July 22, 2021

We have condensed our e-newsletter. For information on ongoing ministries, book groups, etc., please click here for a previous e-newsletter.

Dear St. Georgians,

On January 1, 2017, I left home intending to visit St George's as part of my discernment work. One visit was supposed to be it, and then back to my home church. Yet, I found myself looking for reasons to return. There was a sweet spirit in this place that kept drawing me back. Eventually, I changed my membership. Changing my membership meant slowing my discernment path.

I was on a discernment retreat at Richmond Hill when I first saw this stained glass. The fact that my journey had already been full of twists and turns drew me to it. little did I know that this would become an anchor for me! 

My time at St. George’s has been a time of discernment, growth, and a deepening relationship with the Trinity. As Joe talked about the fishing net in one of his sermons, I was caught in that net. I have been encouraged by so many people at St. George’s and blessed. This community has left a mark on my heart and I am grateful. Grateful for priests, parish staff, my discernment committee, Shrine Mont retreats, weekend retreats, contemplative prayer group, music ministry, One Body Response Team, Evening Prayer group, and Youth and Global community. I have felt your prayers and been held in your love. Thank you for your love and support as I leave to attend Virginia Theological Seminary as a postulant. Your continued prayers would be appreciated as I begin formation, learn, grow and serve.

In Christ's Love,

Kris Boyd

Join us to watch the documentary produced by the Anglican Church of Canada: "Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts" and for an engaging conversation afterwards with Professor Corinne Graves, Professor of Sociology at Germanna Community College, who teaches on Race and Ethnicity.

Movie showing and conversation will be held from 4 - 6:30 pm on Sunday July 25th, in Barber Hall, Trinity Episcopal Church. Parking is available and entrance is on William Street.

You are encouraged to bring snacks and beverages. Masks are encouraged but not required.

We are pleased to share our updated worship schedule with you. As we hope to see COVID-19 infections continuing to decrease and vaccinations increase, we are gradually lifting restrictions on our in-person worship.

You can view our Sunday worship schedule here. We will publish bulletins here on our website.

The Daily office (Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer) is offered on Zoom and led by a group of lay persons on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8 am and 5:30 pm. All are welcome. Click here to join.

Meeting ID: 890 4918 9545 Passcode: 638538 Dial in: +1 301 715 8592

This is a great opportunity to try worshiping in person for those not yet comfortable coming Sunday morning, as well as those looking for a meditative space during the week. This service will continue to include healing prayer, and please contact Fr. Will if you would like to volunteer for this service.

7:45 am: Rite I with Holy Communion - Worship in-person in our Nave.

10 am: Rite II with Holy Communion - Worship in-person in our Nave. The service will also be livestreamed via YouTube Live.

11 am: Join St. George's intern, John Hager, for a reflection on the biblical texts for this Sunday and his sermon. www.zoom.us/join or call 929.205.6099. Webinar ID: 392 738 239; Password: 107758

Our Celtic Evensong will be offered on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 5:30 pm.

8 pm: Please note that our Compline service will be taking a break June - August.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Your generous gifts help fund our ministries and serve the community. Thank you!

For example, this month your gifts helped us witness to the love of God for all at Pride, deliver community dinners to our neighbors in need, and make our church more welcoming by updating our HVAC system.

You can make a one-time or recurring gift electronically or text to give (send a text message with the dollar amount [e.g. $50] to: 540.701.4133). You can also mail a check to the church office (P. O. Box 7127, Fredericksburg, VA 22404).

Summer is wonderful time to make the switch to gifts which recur automatically from your bank account or credit card. This ensures a steady flow of resources to empower our ministries and helps the donor as well. Thank you for your generous support.

What would it be like if the maintenance of the church building was endowed for the future? That is the dream of the St. George’s Landmark Building Fund which is housed at the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region. We established this fund a few years ago, in anticipation of the 300th anniversary, for the preservation of the historic landmark of St. George’s Church in the long term. Between now and November 22, we have a goal to reach $300,000 in this fund. We are inviting the parish and the entire community of Fredericksburg to consider making a gift or designating the fund in your estate plans, to give thanks for and preserve our iconic landmark which is so closely linked with our city. Click here to give online.

