1 Souper Bowl, Feb 3.
In anticipation of the Souper Bowl we collected 70 pieces of food compared to 50 last year. However, funds were only $63 compared to $286 last year. The money we collected was distributed to to Glory Outreach which serves Caroline County. (Food will go to Social Service)
2. Blessing of a stole for a chaplain in Afghanistan also on Feb 3.
We also signed a card for the priest to get the stole .
3. Haiti toilet challenge (March, 2013) a project from Region One and St. George's.
The goal is to raise $32,000 among 19 churches to construct a new toilet system for the school attached to Notre Dame in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. There is one toilet there for 300. Total collected by the end of March was $846 including the $500 voted on by the Parish later in March
4 Johnny Davis announced that Hunters for the Hungry had donated venison that covered one of the largest freezers at social service.
The amount donated was 500 pounds! Also, an article on the bulletin board mentioned he was able to get a company to donate $2,500 to Caroline's Promise and $2,500 to the museum. The former was part of winning the American's Farmers Grow Communities contest. Congratulations Johnny!
5. Tools for the Sudan – Over Feb and March Region, One collected $3,600.
Over $2,500 of these funds came from St. Peter’s. The goal is to provided monies for tools for refugees streaming in from Sudan to South Sudan
6. Catherine is donating $2,000 from winning of the John Hinds prize.
1 . January 13, the first Sunday after the Epiphany was devoted to the Baptism of Christ.
The window sills were adorn with water bowls and candles remembering the Luke passage from 3:15 - "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" It also a reminder that we are the beloved children of Christ.
This is the "third eye" sermon This place on our foreheads has been known throughout history as the place of the third eye, the all seeing eye...The pineal gland, in case you’ve forgotten your high school biology, which I had, is located deep inside the brain, tucked into the area where the two hemispheres of the brain come together. Mystical traditions since the time of ancient Egypt have considered this area of the brain, the pineal gland, as the connecting link between the physical and spiritual worlds.
2. Jan 20, 2013 Parish Meeting,
This was one of the most of the unusual Sundays at St. Peter's, combining ancient liturgy of the 2nd/3rd century Christian experience with the congregation meeting.
"The liturgy we’re using comes from two ancient sources. Today’s Eucharistic Prayer comes from the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome, written early in the second century, for the Eucharistic Prayer. The closing prayer is from the Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, believed to have been written in the late first century or early second century. The prayers of intercession are taken from the Good Friday service in our prayer book. Even though they do not date back to the second or third century, the format is similar to the prayers of the church in the early centuries." The link between this liturgy and the congregation meeting was the agape meal or love feast used in certain religious meals among early Christians that seem to have been originally closely related to the Eucharist. In modern times it is used to refer to a Christian ritual meal distinct from the Eucharist and used in pietist faith s such as the Moravians. Our agape meal was wine, cheese, bread, grapes and olives.
3. Jan. 27, 2013 Annual Council.
Eunice reported on being a delegate to Annual Council. She spoke of the keynote speaker Dr. Clif Christopher who created a company Horizon Stewardship for helping church with annual giving campaigns, capital campaigns and planned giving. Christopher said churches need to spell out their missions and how lives are changed. He spoke on how well non-profits are doing that to the detriment of church stewardship. Bishop Johnson't speach was on developing relationships in the church even when there is disagreement. The example is his relationship with the priest at Truro Church. Finally, Eunice showed off a beaded necklace made of paper that was shellacked. She also gave a gift to Marion Mahoney, president of the ECW.
4. Feb 13, 2013 Ash Wednesday
It came with a cold steady rain that seemed to fit the mood of the day. "Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior."
Certainly one highlight was Nancy's solo on "The Glory of These Forty Days. " The words are attributed to Pope Gregory in the 6th century. "The glory of these forty days We celebrate with songs of praise; For Christ, by Whom all things were made, Himself has fasted and has prayed." While we remember our sins and misdoings, the mood is not dwelling on the past but on improving the future
The main call of Ash Wednesday is call us into a way of discipline for the next 40 days as the Prayer Book indicates - "I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer."
5. Catherine took the time to show how Lent looks and feels different from the Epiphany services.
"First of all, things look a little different in here. We have entered the season of Lent, a season in which we focus on improving our relationship with God—during Lent we try to empty out the things in our lives that can distract us from our relationship with God. And to reflect that emptying, our worship space is simpler in this season. We will be using a pottery paten and chalice, instead of the silver ones. Dark candlesticks have replaced our brass candlesticks.
"Our red wooden cross is like those used in medieval England during this season, to remind people of Christ’s blood being shed for us. Instead of flowers behind the altar, we have these simple arrangements of pussy willow. The color for this season is purple, the color of royalty—and also the color of penitence and suffering.
