We took advantage of a number of opportunities in 2015:

- The Village Harvest matured and became part of our outreach, joining regular monthly activities, such as Village Dinners and the jail ministry. We soon expanded the original list of clients from 60 to close to over 120 by year's end. We attracted more volunteers. Yes, we found we could sustain this ministry!

- We won a National UTO grant for $15,000 which presents new opportunities to how our kitchen can be used for the community.

- We signed a contract to restore our altarpiece and by year's end had half of the funds.

- We responded to the devastating Nepal earthquake by beginning a family to family program at year's end.

-Threes the charm! We presented a Flamenco concert which exceeded the other two annual concerts attendance. It is another form of Outreach!

The Epiphany celebration remembers the three miracles that manifest the divinity of Christ. These include the visit of the three Magi, Christ s baptism in the Jordan River with the voice from heaven that identifies Jesus as God's son, and his first miracle at the wedding in Cana.

A small crowd of 12 turned out for the Epiphany service on a typical winter night reaching into the high 20s. Sickness, flu and related maladies affected attendance on Sunday and this service.

Catherine was away originally to support a classmate the Rev. Benson Shelton who was being installed as rector at St. Stephens, Culpeper. However, she had a hospital call for a parishioner and was not able to attend. The service was planned as Evening Prayer, a modification of the Morning Prayer service with Epiphany elements. Elizabeth Heimbach was our officiant.

A central group of 6 candles are lit. The reason for Epiphany is the light of Christ coming into the world, the light that we are to transmit outward to the world today. After hymns, the lessons are heard particularly the Gospel from Matthew features the story of Herod and the 3 kings.

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This was a chance for the younger families in our congregation to gather for food, fun and fellowship.

We had 10 adults and 8 children meet together.

Dinner was spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, fruit, salad and brownies for dessert (made by Elizabeth Heimbach, many thanks!).

After dinner Callie Towler took the kids upstairs for an activity while the adults had time to get to know and enjoy each other in a relaxed atmosphere. The adults seemed to enjoy themselves, finding connections between their lives so we plan to get the group together in the near future. Several appreciated getting a night off from providing dinner!

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Typically Congregational meeting can be a time to reflect back on the past year and/or provide some directions for the next year. Ours did more of the latter while bringing up issues from last year Catherine discussed two issues that may need some course correction in 2015 - 1. Worship 2. Budget issues

In the first area, Catherine noted that average attendance for 2014 was down from an average of 40 to 38. Catherine asked for suggestions. The second area was over the reason why the Vestry passed a deficit budget.

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A Monday night service is unusual but this is one of Catherines favorite services. It is the day we celebrate Jesus Presentation in the Temple as was custom at that time. It was the day of the year when all the candles, that were used in the church during the coming year, were brought into church and a blessing was said over them - so it was the Festival Day (or mass) of the Candles. Candles were important in those days not only because there was no electric lights. Some people thought they gave protection against plague and illness and famine.

It was also related to the calendar. Candlemas occurs at a period between the December solstice and the March equinox, so many people traditionally marked that time of the year as winters “halfway point." It is a time to bless candles.

We had 26 in attendance with help from the Rev. Bambi Willis and St. Asaphs congregation. This was a special night for Bambi as it was the one year anniversary of becoming rector of St. Asaphs.

Amy Meyer brought her new 47 string 1974 concert harp to the service. She provided a 20 minute concert before the service and played at times during the service. It echoed in our space and spreads outward. Denise Symonds was our organist.

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Eight from St. Peters enjoyed an exhibit of 60 Renaissance- and Baroque-era paintings from many museums around the globe all depicting Mary.

The exhibit is at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. The trip was an extension of our Advent study on Mary, "Singing Marys Song" and led by artist Susan Tilt.

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A snowstorm of 4+ inches eliminated most of the events of the past week. Both Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday were eliminated as well as the remainder of the Wednesday activities - Bible Study, ECW and the Food distribtution.

Catherine provided the basis of the sermon that she was preparing to give on Ash Wednesday.

The snow created an opportunity for reflection and a change of lifestyle that is part of Lent.

The service reflects a change of seasons. Rite 1 was used for both services today and is more traditional and has features that are closely related to the themes of Lent, such as sin and confession. The Rite 1 Eucharist includes two biddings to confession.

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Ladies Night Out for the 12th year was celebrated at St. Peters. The date of the event 3/14/2015 was know as "Pi" day since the mathematical concept of pie starts with those numbers. We had 26 people on a lovely night where the rain had stopped and the sun was peaking through at 6pm at the beginning of the event.

The dinner had an enormous amount of food - Johnny's venison, Stanley's meatloaf, Dave's fish (cooked on site), Joe's pot of vegetables, Alex's kale and salmon, Ken's terriyaki chicken plus remains of the earlier course and rice and a spicy corn pudding. There were 3 pies for pi day - cherry, apple and blackberry that were extremely tasty - hats off to Paul Glancey at Paul's Bakery for contributing those. Another male!

The game afterwards was less of a game with a question/answer session on the Lincoln assassination since the 150th anniversary event will be marked this year in the last weekend in April in Port Royal and Bowling Green.

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Our Lenten focus was to deepen our life in God and with one another through scripture study and through prayer. We used The Book of Common Prayer and other prayer book resources to guide and strengthen our community Lenten disciplines.

