St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Port Royal, VA
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, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.
July is usually considered butterfly month but several have come our way. Here are two submitted by Andrea and Ben on June 21.
Catherine added the four swallow tails butterflies on June 28. These are the last four images.
There are about 20,000 species of butterflies worldwide. About 700 inhabit North America.
Sunday, July 16th is the deadline for St Peter’s to collect 8.5”looseleaf, hole punched notebook paper for Caroline County school children, to be distributed by Caroline’s Promise on Saturday, July 29th. Our goal is 200 packs of 8.5×11 looseleaf notebook paper, 3 hole punched . There is no specific quantity (200, 500 sheets, etc) to purchase. Most of them have been 150 sheet packs
[As of July 9 we have collected 37 packs of notebook paper. One week to go. ]
Bring your donation to church and place it in the back pew. If you’d like to make a monetary donation toward this project, write a check to St Peter’s and put Notebook Paper/Outreach on the memo line.
We have frequently partnered with Caroline’s Promise for school supplies. (Last year it was markers). Caroline’s Promise works to help young people in Caroline County to succeed by providing a healthy start and future, one of their five promises. You can read more about Caroline’s promise at
this link. https://www.carolinespromise.org/
Their distribution July 29, 10am-12pm
Caroline Middle School
13325 Devils Three Jump Road
Milford VA 22514
Sermon, Proper 8, Year A 2023
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18, Romans 6: 12-23, Matthew 10:40-42
In a Native American legend recorded for You Tube by the Anasazi Foundation, a grandparent tells his grandchild about two wolves who are at war. The grandparent describes the two wolves.
One is a bad wolf full of anger, envy, jealousy, regret, resentment, judgement, bitterness, hate, spite, cruelty, greed, self-pity, guilt, inferiority, lies, false pride, and ego.
The other wolf, the good wolf, is full of peace, joy, hope, love, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence and generosity, empathy, truth, compassion, self-control, and faith.
The grandparent places his hand on his grandchild’s shoulder. “These two wolves are at war inside of me, and also inside of you, and every man, woman and child who walks this earth.”
The grandchild thinks for a moment and then asks the grandparent, “Which wolf will win?”
The grandparent replies, “The one you feed.”
The stole has a clue to Catherine’s sermon today, July 2, 2023- It’s a Navajo stole
In fact the service had a number of references to Native Americans :
1 “Many and Great,” today’s hymn of praise, was originally written in 1842 in the Dakota Native American language by Joseph R. Renville. Its Dakota title is “Wakantanka taku nitawa”. The original text is based on Jeremiah 10:12-13.
2. Prayers of the People – opening – “On this Independence Day weekend, let us give thanks for our nation, while asking forgiveness for the ways in which our ancestors systematically removed and tried to destroy the Native Americans who were here before us, in order that today we may strive to live together in unity, working to meet the needs of this world and all our neighbors in your Name.”
3 The closing prayer in The Prayers of the People is by Lloyd Carl Owle (Cherokee) in American Indian Prayers ad Poetry, edited by J. Ed Sharpe, 1985, Cherokee Publications
4 The Blessing is a Native American Proverb found in Native American Sunday A Liturgy for Worship Northern Great Lakes Synod Marquette, Michigan
The bulletin has 1,3,4
Hymn of Praise – Many and Great, O God
Sequence Hymn – Lord, I want to be a Christian
Gospel and Sermon – Rev. Catherine Hicks
Post Communion Prayer and Blessing
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