Last Sunday (Pentecost 5, Year B, June 28, 2015)
July 4 – 10am-2pm, Port Royal celebration, St. Peter’s open
Godly Play (preschool through 2nd grade) is taking July off
July 5 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Pentecost 6 at St. Peter’s
July 5 – 12:00pm, "Sweet Land of Liberty" Coffee hour
July 6-9 – 9:15am to 11:30am, Vacation Bible School
July 8- 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
This Sunday at St. Peter’s – Servers, Readings
Attention – Things we need!
- By July 5 – Needed for Vacation Bible School-any of the following DRIED beans—red beans, northern beans, split peas, pintos and black beans.
- By July 12 – For July’s Village Harvest distribution, July 15, please bring peanut butter, tuna, and elbow macaroni.
- By July 13 – We need to have forms for gleaning completed
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St. Peter’s wins $15,000 National UTO grant for refurbishing the kitchen!
1. From Salt Lake City – The List of grants from the UTO
St. Peter’s entry :
"#15682 Diocese of Virginia $14,996.16
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Community Kitchen Upgrade
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Port Royal, VA
To upgrade the church’s kitchen in order to expand the food ministry. Hot meals will be prepared in the kitchen to be delivered to impoverished parts of the county. The program will also create new bridges from the church into the community – a small village in rural Virginia. The community is an economically depressed area of Caroline County. Fresh, healthy food is not readily available to many of the residents who lack transportation and live on fixed incomes below the poverty level."
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July 4 at St. Peter’s
St. Peter’s will be involved in several ways:
1. Place of rest during the day in the cool of the church. we have a history brochure and the graveyard brochure to read.
2. At 10am we will have a couple of slideshows – "Beauty of St. Peter’s, "We do, Life at St. Peter’s", "2013" and a new one, "2014."
3. At 11am, Marilyn Newman plays her harp.
4. At 12pm , St. Peter’s will provide a hymn sing with organ concert. Thom Guthrie will do the honors.
This is a great event to help promote St. Peter’s! Come help out and come participate.
Here is a photogallery of 2014 .
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Coffee Hour goes Patriotic, July 5
“Sweet Land of Liberty” Coffee Hour
Just after church, Ice Cold Cider, Lemonade, assorted cookies, and make your own Ice Cream Sundaes. Come cool off!
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The Real Purpose of the Declaration
The Declaration of Independence which we will hear, reflect and celebrate on July 4 in Port Royal has been reinterpreted in successive generations. It was first and foremost a document to indicate failure – the petition process of earlier years by the colonists had failed. The King dismissed the colonists well-reasoned arguments attributing them to a few troublemakers. He was convinced in 1775 that the the purpose of the "American rebellion" was for independence right from the beginning. He raised forces, hired foreign troops and had burned American cities (Norfolk) in early 1776 to try to force them back by making them submit.
Garry Wills emphasizes in his book Inventing America that the purpose of the Declaration was not to make the colonies self-governing – they were already acting that way. Congress’ action in 1776 was to acknowledge what had happened, particularly in the debating of independence in key towns of America and the creation of state and local declarations of independence. Many of these particularly in Virginia were stepping stones toward what became state constitutions.
The events of early 1776 led people to see that England had already separated from them. The real motive of Congress and the declaration was a necessary step to secure foreign aid. In that they had to provide a unified stand, difficult with 13 separate colonies. They had to make their cause seem justifiable. In the end they needed that. They wanted to move away from the concept of "rebellion". England would be dealing with a country not a group of rebellious colonies.
Much of the meaning we celebrate in the Declaration is close to Lincoln’s concept of the document – that the statements on equality and rights set a standard of the future – that it was a statement of ideals and goals to be established for the future. The values he emphasized were part of the Revolution generation – equality, human rights, government by consent. He needed to restate those values in a new way to broaden its appeal and to apply it to his time in the midst of the Civil War.
This was best stated in the Gettysburg Address. The Union triumph became the result of the idea that "all men are created equal" and what he called for was the Union complete the "unfinished work" and bring to "this nation, under God, a new birth of freedom."
