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Parish Meeting 2012 - Priest in Charge - Catherine Hicks
Priest-in-Charge, Annual Report, 2011
The Rev. Catherine D. Hicks
“The kingdom of God has come near…” These words of Jesus sum up all that has gone on at St Peter’s in the year of 2011. We have experienced God’s kingdom drawing near in our life together in this place.
Worship
The kingdom of God has come near during the past year in the ways that we have come together in worship. Our normal pattern is to celebrate the Holy Eucharist on every Sunday of the month except for the last Sunday when we worship with the Daily Office. In addition, this past year, we had an Epiphany service, pancake races and a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, an Ash Wednesday service, midweek healing and Eucharistic services throughout the season of Lent. During Holy Week we worshipped through Tenebrae, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Day services. We observed the tenth anniversary of 9-11 with a special evening service at St Peter’s. The choir and parishioners from St Asaph’s joined us for that service. In May, we celebrated our 175th anniversary with special worship services. We enjoyed praising God together during our hymn sing at Gospel on the River, held this year in Portobago Bay. In November, we had a luncheon and an afternoon worship service with the folks from Memorial Baptist Church. We have added a Rite One service of Holy Eucharist at 9AM on the last Sunday morning of each month that has been well attended, and which will continue.
We are very blessed that Brad Volland, our organist, and our choir provide excellent musical leadership for all of our services. Many of you received training and served as ushers, acolytes, lay readers, lay Eucharistic ministers this past year. Lay Eucharistic visitors have attended the Diocesan Prevention of Adult Sexual Misconduct Workshop taught by our Region’s Dean, The Very Rev. Jeffrey Packard.
Christian Education
We have in place a nursery for little ones that is available each Sunday. This year, we have put into place two Sunday school classes for our youth, one for the elementary grades, and one for the middle school group. Adult education is available each Sunday. At this time, all Christian Education on Sunday centers around the lectionary readings, and we are using the Living the Good News curriculum. The adults also had a study of the Prophet Isaiah earlier in the year. The midweek Wednesday Bible study continues, as does the book group, which meets throughout the year. During Lent, we had a weekly study group that met and studied the life of St Peter through scripture and the practice of lectio divina.
In the spring, several people attended a class to learn more about the Episcopal Church. At his visit with us this summer, Bishop Jones received seven people and confirmed three of our youth into the Episcopal Church, increasing our official membership by ten people. A new program for the children began in the fall. Five people were baptized in 2011. The children gather with the Priest in Charge and with Nancy Long each Wednesday afternoon for a time of fellowship and learning.
Evangelism
During 2011, we have made an effort to be more visible in our community and to spread the Good News through the community dinners funded through the Diocesan Mustard Seed Grant, and we have also increased our presence on the World Wide Web through our website, www.churchsp.org, and the creation of a FaceBook page. Word of mouth continues to be our most effective evangelistic tool. New people who have come to our church in the past year have heard about us through positive conversations with our current members.
Outreach
At the end of 2011, we established an Outreach Committee made up of three people in our congregation who will coordinate the many outreach projects that go on at St Peter’s. For a complete look at the many ways in which we have shared the good news of God with the world this year, please follow this link to our website, http://www.churchsp.org/outreach#outreach2011. Our approach at St Peter’s is a global approach with emphasis on our local community. We reach out to our local community through supporting the Caroline County Social Services food pantry, providing support at Christmas to families in need, to provide financial assistance to those in need through the Discretionary Fund, and this year we implemented a series of community dinners for the community.
At the end of this past year, several people received the training required to become volunteers at the Peumansend Creek Regional Jail and we expect to get a Bible study underway at the jail during 2012.
Being part of a diocesan family really paid off for our church during 2011. In May, three people attended a Stewardship workshop at St John’s in Tappahannock led by Frances Caldwell from The Diocese. Three of our young people went to Shrine Mont for summer camp and two attended the Shrine Mont reunion in December. The Very Reverend Jeffrey Packard came to St Peter’s and taught the Prevention of Adult Sexual Misconduct Workshop for seven people this past November. We received a Mustard Seed Grant for $900 to fund the six outreach dinners that we are providing for the community. Region I of the Diocese gave us a gift of $1000 to help meet expenses we incurred due to damage from the earthquake in August, and our sister church St Asaph’s has given us a gift of $250. On behalf of several churches in the Diocese, St Peter’s being one, the Diocese is actively seeking grant money to help cover earthquake damage expenses. Catherine attends Fresh Start each month. Fresh Start is a required two year diocesan program for priests who have taken new positions in the Diocese which provide support and knowledge to enhance and improve the work of ordained clergy. Catherine also attends the monthly Region I Clericus meeting, in which priests from this region come together to share information, to help one another to grow spiritually and to provide one another with support and encouragement in their ministries. The spring and fall clergy conferences which Catherine attends provide new knowledge with informative speakers and programs. Catherine is also a member of the Diocesan Stewardship of Creation Committee, which meets quarterly.
We celebrated our 175th anniversary on Sunday, May 15th, with a morning celebration of Holy Eucharist and homecoming, followed by a luncheon and then an afternoon service that focused on the history of our parish. During the year leading up to the actual anniversary, we held an Evensong and we had a special organ recital. We also released a cookbook in celebration of this milestone in our parish.
Priest-in-Charge continues education
In order to improve the ways in which I serve the Church, and to more effectively preach the gospel, I have continued my education in 2011 in a variety of ways. I attended a Preaching Symposium at Virginia Theological Seminary last winter, and also heard two excellent speakers at the VTS annual convocation. I completed the Certificate in Spiritual Direction Studies at Washington Theological Union in Washington DC in May. I am now providing spiritual direction for several students at VTS during the academic year. In addition, I completed thirty hours of continuing education in order to keep my Licensed Clinical Social Worker license current.