For Peace, and Deliverance from our Enemies
O Almighty God, who art a strong tower of defense unto thy servants against the face of their enemies; We yield thee praise and thanksgivings for our deliverance from those great and apparent dangers wherewith we were compassed. We acknowledge thy goodness that we were not delivered over as a prey unto them; beseeching thee still to continue such thy mercies towards us, that all the world may know that thou art our Saviour and mighty Deliverer; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen BCP, p. 52
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Fr. Scott officiated our beautiful Holy Communion service this past Sunday. He started his sermon by pointing out that this Sunday goes by many names including: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 1st Sunday after Trinity, 10th Sunday of the Ordinary, Corpus Christi Sunday or, according to our Missal tradition, the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi. The Feast of Corpus Christi reminds us that we were not left alone after Christ's Ascension - we have the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Eucharist. Fr. Scott then tied the Gospel lesson (BCP p. 190) to the Octave of the Corpus Christi, the disregard of the religious elite in Jesus's time for the faith & needs of the poor, the High Priest Caiaphas & his five brothers, and the reversal of fortunes often found in the parables Jesus told. Please find his complete sermon starting at the 25:20 minute mark at the link below:
Before services, Fr. Scott discussed the Sacrament of Holy Orders during Sunday School. He started by playing the Veni Creator Spiritus Hymn (Come Holy Ghost, Hymnal 217, Plainsong, 9th century) which is played at all Ordinations. The form of this Sacrament is to receive the Holy Spirit for the office. The matter is the laying on of hands by the Bishop on the head of a baptized man. The grace conferred is the leaving of a permanent mark on the soul of the ordained. Currently there are 3 orders in the Anglican Church: Deacon, Priest, and Bishop - each with its own unique role. However, in earlier times there were 7 orders: Porter, Lector, Exorcist (teach people preparing for Baptism), Acolyte, Sub-Deacon, Deacon, and Priest/Bishop. The Anglican Church dropped the four lower orders in the late sixteenth century (followed by the Roman Catholic Church in the 1970's).
Next week Fr. Scott will discuss Sacramentals.
Thank you, Fr. Scott, for a beautiful Holy Communion Service and the very informative Sunday School lesson.
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Sue brought a magnificent salad with berries, avocado, chicken, and homemade poppy seed dressing for our after services lunch! I brought chips, dip, and a lemon tart dessert. Unfortunately, I got distracted and forgot to take a picture of the amazing salad and other food!
Thank you for all the wonderful food!
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Teresa brought these beautiful flowers for Rose Marie and Earl's 62nd wedding anniversary which is also June 6! Happy Anniversary!
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Carole and Rose Marie are holding the basket of socks we collected for Shades of Grace. Rose Marie and I delivered them to Shades of Grace last week. Thank you to everyone who donated! Shades of Grace was most appreciative!
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Several of us met for a Ladies' Lunch at the Mad Greek Restaurant in Johnson City last week. The food and the company were wonderful. Carole's sister, Betsy, joined us from Pennsylvania - it was great to see her again!
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At the Ladies' Lunch we discussed attending the outdoor drama, LIBERTY, which has been presented every year (except last year) in Elizabethton at the Sycamore Shoals State Park. The drama tells the story of the settlement of this area and the story of the Overmountain Men traveling to the Battle of Kings Mountain, a decisive victory for the Patriot cause.
We talked about attending on either Friday June 18 or Thursday June 24, which is close to our St. Peter's Day celebration. The seating is bleachers, so if you have stadium seats, you will enjoy having a seat back. Please let Teresa know if you are interested and which date works for you.
Please find more information at the following link:
More information to come! Thank you Teresa for organizing this wonderful event!!
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Coming up soon!
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Mike finished putting up our new sign on Ft. Henry! He has painted the posts white since he sent me this picture so it looks even better!
Thank you, Mike for all you do for St. Peters!
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