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The Signers – by the Numbers
- Only 1 died due to the Revolutionary war ( and that was in a dual). 17 served in the military.
- 8 others died of causes other than war.
- Tension – 5 captured by the British, 1 lost a son in the war.
- Of the 56, 25 were lawyers, 15 merchants, 10 involved farming/land speculation, 4 physicians, 1 scientist, 1 minister.
- The average number of children they had was 6.
- The average age of the signers was 45 and average age at death 66
- 2 lasted until the 50th anniversary in 1826 (Jefferson and Adams). The oldest signer at death was 95 (Charles Carroll of Md).
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Religion in the Declaration
"Declaration of Independence" – John Trumbull (1817)
Unlike the United States Constitution, the Declaration makes reference to God. However, that’s about it. The Declaration never mentions Jesus Christ, does not quote the New Testament, and fails to move beyond vague descriptions of God. It is more indicative of a 18th century world view.
There are four references to God either directly or indirectly. A close examination of these references tell us something about the religious world view of its writers.
1. "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws and Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind required that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
So what is "Nature’s God? David Voelker wrote the following in 1993 before he became a history professor:
"Nature’s God" was clearly the God of deism in all important ways. That Jefferson included God in the "Declaration of Independence" is very significant because it helped lay the foundation for a civil religion in America. Paul Johnson addressed the civil religion begun by the founders in his article, "The Almost-Chosen People," saying that the United States was unique because all religious beliefs were respected. People were more concerned with "moral conduct rather than dogma." So Jefferson helped create a society in which different religions could coexist peacefully because of the emphasis on morality over specific belief."
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Vacation Bible School is next week- July 6-9
->Needed for Vacation Bible School-any of the following DRIED beans—red beans, northern beans, split peas, pintos and black beans.
God is Love and We are God’s Helpers is the theme of this year’s Vacation Bible School at St Peter’s, which will be held on Monday, July 6 through Thursday, July 9th from 9:15Am to 11:30AM each day. Each day the children will enjoy singing and worshipping together, hearing stories, praying together, eating and playing together, and doing crafts. In addition, the children will make jars of rainbow bean soup mix which will be part of our July food distribution. The focus each day is on a specific Bible verse. Monday’s verse: “God is love.” Tuesday’s verse: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” Wednesday’s verse: “Be kind to one another.” Thursday’s verse is “You are the light of the world.”
Here are pictures from last year’s event:
1. Day1 2. Day2 3. Day3 4. Day4
Description and pictures:
1. Day1 2. Day2 3. Day3 4. Day4
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Gleaning Mission Project, July 20-25. Sign up now!
Gleaning is going over a field or area that has just been harvested and gathering by hand any usable parts of the crop that remain. It keeps waste at a minimum and helps Food banks and suppliers replenish their supplies.
1. When? We will be gleaning Mon., July 20-Fri, July 25, 8:45am-12pm
2. Where ? We meet at General Testing Labs 1623 Leedstown Road Colonial Beach, Va. 22443 at 8:45am each day
3. What you need to do ? There are two forms to complete
A. Complete a signup sheet on what day(s) you would like to glean. We need to let them know how many will be coming. We also may be able to carpool.
B. Complete the Northern Neck release form. We have pre-filled in some parts of the form to make it easier.
These forms can be 1. completed online and then printed OR 2. printed and then completed by hand.
Whichever way, bring the forms by the church. We need the completed forms a week ahead – July 13
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Why you should consider gleaming in July ?
One word – support
Support. We want to be able to support Feed More which is a supplier of the Northern Neck Food Bank where we buy produce at 5 cents a pound. This relationship is due to the good work of Johnny Davis. Let’s support his work behind the scene
Support – Support for the Village Harvest Food program. We have 90 people at the latest distribution in June up from 60, 7 months earlier. This is a way to help people save some food money.
Support – in the name of reducing waste. No doubt about it – we often waste as much as we consume
All it takes is a half day – July 20-25.
