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 Nov 19

The Mutual Ministry Review – “All work…”

St. Peter’s Vestry met on Tues Nov. 14 for a Mutual Ministry Review.

The Diocese of Michigan provides a good understanging of it – “Mutual Ministry Review is a discernment process in which the leaders of the congregation ask who God is calling this congregation to be, how this congregation is presently responding to God’s call, and how this congregation is going to respond to God’s call. The MMR is an effort to discern God’s will for the church and call for all ministers (lay and clergy) to be accountable for it.” St. Peter’s had not scheduled one for several years.

There is a facilitator who is trained for the process. In our case it was Salli Hartman, deacon for St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Colonial Beach who also served at St. Peter’s.

This type of exercise makes one think of the old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. ” This phrase firt occurred in a proverbs book in 1659, just 3 years before the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was printed and had an enormous influence on our Episcopal church and many other churches.

Anyway the Vestry adhered to it, by making assorted foods to get through the process. Linda Upshaw make crepes with a wonderful strawberry topping. She was given a crepes kit by her sister in law a generation ago and has been making them ever since.

There were two different muffins on by Elizabeth Heimbach and one by Catherine, the latter a pumpkin muffin with cream cheese. Included in the snack were blueberries and oranges. Jan Saylor made a wonderful vegetable soup.

While it may be considered a diversion, it made the review more easy going and productive with these delights.

Village Harvest 9th Anniversary, Nov., 2023

Psalm 107:37 “And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest.”

The Village Harvest celebrated its 9th anniversary and began its 10th year in November. The October, 2014 newsletter read as follows “In an effort to make fresh food more available to those in our area in need of food, the ECW is going to head up a new project.” Credit goes to Eunice Key for conceiving the name “Village Harvest.”

St Peter’s provides an opportunity for people in the area to come get fresh produce, meat, and assorted non-perishable items on the third Wednesday of each month.   The offerings change from month to month, depending on what’s available at the food bank. 

Thanks to the generosity of St Peter’s, not only are we able to provide food, but Catherine has also been able to use her discretionary fund to help these people in other ways.  

Over the past 9 years, we have distributed 121,795 pounds of food  to 11,010 people which equates to 11.1 pounds per person. The earlier years were lower at under 9 pound per person with 2018 onward being over 12 pounds.

November, 2023 was a spectacular month serving 110 people, the largest number since Jan, 2022 with 115. The pounds provided were 1,270 second largest in 2023 behind April, 2023 at 1,365.

During the first  11 months of 2023, we fed 951 people compared to 970 in the previous year during the same period.  The amount of food provided is lower in 2023 than 2022 – 12,516 pounds for 2023 compared to 13,834 for 2022. Pounds per person, were also lower in 2023 at 13.16 compared with 14.26 in the previous year

2023 does not compare well with 2022 and other years due to the poor first quarter of 2023. In the first quarter of 2023 (Jan-March), we served 218 people compared to 296 in 2022 and 295 in 2021. Food available followed a similar pattern: 2,913 pounds in 2023 and 4,196 in 2022 and 4,342 in 2021.