Last Sunday (Pentecost 4, June 21, 2015)
June 28 – 9:00am, Holy Eucharist, Rite I
June 28 – 10:00am, Godly Play (preschool through 2nd grade)
June 28 – 11:00am, Morning Prayer, Rite II
June 28 – 12:00pm, ECW Luncheon honoring Marian Mahoney
June 29- July 3 – FredCamp Lunches
July 1 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
July 1 – 5:00pm, Village Dinner
July 2 – 6:30pm, Penumansend Jail Ministry
July 4 – 10:00am-2:00pm, St. Peter’s open for July 4
This Sunday at St. Peter’s – Servers, Readings
June 28 – Marian Mahoney Sunday
Sunday, June 28th is Marian Mahoney Sunday. Marian will be moving at the end of June to Maryland to be near her family and the 28th will be her last Sunday with us before her move.
During her 20+ years at St. Peter’s, Marian has been involved with the ECW (President for 12 years), she has taught Sunday School, helped with the Village Harvest and served on the Altar Guild. We will pray for her during the service and the ECW will host a luncheon in her honor in the Parish House directly following the service.
Time for Vacation Bible School, July 6-9
God is Love and We are God’s Helpers is the theme of this year’s Vacation Bible School at St Peter’s, which will be held on Monday, July 6 through Thursday, July 9th from 9:15Am to 11:30AM each day. Each day the children will enjoy singing and worshipping together, hearing stories, praying together, eating and playing together, and doing crafts. In addition, the children will make jars of rainbow bean soup mix which will be part of our July food distribution. The focus each day is on a specific Bible verse. Monday’s verse: “God is love.” Tuesday’s verse: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” Wednesday’s verse: “Be kind to one another.” Thursday’s verse is “You are the light of the world.”
Here are pictures from last year’s event:
1. Day1 2. Day2 3. Day3 4. Day4
Description and pictures:
1. Day1 2. Day2 3. Day3 4. Day4
Help needed for Vacation Bible School, July 6-9
1. Becky Fisher, and Catherine Hicks, who are planning and leading the Bible School, need two volunteers each day to help with the snacks, games and crafts. This is an easy and entertaining way to live into the promise we make every time a child is baptized at St Peter’s—to support these people in their lives in Christ. If you can help, please let Catherine know. Send an email or you can also call her on her cell phone (540) 809-7489.
2. Also needed – any of the following DRIED beans—red beans, northern beans, split peas, pintos and black beans.
Village Harvest on July 15 – Wish list
The third Wednesday comes up early in July. For July’s Village Harvest distribution, July 15, please bring peanut butter, tuna, and elbow macaroni by Sunday, July 12
Thanks for your help!
Gleaning Mission Project, July 20-25. Sign up now!
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.
– Leviticus 23:22
Gleaning is going over a field or area that has just been harvested and gathering by hand any usable parts of the crop that remain. It keeps waste at a minimum and helps Food banks and suppliers replenish their supplies.
It helps us appreciate the supply chain and give back to those who help us. We couldn’t do the Village Harvest program without the ability to buy fresh produce at 5 cents a pound from the Northern Neck Food Bank.
1. When? We will be gleaning Mon., July 20-Fri, July 25, 8:45am-12pm for “Feed More” , a supplier for the Northern Neck Food Bank where we purchase our produce for the Village Harvest. The fields are owned by Parker Farms. It’s only in the morning so we avoid the afternoon heat.
2. Where ? We meet at General Testing Labs 1623 Leedstown Road Colonial Beach, Va. 22443 at 8:45am each day
3. What you need to do ? There are two forms to complete
A. Complete a signup sheet on what day(s) you would like to glean. We need to let them know how many will be coming. We also may be able to carpool.
B. Complete the Northern Neck release form. We have pre-filled in some parts of the form to make it easier.
These forms can be 1. completed online and then printed OR 2. printed and then completed by hand.
Whichever way, bring the forms by the church. We need the completed forms a week ahead – July 13
Forms are also available at the church. Ask Johnny Davis or Catherine for these forms.