• Feb. 22 - Praying with the Prayer Book
• Sunday, March 1 Lectio Divina is a way of praying by reading scripture prayerfully.
• March 8 Our Lenten Adult education at 10am continued with a session on "Lectio Divina" which is Latin for divine reading. We had 6 in attendance. This is an ancient tradition going back to Jews and then popularized by St. Benedict in the 5h century
• March 15 - the Jesus prayer.
• March 22 - silent prayer

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This week we are doing a service for the Annunciation on Wed. March 25, 7pm with a covered dish supper at 5:30pm. The Annunciation is when the Angel Gabriel came to Mary with news that she would bear a child who be the savior.

We had 15 people in a covered dish dinner. There was an abundance of food - lasagna, hamburger casserole, cheesy potatos, both fried and a pineapple chicken, a kale dish, fruit, macaroni. Topping this off was two chocolate desserts and a angel food cake with Brad's preserves. The latter was appropriate given the celebration of the angel's appearance to Mary.

We had 18 in the service which was a Rite II communion service. Although we are in Lent, the Annunciation is considered a feast day.

The Collect was an appropriate summary - "O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection."

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Our Palm Sunday weather was not spring-like except for the sun which was glorious. The temperature was in the high 40's and reached the low 50's. Last year it was in the 70's but Palm Sunday was 3 weeks later. All the daffodils are out. Some Osprey have made it back to Port Royal to nest.

We had 47 but a smaller number for the Litany of the Palms. This year we had various noise makers including a cymbal to increase and highlight the fanfare.

The Passion reading was done similar to 2012 with a number of readers with music interlude. This was not based on characters.

Catherine did not have a sermon but did a homily at the beginning. It focused on the concept of love in Holy week despite the tragedy - the annointing at Bethany, the Last Supper, Jesus toward God and the Centurion. Each forgot their own needs and served the other.

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Tenebrae on April 1, 2015 was the opening of the Holy Week services for the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Wednesday April 1 was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the low 60's, warming up from earlier in the weekend on Palm Sunday when it was cool and windy.

Wed. April 1 was also Village Dinner with folks served Swai fish (compliments of Andrea), potatoes (Betty), corn meal muffins (Cookie) and a chocolate dessert (Eunice). Wonderful food enjoyed by all with many takeouts. This ministry has build connections within both the church and community.

We had 18 at Tenebrae at 7pm which was a good turnout, though two less than last year. This is an unusual service with its own Liturgy. There is no music - the readings carry the service. And it's not from the traditional Gospel readings. The readings range from Lamentations in the Old Testament to commentary from St Augustine, and at last a reading from Hebrews, in which the theology of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ our great high priest is presented for our consideration.

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Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the Triduum, the last three days of Holy Week, in which our worship flows in one continuous liturgy, beginning with the Maundy Thursday service.

Our service was handled differently this year. The crowd was small at 15 so that we could hold the first part of the service outside on a beautiful spring evening. Footwashing, homily, Liturgy of the Word, Communion were outside. After this we went inside for hymns - "What wonderous love is this", "As in that upper room", " Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love" and "In remembrance of me"

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This service continued our worship through the Triduum, the last three days of Holy Week. It was the day of the execution of Jesus . This service begins and ends in silence. Since the fourth century, Christians have commemorated the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior on this day.

We had 17 people on an overcast day but warm in the 70's. There was a "Good Friday" type of mood in the air - somewhat introspective thinking about what happened. Somewhat forboding looking outside. A severe storm was predicted but did not occur. In the midst of the gloom, spring is developing - the dogwoods are out, daffodils, hyacinths. The magnolia tree may be in full bloom at Easter.

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We started out at the Sunrise Service at the Long's House, bright and early at 6:30am. The weather was one of the best in the four years we have attended - it rivalled 2011. There was definitely a chill in the air but all worth it to worship in one of the most beautiful spots on the Rappahannock.

We had 61 at our 11am Easter service which is close to the average over the last few years. There were some notable contributions. Charles McGuire provided the wonderful flower arrangement up front with the lilies adorned with cherry blossoms and curly willow. Callie had a gold egg and a basked of easter eggs to share with the Godly play children. Bonnets galore - it was wonderful seeing Myrtle there. Other bonnets present included Cookie, Andrea, Cherry (back from Florida), Marilyn and Barbara. Barbara was in a wheel chair but made it anyway.The sermon utlized the popular 1960's television series "Dragnet".

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The tulip magnolia is highlighted here. It has been in full bloom since Easter, April 5, 2015. Unfortunately, we don't know the age of this tree but it is the highlight of our spring flowers.

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Laura Long was back on a visit from California. She is an actress in Los Angeles and her imdb page is here. In 2015, she had a role in the TV series "Turn: Washington's spies" playing Becky Franks. Laura was our guest preacher.

She asked two questions in her sermon:

1. How do you know Jesus is real ?

2. How do we kill doubt ? C.S. Lewis once said, "If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God more deeply." We should embrace our doubts, and pursue them to the best of our ability. When we find the answers we seek, our faith will be that much more secure. Faith ultimately becomes stronger than doubt.

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St. Peter's through the help of the Royal Caterers (and hired help) provided box lunches for 175+ at Fall Hall. We gave tours of the church and also advertised our current ministries. During the tours we made $250 for a future tablet restoration and collected some funds for the Community Give on May 5. The meals provided just under $1,400 net profit.

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The three day Booth tour that was organized for Caroline County April 24-26 came to Port Royal on Sat, April 25. The weather was not good - rain developed by midday and the crowds were not large and divided between the museum and the village area. Jim Heimbach led about 10 on a tour at 11am.

