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 Oct 13

Luke, Oct. 18

Luke was a Greek and a Gentile. He is the only Gentile to author any of the Books of the New Testament. Hence, he translates Hebrew words into Greek or gives their Greek equivalent.

Luke is the author of the Gospel of Luke and the presumed author of the Book of Acts. He was also witness to the growth of the first century church and carried the Good News to the Gentiles. He wrote in the 80’s and wrote approximately 24% of the New Testament more than any other writer including Paul.

He was a Syrian from Antioch and more reflective of Middle Eastern Culture than the Jewish writers in the rest of the Gospels. He was  a passionate story teller, emotional, similar to today’s Arab culture.

He records virtually nothing about himself, but his fellow apostles do reveal some information about him. We may also discern some things about him based on the manner in which he presents information, his background and the times.

Legend has it that Luke was an artist and painted as well as wrote. He was said to have interviewed eyewitnesses to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In this sense, he was a journalist. Some traditions say that Luke not only met and interviewed Jesus’ mother Mary, but he also painted her portrait. This portrait is known as “The Black Madonna,” and it is Poland’s most treasured sacred relic.

Paul records in Colossians 4:14 that Luke is a physician – “Luke, the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). . This would make him an educated man. Luke’s inspiration and information for his Gospel and Acts came from his close association with Paul and his companions as he explains in his introduction to the Gospel.

Luke uses the most sophisticated Greek found in the New Testament. He was clearly the most learned among the New Testament writers. On several occasions he uses precise and unusual medical terms, offering evidence of his training in medicine.

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Indigenous Peoples Day, From Oct. 9, 2023

The Second Monday in October is celebrated as Columbus Day but also more recently as Indigenous People’s Day. This is how St. Peter’s remembered the day in 2023. It is a holiday in the United States that celebrates and honors Indigenous American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures

In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Oct 9, 2023), today’s liturgy (Oct 8, 2023) contains Native American resources.  

Here are 4 parts of the service with themes and two videos (Communion Hymn, Prayers of the People, Blessing and Song of Praise):

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The Gospel, Oct 13 – Preoccupation with “Stuff”

From the SALT Project of Sun, Oct. 13, “Mark 10:17-31”

Link to the Gospel, Mark 10:17-31.

1. “There’s a lot packed into the man’s question: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

2. “You lack one thing,” Jesus says, an ironic remark to a man who, with his “many possessions,” ostensibly has everything. But what exactly is the “one thing” he lacks? Is it moral virtue, the ethical standing that arguably comes from selling everything and giving the proceeds to the poor? Perhaps…but if that were true, if this selling-and-giving were simply the good and right thing for human beings to do, we might expect Jesus to recommend it not only to this man but to the crowds as well, or at least to his disciples — but Jesus doesn’t do that.

3. “So, if it isn’t moral virtue the man lacks — what is it? Perhaps the clue is the opening exchange about “goodness.” Perhaps the man, preoccupied with “doing good” so as to achieve his own salvation, trusts too much in his own resources, material and otherwise (“What must I do…?”). Perhaps what he lacks is trust in God, who is, after all, the ultimate source of all goodness and salvation. This interpretation would help explain at least two things in the story: first, why the commandments he has followed “since my youth” are the neighbor-oriented commands (5-10 of the famous ten), not the more explicitly God-oriented ones (1-4 of the famous ten), suggesting, perhaps, a lack of trust in God; and second, why relinquishing wealth is the specific remedy Jesus prescribes, since that would help dispel the man’s illusion of self-sufficiency and afford him a more vivid, tangible experience of depending on God.

4. “On the other hand, however, it’s worth noting that Jesus doesn’t call the man to simply walk away from his possessions, or to burn them in a bonfire, but rather to share their value with neighbors in need. Accordingly, perhaps the “one thing” he lacks is generosity: the joyful sharing of blessings with others. Indeed, one of wealth’s hazards is that it can cut people off from genuine, kind-hearted participation in the wider community, which is to say, from living a fully human life.

5. “Perhaps the man’s preoccupation with his own efforts and resources, betraying a lack of trust in God as the source of goodness and salvation; or perhaps his lack of generosity with regard to others in need; or indeed, perhaps both.

6. “The good news of the Gospel in this week’s passage is that God’s grace, not our own efforts at being “good,” is the true source of salvation; that Jesus “looks at us and loves us” (Mark 10:21), and so invites us to move beyond concerns with our own inheritance and focus instead on sharing our resources with others in need; and that God seeks to transform even and especially our economic lives into beautiful, humane, generative patterns of love and grace.

