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2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (May, 2018) 6. Calendar 8. What’s new on the website 10. Latest Pentecost Sunday Bulletin (May 27, 2018 11:00am), and Sermon (May 20, 2018) |
Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
| White | Gold | Easter | Apr 1-22 |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | Apr 23-May 24 |
| White | Gold | Ascension Day | May 10-12 [Sun May 13] |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | May 13-May 19 |
| Red | Pentecost Sunday | May 20-26 | |
| White | Gold | Trinity Sunday | Jun 27-Jun 2 |
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
"We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance."
Saints of the Week, May 20 – May 27
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20
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Alcuin, Deacon, and Abbot of Tours, 804 |
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21
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[John Eliot, Missionary among the Algonquin, 1690] |
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22
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23
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[Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543, and Johannes Kepler, 1543, Astronomers] |
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24
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Jackson Kemper, First Missionary Bishop in the United States,1870 |
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25
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Bede, the Venerable, Priest, and Monk of Jarrow, 735 |
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26
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Augustine, First Archbishop of Canterbury, 605 |
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27
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[Bertha and Ethelbert, Queen and King of Kent, 616] |
Pentecost at St. Peter’s May 20 is here.
Also, check out our Pentecost videos here.
13 participated – fellowship, nature and prayers wrapped into one event and a prelude to our service. See our photos and videos of the event here.
The Week Ahead…
May 23 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
May 24 – 10:30am, Joint ECW Meeting with St. George’s
May 27 – 9:00am, Holy Eucharist, Rite I, Trinity Sunday
May 27- 10:00am, Children with Becky
May 27- 11:00am, Trinity Sunday, Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday, May 27 Readings and Servers
This week…
11 ladies from St. George’s ECW met with 7 of their counterparts from St. Peter’s on a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine at the church. After a tour of the Port Royal museum from Cookie, they had lunch in the Parish House.
They feasted on baked tortellini, tossed salad, broccoli cauliflower, bread, cake and lemon lush for desert. (Brad contributed the cake). After lunch, they toured the church and posed for a picture on the steps of St. Peter’s. Thanks to all who helped! Kate gave out some of her famous eggs for a truly country event.
View the pictures
Trinity Sunday, 2018
Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, honors the Holy Trinity—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although the word “trinity” does not appear in Scripture, it is taught in Matthew 28:18-20 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 (and many other biblical passages). It lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity.
Trinity Sunday is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday.
Understanding of all scriptural doctrine is by faith which comes through the work of the Holy Spirit; therefore, it is appropriate that this mystery is celebrated the first Sunday after the Pentecost, when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit first occurred.
The Trinity is best described in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly called the Nicene Creed. Essentially the Trinity is the belief that God is one in essence (Greek "ousia"), but distinct in person (Greek "hypostasis"). The Greek word for person means "that which stands on its own," or "individual reality," and does not mean the persons of the Trinity are three human persons. Therefore we believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are somehow distinct from one another (not divided though), yet completely united in will and essence.
Visualizing the Trinity
The Trinity is most commonly seen in Christian art with the Spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the Gospel accounts of the Baptism of Christ; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. However depictions using three human figures appear occasionally in most periods of art.
The Father and the Son are usually differentiated by age, and later by dress, but this too is not always the case. The usual depiction of the Father as an older man with a white beard may derive from the biblical Ancient of Days, which is often cited in defense of this sometimes controversial representation.
The Son is often shown at the Father’s right hand.[Acts 7:56 ] He may be represented by a symbol—typically the Lamb or a cross—or on a crucifix, so that the Father is the only human figure shown at full size. In early medieval art, the Father may be represented by a hand appearing from a cloud in a blessing gesture, for example in scenes of the Baptism of Christ.
The Apple pie as a symbol of the Trinity.
From a sermon on Trinity Sunday, 2011
"This pie is Trinitarian for several reasons. First of all, it has three parts. It has a crust, it has a filling, and it has a topping. Second, each of the three parts has three ingredients.
"The crust is made of flour with a little salt thrown in, some shortening, and some ice water. The filling contains apples, sugar, and cinnamon. The topping is made of a trinity of flour, butter and sugar.
"When all of these ingredients are subjected to the heat of the oven over a period of time, they merge together into one delicious pie, which would not be complete if any of the ingredients were lacking.
"This apple pie is a great symbol for God as Trinity. In order to understand most fully who God is, we Christians know God as the transcendent God, so mysterious that we will never ever know God fully in this life. We know God as Jesus, who lived and died as one of us—not some far off distant deity, but God who experienced the joys and sorrows of being human. We know God as that voice that whispers to us, bringing us inspiration, understanding, and guidance. The ways in which we know God are incomplete until we embrace all of these ways of knowing God, knowing that even then God remains a mystery. This pie would be incomplete without its three parts."