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Lectionary, July 5, Pentecost 6
I. Theme – The Struggle of Prophecy – God’s presence turns weakness into strength.
"Appearence on the Mountain in Galilee" – Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308-11)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Ezekiel 2:1-5
Psalm – Psalm 123
Epistle –2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Gospel – Mark 6:1-13
The message in today’s scripture readings is that God works through the flesh, all human frailty and weakness notwithstanding. God’s response is always that if we rely on God, if we trust in God, all things are possible. If we are burdened, there are two ways to address the burden: one is to remove the burden, but the other is to strengthen the back which is bearing it. If we turn to the Lord for strength, that will allow us to more easily bear the burdens, the weaknesses, of life. In that way, as Paul indicates this week, a weakness can actually become a strength.
In the Old Testament reading, after a vision of God’s glory appearing on a movable throne outside of the temple, Ezekiel is commissioned as a prophet and given a set of instructions He is to announce the lord’s will to “the people of Israel” (meaning the exiles of Judah not those in the former northern kingdom which no longer existed) whether they listen or not. Throughout the scriptures we get the same message — that if we put our trust in the Lord and if we allow Him to work through us, we can accomplish so much.
Paul in the Second Corinthians passage is being very candid here. He had learned by trial and error that he couldn’t preach the gospel on the basis of his own strength and talent. Rather, the weaker he became, the more room he left for the Spirit of God to work through him.
2 Corinthians 12:2-10 is Paul’s story of a divine vision he received. The purpose of this vision is to remind us that even in our weakness, our frailty, our human faultiness, God will be present in us. Through our stumbles and falls, God will be made known to us and we will know we can rely on God. Paul declares that he shares this vision not to boast, but to show that he is not perfect, and that God continues to be with him, and with us."My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."
In our reading of the Passion from Mark on Palm Sunday, we heard Jesus cry out in the garden, “Remove this cup from me.” Paul pleads in a similar way in this letter when he says, “I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me.”
Jesus faces a different kind of burden, a different kind of weakness in our Gospel reading from Mark. Jesus had left Nazareth as a carpenter and as a man alone. He came back as a gifted teacher with followers completely devoted to Him. It is no wonder that the people in His hometown asked the question, “What happened to Jesus?” They found it difficult to believe in Him. They prejudged him and made assumptions this transformation was impossible.
This was surely both frustrating and disappointing to the Lord. However, like Paul and Ezekiel in the earlier readings, Jesus makes this into a strength. Rather than bowing to the feeling that He could accomplish nothing, He moves on and becomes stronger in His ministry and His message with the sending out of the twelve with specific instructions. As David Lose writes this week "This mission to announce the kingdom and share God’s love, as it turns out, will take more than just one miracle worker, it will take a team of people empowered, equipped, and sent to witness to God’s grace, justice, and mercy."
Read more about the lectionary…
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Rebuild the Churches fund
Rebuild the Churches Fund has been established by Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in St. Louis to collect donations from all over the world for the rebuilding of of black churches that have recently burned. All contributions are tax deductible. Currently they have raised over $85,000!
"Communities of all faiths are invited to hold special offerings as a sign of interfaith solidarity against racism and with our sisters and brothers of faith."
All money received will be divided equally among these congregations. You can give money in two ways
1. Online
2. Check made out to Christ Church Cathedral with "Rebuild the Churches Fund" in the memo line and send it to:
Rebuild the Churches c/o Christ Church Cathedral
1210 Locust Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
Article on burning of black churches
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Voices, Pentecost 6
John Wesley’s birthday
John Wesley (1703) lived and died as an Anglican priest but was a founder of the Methodists. Though there’s no evidence that he actually wrote it himself, “John Wesley’s Rule” does a fair job of summing up his life, and provides inspiration for our own:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you ever can.
At General Convention
"’Talitha, cum.’ Get up, girl, you’re not dead yet. Jesus might just as well be speaking to this church. This event comes after an aging woman is healed of her hemorrhage when she finds the courage to reach out and touch Jesus’ robe."
– Presiding Bishop Schori (sermon June 28)
" Like the unnamed daughter and the shunned and bleeding woman, this church will find new life by crossing old boundaries and exploring new territories. It may be in small, rural congregations that discover the Spirit already at work around them, like St. James, Cathlamet, WA, who have been supporting the life and healing of children, youth, parents, and domestic violence victims for 30 years."
