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Rector, Annual Report, 2016
The Rev. Catherine D. Hicks
Grace and peace to you, the People of St Peter’s Episcopal Church.
God has richly blessed our community in many evident ways in 2016. I’m not a numbers
person, but I am delighted to report that our average Sunday attendance went up from 39 to 44
this past year. That is wonderful for a church our size, and it shows your commitment to your
baptismal vow to “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread,
and in the prayers.” Everything we do grows out of our worship of God, and thanksgiving for
God’s love, goodness, mercy, kindness and compassion for each one of us. Worshipping
together is the foundation for everything else we do, so thank you for being faithful about
coming to church this past year!
Christian Education this year has included, thanks to Becky Fisher, who is now the teacher, the
continuing of Godly Play for the youngest members of our congregation. The older children,
God’s Kids, meet with me on Sunday morning. During Lent last year, the older children and
adults came together for an intergenerational Lenten program on Sunday mornings and the
adults did a study on Abraham on Wednesday evenings. Ben Hicks did an Advent study for
adults on the infancy narratives from the gospel according to Matthew. Bible Study continues
every Wednesday morning from 10AM until noon. Vacation Bible School took place again this
year, with all of the St Peter’s children attending. 2016 was the year of St Peter’s Sings. We
focused on learning a little about the language of music during many of our worship services
this past year.
And thank you for being faithful not only about coming to worship, but also about your giving of
time, energy and money to the life of the St Peter’s community.
Special thanks goes to Clarence (and Betty) Kunstmann for the gift of time and talent that
Clarence has given to St Peter’s as the treasurer of St Peter’s for the past thirteen years.
Clarence “retired” at the end of 2016. Eunice Key is taking on this daunting responsibility for
the new year.
We have put effort this past year in doing some needed maintenance, with the guidance of our
Junior Warden, Johnny Davis. Work included the scraping and painting of both the church and
the parish house, new and improved plumbing in the parish house along with the renovation of
the kitchen, the painting of the nursery roof, a new roof on the church, and refinished floors in
the sacristy and altar areas. With regret, we said goodbye to the old sycamore in the graveyard
behind the bell tower. Our worship space got transformed for several months by the gigantic
green scaffolding that covered the altar area. Luckily the scaffolding was color coordinated