Laura Long and two reenactors portrayed the Booth arrival in Port Royal on April 24, 1865 at the Brockenbrough-Peyton home. Since Willie Jett in Booth's group knew Randoph Peyton, state's attorney of Caroline County, he decided to inquire there at the residence about a place for Herrold and Booth to stay.Instead of meeting Randolph Peyton, they met Randolph's sister Sarah, the organist at St. Peter's. She eventually denied them lodging without their brother at home. Willie Jett went across the street to the George Washington Catlett House Nobody was home. (Catlett was also a member of St. Peter's and would be appointed as one of the group to manage repairs to the chuch building in 1865).Eventually they went to the Garrett farm 2 miles away where Booth met his fate.

Heimbach's tour came to St. Peter's. Jim stressed the big dates in our history - fire, lightning attack and the recent creation of the belfry. Inside it was the organ, tablets and stained glass wnidows. We pushed our current ministries and in particularly The Community Give on May 5 supporting our Village Harvest.

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This was the second year we were invited to accompany Christ Episcopal, Spotsylvania to Shrine Mont. 9 people went. Catherine was responsible for the program ("Stations of Resurrection") and Christ Church would be providing the sermon and service on Sunday

This year we sought our Resurrected Lord as we went with the disciples to find our Risen Lord in the garden, by the sea, along the road, in the breaking of the bread, and in the gift of the Holy Spirit. In order to do this, we re-created the following stories and found ourselves in the stories; with Mary in the garden on Easter morning; with the disciples having breakfast with Jesus by the Sea of Galilee; with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus;and at the commissioning of the disciples on the mountain. We imagined what it would have been like to be present for the Ascension, and finally, we experienced a hint of Pentecost.

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We made $1,255 in the Community Give on May 5 which supported our Village harvest! Thanks to all who contributed. We added a subsite of the website to promote the Give on May 5.

From the organizer's site-"The Community Give was a 24-hour day of giving on Tuesday May 5, 2015 from 12:00 a.m. until midnight. It is a day when everyone is asked to make a donation and show support for the local nonprofit organizations that positively impact our lives every day... We rallied 155 nonprofits who support the well-being of our friends and families as well as the issues we care most about every day" Overall the Give prompted 8,013 gifts for $822,266.

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This was the 4th year of bringing our paper clutter to St. Peter's to be professionally shred. It allows people to dispose of private, confidential documents securely. There were stories of people bringing tax records, estate records, bills etc. to be shred that went back decades. We encouraged a donation of $5 a bag all to go to St. Peter's outreach ministries.

This year we collected $328 at Shred-It. After paying the Shred-it truck $225 we came out with a profit of $103 for St. Peter's Outreach ministries. This wasn't as good as last year but a wonderful contribution to help us give back to others.

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Rogation is an old celebration. While it goes back to Rome, the Christian festival is based on decided events - calamities when events overtake the main means of production - agriculture. In 470 that was in Vienne, France after a series of disasters had caused much suffering among the people. The Goths invaded Gaul. There was an enormous amount of disease; there were fires; there were earthquakes; there were attacks of wild animals.

Rogation was celebrated this year with two gifts of flowers. Cookie produced bouquet of clover for all of the windows. They had flowers of red. The Altar flowers added some Iris. The Iris were again in full bloom today around the church - purplse, reddish, yellow. Catherine provided portulaca plants for all the congregation in honor of both Rogation and Mother's Day.

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A Big Sunday at St. Peter's:

1. Pentecost -3rd most important festival of the year along with Christmas and Easter

2. Bishop Goff visitation - bishop visitations happen once a year. 10am talking healing and then leading the service at 11am. The children made mitres and became "little bishops."

3. Baptism of Marie Elizabeth Duke We had 61 in the service, augmented by the Duke family for the baptism of Marie Elizabeth Duke. She did fine though started crying slightly after Catherine baptized her. The Bishop provided the seal and she stopped crying. Both a beautiful and wonderful child.

4. Pentecost picnic 12pm

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These new fabrics created by parishioner Susan Tilt replaced the red curtains just under the altarpiece. They were up for Pentecost and the concert later in the year. They are beautiful and a fine addition.

Susan is both a designer of liturgical garments, liturgical fabrics and a painter. She has done exhibits with Bishop Goff whom she knew at St. Christophers in Northern Va. when Goff was the rector.

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Trinity Sunday is a tough Sunday to comprehend because it is a concept. The word does not appear in the Bible but is part of our creeds which appeared three centuries after Christ.

The sermon described a Trinitarian experience on horseback where Catherine "felt nothing but overwhelming peace, joy, complete communion and oneness with God and creation." It was a very personal sermon for which she apologized.

"I believe that this communion with God is what we long for and nothing else will satisfy this desire. McIntosh quotes C.S. Lewis as saying that “we want to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.”

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The Village Dinner is so well organized, well implemented that it is easy to take it for granted. Thanks to Wendy, Eunice, Cookie, Cindy, Eunice, Clarence and Betty for their help in feeding 40-45 barbecue, beans, slaw and upside down cake on Wednesday. The best in sustaining fellowship.

Photo Gallery is here

Village Dinners 10 year anniversary was in 2015 – Betty reflects

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The congergation provided spaghetti and sauce and a number of volunteers who helped put the food distribution together.

We set a record at Wednesday's Village Harvest by giving out food for 27 families for a total of 94 people served. A month ago in May it was 80 people. We began with 60 people in November, 2014.

This month we gave out strawberries, bananas, kale, zucchini, potatoes, onions, crackers, and spaghetti and spaghetti sauce.