– Presiding Bishop Schori (sermon June 28)
Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop-elect
“Everybody knows I really do take evangelism seriously and discipleship and witness and service and social advocacy, the gospel principles that we hold. Those three things are critical and needed in this time. I think The Episcopal Church has something to offer in the public square. We have a way of looking at the Gospel that makes known the love of God in Jesus.”
– Michael Curry (press conference after being elected Presiding Bishop)
(Quoting Bishop Tutu) "By himself God won’t, By ourselves we can’t, but together with God, we can"
(Quoting Barbara Harris) "The God behind you is greater than any problem ahead of you."
On racial relationships – "To be very honest the conversation between different ethnicities and races has not happened.. Part of the dilemma is that we don’t know each other.. the church can help facilitate the kind of relationship where people of different background, stripes and types can actually get to know each other"
– Michael Curry (interview)
On growing churches
“The gospel hasn’t changed. Jesus is still the same. We need to learn and discover new ways of carrying out and sharing that good news of Jesus. In this day, in this time, the church can no longer wait for its congregation to come to it. That change of directionality on the part of the church, church-wide, will have impact for reaching people who are not automatically coming to our doors.”
– Michael Curry (press conference after being elected Presiding Bishop)
On the Eucharist
Curry’s video on the Eucharist. Video feature our Presiding Bishop elect. If you can’t watch the entire 7 minutes, watch the first 2.5 minutes at least.
"This is the sacrament of unity that can overcome even the deepest of estrangements between human beings."
David Lose on the Gospel
"While there are various elements in what amounts to/a two connected scenes – Jesus’ preaching in his hometown and then sending his disciples out – there is between them a fascinating movement and even transformation in the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. By the end of these scenes, the disciples are no longer observers, they are no longer just followers. Discipleship, as it turns out, is not just about learning from and following another, but also taking on the role and authority of the one you follow.
"What I find fascinating in the first scene is the treatment Jesus receives from his neighbors and hometown friends. Why such disdain? Perhaps it’s just that familiarity does indeed breed contempt. But perhaps it’s also that we have such a hard time receiving grace from unexpected places. Jesus wasn’t what they expected a prophet, let alone a Messiah, to look like. And to accept him as such was to call into question much of what they thought they knew about the world and about people and about themselves.
"I think it’s interesting to notice what does Jesus does in response. First, he cures a few folks but then seems almost unable to do any great work of power because they have no interest in receiving what he offers. And so he then commissions his disciples to go out. This mission to announce the kingdom and share God’s love, as it turns out, will take more than just one miracle worker, it will take a team of people empowered, equipped, and sent to witness to God’s grace, justice, and mercy.
"And notice that when the disciples are sent out, they are sent out to live utterly dependent on the grace and hospitality of others. They are not to take everything they need, but to invite others into their mission…and into their lives. Which is interesting, because while Jesus had just been on the receiving end of an extreme lack of hospitality, yet he knows that the human community he is forming has at its core the interdependence, mutuality, and utter vulnerability that true hospitality simultaneously demands and creates "
The courage to begin
"All serious daring starts from within."
-Harriet Beecher Stowe 1811-1896
"It is very nbsp;dangerous to go into eternity with possibilities which one has oneself prevented from becoming realities. A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it. In every man there is latent the highest possibility, one must follow it. If God does not wish it then let him prevent it, but one must not hinder oneself. Trusting to God I have dared, but I was not successful; in that is to be found peace, calm and confidence in God. I have not dared: that is a woeful thought, a torment in eternity."
-Soren Kierkegaard, Journals
1813-1855
The courage to continue
"Christians will not be asked how they began but rather how they finished. St. Paul began badly but finished well. Judas’s beginning was praiseworthy but his end was despicable. Many start the climb but few reach the summit."
-St. Jerome c.347-420
"Whatever you do you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you into believing your critics are right. To map our a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories but it takes brave men and women to win them. "
-Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882
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