4. Supplies
A. What you need to bring ? Hat, gloves and any snacks.
B. What they supply ? – Water, sunscreen, crates, gleaning equipment
5. Who will be working with ? Jacobs Ladder in Richmond – 35 adults and teenagers
6. For more information on gleaning and food waste-
A. Why 40%+ America’s food go to waste ? (Video news article)
B. NPR article on fighting food waste
C. Feed More in Richmond video
E. Society of St. Andrew – Farm to Food Bank,
7. Questions ? – Johnny Davis
Keeping up with General Convention
The 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will be held in Salt Lake City from June 25-July 3, 2015. Sat. is the Presiding Bishop election
1. Watch it online – Media Hub
2. Read about it – CenterAisle , the newspaper from the Diocese of Virginia
3. Bunch of links
Voices at the Opening of General Convention
"Our recent history as a Church has been filled with warring, chaos, and quite a bit of collateral damage – and we live in a larger society that has shrinking interest in “church” as they understand it. Yet today we are leaner and more focused on essentials. We’ve rediscovered some of what is most central to being part of the body of Christ – that it already has a head, and that isn’t any one of us, and that our lives, our health and wholeness and holiness are ultimately bound up with all God’s children and all creation. We don’t make this trek alone, and we can’t go alone even if we’d prefer a solo journey. We’re tied to one another through the bonds of affection called the love of God. We will never live that interrelated life perfectly, but interdependence is our vocation and our destiny – and we know it as the Reign of God. This journey requires courage – to venture into the unknown future, to befriend strangers, to confront whatever denies life and liveliness, and to keep learning interdependent ways of living…
"Go with integrity, each reflecting the divine lover and creative spirit, mutually grounded in one society, humble enough to learn from partners and strangers, with eyes fixed firmly on the eternal prize of right relationship with God, neighbor, and all creation. Go into the neighborhood, across the tracks, and across the galaxy. Meet and befriend the other, whether poor or bruised or differently abled or too beautiful for words. No matter who you’re afraid of, we need each other, and we need to meet on the field of peace, drawing the circle ever wider. Trade hate for greater life. We know how, if we will GO out there, unburdened by all the prejudices and presuppositions we use as crutches and weapons. Turn guns into swing sets. Turn chains into park benches. Go out there and find God already at work, preparing the ground for the peace that brings abundant life for us all. Go, for Jesus sends us on the only journey truly worth our lives."
-The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop . Full speech Video
"Just like Zechariah, we are standing on a boundary between the old and the new. Gathering here to wrestle with the future of our beloved Episcopal Church, we are standing on holy ground, straining to hear God speaking above all the noise. And we are not quite sure who we are.
"Whenever I find myself on a boundary, Paul Tillich is my go-to guy. Tillich, a theologian who taught at Harvard Divinity School and the University of Chicago, said this in a sermon reprinted in his collection titled “The Shaking of the Foundations:”
"Nothing is more surprising than the rise of the new within ourselves. We do not foresee or observe its growth. We do not try to produce it by the strength of our will, by the power of our emotion, or by the clarity of our intellect. On the contrary, we feel that by trying to produce it we prevent its coming. By trying, we would produce the old in the power of the old, but not the new. The new is being born in us, just when we least believe in it. It appears in remote corners of our souls which we have neglected for a long time."
"We’re talking about our vision of the Beloved Community, and we are asking important questions. Can we restructure in a way that inspires and energizes the people of our church? Can we restructure in a way that continues to respect the gifts of all orders of ministry? "
– Gay Clark Jennings – President of the House of Deputies Full speech Episcopal News Service article
The Pope’s Environment Encyclical – for All
An encyclical is a teaching document issued by the pope. This one is called Laudato Si’ (“Be praised” or “Praise be to you”)—a line from the Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis of Assisi.
1. Pope Francis is the first pope to devote an encyclical to the environment. And his language is strong – “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”
2. Virtually all encyclicals are addressed to the bishops of the Catholic Church, sometimes with added groups like other Catholic clergy, religious, laypeople. Laudato Si’ is different. It is not addressed specifically to the bishops with additional groups added. Instead, it is addressed to every person on the planet.