Lectionary, Pentecost 21, Proper 23, Oct. 13, 2024

I. Theme –  Working for Justice may cause us to change our lives and lifestyle

“Rich Young Ruler”

“He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” – Mark 10:20-22

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

Old Testament – Amos 5:6-7,10-15 Psalm – Psalm 90:12-17 Page 718, BCP Epistle – Hebrews 4:12-16 Gospel – Mark 10:17-31

Today’s readings encourage us to work for justice, to release our attachment to things and to trust Jesus to form us into a people of compassion. Amos decries Israel’s unjust treatment of the poor and oppressed. Trusting in God’s justice, Job wants God to hear his case in person. The author of Hebrews points out that only through Jesus will any of this be fully accomplished—as our apostle and high priest, he builds us into “God’s house.” In today’s gospel, Jesus advises a wealthy man who seeks God to obey God’s commandments and to detach from his possessions and focus fully on God. With God all things are possible!

Being faithful to God calls us to live into God’s ways of justice. We need to love our neighbor as ourselves—it is the commandment Jesus gives us—and we cannot love our neighbor without seeing to their needs. And it is hard for us to see to their needs when we are too busy caring for our stuff, worrying about our material wants, rather than seeing the needs of others. This is a difficult lesson for us, and I’m not sure I’ll ever fully be able to let go of all the things I have. But I know that faith is a lifelong journey, and I don’t have to accomplish it all now. Before God, all our sins are exposed, but before God, all things are possible, all forgiveness is given, and all things are made new

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40 Old Testament Stories that every Christian Should know – #1 Story of Creation

Pastor Vicki Zust was the rector of St. Paul’s, Clarence, NY. Having completed a 2 year cycle of reading the entire Bible she decided to try something different. As she writes, “So I went through the Old Testament and wrote down the stories that a lot of our theology and history depends on. It turns out there are 40 of them.”

For the next few weeks we will look at her list with links to the reading. Her blog is here.

Link to the reading – Genesis 1

“Actually it is the two stories of creation.

“There are two slightly different versions of the story (or maybe just a retelling of the story with a different focus).

“Most Christians are basically aware of the Creation story. “In the beginning, when God was creating the heavens and the earth …” Everything was created in six days and on the seventh day God rested.

“I want to point out three things about the story that you may have skimmed over (or forgotten)

“1. Everything God created was good. Every day of creation ends with “and God saw that it was good.” Creation (including us) are good at its beginning. God saw that creation was good.

“2. We are made in the image of God – to quote from the NRSV – “And God made humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male & female he created them.” This is a pretty good translation from the Hebrew. We are made in the image of God – male & female, black & white, all of us, are made in the image and likeness of God.

“3. God says a strange thing in talking about humanity, again from the NRSV – “and God said, “let us make humankind in our image.” Did you catch that – God is talking to God and talks about himself in the plural. Our image – not my image, that is a good translation from the Hebrew too – so, what do you think that says about God?

Here is another way to look at this sequence.

The Episcopal Lingo, Part 8: Marriage

Parish Church

There were certain rites of passage marked by colonial churches—birth, initiation, marriage, and death for the great majority of its white population and to lesser and varying extents for non-adherents and African Americans as well. We will look at the third one this week – Marriage.

In the 1662 prayer book its was called the “Solemnization of Matrimony."

Unlike the Catholics, the Anglicans rejected marriage as a sacrament but ascribed greatest importance to it in very direct language. First it was “ ordained for the procreation of children.” Secondly “, It was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of contingency might marry, and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ’s body.” Thirdly “It was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity. “ Marriage was a "holy estate."

As in England, legal authorization for a man and a woman to marry could be obtained by one of two means. The couple might apply through the county clerk for a license, the clerk in this instance serving as the governor’s deputy. The advantage of the license was its minimal waiting period, but the hefty fees and the posting of a bond put this out of reach for most Virginians. Publication of barms in the parish church was the alternative utilized by most.

On three successive Sundays, the parson or, more likely, the parish clerk announced at the appointed time during or following the service: "I publish the Banns off Marriage between M. of and N. … If any of you know cause, or just impediment why these two persons should not be joyned together in holy Matrimony, you are to declare it." If the man and the woman lived in different parishes, banns were announced in both. For this task, parsons or clerks received a fee

The language of banns made obvious the purpose of ensuring the lawfulness of the intended union

Among mutual concerns, age was central. To guard against precipitous or unwise decisions, anyone under twenty-one years of age had to secure the permission of parents or guardian. Licensing or banns also sought to protect against marriages that might violate the rules of consanguinity. To this concern with blood relationship, Virginia civil authorities, like their counterparts in other colonies into which African slaves had been introduced, added prohibitions of racial intermarriage.

Weddings in Virginia were a monopoly of the Anglican church. Parsons alone could officiate.  At the time the canonical requirement that weddings be performed between the hours of 8 and 12 in the morning. By Canon law, weddings were prohibited during Lent and Advent. However, there were numerous exceptions made.

Like with baptisms, practice among gentry families was to hold the wedding at their home rather than the church. Church rubrics were explicit: weddings were to be performed "not in any private Place" but in a church where one of the parties "dwelieth" and "in the time of Divine Service."

Marriage records have survived mostly from the eastern parts of Virginia but not the back country. When population exploded after 1730 and when people came from outside rather than from home Anglican churches, there were more deviation in the above – more common -law marriages.