreach

Caroline’s Promise – 95 packs of notebook paper were donated to the Caroline’s Promise school supply distribution, which was held at  Caroline Middle School at the end of July

Jamaica –  We donated enough school supplies for each student at the Victoria School in Linstead, Jamaica,  10 categories of supplies, 3,000+ items – drawstring backpacks, sharpeners, pencils, pens, toothpaste, toothbrushes,  erasers, crayons, pencil cases, rulers,  Also 6 tablets were contributed. Finally, St Peter’s was able to donate seven used computers to the school, along with keyboards and monitors to use with each computer. We collected $2,355 at the end of June for the computers and remaining school supplies. 

Videos, Pentecost 8, July 23, 2024

Hymn of Praise – “Praise to the Living God”

Sequence Hymn – “What wondrous love is this”

Gospel and Sermon – Rev. Tom Hughes

Prayers of the People

Communion

Concluding Hymn – “On Christ the solid rock I stand”

Lectionary, Proper 11, Pentecost 8, July 23, 2023

I.Theme –   Conquering fear and uncertainty

 "Parable of the Wheat and Tares" – Lucas Gassel, 1540

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Isaiah 44:6-8
Psalm – Psalm 86:11-17 Page 710, BCP
Epistle –Romans 8:6-11
Gospel – Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 

These texts speak eloquently to the problem of fear, and fear is what many people are currently experiencing. We are confronted with fear in our jobs, our homes and our world. It is ever present and diverts us from productive activities. Despite our increasing knowledge and interconnectedness, fear is very much a part of our world and maybe even more in the last generation. We look to someone, something for security. 

So what causes the fear ? There is an “enemy” in each of these readings – Isaiah – Babylonians since the Jews were in captivity, Psalm – by a force that nearly killed the writer – Romans – “flesh” Gospel – “Devil” . In the latter we can be our own worst enemy by our propensity to judge others. The truth is that none of us are qualified to judge, only God has that privilege!  The Gospel also emphasizes that it is often difficult tell the good from the bad and separate them.  The Psalm indicate our enemies cause us to turn from God.  We feel the absence of God’s grace and we petition for this to return.

The readings emphasize that God is with us in all the things of our lives and is involved with us throughout our lives helping through his Spirit to maximise our potential. We will not be abandoned!

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Celebrating the legacy of James the Apostle, July 25

Cathedral,Santiago Spain where James is buried and celebration on July 25 with swinging of the a giant censer.

We celebrate James the Apostle on July 25. With his brother, John, the Gospels (Matthew 4, 21-22; Mark 1, 19-20; Luke 5, 10-11) record that they were fishermen, the sons of Zebedee, partners with Simon Peter, and called by Jesus from mending their nets beside the sea of Galilee at the beginning of his ministry

Jesus nicknamed them ‘the sons of thunder’ – perhaps justified by the story (Luke 9, 51-56) that they once wished to call down fire from heaven to destroy a village which had refused them hospitality.

They made it to key events in Jesus life – the Transfiguation, Gethsemene and at various healings and miracles – Peter’s mother-in-law and raising of Jairus’s daughter. Obviously, James was of Jesus closest followers.

He is known as James the Great to distinguish him from James the Less, or James the brother of the Lord.

The movie, The Way celebrates the wonderful cathedral in Santiago where his remains lie and pilgrimage that grew up around St. James life, routes that have been followed for 800 years. Read more about James and the Santiago Cathedral …

Recent Articles, July 23, 2023

Sermon, Pentecost 7, Proper 10, July 16, 2023

Beginning this Sunday and for the following two Sundays, we have the privilege of hearing Jesus tell four parables.    

In Matthew’s gospel, as Eugene Boring notes in his commentary, the words, deeds, and mission of Jesus have caused quite a bit of conflict with and rejection by the leaders of Israel, and right before the passage that we just heard, Jesus is even in conflict with his own family.  Jesus says that his family is not necessarily made up of his “blood kin,” as we say in the South. 

Instead, the family of Jesus consists of the ones who hear the word and then do God’s will. 

So according to Boring,  Jesus tells the four parables that we find in the 13th chapter of Matthew in order to comment on the meaning of his rejection by the leaders of Israel and the founding of the new community of God, the community made up of those people who do God’s will—not necessarily the religious leaders of the day, or even his own family.

In today’s parable, Jesus, the sower, sows God’s Word, or the seeds, out in the world, with mixed success.  Many of the seeds are lost as they fall on pathways so well-trodden that the ground is too hard to receive the seeds and so the birds eat the seeds up.   More seed is wasted as it falls onto rocky ground.  Even though some of the seed takes root, it withers away because there’s not enough soil to keep the roots moist.  Other seeds come up but get choked out by the thorns that have also grown up alongside the seed.  Finally, some of the seed falls on good soil and produces a harvest that is abundant beyond imagining. 

So someone hearing this parable might come to understand that despite all the conflict and rejection with the leaders of Israel, a new understanding of God’s kingdom on earth will take root and produce an abundant harvest.  This parable, as Boring points out, shows us the “mysterious, concealed working of God, who miraculously brings the harvest.” 

The parables that Jesus tells start in a familiar world, but as the story goes on, those listening find that their usual expectations get challenged, and new understandings begin to take shape in their hearts and minds. 

Imagine what would happen if Jesus were among us today, and wanted to tell a parable to us, to get us to consider what it means to do God’s will, to reconsider who is God’s family, and to ponder what an abundant harvest, brought about by the mysterious working of God, will look like. 

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