"Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world."
St. John 6:14
_____________________
Our Last Sunday with Fr. Yossi!
We enjoyed our last Christian Education class with him. We discussed the Epistle lesson for the Sunday before Advent and Fr. Yossi answered all kinds of questions that we had!
After Morning Prayer, Fr. Yossi led a beautiful Holy Communion Service! Thank you Fr. Paul, Mike, and Levi for serving with him.
After services we went downstairs to celebrate with Fr. Yossi. We celebrated both the time we had with him here and the wonderful futures God has in store for both him & for St. Peters.
We started with beef brisket with BBQ sauce . . .
added lots of delicious potluck sides. . .
and finished up with so many amazing desserts!
Thank you to everyone for bringing so much delicious food!
After lunch I was blessed to present Fr. Yossi with a gift from the congregation.
We gave him a beautiful new chalice and patent set along with a carrying case.
We were so blessed to have had Fr. Yossi with us for the last year and a half. We will miss him so much!
Fr. Yossi, may the LORD bless you and keep you. May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the LORD lift his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen
Fr. Yossi, you will always be in our hearts and prayers!
___________________
Just as we were setting up for lunch, Major Ben with the Marines arrived to pick up the 'Toys for Tots' boxes.
JP, one of our retired marines and organizer of this year's collection, pictured with Major Ben, in front of 5 of the six boxes of toys we collected!
JP, Daniel, Ed, and Jackson helped Major Ben load everything into his truck. Then Major Ben joined us for lunch!
_______________________
Fr. Paul led our lovely Morning Prayer service this past Sunday. We will continue Morning Prayer next Sunday at 10:15 am but with Fr. Mike leading the service!
_____________________
Fr. Paul will continue our Christian Education classes which focus on the weekly lessons and how they tie together next Sunday at 9:15. Please join us - a pot of coffee will be on!
______________________
Carol's husband, John, passed away last year on Monday, 11/20/23, the day before their 53rd anniversary. This past Wednesday, the one year anniversary of his passing, Carol celebrated his life with a Holy Communion Service and the spreading of his ashes in the Memorial Garden.
After services, Carol hosted a delicious catered BBQ lunch for everyone who attended!
We enjoyed meeting some of John's long time fishing buddies . . .
and hearing some their fishing stories!
Thank you Carol for sharing all your wonderful memories and inviting us to be part of this special service for John!
______________________
Advent and Christmas are almost here !
Advent Devotional:
The Advent Devotional created by our local Deanery is available at the Deanery website:
Fr. Rivard is the head of the Deanery of Appalachia of which St. Peters is a member. Thank you Fr. Rivard for putting this Devotional together and for all the contributors including our own Fr. Yossi. Please note next Sunday, December 1, is the First Sunday in Advent.
_______________________
Lunch at Chop House and By the Fireside: Symphony of the Mountains Holiday Concert - Saturday Dec. 7
The Symphony of the Mountains is having their 'By The Fireside' Christmas Concert on Saturday, December 7 at 3 pm at the Toy F. Reid Eastman Employee Center in Kingsport. For all who signed up, Rose Marie has both lunch reservations at The Chop House in Kingsport at 11:30 and has picked up the tickets for distribution before the concert.
____________________
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 the traditional readings and traditional Christmas Hymns. If you are interested in reading one of the lessons please call Fr. Paul.
Please join us on Sunday, December 8 at 11 am for this beautiful service! Please note there will be a Holy Communion Service at 10 am but both Morning Prayer and Christian Education are cancelled.
For after services refreshments we are asking everyone to bring a finger food or dessert for all to enjoy!
___________________
Jessica sent the following update on the family we will be helping over the next few months as they continue to recover from Hurricane Helene.
St. Peter’s mission statement is “to bring people to Jesus Christ and to incorporate them into the community of faith through our historic Anglican tradition.” We now have a very impactful mission before us in sponsoring a family from the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. There were many families along the Nolichucky River in Greene County whose homes were washed away. Edward and Stephanie Constable have a blended family with four kids, Ethan, Chloe, Peyton, and Eli (ages 7-16 years old) . They no longer even have land to go back to, let alone a home. They are incredibly thankful to have evacuated TOGETHER just an hour before their home was turned around and floated away.
