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.

2023 Sun April 16

Celebrate Easter Tide

Forward Movement is publishing a meditation everyday during Easter Tide. Access 50days here>

From their introduction – “Easter gives us 50 days to celebrate, 50 days to begin new habits so we can live an Easter life” – and celebrate!

“We get 50 whole days to celebrate the glory of Easter. And we need it. It’s not easy to grasp the mystery and majesty of what happened when Jesus walked out of the tomb on Easter morning.”

“On Good Friday, the powers of the world did their best to extinguish God’s perfect love. It looked like evil had won. But early on the morning of Easter, women found an empty tomb. They went and told others who were disciples of Jesus. The disciples saw that Jesus’s promises had come true.

“Before long, those followers of Jesus told others. And they told others. Soon thousands and thousands, and millions and millions, of people wanted to know the power of God’s transforming love in Jesus Christ. The Easter season invites us to remember that Easter changes everything, not only for Jesus but for us and for the whole universe.”

Earth Day 2023. Focus on Plastics

Earth Day was founded in 1970 and included environmental teach-ins that educated  Americans about environmental and species conservation issues, and connected those issues to their health and well-being.

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to call for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and  universities organized demonstrations and teach-ins against the deterioration of the environment.

Earth Day 1970 activated a bipartisan spirit that motivated the passing of the Clean Air,  Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.  2020 is the 50th anniversary Earth Day

The theme for 2023, “Invest in Our Planet” is the same theme as 2022. What gives?  We are behind on  reducing greenhouse gases to keep global warming below 1.5C. 

We need to be in a neutral position or a net zero emissions position by 2050,  A net-zero emissions balance is achieved when the amount of greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere is balanced by what we take out. This can be done by carbon sequestration, i.e. by removing carbon from the atmosphere, or through offsetting measures, which typically involve supporting climate-oriented projects. We need to absorb more and emit less. 

We need to bring the  different groups together – governments, businesses, and citizens – in a concerted, organized effort to speed up the process of neutrality. We need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). We need to act in defense of the planet. 

It starts at home. One of the continuing themes of  Earth Day is reducing plastics, our focus at St. Peter this year.  On one day walking 20 minutes in our neighborhood, we bagged up these plastics shown in the picture.  

The Earth Day site has a plastics calculator this year – https://www.earthday.org/plastic-pollution-calculator-2/

Use this calculator to learn about how many plastic items you  consume and discard every year.

For May, consider all the types of plastics you use. For every material listed, you’ll see three boxes. In the first box, fill in your daily consumption of the specific item. The second box will auto-populate with your total consumption every year. The third row is your projected reduction of this type of plastics for the year.  

Let’s document your actual reduction in May and then return it to Catherine at the end of May and see what difference we can make as a church. 

Videos, Easter 2, April 16, 2023

Complete service

1. Prelude – “O sons and daughters” – Choir

2. Gospel

3. Sermon

4. Prayers of the People

5. Offertory – “With the Voice of Singing”

6. Closing Hymn – “Jesus is Lord of all the earth”

Sermon, April 16, 2023, Easter 2 – Repentance “in touch with the Reality that God Creates”

“Hope” – George Frederic Watts 1886

Repentance plays a major part in today’s gospel. 

So let’s start with what repentance means.   

I like Eugene Peterson’s explanation of repentance in his book, Long Obedience in the Same Direction. 

Peterson says that “the usual biblical word describing the no we say to the world’s lies and the yes we say to God’s truth is repentance.  It is always and everywhere the first word in the Christian life.” 

He goes on to say that “repentance is not an emotion.  It is not feeling sorry for your sins.  It is a decision.” 

And that “repentance is the most practical of all words and the most practical of all acts.  It is a feet -on- the- ground sort of word.  It puts a person in touch with the reality that God creates.” 

In today’s gospel, John gives us the closing event on the day of the resurrection.  Early that morning, Mary Magdalene had met Jesus in the garden. 

After this emotional meeting, Mary had gone to tell the disciples that she had seen Jesus and all that he had said to her. 

Later that day, the disciples met, which brings us today’s gospel. 

They had locked all the doors of the house where they were because they were afraid. 

And Jesus came to them and said, “Peace be with you.”  He showed them his wounds.  They could have no doubt that Jesus was the person standing there in their midst.  They could see for themselves that God had brought about a new reality, something that they could not have imagined, new life out of death, , that is, the resurrection of Jesus.   

