"When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" John 6:5
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Fr. Scott's sermon on the Sunday Next Before Advent focused on the lessons used at the end of the church calendar year. The last Gospel lesson of the year is not from Revelation or about our Lord coming to judge the world or about us joining our Lord in heaven. For our last Sunday of the remembrance of the Life of Christ, we are placed in the middle of our Lord's teaching ministry in the Gospel of St. John. For our Epistle reading we are given an Old Testament reading from the Prophet Jeremiah about the "righteous Branch". The end of the Church year does not represent the end of the history, it just catches us up to present day. We don't go out with an apocalypse - we go out in steady discipleship. Discipleship is the art of making a follower or mentoring someone in their faith - making them better disciples is the goal of discipleship.
In this end of the year Gospel lesson, we are with Jesus as He is teaching along with the original disciples and determining how to feed the crowds. Jesus takes the time to ask His disciples what can be done. Philip estimates that 200 pennies worth of bread isn't enough. Andrew points out the boy with the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread - at least enough to feed our Lord as He continues to preach. However, Jesus uses these to feed every one there and have left overs! This story is given to us at the end of the Church year because we are in the same position as Philip and Andrew until Christ comes back. Their question was "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?". Our question will be different. God asks questions of us all, enquiring how we will respond, knowing how He will act but seeking to disciple us to follow Him better.
Also, note our Lord not only fed the disciples, not only the men, not only the women and children, but also had 12 baskets left over for people not even there! This is the God we serve, still working miracles, still showing up in our lives and taking care of His children. We are still sitting at His feet, getting fed by His body and blood and reaping the benefits of His over abundance of mercy and grace. How will we respond to His gift of mercy? How will we respond to His next question asked to us?
Please find Fr. Scott's complete sermon at the 27:50 minute mark at the following link:
Thank you Fr. Scott for the thoughtful sermon.
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Immediately after services we started the Annual Congregational Meeting. Fr. Scott opened the meeting with a prayer and then gave the following opening remarks:
I am so thankful to be a part of St. Peter the Apostle, especially today as we take time not only to look back on the past year but also look to the future of our Church. God has done amazing things among us individually and collectively as we worship God here in East Tenn. This special and holy place is a gift to this area that I am excited to a part of.
Regarding this past year, I do not want to steal the thunder of the people coming after me so I want to just highlight a few things that I want to give God glory for:
1. For God allowing me to be able to serve here. The events that needed to happen to allow me to be here were so beyond any one’s control. I am thankful for the privilege to serve you in my hometown. We are approaching one year of my family and I being here and we couldn’t be happier to be here with you.
2. For the amount of people in this Church that contribute their time and energy. I have never seen a more active Church with so many people giving their time to the functioning of the Church. This high level of participation allows me to only be part time and shares the load. We, being the only Anglican expression in the area, have people that join us at some distance from the Church. It is an honor to have such as wide reach in this area and for people to choose to come here. Our growth as a Church from all over the Tri-Cities with people that love the Anglican way of worshiping.
3. For celebrating Feast Days like our patron feast day, St. Peter’s Day and all the others.
4. Our continued growth, we have experienced growth in every category of our Church, may God continue to bless us as we move forward.
5. Finally, for the APA and it’s Leadership. Our Diocese and our Province has entered into a new era with the election of Bishop Jones as our new diocesan bishop and our new Presiding Bishop. Bishop Jones will lead us into the future, and I look forward to showing him what we have to offer.
Daryl, our Treasurer, gave our financial report, which was full of good news including more money in our savings account, plans to pay off our mortgage by the first of June, and generous giving throughout the year! We adopted his proposed budget for next year which projected a net positive income! Thank you Daryl!
Mike, our Junior Warden, reviewed all the wonderful work he has done (with help from others) this year. His list included the new sign on Ft. Henry, the removal of the big (dying) tree in the front, yard work, interior work, and lots more! Thank you Mike!
In my Senior Warden's report I reviewed so many of the blessings God has bestowed on St. Peter's during this year including:
-Fr. Scott, Maryl, Amber, and Audree being with us for the entire year!
-Bishop Grundorf's visit in February.
-All of Mike's hard work and dedication as Junior Warden.
-All of Earl's hard work completing our beautiful Memorial Garden.
-Sue's online prayer group and expansion of this special ministry to home visits.
-Scott's choice to become as aspirant to the Diaconate.
-Our dedicated altar guild team of Rose Marie, Carole, Diane, & Teresa who together keep our Altar and Sanctuary looking beautiful.
-Our dedicated cleaning and cooking teams!
I am also so grateful for all the new faces seen in the church this year! All in all, I say it has been a very blessed year at St. Peters!
After all the reports, as a congregation we approved changes to the by-laws addressing the use of the newly completed Memorial Garden.
Next we voted in two new Mission Committee members to replace Diane and me as our terms are up at the end of the year. Congratulations to Daryl and Sue, our new Mission Committee members - their terms will start at the beginning of 2022!
Diane and I were both presented with gifts from the congregation for our service on the Mission Committee. Diane received a beautiful nativity scene and I received a very generous Biltmore Estate Gift Card!