Hymn of the Week – Holy! Holy! Holy!
Reginald Heber (1783 – 1826) was an English clergyman, traveller, man of letters and hymn-writer who, after working as a country parson for 16 years, served as the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta until his sudden death at the age of 42.
Reginald Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" while serving as vicar of Hodnet, Shropshire, England. He was the first to compile a hymnal ordering hymns around the church calendar. Wanting to celebrate a triune God, Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" for Trinity Sunday–a day that reaffirmed the doctrine of the Trinity and was observed eight Sundays after Easter. The hymn was first published in 1826.
Years later, John Dykes composed the tune Nicaea especially for Heber’s "Holy, Holy, Holy."
Text and tune were first published together in 1861. Since that time, this popular hymn has appeared in hundreds of hymnals and been translated into many languages.
The Nicene Creed, line by line
We say this creed every Sunday in the Eucharist service. It is the central creed or belief of Christianity and goes back to 325AD. On Trinity Sunday it is good to break it down into its essential meaning.
Walls of Nicea
"I believe in one God"
The Greek, Latin and proper English translations begin with "I" believe, because reciting the creed is an individual expression of belief.
"the Father Almighty "
God the Father is the first person, within the Godhead. The Father is the "origin" or "source" of the Trinity. From Him, came somehow the other two. God the Father is often called "God Unbegotten" in early Christian thought.
"Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible"
Everything that is was created by God. Some early sects, the Gnostics and Marcionites, believed that God the Father created the spirit world, but that an "evil" god (called the demiurge) created the similarly evil material world.
"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, "
Jesus is Lord and Master of all this creation. No tyrant, Jesus is Lord, teacher, counselor, friend and servant.
"the only-begotten Son of God "
Jesus is in a unique relationship with God the Father, His only Son. While Hebrew kings were sons of God symbolically, Jesus is the only Son of God by nature.
"Begotten of his Father before all worlds "
Begotten has the meaning of born, generated, or produced. God the Son is out of the essence of God the Father. The Son shares the essential nature of God with the Father. Since God is eternal, the Son, being begotten of God, is also eternal. Jesus was begotten of the Father before this world came into being and was present at its creation.
Lectionary, May 27 Trinity Sunday
I. Theme – The Trinity points to the mystery of unity and diversity in God’s experience and in the ongoing creative process
Holy Trinity– Anton Rublev (1430)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
First Reading – Isaiah 6:1-8
Old Testament – Psalm 29 Page 620, BCP
Epistle –Romans 8:12-17
Gospel – John 3:1-17
Commentary by Rev. Mindi
The Call of Isaiah is dictated in chapter 6 with a glorious vision of God as a king seated on a throne surrounded by his attendants, the six-winged seraphs above the Lord. Even the seraphs seem not worthy of God, covering their feet and their faces, not daring to touch the holy space of heaven, not daring to look upon the face of God. Isaiah feels unworthy to speak in God’s presence, until the coal is pressed to his lips and Isaiah is purified. We are reminded through Isaiah’s vision that God is beyond our understanding, beyond our comprehension, but we do have a way of responding to God: through our answering God’s call, through our saying “yes” to God, to our saying, “Send me!” We may not understand God, but God understands us, and calls us into the world to carry God’s message.
Psalm 29 speaks of God as the Great Creator, whose voice carries the power of creation. God calls forth creation by speaking in Genesis 1 and the creative power of God’s voice is echoed here. It is God’s voice that calls creation out of the void, the deep, the darkness–and it is God’s voice that calls us out of the darkness of the world to witness to the light.
John 3:1-17 is the familiar story of Nicodemus which we read a portion of during Lent. Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about being born of the Spirit, and that God’s love for the whole world is so great that God has sent Jesus. We often read verse 16 without reading verse 17–that God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Using the Father-Son language, we understand the relationship of Christ to the Creator to be intimate, close, indwelling, along with the Spirit–a hint at the Trinity. While the Trinity is a concept never named in the Bible, we have inferred the triune relationship of God through scriptures such as these, knowing that we can never fully understand God, the Trinity helps us understand how God has been made known to us.
Romans 8:12-17 also infers the triune relationship of God by tying in our relationship with Christ as also being children of God, who have a close relationship with God to where we also can call God Abba (the Aramaic word for Father that Christ used indicates closeness). And we are led by the Spirit of God, who guides us in this world to the way of life.
Read more about the lectionary…