Vestry donations Dec. 2021

From a Sermon Dec. 12, 2021

John the Baptist would encourage us who have more than enough to share with those who don’t have enough. As a church, we try to follow these teachings of loving our neighbor. John the Baptist reminds us too that part of preparing for the coming of the Savior is to pay attention to what we have in excess, and to be intentional about how we are to share with others, for this sharing is part of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

This teaching is one of the reasons why each year our Vestry sets aside money to share with others, and then at its December meeting disperses that money. At our meeting last Thursday, the Vestry voted to share $3000 from St Peter’s with Hunters for the Hungry, a group that gets venison to food banks and social services around the area; the Healthy Harvest Food Bank, a group that works to provide food for hungry people all over this part of Virginia; the Caroline Recovery Center, a group that works with people struggling with drug addictions; Caroline Young Life, a group working with teenagers in our school system; CERV, an ecumenical group that helps people in need in Caroline County; Episcopal Migration Ministries, the branch of the Episcopal Church that works directly with settling refugees from around the world, helping them to lead successful lives in this country; St Jude’s, the hospital that cares for children with cancer, money for the continuing work of the The Victoria School in Jamaica; and money for a new scholarship being established for a Caroline County student of Black or indigenous heritage who could not otherwise afford higher education to attend community college for two years. Grace Church, Corbin will also receive some money from this distribution, as our way of helping to preserve our Anglican history in Caroline County. The fact that we have money to share and that we are sharing it is cause for rejoicing in the Lord, and for the Lord to rejoice in us.