A special thank you and shout out to Johnny Davis who drives each month to purchase the fresh produce. We couldn't do it without his support.

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The UTO listed the grant this way - "#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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Today was "Marion Mahoney Sunday" with Marion moving to Maryland in July to be near family. after 25 years at St. Peter's. It was a proper sendout with prayers, thanks for her ministries and an ECW luncheon after the 11am service.

We presented her with a canvas picture of St. Peter's so she will remember us. Marion said she knew after Tom and her visited St. Peter's at Easter, 1990 that this was the church home for her. A prayer at 11am mentioned these items, "We thank you for the time that she has spent with our children, we thank you for her leadership of the ECW, we thank you for her participation in our Bible study. We thank you for her art and for her poetry. And we remember her husband Tom this day."

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Thanks to Barbara Segar, Nancy Long, Cherry Everett, Becky Fisher, Betty Kunstmann, Elizabeth Heimbach and Catherine Hicks for their help in providing FredCamp lunches from June 29-July 3.

We have supported FredCamp with lunches for the past four years. A great outreach project!

This year one of the sites was right in Port Royal- 7213 Royal Street. These pictures were taken by Catherine on the last day, July 3. Kentucky Fried Chicken and all of the fixings plus pizza was served and devoured. Because of the amount of work to do, two teams were assigned to this home where they built an accessibility ramp, repaired siding, worked on a bathroom and did some painting for a couple . He has a work related injury and been out of work. She suffers heart problems, diabetes and COPD; she has difficulty walking.

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We did several tours for guests, acted as a place of rest and spotlighted our music - Marilyn on her harp which filled the center section at times after 11am. Many people enjoyed her playing.

Nancy and Thom Guthrie led a hymn sing in the afternoon for about 30. Songs included "America the Beautiful", "Faith of our Fathers", "My Country Tis' of Thee" and the "Star Spangled Banner". Thom delighted the crowd with an impromptu organ concert. We also had slide shows through the day of the church in 2013 and 2014 as well as shots demonstrating the "Beauty of St. Peter's."

Special thanks go out for Andrea, Susan and the Wisdoms for sitting in the St. Peter's table on the green. They sold several cookbooks, post cards and made over $140 dollars. Johnny was around and had to do a fixit job early in the day on the siding. We collected $34 in other donations at the church.

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Vacation Bible School is the consummate summer event for kids. We had 10 children during the week July 6-9, 2015. It was great getting "our gang" together on a relaxing, summer day for learning and simply to have fun with each other.

Each day centered around a chosen Bible verse or concept. Day 1 was about "God is Love". It was taught in what they colored, what they sang and ultimately about an outreach project they did. Catherine and Becky are our teachers with the assistance of Judy and Tucker.

In most of what they did they learned to work together, an invaluable lesson Day 2's verse was "Make a joyful noise to the Lord." Day 3's verse was "Be kind to one another." Day4 was "you are the light of the world."

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We received this card from Charleston thanking St. Peter's for ringing our bell (a 1850 black Meneely bell) 9 times at 10am on Sunday, June 21 in solidarity with many other churches against the act of violence that affected Mother Emanuel AME Church. The hash tag was ‪#‎chimewithcharleston. Such a kind gesture on their part. Our hearts were warmed.‬‬

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We participated in gleaning July 20, 21 in support of Feed More in Richmond which supports our produce supplier Northern Neck Food Bank. Johnny, Cookie Davis and Jim and Elizabeth Heimbach participated on July 20. Those fine people plus two more joined in on July 21. Over the week approximately 8-9 tons of corn were gleaned.‬‬

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We were blessed on many Sundays in the summer of 2015 with vegetables provided by parishioners.

Dave brought his tomatoes in several buckets on many Sundays in August and September, grown on his land. Dave said he had 20,000 plants on 15 acres. Gibby provided the labor to bring them in and greeted everyone with his broad smile and gracious hospitality. He has done well to learn the names and faces at St. Peter's.They did this on their own in the spirit of generosity.

In addition to this we had eggplant from the Long's garden. The eggplant provided a delicious meal for several days. For several Sundays in July, Johnny brought truckloads of corn - and bags too. On July 12, he had 8 ears for all. Just the best sweet corn! Thanks to all!

Link 1 - Dave and Gibby

Link 2 - Johnny

Roger and Eunice journeyed once again to help the Moravians in their annual clothing distribution. This was their 4th year. After Thursday's setup of the clothes, they serve families from the local shelter and to clients of Arbor, a near-by back to work program. On Saturday they serve all, families from all over Staten Island, NY.

At the end of the day on Saturday, they pack up the remaining clothing which typically will go to Healthy Families and to other agencies. The Scouts come back around 4:00 PM and help pack up and move all our equipment and boxes back on the truck and return to Castleton Hill Moravian Church. Eunice reports they served 1,295 people.

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Rather than celebrating the Pentecost 12 liturgy and following the leadership of the Diocese of Virginia, we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Jonathan Myrick Daniel. This happened on Aug 20, 1965 outside a store in Haneyville, Alabama where he saved a black girl Ruby Sales from the bullet that struck him. There is a walk from Selma to Haneville this weekend with Bishop Johnston in attendance.

Daniels' life showed a pattern of putting himself in the place of others who were defenseless and in need. His decision to go to Selma, though it perhaps took some people by surprise, was really just his compassion expanding in a greater circle. When the initial fervor of the Selma marches faded and most of the white northerners had returned to the safety and routines of their homes, Jonathan looked at the local poor black activists still fighting and risking their livelihoods and lives, and realized he could not abandon them.