3. Encyclicals are usually more centered on Catholic doctrine. While Laudato Si’ contains many elements of Catholic teaching, it is not focused on Church doctrine in the same way. For example, the first chapter is devoted to a summary of the various environmental problems Pope Francis sees the world facing, and his summary is based on scientific studies rather than theological documents.
Main chapters
Including a brief introduction, the document comprises six chapters:
- What Is Happening to Our Common Home
- The Gospel of Creation
- The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
- Integral Ecology
- Lines of Approach and Action
- Ecological Education and Spirituality
The document concludes with two prayers, one that can be said by all who believe in God as the all-powerful Creator and one that is meant to be said specifically by Christians.
Links:
2. Summaries by Edward Pentin or Kevin Cotter
4. Video – 5 things you didn’t know on climate change
2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Epistle – On Scripture – Pope Francis on Climate Change: "Hearing the Cries of Earth and the Poor"
On Scripture probes the connection between the Pope’s encyclical and this week’s Epistle.
"In the ninth chapter of his second letter to the Church in Corinth, we find the apostle Paul advocating for the poor and recounting the necessity of mutual love, understanding, and action. He urges the church community in Corinth to share their abundance with fellow believers in need, specifically with the struggling Christian community in Jerusalem."
Likewise the Pope talks about "the disproportionate effect changes in the environment have on the poor…" They will be struggling. "For example, of climate change the Pope writes, “It’s worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades. Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming. They have no other financial activities or resources which can enable them to adapt to climate change or to face natural disasters….” Many of these people are forced to leave their homes, essentially becoming environmental refugees."
"Harkening back to the practice of the very earliest expression church of sharing gifts freely and holding all things in common (Acts 2 and 4), Paul urges the Corinthians to generously care and consider the concern for their fellow believers in need. He shows the Corinthians and today’s readers that our love, concern, and responsibility for one another must transcend differences in wealth, culture, language, and geography. Today we must recognize and seek to alleviate the suffering of those in circumstances and climates different from our own—those plagued by drought, facing rising shorelines, or a scarcity of sustainable food supplies and lack of clean water—both for the good of all people and the good of all creation."
Read more about the connection
June 29 – Feast of Peter and Paul
The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul commemorates the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles St. Peter and Paul of Tarsus, observed on June 29. The celebration is of ancient origin, the date selected being either the anniversary of their martyrdom in 67AD or of the translation of their relics. They had been imprisoned in the famous Mamertine Prison of Rome and both had foreseen their approaching death. Saint Peter was crucified; Saint Paul, a Roman citizen, was slain by the sword. Together they represent two different Christian traditions.
Why do we remember them ? Peter is pictured on the left with the keys – the keys to the kingdom. In Matthew 16, Christ says " And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven." They keys since then have been symbols of Papal power. Peter represents that part of the Church which gives it stability: its traditions handed down in an unbroken way from the very beginnings, the structures which help to preserve and conserve those traditions, the structure which also gives consistency and unity to the Church, spread as it is through so many races, cultures, traditions, and geographical diversity
Paul is pictured with the Bible. He, on the other hand, represents the prophetic and missionary role in the Church. It is that part of the Church which constantly works on the edge, pushing the boundaries of the Church further out, not only in a geographical sense but also pushing the concerns of the Church into neglected areas of social concern and creatively developing new ways of communicating the Christian message. This is the Church which is constantly renewed, a Church which needs to be constantly renewed.
Thanks for Help with FredCamp lunches June 29- July 3
Thanks to Barbara Segar, Nancy Long, Mary Ann Betchy, Eunice Key, Cookie Davis and Catherine for their help in providing FredCamp lunches.
We have done this for the past three years. This year it is right in Port Royal- 7213 Royal Street. They are scheduled to build an accessibility ramp and provide other repairs to a couple. He has a work related injury and been out of work. She suffers heart problems, diabetes and COPD; she has difficulty walking. You are welcome to visit the site this coming week.
