Easter 6, May 5, 11am
Lector: Andrea Pogue
Chalice Bearer: Alice Hughes
Altar Clean up: Andrea Pogue
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, 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.
Easter 6, May 5, 11am
Last week I said that in the sermons I get to share with you before I leave, I want to consider what the scriptures appointed for each Sunday have to say to this parish in this time of transition.
Today’s gospel passage completes the gospel from last Sunday, in which Jesus tells the disciples that God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. Jesus reminds the disciples that God the gardener must prune the branches to make them bear more fruit, and that we, here at St Peter’s, are going through a pruning with all the changes ahead. But the promise is that since Jesus the vine to which we branches are attached, we can count on bearing more fruit because God the gardener has pruned us.
As Jesus continues this conversation with the disciples, he moves from a focus on pruning the branches to a focus on the disciples abiding in his love. This focus on abiding in his love is where we begin today’s considerations about the parish transition ahead of us.
Rogation Sunday is the day when the Church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessings on the fruits of the earth and the labors of those who produce our food
Our hymns today reflect the themes of Rogation Sunday. Here are two examples:
1. “Not here for high and holy things”
Geoffrey Anketel Suddert-Kennedy, 1883-1929
First three verses
Not here for high and holy things
we render thanks to thee,
but for the common things of earth,
the purple pageantry
of dawning and of dying days,
the splendor of the sea,
the royal robes of autumn moors,
the golden gates of spring,
the velvet of soft summer nights,
the silver glistering
of all the million million stars,
the silent song they sing,
of faith and hope and love undimmed,
undying still through death,
the resurrection of the world,
what time there comes the breath
of dawn that rustles through the trees,
and that clear voice that saith:
This list of “common things” is so long that it occupies three full stanzas of the hymn, culminating in that tantalizing “that clear voice that saith:”.
The remaining verses – continue this – the lark in the sky, giant sun soars up,
The last verse focuses on God
“to serve right gloriously the God who gave all worlds that are,
and all that are to be.
Notes
Service was affected by the absent of our organist whose car broke down on the way to church. Hymns had to be rearranged with Catherine filling in on keyboards.
Sermon was a continuation of the previous Sunday dealing with transition. The metaphor shift from the Vine to abiding in Love all from the Gospel of John.
Attendance of 20 was affected by parishioners traveling.
00 In honor of Cornelius
01 Opening Hymn – “We have come into His house”
02 Hymn of Praise – “For the beauty of the earth”
03 Readings
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