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The “Fellowship Dinners” are generally held during the first quarter of the year and then again in August and September. Eunice has organized them. Families are given the option to sign up and to specify if they will be dining at anothers home or if they will be the host for a dinner(s). Participants are assigned which dish to bring. The host family holds the option to invite additional guest especially in case there are newcomers in the church or community. More than one dinner can happen on one night - two occurred on Friday, Aug. 21.

On a beautiful Friday in August, Catherine, Ben, Helmut, Susan, Woody, Cherry ventured to Barbara and Tom Segar's home "Captain Rock" along the Rapphannock River in King George. They have a wonderful deck overlooking the river and it was a totally uplifting experience. Watching the many types of birds and the occasional boat was just the thing after a week at work.

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Bible Study has been going at least 15 years. We have pictures back to 2001. They took vacation in August and were right back at it Sept. 9, 2015.

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The sermon concentrated on the Baptism. Greg and Brittany Merkl (Jim Anderson's daughter) had their two month son, Courtland James baptized. They living in Fayetteville. We prayed for the baby during Brittany's pregnancy and have Greg on the military prayer list.

"And now for the past many months, we have prayed for Brittany, Greg and Caroline as they’ve awaited the safe arrival of Courtland James, who will become one of us, part of the body of Christ, in just a little while through the sacrament of Holy Baptism."

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We introduced our new a new Christian Ed class "Weaving God's Promises" at 10am. This is for "graduates of Godly Play" but also welcomes teenagers and adults to participate at 10am each Sunday. The interplay between adults and children makes this a unique class.

The “Mission” of Weaving God’s Promises:

1. To help children and youth experience how God’s promises of salvation are woven into our lives.

2. To show children and youth the way of Christ, not only in the church but also in the world as Christ’s ambassadors.

3. To give children and youth a solid grounding for future youth and high-school formation programs, which prepares them for Christian adulthood.

4. To foster the spiritual formation and growth of our children and youth in Christ’s love and mercy and to teach the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.

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Gospel was moved to St. Peter's in 2015 to provide a more ecumenical setting. The crowd was larger at 37, attracting some local Baptists. Helmut and Jim have led the music for the last few years but this year invited one of Helmut's former violin students which added to the music. They also printed a new program with larger print. They added pieces ("Go Forward") that Jim remembered from his mother's hymnbook. The pieces used at the event are old time Gospel hymns which are beloved but have been eliminated from some hymn books or not sung as much. (We did sing "Shall We Gather at the River" at church this morning).

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We were pleased to welcome two performers for our third annual concert on Sept 15, 2015, Leah Kruszewski on guitar and Yolit Yospe-Kachlon, dancer. We had 100+ people for Tapas at 6pm provided by Mary Ann and Joe Betchy and Peppi from St. Asaphs at 6pm. The concert followed at 7pm. We couldn't have had a better day for the concert with bright sunshine and clear blue sky on an early fall day.

The first half of the concert was just Leah and second half was both Leah and Yolit. Leah took questions after the first number in the second half. Many of her pieces were prepared from compositions from her teachers in Spain and others were smaller pieces put together in an improvised fashion for the concert. Both were very pleased with the reception of the crowd. Leah's family and fellow guitarist Denver were also present.

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We had 7 people achieve CPR certification today in the Parish House.

Catherine,Becky,Dwayne,Eunice,Barbara,Cookie,Johnny were certified. Roger and Chris are already certified. Howard Coleman was the instructor and is a Caroline County resident.

A recent story in the Free Lance-Star where CPR was a key factor in saving a doctor's life added emphasis to the importance of this training.

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This week's service was very different - instead of Pentecost 19 we did the Feast of St. Francis since Sunday was St. Francis' day. We invited all animals to the church service and they were blessed during Communion. To make it easier, everything from the scriptures to hymns were in the bulletin.

We had 38 in the service and 9 dogs. Without exception all the dogs were well mannered. Very impressive. We also had our most recent baby in the congregation who will be baptized on All Saints, Nov. 1.

After the service there was coffee hour with pizza, salad, fruit and three cakes. Cookie did a wonderful job on this and the flowers. The flowers were stunning and all came from her garden. She quipped that she is putting the florists out of business!

The St. Francis theme was explored in "Weaving God's Promises" with our one child reading stories about St. Francis preaching to the birds and the famous story of St. Francis and the wolf.

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Fall is a wonderful time to pause and look at nature all around you. You have to take the time and not think of the minutes. The time before church is a time to let nature envelop you .

The effect of fall is magnified after a rain. Add another plus for leaves beginning to fall around you in all their color. It's the sound of the crunching of leaves beneath your fee. It's a time to look at those small things along the ground- small flowers, water pellets on leaves. It's time to lookup to see fall advancing in our trees. So many things we never notice or take the time to see.

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Catherine was away at Prescott, Arizona at Credo at part two of a course to help promote clergy wellness. The service today was Morning Prayer with Eunice as Lector and Cookie as Officiant. Dr. John Sellers was the preacher. This was the second time at the pulpit in 2015. John in his sermon concentrated on the life and example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Catherine received a certificate and a check for a grant to renovate our kitchen from Cindy Helton, UTO Coordinator for the Diocese of Virginia. Cookie, Eunice, and Betty accompanied Catherine to the meeting which was special in itself as it was the 125th anniversary celebration. Part of Catherine's remarks:

"At St Peter’s, food is abundant. We enjoy cooking and eating together. But over the past several years, it’s become clear to us that our job is to share our abundance with the broader community—sharing what we have is an issue of justice.

