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Rector, Annual Report, 2015
The Rev. Catherine D. Hicks
One wedding, two funerals and three baptisms took place at St Peter’s during 2015. Cheryl
Young and Dennis Ryan were married at St Peter’s on Valentine’s Day. The funeral of Bill Jones
took place in January. With great sorrow, we said goodbye to Dutchy Fannon in July. St Peter’s
was blessed to welcome into our church family through baptism three children, Elizabeth Marie
Duke, daughter of Carolyn and Dave Duke at Pentecost; Courtland Merkl (grandson of Jim and
BJ Anderson) in September; and Scarlett Joy Long, daughter of Alex V and Elizabeth Long, on All
Saints’ Day.
In addition to our usual Sunday services, we marked Epiphany with Evening Prayer in January,
The Presentation in February and The Annunciation in March with Holy Eucharist. On each
Wednesday evening in Lent, we held Evening Prayer. Holy Week services included Tenebrae,
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, and I preached at the Port Royal sunrise service as
well as at St Peter’s on Easter Sunday. In May, St Peter’s hosted the Region One Clericus with a
Pentecost Love Feast and a delicious lunch prepared by Eunice Key. In August, along with
many other churches in the Diocese, we remembered Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Seminarian,
one of the saints of the Church, who was active in the civil rights movement in the 1960’s in this
country. In October, we celebrated the life of St Francis at the Sunday Holy Eucharist, and
people brought their dogs to church. In November, we observed Veterans’ Day with a special
service of Noonday Prayer. Parishioners who attended the Christmas Pageant on the fourth
Sunday of Advent found themselves in the Italian village of Grecchio. Many of them were
invited to help bring the crèche to life for St Francis, who wished to see the nativity with his
own eyes. The Christmas Eve celebration of Holy Eucharist and Lessons and Carols brought the
2015 worship services at St Peter’s to a close for the year.
Visits with parishioners in their homes, in emergency rooms, in hospitals and even in doctor’s
offices have given me the opportunity to spend time with people at St Peter’s, to pray with
them, and offer them the support of our church community.
In addition to my responsibilities for planning and leading worship, I planned and led the 2015
Vestry retreat. My teaching responsibilities during the year included weekly reading and
preparation for the Wednesday Bible Study. I planned and led the program for the Parish
Retreat held with Christ Church Spotsylvania at Shrine Mont. I started an intergenerational
class for third graders and adults based on the Weaving God’s Promises curriculum, which
began in the fall and is ongoing. I led a Sunday morning Lenten series on different ways of