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.

Sunday Links, July 9, 2023, Pentecost 6

  • Web site
  • YouTube St. Peter’s Page for viewing services
  • Facebook St. Peter’s Page
  • Location – 823 Water Street, P. O. Box 399, Port Royal, Virginia 22535

  • Sun. July 9, 2023, 11am Eucharist YouTube 823 Water St. Port Royal, VA 22535
  • Lectionary July 9, 2023, Pentecost 6, Proper 9, Pentecost 6

  • Ecumenical Bible Study, Wed., July 12, 10am-12pm, Parish House Reading Lectionary for July 16
  • School supply donation due July 16
  • July, 2023 Newsletter
  • All articles for Sunday, July 9, 2023
  • Notebook Paper Collection for Caroline’s Promise School Supply Distribution

    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

    Videos, Pentecost 6, July 9, 2023

    Gospel and Sermon – Rev. Catherine Hicks

    Post Communion Prayer and Blessing

    Closing Hymn – Lord of all hopefulness

    Read more

    Sermon, July 9, 2023 – Pentecost 6, Proper 9

    Sermon, Proper 9, Year A 2023

    Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145:8-15; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

    Before the jail in Caroline County closed several years ago, several of us led a Bible study there once a month.   As part of our training, we took a tour of the jail and got to see how the prisoners lived.  We were allowed to go into a part of the jail that wasn’t being used, so that we could see how the prisoners lived.    

    Each cell clustered around the large common area holds four people.  The bunks are metal.  There is a clearly visible toilet in each cell, offering no privacy.  The prisoners spend a great deal of time in their cells.  At certain times of the day, they can come out into the common room, unless there has been some disturbance and they are locked down.  Getting outside means going into an area with a high fence topped with barbed wire, where there is room to walk, but not room for anything else. 

    And for prisoners who cause trouble, the solitary cell to which they are confined is separated from everyone else, completely silent and windowless, completely isolated from the outside world.

    Periodically, throughout our lives, we find that we are maybe not in an actual jail cell, but in some circumstance in which feel that we are being held captive. 

    Read more

    Summer films

    1. The Letter

    Interfaith Power and Light is partnering with the Laudato Si’ movement to bring the documentary film about climate change, “The Letter,” to congregations this summer.

    The Letter tells story of the Laudato Si’ environmanals encyclical letter by Pope Francis issued in 2015, through the eyes from frontline leaders battling the ecological crisis across continents. Laudato Si means “Praise be to you” which is the first line of a canticle by St. Francis that praises God with all of his creation.

    Featured in the film are a variety of speakers on the topic: Arouna Kandé, a climate refugee in Senegal; Cacique Dadá, an environmental defender and leader of the Maró Indigenous territory in the Brazilian Amazon; Ridhima Pandey, a youth climate activist from India; and Greg Asner and Robin Martin, biologists studying coral reefs in Hawaii.

    The film features exclusive footage from their encounter with Pope Francis, alongside the personal stories and scientific findings throughout the documentary.

    Trailer
    Full film

    2. Sabbath

    Read more