Fr. Scott ended the meeting by looking to the future. He reviewed some of his outreach plans including focusing on children/young families, advertising, restarting some of the programs that fell by the way side during the CO-VID shutdowns, starting a "theology on tap" for men, more participation in the Church calendar with weekday celebrations, and bringing the Church into the home with home visits! Thank you Fr. Scott!
After closing prayers, we adjourned for pizza!
Also this Sunday, we welcomed Deborah, Matt, Henry, Anne, and Rose to St. Peters (hopefully I got all the names right)!
Welcome to East Tennessee and to St. Peters!!
Last we decorated the sanctuary for Advent!
I didn't think it was that bad! In fact, the final result is beautiful!
Thank you to everyone for making this very long day such a success!
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I want to say 'Thank You' so much to everyone for the very, very generous Biltmore Estates Gift Card! I will put it to great use in the near future. The last five years on the Mission Committee and especially the last three years as Senior Warden have been amazing, rewarding, challenging, stressful, fun, and a little crazy . . . . all mixed together! Thank you all so much for your years of prayers, support, and kindness - it's impossible to put into words how much you all mean to me! May God continue to pour out His blessings on St. Peter's and all of you as we move into Advent, Christmas, and 2022!
God Bless and Have a Very Happy Thanksgiving,
Rosalind
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Attention Ming Groupies - Rose Marie let me know that Ming will be back in the area over Christmas! More information to come on which services he will be able to join us! It will be such a blessing to see Ming again, catch up with him, and hear him play again!
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THE 2021 APA DEANERY OF APPALACHIA
Advent Devotional
With Meditations by Clergy, Deaconess, and Seminarian Contributors from the Deanery
The Advent Devotional created by our local Deanery is available at the Deanery website:
I will also send around an email from our Dean (Fr. Paul Rivard) with a pdf version of the Devotional and epub version which is readable using many different e-readers. Thank you Fr. Rivard for putting this Devotional together and for all the contributors including our own Fr. Scott. _________________________________________________
Sunday, November 28
This Christmas St. Peter's is supporting the Marine's Toys for Tot's program. On Sunday, Nov. 28 at 11 am - just before the start of services, several marines in dress blues are coming to pick up our collection boxes! So be sure to have your gifts in the collection boxes before then!
Below is a link to the Johnson City Toys for Tot's FAQ's. They do not provide a list of recommended toys, instead ask us to use our judgement in selecting toys for 5 -12 year old children.
The toys must be new and unwrapped.
Thank you for all your generosity!
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Saturday, December 4
The Symphony of the Mountains is having their 'By The Fireside' Christmas Concert on Saturday, December 4 at 3 pm at the Meadowview Marriott Resort in Kingsport. Rose Marie and Earl have invited us to their house for appetizers and refreshments before the concert, starting at 12:30. Please let Rose Marie know if you are coming and what appetizer you plan to bring. If you are interested in attending please let Scott know as he may still be able to obtain tickets - ticket prices for the concert are $25 each (checks payable to The Symphony of the Mountains).
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Sunday, December 5, APA Seminarian Support Sunday
We received the following reminder and request from the APA:
Within the APA, the Second Sunday in Advent is "Seminarian Support Sunday." It is a most appropriate Sunday as the Collect that day leads us to pray for our learning and steadfastness in the Faith. All of us know that a quality seminary education is expensive, usually costing thousands of dollars per year. This cost often places an undue hardship on our men who are in seminary and their families. Please remind your congregation that it is important to contribute towards our Seminarian Fund on this Sunday in Advent, and offer donations at other opportunities during the year as well. Designated monies collected should be forwarded to Dan Wilder, our APA and DEUS Treasurer, to help support our seminarians, and as a sign of the value we place on their ministry in Christ’s Church now, and for years to come. God bless you, and please pray for our seminarians and the Board of Examining Chaplains. The Very Rev’d Mark Wm. Menees
For the Board of Examining Chaplains
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Sunday, December 19
St. Peter the Apostle Anglican Church
Presents
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
The Festival tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ through nine scripture readings interspersed with traditional hymns and carols of the Christmas Season. First used in England to start the healing process after the horrors of WWI, the Festival is Anglican in origin but now used by many churches. The service at St. Peter the Apostle Anglican Church features a string quartet from the Symphony of the Mountains and traditional Christmas Hymns. Light refreshments and coffee served after the service.
Please join us on Sunday, December 19 at 11 am!
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Sue continues to lead our weekly online prayer group on Tuesday at 11:30. Thank you so much Sue for taking the time each week to lead our prayers! If you have a special prayer request but cannot join us, please send your request to Sue. Please contact me (Rosalind) if you would like to join us on Discord.
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Many of us do our holiday shopping at Amazon. Please remember to go to:
smile.amazon.com
and select Saint Peter the Apostle Anglican Catholic Church as your charity to generate donations for Saint Peter's. (Please note the church location will be listed as Blountville as that is where St. Peter's was incorporated.)
There is no additional cost to you but we receive a small percentage of each purchase when we are selected!
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November Activities
Tues., Nov. 23 11:30 Online Prayer Group
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