"Once our kitchen has been upgraded, we can invite neighborhood children to come cook afternoon snacks and adults to come learn about how to prepare the food they may have never learned to cook. We can invite children to come have lunch in the summer, or prepare food in our kitchen and take it to them. We can hold community dinners at our church. And most of all, we are thrilled that this work will someday mean that we at St Peter’s will be sitting down at the table with the friends we’ve made, all of us sharing food together as one body brought together through God’s love."

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The sermon was on Father Damien of Molokai, a historical figure that Catherine learned about on her trip to Molokai and visit to an Episcopal Church there. Catherine wore a yellow lathe that she purchased there. We brought the TV into the church for a slide show related to the sermon.

Molokai is the fifth largest of the Hawaiian chain but is still small- 38 by 10 miles and was built from two volcanos. Kalaupapa, located on an isolated peninsula on the northern side was the site of a leper settlement from 1866 to 1969. Thousands of men, women and children living throughout the Hawaiian islands diagnosed with leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) were exiled to the colony by the Hawaiian government and legally declared dead. Patients were not allowed to leave the settlement nor have visitors and had to live out their days in this isolated settlement. There are currently no active cases of leprosy on the island, but there are some former patients who chose to continue to live in the settlement after its closure.

The sermon was related to the Isaiah reading about the suffering servant.

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This is the week we kickoff the Season of Giving. The idea is to properly plan for various ministries that do fundraising in the Nov/Dec time frame for the purposes of their operations. We want to give as much time as possible for the parish to respond and at the same time not have each cause due on the same day. We published the schedule at both services, in the weekly email and in the November newsletter.

We have 4 beneficiaries of our donations this year - Samaritan's Purse, the UTO, ECM, and the Village Harvest.

The lectionary seemed to fit in with this message. The promise of restoration and healing flows through today’s readings. In today’s gospel, Jesus grants physical and spiritual wholeness to blind Bartimaeus.

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There is nothing like All Saints with a baptism! As the sermon said "Today we welcome Scarlett Joy, the youngest member of our congregation, into the worldwide, one, holy and apostolic church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism that Christians everywhere know as a passage into new life in Jesus Christ." Congratulations go out both to the newly baptized and for the congregation to support her

As part of the service we dedicated a new Paschal Candle. Elizabeth's family was present for the baptism along with the Long family. We had 49 at the service.

After the service we went over to the Long home for our first of the month coffee hour. Alex and Nancy prepared a feast - beef, salmon and vegetable burgers, home grown salad along with wonderful mash potatoes, bread and a white cake in celebration of the baptized.

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The kitchen renovation is ongoing, picking out the granite and cabinet color. Final Bids are being prepared. There were a number of celebrations Sunday, Nov.8:

• We celebrated Clarence and Betty's 62nd wedding anniversary
• We celebrated Nancy being elected as supervisor.
• We celebrated the gifts and inquisitiveness of youth as they journeyed through the prayer book in Christian Ed and participated in the "Widow's Mite" children's sermon
• We celebrated those who came through operations this week - Bill and Boyd
• We celebrated a sermon whose message echoed that of the angels on Christmas Eve "Fear not" and to offer up our fears to God
• We celebrated fall whose time has come among us in the leaves that cover our lawn. From Gathering Leaves by Robert Frost - "I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away."

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It took about a year but the painting of the outside is complete. The main delay was with the painters running into internal problems. The last portion was the front.

There was a difference of an opinion over what to do about the front doors. Many liked them stripped of paint as was the case from the beginning of the painting. Others wanted them painted again.

The compromise was the paint the portion of the door and leave the door natural.

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We had 8 from St. Peter's that were attracted to the opening reception of "Tacayas", a joint art exhibition between friends Susan Goff and Bishop Susan Goff. The reception was well attended. "Tocayas" is a noun meaning friends and artists with the same name. They are both "Susan E."

They have been friends since Susan E. Tilt was a member of St. Christopher’s, Springfield, where Bishop Susan E. Goff served as rector for 15 years. Bishop Susan Tilt is our parishioner and Susan Goff is our Bishop.

They both are fabric artists, Susan Tilt with her liturgical garments and Susan Goff with her fiber sculptures. They both employ mixed media. However, there are differences in mediums and subjects. Susan Tilt paints impressionist pictures, using cold wax as a medium. Susan Goff paints with acrylic and creates 3D mixed media collages that "pop" out at you. Goff paints religious subjects and several from her life, such as that on an Indian reservation. Tilt's are more secular and based on nature and current events. Both stressed that their art works are not conceived from the beginning but develop as they build layer up layer upon layer of elements.

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In recognition of the anniversary and the nearness of Thanksgiving, we stocked up on food:

• 882 pounds of produce, including watermelons, pineapples, butternut squash, peppers, tomatoes, apples, and sweet potatoes
• 188 pounds of chicken (we are providing a chicken for each family)
• 87 pounds of "mixed groceries" (Peanut butter, canned beans, etc)

That was a wise move - we served 118 people, a record and almost double the 60 people that came a year ago. Here is the record of people served in the last 6 months.

Over the 12 month period we have served 977 people and provided 6,177 pounds of produce to the Port Royal community. Our effort provides a positive identity for the Church, breaks down barriers and creates new relationships.

Thanks to the ECW who have led this ministry and particularly Johnny Davis who has worked with the Northen Neck Food Bank and has been our main buyer. And to all the helpers, some who come every month, the celebration is yours!