They have also had a lot of changes going on this past week. There was a delay, but they should be receiving an RV to move in to after Thanksgiving. They have also made contact regarding a car that someone is wanting to donate to them. They are currently staying with family in Elizabethton. While they are helping out with the bills where they are staying, it is still tight and a more immediate need for them is gas - they are borrowing a car for both of them to get to and from work.
I also talked to Stephanie about Christmas for the family. She has had several people ask her about this, so I wondered about stockings. She lit up at the idea and that will be a fun way for us to bless the whole family (including Edward and Stephanie)! I will be organizing the gas cards and stocking mission for the family over this coming week. Prayers for this family are SO appreciated.
Thank you so much Jessica for leading our efforts to help this family with such tremendous need!
_____________________
Sue and Scott, long time members of St. Peters, are currently in Wisconsin where Scott is studying for the Diaconate at Nashotah House Seminary.
They recently sent the following email about a Christian based project their daughter is working on:
Hello, St. Peter friends! We are so happy how St. Peter’s has grown though we will miss Fr. Yossi!
We are very excited about a project our daughter Christina is producing. It is a short film about a woman overcoming obstacles to find her way to God. It is in part a modern retelling of the story of Jacob wrestling with God. (Genesis 32:22-32). Christina’s inspiration for the production comes from the book of Job:
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. (Job:14:7-9)
I just read the script this morning and it conveys a powerful message of hope to a lost generation of millennials. This will be a professionally produced film in New York City budgeted at $15,000. Christina is working to raise the funding through an arts funding program called Seed & Spark. I hope you will join me in contributing to this vital project. Learn more about the project and become a part of it by clicking on the link below.
Two things about how Seed & Spark works:
They will ask you to add a “tip” which is basically a donation to Seed & Spark to help their funding. You do not need to do that.
Whatever you contribute will not be charged to your credit card until the project reaches its threshold funding, probably in about two weeks.
We hope you can join us in helping fund The Scent of Water.
Blessings…
Scott & Sue Eddlemon
______________________
We had our first snowfall of the season this past week!
Elaine sent this beautiful picture of the winter wonderland out her back door!
Diane also had some beautiful snow. . .
. . . as did Mike and Claudia
however, Benita & Fr. Paul only got a dusting . . .
and I got even less than that!
But the best snow picture of all was . . .
of the snowman Hutch made on the back window of his car!
____________________
Teresa sent this beautiful picture of Agnes with her great grand-son, grand-daughter, and daughter. What a beautiful picture!
_____________________
Our next Mission Committee meeting is scheduled for Sunday Dec. 8 at 1:30 for both current and new members!
____________________
The December Food Schedule is as follows:
Dec 1 Team 1
Dec 8 potluck finger foods & desserts for after
Lessons & Carols
Dec 15 Team 2
Dec 22 Team 3
Dec 29 Team 4
_______________________
November Activities
Thur., Nov. 28 10 am Choir Practice - cancelled
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul - cancelled
Happy Thanksgiving!
December Activities
Sun., Dec. 1 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike, Levi
12:30 Team 1
Thur., Dec. 5 10 am Choir Practice
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul
Sun., Dec. 8 10 am Holy Communion
11 am Lessons & Carols
Fr. Paul
12:30 - Finger Foods & Desserts
1:30 - Mission Committee Meeting
Thur., Dec. 12 10 am Choir Practice
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul
Sun., Dec. 15 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike
Discretionary Fund
12:30 Team 2
Thur., Dec. 19 10 am Choir Practice
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul
Sun., Dec. 22 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul, Mike
12:30 Team 3
Tues., Dec. 24 7 pm Christmas Eve Mass
Fr. Paul
Wed., Dec. 25 10 am Christmas Day Mass
Fr. Paul
Thur., Dec. 26 10 am Choir Practice - cancelled
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul - cancelled
Sun., Dec. 29 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul,
12:30 Team 4