"We will be worshipping with Rite I. The language is more formal, and the theology is more penitential. We will be singing the Kyrie at the beginning of the service, asking God to have mercy on us. The sequence hymn throughout Lent will be Bless the Lord, my Soul, a Taize chant. We will repeat the chant three times when we use it for the sequence hymn. Rite One offers one option for the Prayers of the People. Because of its formal style, we will not be singing “My Country Tis of Thee” during Lent. Of course we continue to pray for all people on our prayer list, including those serving in the military
6. Catherine announced she had won the John Hines Preaching Award for sermon writing from Virginia Seminary. We are completing pictures for the Directory this week and next. The next SundayCatherine was given flowers by Eunice, Elizabeth and Cookie for winning the John Hines award. She announce prize money of $2,000 would be given to the church to be given away. The congregation would have a vote on the organizations to receive the fund
7. March 17, 2013 For the first time we sang the Psalm which was done partially because it fit in with the sermon.
"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed." Catherine was the cantor and the congregation sang the response. The refrain was the tune for "Amazing Grace."
8. March 24, 2013 Lent wrapped up this week.
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It has been unseasonably cold even though spring began this week on March 20. We had 7 venture to Richmond on Thurday to a quiet day let by Bishop Susan Goff entitled "Come to the Water". "Holy Scripture is filled with imagery of refreshing waters that restore parched lands and parched souls. In the holy season of Lent, we will pause to rest beside still waters, to find refreshment in running waters, and to wade into turbulent waters-all in order to draw closer to God.
We dedicated a new frontal, burse and veil put today by Eunice. She "researched fabrics and materials, and then created our new frontal, burse and veil for a fraction of the cost of ordering these pieces. Thanks be to God for Eunice’s stewardship of time and talent. And our thanks to the ECW, who provided funds for the purchase of the needed materials."
1. Emergent Church in Adult Education - Jan., 2013, before Lent .
It began as a movement of the young with some groups establishing nondenominational church and others blending in practices into existing congregations. It is Jesus-centered, emphasis on evangelism and mission without a stress on liturgy. It is much a continuing conversation with the idea to make religion "relevant." In the context of emergence, we examined writers Phyllis Ticker, Diana Butler Bass and Brian McLaren. The last week was spent considering spiritual practices.
2 Forgiveness 5 weeks in Lent
It began with the Lord’s prayer the only human action in this prayer. Forgiveness is a central element in the Christian faith. We learned of the “Let go” in fostering forgivness. During the Sundays of Lent during the adult education hour, we will take a look at forgiveness, using the work of Father Frank Desiderio, a Catholic priest whose current ministry is helping people to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness is good for your body, mind and spirit. For the Christian, forgiveness is a non-negotiable. Jesus insisted on it “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:14-15)
3 Feasting with Jesus, Lent
first century dinner Foods included mediterranean grain bread, cucumber salad and feta cheese, melon and pears, hummus and lentil and chick pea soup. Food were oriented around fresh produce and milk products on a daily basis. We held several feasts some of which were:
A. a banquet feast - talapia, lamb, fruit, bread!
B. a wedding feast the group was up to 7 people as they dined on humis, olives, nuts in the appetizer. The main course was beef and barley stew and followed with desert sweet breads, melons, wedding bread.
C. the Today. The Todah was worship where “word and meal and praise and sacrifice constitute a unity.” The Todah was a celebration of thanksgiving for a great event.
D. the Seder supper. It culminated with a Seder Supper on Maundy Thursday in celebration of the Passover event.
D. the Seder supper. It culminated with a Seder Supper on Maundy Thursday in celebration of the Passover event.
1. January 6, 2013 Feast after Epiphany at the Long residence
Certainly one of the highlights was coffee hour at Epiphany. The Longs had prepared a feast to coincide with that of Epiphany - one of celebration. Everything was excellent! Grilled meat, salmon, vegetable lasagna, winter vegetables in a pumpkin, peas and mixed vegetables. Don't want to forget the dessert - persimmon pudding from Alex's own tree, chocolate cake and other cakes. All the Christmas decorations were up and it was a very pleasant afternoon. Thanks to the Longs for giving us a great start to 2013!
2. February 3, 2013 Coffee hour
This was the first Sunday of the month and so we had coffee hour. Cookie outdid herself with venison barbebue, cooked goose, melon, grapes, cheeses and an assortment of deserts - coconut macaroons, angelfood cake.
3. March 3, 2013
We also recognized Johnny and Boyd on their recent retirements. Becky had a birthday and was recognized for that but for also the Christian ed work on Sunday as well as the Wednesday afternoon youth program with Catherine
4. Ladies Night Out, March 9
It was Ladies Night Out #11. This year the featured entertainment was a Murder Mystery with 20 parts and organized into 4 rounds. Thanks to Boyd and Barbara Wisdom for doing all the working organizing it. Boyd had an entire notebook full of the story and parts. We were constantly given new updates on our characters. The game was actually played over the entire evening. Cookie and Ken won special prizes for their costumes 25+ people were here for a fundraiser originally created by Tom Mahoney, 11 years ago. We feasted on lots of meats and fish (venison, ham, meat loaf, fish), macaroni and salad and lots of drinks before hand. I can safely say everyone had a wonderful time. Where else have you heard of a church holding a murder mystery during Lent ?
5. The children's boxtop project.
They are deposited in the colorful cans in the back. Box Tops for Education has helped America’s schools earn over $475 million since 1996. You can earn cash for your child’s school by clipping Box Tops coupons from hundreds of participating products.
6. March 24. Distribution of the Parish Directory
This year revamped with pictures from a committee organized by Clarence. The work took over 5 months