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We celebrated Cookie's service with the Diocesan ECW since she will be retiring:

1. 2003 Region 1 - ECW President

2. Prayer and Worship Chair

3. Dominican Republic Partnership Chair (4 mission trip to the Domnican Republic)

4. Recording secretary since 2010.

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We started at 10am with the first session on "Songs in Waiting" with 8 people, a christian education study for Advent. The book is based on the Gospel of Luke which is the Gospel we will reading in Year C, beginning Nov. 29, 2015.

Songs in Waiting is focused on the four canticles of Luke which are unique among the Gospel writers. Luke harkens back to the Old Testament for inspiration but adapts them to a new Christian setting.

The book was just over 100 pages and we took a chapter per week and discussed the book along with the associated scriptures and art which are in the book:

November 22 —The Magnificat or Song of Mary
November 29 —The Benedictus or Song of Zecchariah
December 6 —The Gloria or Songs of the Angels to the Shepherds
December 13 —The Nunc Dimititis or Song of Simeon

The book's themes of faith, blessings and revelation carry through the 4 chapters in telling the story of God coming among us.

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Cleo Mullins our altarpiece conservator was here to explain the conservation process during the announcements and describe the problems she encountered in the various parts of the altarpiece.

It is a case of the elements (earthquake water damage), time (framework gild, tablets bowing) and human mistakes (overpaint and damage to the framework by ladders). She opened the review to questions. The conservation is not an exact process since various details may be revealed in the conservation.

We also included in the bulletin a pamphlet and have a form for donating or pledge to the altarpiece. Catherine revealed that the cost of $64K has been met by donations and pledges of $31K. We have an altarpiece page with articles and videos.

Altarpiece page

The first weekend in Advent has many community events. Some of us went to the University of Mary Washington combined orchestra and chorus on Friday, Dec. 4. Many old favorites were included, some new settings and the traditional sing along at the end.

The next night, Historic Port Royal scheduled their trolley tour of properties.

Many parishioners had key roles. Cookie led the tour. The Heimbachs house was featured and brought alive by entertainers Jim and Helmut. Marilyn was featured as harp soloist at the Farmer household. Other parishioners were part of the crowd - Cherry, Woody, Clarence and Betty.

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Over 100 children participated in the annual Port Royal Tree lighting. There were five groups collaborating for this event - Town of Port Royal, Parks and Rec, Caroline's Promise, St. Peter's Episcopal, and Memorial Baptist. The two churches took care of the dinner - St. Peter's the pizza and Memorial Baptist the vegetables. Andrea from St. Peter's handled the hot chocolate.

Nancy and Donnell from Parks and Rec kept the evening going and organized.

After a pizza dinner the children filed out to a darkened tree. Nancy passed out ornaments for decorating the tree which was soon lit. Santa arrived in a Port Royal Fire engine and led the children back into the firehouse. Children stood in line waiting for their change to be with Santa. Each child received a present and a picture was taken of each child.

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David Caprara spoke on behalf of Global Peace Foundation and more specifically about our Family/Family Nepal program. He was in Nepal both before and after the April, 2015 Earthquake. Last month he trekked into the Himalayas, north of Kathmandu, about a half an hour and met with our family, the Tamangs. The Vestry allocated funds to provide housing for them.

The Tamangs didn't understand why Caprara was there but the personal letter made all the difference in the world. "When I read them the letter from your church their faces lit up with joy and appreciatino. They were actually transformed by your sentiments and heart - spiritually as well as a physically with the home (the church provided)."

He suggested a future project which would cost about $200 to build a toilet.

David is beginning to spread the Family/Family conept throughout "the entire service movment there is different regions." He thanked us for sharing the miracle of Christmas and generosity with the families of Nepal. We hope to be able to develop this relationship next year.

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There were 44 in attendance on a cloudy evening on the Rappahannock. It was very mild - in the 60's. This is not a Christmas party but a Christmas experience. In every room in the Everett household you are surrounded by Christmas. It is challenging just to see everything. And their collection is still expanding! There were at least 4 new items this Christmas.

The living room has a gigantic tree, a decorated Christmas mantle and a large screen TV with continuous Christmas hits. Then moving into the hall is the real treat - the old Christmas village with churches, hotels, stores, and moveable Christmas rides. It is an assault on the senses! There are three tables, most on permanent exhibit through the year but covered.

There is a separate home attached with a inground pool covered over for Christmas. In this room are larger Christmas exhibits, including a manger scene, Santa in a balloon and a wire Christmas tree.

After dinner with several meats, countless casseroles there was music of the season provided Helmut and band. As we departed we received an ornament from the Everetts. An amazing event!

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This is a musical pairing we have seen since Gospel on the River and was present at the Trolly Tour on Dec. 5 and the Everett's Christmas on Dec. 13. They have added other musicians along the way to supplement their music. The picture was taken at Jim's house for the trolley tour. One popular piece they played then was "Ashokan Farewell" from Ken Burns' Civil War series.

We hear Helmut and Brad frequently in Church particularly in Advent and Lent. Jim is an accomplished pianist so it is wonderful they can work together.

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Brad's choir retreat has been an annual event for several years. It is a combination of a separate practice away from the demands of Sunday to concentrate on the Christmas music as well as an opportunity to prepare a meal and enjoy each other's company.

This year the retreat was at Brad's home in Stafford rather than St. Peter's where he could show off his new organ powered by software from Hauptwerk. It is a software sampler which enhances the ability of a home organ to sound like famous organs in the world by sampling each pipe of historic organs and loading samples into memory rather than streaming from disk. It has become the choice product of organists.

