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.

2024 Sun Feb 11

Lenten Study, The Creeds, A Guide to Deeper Faith

When we say the Creeds (the Apostles’ Creed at baptisms and at Morning Prayer and the Nicene Creed when we celebrate the Eucharist), we are stating our belief in what the church believes, in faith, about God—that God is one being in three persons—that is, three “persons” within the one Godhead. 

It’s easy to say these words without much thought because they are so familiar.  And yet, they are the words that create community among Christian believers around the world, past, present, and future, the Apostles’ Creed being the most widely used of all of Christianity’s confessions of faith. These words are so important that they are permanently attached to our altar wall, along with the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. The creeds not only bind us together in communities of faith,  but these words, if taken into our hearts, can lead us to a deeper faith. 

During this season of Lent, we will study these creeds, learning about how they came to be, what they mean to the Church, and we will also reflect on how they may help us grow in faith as Christians. 

The study is scheduled for five Wednesday nights of Lent—Weds Feb. 21st, 28th, and  March 6th, 13th, and 20th at 7PM on Zoom ID: 833 7014 5820 Passcode: 528834

Bingo Night, Feb 26, 6pm-7:30pm, Port Royal Fire house

Mon., Feb. 26th, Bingo Night 6-7:30PM at Port Royal Fire Department St Peter’s is serving as a Partner in Education with the Caroline County Public Schools.

We will be providing snacks for the Caroline County. If you would like to help, please bring granola bars, individually wrapped bags of trail mix, or small bottles of water and place them in the back pew by Sunday, Feb. 25.

Ash Wednesday Links, Feb. 14, 2023

Last Sunday after the Epiphany. The Transfiguration

  • 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

    • Coming up

  • Tues., Feb. 13 – Chancellor’s Village Eucharist, 1pm
  • Tues., Feb. 13 – Shrove Tues. Pancake Supper (5pm-6:30pm)
  • Wed., Feb. 14, Ecumenical Bible Study, Parish House, 10am-12pm  Reading Lectionary for First Sunday in Lent
  • Wed., Feb. 14 – Ash Wed. service, 7pm
  • Thurs., Feb. 15 – Vestry, 2pm, Parish House
  • Suns., Feb. 18 – Funeral, Susan Linne von Berg, 2pm, Parish House

    • Lenten Page

    Quick link to Feb, 2024 Lent Calendar
    Quick link to March, 2024 Lent Calendar

  • Feb., 2024 newsletter
  • All articles for Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024

    • Recent Articles, Ash Wednesday, 2024

    Lent begins Feb. 14 (Ash Wednesday)
    The Prelude – Shrove Tuesday pancake supper
    Lent Basics
    3 key points about Ash Wed
    Ash Wed. 2024, 7pm service
    Lectionary
    Bulletin
    The Ash Wed service
    Art for Ash Wed
    “Letting Go”, Diocese of Atlanta
    Conversation about Ash Wed
    Lent Stations:Vices & Virtues
    Lent at St. Peter’s

    Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Feb 11
    God’s Garden – The Alleluia Banner, Part 2
    Souper Bowl Sunday results
    Discretionary Fund donations Feb. 11
    Bulletin, 11am
    Sermon
    Lectionary
    Commentary Last Epiphany
    Voices of the Transfiguration
    Visual Lectionary – Vanderbilt
    The Visual Commentary on Scripture: The Transfiguration
    Raphael’s Transfiguration

    Ministries
    The Souper Bowl supports the Village Harvest
    Bingo Night Jan 26, 6pm-7:30pm
    Lenten Study – The Creeds
    Creating the Alleluia Banner
    God’s Garden, Feb 4- March 31
    Village Harvest Jan., 2024
    Sacred Ground, Jan., 2024

    Black History Month, Feb., 2024
    Black History month
    Absalom Jones remembered Feb. 13
    Rosa Parks birthday Feb. 4
    Visit to Belle Grove, Feb. 2018

    A Case for Love
    Case for Love Journal – After the Movie
    The Way of Love – a summary
    How can we walk in the Way of Love?

    The Alleluia Banner, Feb. 11, 2024

    This is part 2 of the Alleluia Banner story. Last week Feb. 4, the banner was decorated and finished by “God’s Garden” (children ages 5-9) during Sunday School (10:15-11am) and hung on the altar in the church.

    This week the box for the banner was decorated and taken to the church before the service. A discussion about Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday ensued. Later, in the church service the banner was taken off the altar during the last hymn and placed in the box to be ready for the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, Feb 14.

    1. Finishing the Banner’s box and taking it to the church. Photos.

    (full size gallery)

    2. Christian Education discussion – Shrove Tuesday, Lent (Ash Wednesday).

    3. Announcement in Church

    4. Closing Hymn – “Alleluia, alleluia give thanks”. Alleluia placed in hiding

    Souper Bowl Sunday – Food and card donations

    1. Prayer at Announcements

    We collected food cans from parishioners today plus cards addressed to the recipients to provide additional connections to our Village Harvest food distribution, happening Wed Feb. 21, 3pm-5pm.

    2. Results. We collected 41 cans of food and 33 cards donated plus $75 in monetary donations.

    The goal was thirty cans and thirty cards for those who come to the distribution so we exceeded our goal. It was also above last year with 25 cans Thanks to all!

    It was not just the donation that was important but also the symbolic bringing of the donation to the altar which we did today. This practice goes back to at least Exodus in the Old Testament when Moses encourages bringing donations forward to the Lord.

    Discretionary fund donations, Feb. 11

    Thank you for your discretionary fund donations. A total of $270 was collected Feb 11, 2024.

    The bulletin of the same day announced recent funding. “In January, $850 of our discretionary fund helped 9 families with internet access, rent, and electricity. Thank you for your ongoing generosity for this ministry.”

    Sermon, Feb. 11, 2024, Last Epiphany – “…He was transfigured. He became fully the person he was created to be.”

    Video

    A few minutes ago Catherine and I were standing outside and we were talking about preaching on the transfiguration Sunday and  neither one of us could remember anything we’d ever preached before! 

    I just remembered a Transfiguration sermon. What I talked about was the fact that they were having this discussion about building tents there so they could stay on the  Mountaintop and the thrust of the sermon was you can never stay there. You have these experiences and then life moves on. That’s actually that’s relevant for today because the theme is about life moving on. It’s changing all the time. None of us here are the same people we were last year, the year before,  20 years ago for some of us. 

    The point though is that we’re not the people we used to be. We are different people not necessarily better or worse.

    I want to give you a quote from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 3:18. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

    So what he is saying there is that the whole experience of change is a part of life because we don’t want to be stuck in one place and be  that person. I don’t want to be the person  when I was five or 10 years ago .  I’m happy with life as it as it’s coming along each day now. The idea of being stuck in one place of course is I guess that’s what death is you.

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