Merry Christmas to our wonderful St. Peter's family! We had a beautiful white Christmas morning this year in East Tennessee - I snapped this photo from outside my kitchen window!
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Fr. Scott led our beautiful Christmas Eve service. In his sermon he discussed how Christmas 2020 feels different - families can't be together, pandemic, political crises, social crises - the situation seems grim. All these problems are symptoms of an even deeper issue - sin and the resulting corruption of the world. Like the virus, the stain of sin, death, and decay effect us all and we, on our own, are helpless to fix the mess. But God planned the Incarnation to defeat sin and redeem us by His Son, Jesus Christ. In summary, Fr. Scott quoted from one of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes' sermons describing the two natures of Christ: "The Child" (human nature) and "The Son" (Divine nature). Thank you Fr. Scott for a beautiful service and message!
With Fr. Scott's encouragement (and his phone), we live streamed our first service on Facebook on Christmas Eve. Please find the video of the Christmas Eve service at the following link:
Scroll down to the Dec. 24 video! Please let us know your thoughts and any suggestions for improvements. We hope to improve the sound quality in the very near future!
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The day before the Christmas Eve service, Rose Marie, Earl, and Carole brought in all the poinsettias, set up the altar, and cleaned up the church.
Fr. Scott and Greg worked on setting up the live stream for the service.
Such a busy day before the Christmas Eve service! Thank you to everyone who helped get everything ready!
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Fr. Dennis shared his video recording of the 1928 BCP Evening Prayer for Christmas Eve. Thank you, Fr. Dennis for preparing and sharing such a lovely video!
The link to this service follows:
Fr. Dennis will be at St. Peter's next Sunday for Holy Communion while Fr. Scott joins Fr. Eric in North Carolina. Due to CV19, masks are required during the service and we will not socialize in the basement either before or after services. We plan to stream the service on Facebook also.
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This past Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. Fr. Scott and his lovely family joined us! His sermon discussed the first three feast days of the Christmas Octave after Christmas Day namely The Feasts of St. Stephen, St. John, and the Holy Innocents. The Church Fathers selected these Saints for these days as examples to us of the proper responses to Jesus's coming into the world.
St. Stephen was a martyr in both deed (dying for Christ) and will (living a Holy life). St. John, the only apostle to die of old age, was a martyr in will. The Holy Innocents did not choose to die for Christ by Herod's orders but became martyrs in deed by doing so. Our knowledge of Christ's purpose comes at a price - we could all be called to be martyrs at any moment. What will our response be?
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Due to 2020 craziness, Mike and Claudia postponed their St. Peter's Thanksgiving Feast until early January. They have invited us to celebrate an Epiphany Feast with them on Saturday January 9 starting at 1 pm. Please let Claudia know what dish you plan to bring!
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The Most Rev. Walter H. Grundorf, D.D. serves as the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Province of America and bishop of the Diocese of the Eastern U.S (DEUS) to which St. Peter's belongs. Bishop Grundorf will visit St. Peter's on February 28, 2021. During his visit, he will baptize Audree, Fr. Scott & Maryl's beautiful baby girl. We look forward to worshiping with Bishop Grundorf, showing him the many improvements to St. Peters since his last visit, and introducing him to Fr. Scott!
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Our next Mission Committee Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 10 after services. Please start thinking about plans for 2021 including projects for the building/landscaping, outreach, etc. All members of St. Peter's are welcome to attend the Mission Committee Meeting and share their ideas for improving and growing St. Peter's!
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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 if you would like to join us but are not on Discord.
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Tues., Dec 29 – 11:30 am Online Prayer Group
JANUARY ACTIVITIES
Sun., Jan 3 10 am Fellowship (upstairs)
11 am Holy Communion, Fr. Dennis
Tues., Jan 5 11:30 am Online Prayer Group
Wed., Jan 6 3 pm, Epiphany, Holy Communion, Fr. Scott
Sat. Jan 9 1 pm, Epiphany Feast at the Mike and Claudia’s
Sun., Jan 10 10 am Christian Education, Fr. Scott
Holy Communion, part 1
11 am Holy Communion, Fr. Scott
noon – Mission Committee Meeting
Tues., Jan 12 11:30 am Online Prayer Group
Sun., Jan 17 10 am Christian Education, Fr. Scott
Holy Communion, part 2
11 am Holy Communion, Fr. Scott / Fr. Dennis
noon – Thank You Party for Fr. Dennis
Tues., Jan 19 11:30 am Online Prayer Group
Sun., Jan 24 10 am Christian Education, Fr. Scott
Holy Communion, part 3
11 am Holy Communion, Fr. Scott
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