In lieu of a mission trip, this is a great way to support local mission. Here’s a link to last year’s effort on Route 17
Village Dinner, July 1, 5pm
This looks like a great one but comes up early in the month! Reserve your place now! See Susan Linne von Berg
- Oven Fried Chicken
- Sliced Tomato
- Orzo Vegetable Combo
- Deviled eggs
- Strawberry shortcake
Thanks to Cookie, Eunice, and Betty for doing this every month. A good example of sustained hospitality. From last month’s dinner:
July 4 at St. Peter’s
St. Peter’s will be involved in several ways:
1. Place of rest during the day in the cool of the church. we have a history brochure and the graveyard brochure to read.
2. At 10am we will have a couple of slideshows – "Beauty of St. Peter’s, "We do, Life at St. Peter’s", "2013" and a new one, "2014."
3. At 11am, Marilyn Newman plays her harp.
4. At 12pm , St. Peter’s will provide a hymn sing with organ concert. Thom Guthrie will do the honors.
This is a great event to help promote St. Peter’s! Come help out and come participate.
Here is a photogallery of 2014 .
Lectionary, June 28, Pentecost 5
I. Theme – Compassion and Healing
"Jesus heals the bleeding woman" – From the Catacomb of Sts Marcellinus and Peter
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Lamentations 3:21-33
Psalm – Psalm 30
Epistle –2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Gospel – Mark 5:21-43
Today’s readings encourage us to remember God’s goodness and act toward others with the same unflinching generosity and compassion. Lamentations reminds those who are suffering that God’s goodness will surely come. Paul encourages the Corinthians to offer their surplus of wealth to other communities who are in need. In the gospel, Jesus brings the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue official, back to life in anticipation of his own resurrection.
We are called to live for others and not for ourselves. We are called to nbsp;share what we have with others and to be in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized. We are called, most of all, to remember that God’s love endures forever, and that at times we need to wait, and not lose hope. The woman who suffered for many years in Mark’s Gospel did not lose hope, neither did Jairus in the time of crisis for his daughter. We know that God through Jesus Christ gives us new life, a life that transcends death, a life that calls us into solidarity with others and to share what we have, for Christ lived not for himself but for all; we also are called not to live for ourselves but for others.
The Judeo-Christian concern for the poor and needy has become overwhelming in this day when the whole world of nations is at our doorstep. We hardly know how to respond. International economic injustices prevent the distribution of national resources on the basis of simple human need. Welfare and many other social obligations have largely become the responsibility of governmental agencies and institutions. We are not too conscious of the individual injunction to be our brother’s keeper.
Still, those who live under biblical mandates do what they can to relieve human need, as they are able. “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he has not.” Voluntary and secret pledging may be hazardous to the Church, but it is in the spirit of what we are called to do. As Paul says, “…so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.”
The motivation for such stewardship of our resources is our response to Jesus’ voluntary poverty that we “might become rich.” If our gratitude and love for his life given for us is genuine, we are spontaneous givers. Paul equates liberality with our desire to fulfill the will of God, who has given us all that is necessary for our well-being. What and how we give it is really a matter between ourselves and God and reflects our relationship with God.
The passage from Mark seems incongruous with today’s other readings, but it may be related squarely to our sense of gratitude. There are two open secrets in the Gospel of Mark. One is that Jesus is lord over all life in both the natural and spiritual worlds, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. The signs of God’s kingdom come in Christ are staked out all over the countryside if we can but read them in his words and deeds. The other secret is that faith alone will enable us to receive the blessings Jesus brings to the world.
For the first time in Mark’s gospel, a respectable member of society “falls at Jesus’ feet.” Whatever mixture of motives he might have, the ruler of the synagogue also has some faith that Jesus can help his dying child. Jesus recognizes the quantum of faith in Jairus and responds to it. Our lord is quick to respond to any budding faith, no matter how it is mixed with self-serving interests.
But the little girl dies before Jesus reaches her. Why trouble him further when death strikes in the midst of hope? We say “where there is life there is hope.” But Jesus, already challenged and victorious over the violence of nature and demonic forces, goes immediately to meet death head-on and calls the daughter of Jairus out of her “sleep.”
God is not the God of the dead but the living. “I am the resurrection and the life…He that believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” So Jesus vanquished death also, demonstrating that he is lord even over the last enemy of life.
Jesus has proved how genuine is his love for us. Our gratitude moves us to find our brothers and sisters in need and carry on his gracious work.
Read more about the lectionary…