And they rejoiced. 

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Reduce single use plastics for Earth Day 2023

Earth Day, April 22, 2023 originated in 1970 after Sen. Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin witnessed the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. He hoped it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. It did lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the passage of the Clean Air Act and a dialogue on a host of issues.

In our time it focuses on climate change. The Earth Day theme for 2023, “Invest in Our Planet” is the same theme as 2022.

It starts at home. One of the continuing themes of Earth Day is reducing plastics, our focus at St. Peter this year. On one day walking 20 minutes in our neighborhood, we bagged up these plastics shown in the picture

Plastics in the environment never fully decompose. Instead, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces – eventually into microplastics – that remain in the environment.

Because of their small sizes, toxic microplastics in aquatic environments blend with plankton at the base of the food web. These microplastics are consumed and work their way up into larger and larger consumers, including humans. An estimated 10 million tons of plastic enter the oceans every year. By the year 2050, by weight, there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

Steps to Reduction of your use of platics.

The Earth Day 2023 Theme is “Invest In Our Planet. What Will You Do?”

1. Awareness– Enter our contest.

This Saturday, Earth Day, April 22—take a walk and participate in the St Peter’s “trashy contest.” Prizes will be given in the following categories: amount of trash, grossest piece of trash, smallest and largest piece of trash. Bring your entry to church next Sunday, April 23.

2. Going further – Calculate your usage.

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Who was Thomas ?

Who was Thomas ?

Thomas’ name has come down to us as "Doubting Thomas. "  He’s been labeled a "doubter" for his inability to understand Christ’s resurrection from the dead following his crucifixion.  It’s not so much that he doubted the resurrection but that he needed a personal encounter with Jesus to make the resurrection real. His request that he see the wounds on Jesus’s hand left by the nails before he would actually believe that he was speaking to the risen Christ, has provided us with the phrase "Doubting Thomas."   That makes it appear to doubt is not a part of faith which it is. 

National Geographic – "Thomas’s moment of incredulity has proved a two-edged sword in the history of Christian thought. On the one hand, some theologians are quick to point out that his doubt is only natural, echoing the uncertainty, if not the deep skepticism, felt by millions in regard to metaphysical matters. How can we know? That Thomas challenged the risen Christ, probed the wounds, and then believed, some say, lends deeper significance to his subsequent faith. On the other hand, his crisis of doubt, shared by none of the other Apostles, is seen by many as a spiritual failure, as a need to know something literally that one simply cannot know. In the Gospel of John, 20:29, Christ himself chastises Thomas, saying, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Loyalty was closer to his character. As one of the disciples, when Jesus announced His intention of going to the Jerusalem area, brushing aside the protests of His disciples that His life was in danger there, at which Thomas said to the others: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:7,8,16) If Thomas was pessimistic, he was also sturdily loyal and determined. He wanted to get it right

Before the Doubting Thomas episode, he was honest and sincere. At the Last Supper, Jesus said: "I go to prepare a place for you…. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Thomas replied: "Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?" To this Jesus answered: "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:1-6)

Thomas is mentioned again (John 21) as one of the seven disciples who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Tiberias) when the Risen Lord appeared to them. Aside from this he appears in the New Testament only as a name on lists of the Apostles. A couple of centuries later a story was circulating in the Mediterranean world that he had gone to preach in India; and there is a Christian community in India (the Kerala district) that claims descent from Christians converted by the the preaching of Thomas.

Following Christ’s ascension, the apostles divided the world for missionary purposes. Thomas was assigned to travel to India to spread Christianity. He objected to this group decision. He said he wasn’t healthy enough to travel. But he couldn’t possibly be successful there, he told the others, contending that a Hebrew couldn’t possibly teach the Indians. It’s even said that Christ appeared to him in a vision encouraging him to travel to India. Thomas remained unmoved by this revelation as well.

A merchant eventually sold Thomas into slavery in India. It was then, when he was freed from bondage that this saint began to form Christian parishes and building churches. It’s not surprising that to this day, St. Thomas is especially venerated as The Apostle in India. According to legend, Thomas built a total of seven churches in India, as well as being martyred during a prayer session with a spear near Madras around the year 72 C.E.  

He is often pictured holding a spear. Paintings of martyrs often show them holding or accompanied by the instruments with which they were put to death. 

A recently discovered work called the Gospel of Thomas is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus,

Recent Articles, April 16, 2023