The choir ran over the Christmas music and enjoyed a lunch of quiche, bread (from Tucker), salad and and cheese cake. In an earlier life, Brad was a chef in Washington which shows in the luncheon portion of the Choir retreat.

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St. Peter's play is not just a play for children but the entire congregation. And it was certainly true today when entire families were coopted to help prepare a Mass for St. Francis. He wanted to see the birth of Jesus with his own eyes.

This play was different in that it was not set in Bethlehem but 13th century Italy. Part of the fun was to see how families names were converted into an Italian script. Helmut made it work playing Giovanni that loveable guy who wanted to turn the village upside down preparing a wonderful mass for St. Francis. He made you believe he was making it happen. 6 families he was able to convince to participate in the mass were the following -Alexandros Long), Davissimos, Foxittis, Felicianos, Fishuttis, and Pogmattis. What a convincing guy ! No one turned him down. Clarence as St. Francis was a perfect look a like for St. Francis. He could easily blend in with the monks.Many thanks to Becky who managed all the costumes - we had just under 25 actors and actresses which was just under half of the congregation. Also Catherine who wrote the play - what an original idea!

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Catherines Play
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About 17 ladies came to Barbara Wisdom's Christmas tea. Most of the guest list was from the Portobago subdivision area. They enjoyed a variety of finger foods brought by the participants and tea in a variety of cups. Santa Claus made a surprise appearance and many of the ladies enjoyed providing him with their guest list. After the tea many went out caroling to nearby homes.

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One of the warmest Christmas Eve's on record - 70's.We had 57 in attendance with a traditional Christmas Eve service in contrast to the Love Feast last year. New this year were floating candles in the windows and font and Andy Cortez on trumpet.

Catherine read the Gospel by memory which is the best way to appreciate the beauty of the story. Her sermon reflected the recent Star Wars release, "A Force Awakens." How is that connected to the Gospel?

" Tonight we have just heard a story that begins, not with “in a Galaxy Far, Far Away,” but with these words—“And it came to pass in those days…” But the story that unfolds is essentially the same. In the gospel story, the earth is in the hands of Caesar Augustus, and those under his command, like Cyrenius, and they control a large part of the world."

Cookie giving Barbara Wisdom a gift for the recent Ladies Tea. The choir anthem was "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" with Helmut on violin and Andy with his trumpet. As communion concluded, candles were lit for "Silent Night". Helmut sang the first verse in German and the congregation cam in English the next two verses. The lights of the candles reflected beautifully off our clear glass windows.

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The ECM chose 4 families to help this year - 2 at Thanksgiving and Christmas.Helmut Linne von Berg provides the following story for both holidays:

Thanksgiving - "Johnny D. and I went shopping on 23 Nov. for the 3 families. They all received a 16 pound turkey, a spiral sliced ham, potatoes, onions, cut green beans, peas, cranberry sauce, apples, sweet potatoes, and a pumpkin pie. We had visited them prior to going shopping to assure that they would be able to cook and prepare the food. "The living conditions in the trailer parks are shocking; we really counted our blessings. "

Christmas -" Before going out to purchase gifts, I visited the families to assure that we would provide items which are really needed. I found a grandmother, grandmother's daughter with 11 year old son, a younger daughter with two children who was 8 months pregnant. "

"Johnny D. and I went shopping on Thursday, 16 Dec. We purchased food,i.e. turkey, ham, veggies, as well as clothing per their request, toys for all the children including bicycles, helmets, educational games, doll baby, etc. The items were delivered per our arrangements. "

Total cost for this ministry was $144.67 at Thanksgiving and $483.81 at Christmas.

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Lessons and Carols' takes up one of two Sundays in Christmas.and was an effort to create a more imaginative Christmas service in 1918.

The service structure is simple. Traditionally, "Once in Royal David City" is the opening hymn, following by the lovely Bidding Prayer by the priest. 9 Old and New Testament readings alternate with hymns. The content of the service is flexible though one reading must be from Genesis. There is no sermon or communion. It ends with a closing collect and dismissal.

The sweep of the service is the attractive element. Where the Christmas lessons are specific on the birth of Jesus, Lessons and Carols puts the event in perspective covering the earlier Old Testament as well as the New Testament events leading up to Christ's birth. Several memories this year:

1 The continual warm weather of recent has caused new growth on the boxwood in the front and butterfly bush on the side.
2. The day was overcast and damp. During the service, the sun came out at the beginning of the 4th stanza of "Little Town of Bethlehem - "O holy Child of Bethlehem Descend to us, we pray".
3. Brad's Prelude and Fugue in C Major by Bach

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This event originated around 2003 when there was no priest after Karen Woodruff left. It was a way for keeping the congregation together in fellowship. It's a full dinner which doesn't get in the way of later activities in the evening.

This year there were 28 as opposed to 35 last year. In 2014, Ken brought his family from California and some parishioners had other obligations this year which accounts for some of the differences in numbers.

The people and food change from year to year but the glad tidings and celebration are a constant. A great way to end 2015 and look forward to 2016. Most noticeable this year was Andrea's New Year's costume with hat and stole. Also, after dinner, Ken Pogue kept a number of people in stitches with stories of his college life and beyond.

There were some repeats in food - Johnny's venison and Bill Wick's deadly egg nogg. The many assorted desserts included an extremely large Whitman's samplers box. Rounding off the meal were Barbara Wisdom's hot wings, Cookie's bread and assortment of vegetable casseroles. Just before the meal there was a wonderful plate of salmon and cheese and crackers.

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