If you have any questions, please contact our Business Manager, Ben Hicks.

This week we are learning about compassion: compassion with ourselves, our neighbor, and the world. On Monday we talked about how Miriam jumped into action to help her mother and baby brother, Moses, in a dangerous time.

Today we learned about the Good Samaritan and talked about our neighbors. We also did movement meditation, we learned to pay attention when we feel hungry, angry, lonely or tired (or just generally grumpy!), and some movements and types of breath that can help us release stress.

We had a great group of 1st to 5th graders and youth from our youth group help out! A special thank you to Ms. Marian for leading us with gentleness and kindness! We look forward to seeing each other again on Friday, and welcome your prayers.

Whether you've admired them your whole life or have never noticed them before, we invite you to take a few moments to reflect and enjoy the beauty of these stained glass windows. This week's meditation is on the "Thou art the Christ" window.

Thank you to our summer intern, John Hager, who has been working on this reflection series - with other volunteers as well!

You can view all of the meditations on this playlist. New videos will be added to the playlist as they are published.

Help others put a name with your smiling face by wearing a name tag on Sundays. Please

contact Jan Meredith if you need one.

We have restarted visiting parishioners who want to receive communion, but are unable to join us for worship in person. If you would like to join this ministry of bringing St. George's to our homebound parishioners, please contact Ann Tebbutt or Pastor Areeta for more information. 

Volunteer Meeting for The Table 

All who volunteer or are interested in volunteering at The Table are invited to a meeting Wednesday August 4 at 7 pm. We’ll discuss plans for the Fall, what we’ve learned from our time in Market Square, and we’ll have time to answer any questions and let you know how you can be involved, whether in person or from home, during distribution or in other ways. We’ll hold this meeting online so as many people can come as possible.

Zoom info: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81954971893?pwd=MkpBOHRORTJlOHB5T01OMC8zQ0puZz09

Meeting ID: 819 5497 1893

Passcode: 114519

In consultation with the good folks at Shrine Mont, we have increased our capacity to 150 for our October 8 - 10 Weekend. On July 26, online registration will reopen until we hit the 150 mark, and we will go back to taking names for a wait list. Also on July 26, online payment will open back up for those who would like to pay their remaining balance via PayPal. Thank you for your patience! If you have questions, please email Danielle Davis.

This week Reconciliation Book Group #1 celebrated its second year, and we met on Zoom to discuss Spike Lee's film, Malcolm X. We will be taking August off, and will return in September on the 3rd Tuesday at 7 pm with Malanna Henderson Carey's book, On the Wings of Freedom. Please contact Marcia Russell (marcia@crussellphoto.com) or Anne Beals (oakleyfrm@gmail.com) if you have questions or wish to join the group. 

In July, we'll be doing another survey of the group's conscience on our reading and film selections for our next program year and looking at director Kasi Lemmons' Academy Award-winning film, "Harriet," with that discussion on July 27. Please contact Pam Jewett Bullock or Anne Beals for more information.

John Philip Newell, the renowned author and teacher of Celtic Spirituality, returns to Virginia and will be teaching 2 workshops at Shrine Mont. The School of Earth and Soul, formerly the School of Celtic Consciousness, will take place October 5-7, 2021 (Year 1) and October 12-14, 2021 (Year 2). For more information and to register go directly to Shrine Mont’s website https://shrinemont.com/.

If you have questions, please contact The Rev. Charles Sydnor.

We'd like to share our office schedule. These hours are temporary as we plan to open more fully in the near future.

Our office door will be locked, so please knock or call when you arrive. If you need to stop by outside these hours, please call to make an appointment (540.373.4133). As always, if you have a pastoral emergency (e.g. death, hospitalization, loss of job), please text or call 540.361.8573 to reach the clergy on call.

Our Formation will be held from 9 – 9:30 am. The first Sunday of the month will be a children’s live Zoom gathering. The link will be provided in the children and families Facebook Group. The third Sunday of the month we will offer an in-person story time for our children in front of the Renwick building downtown (the grassy area across the street from Sydnor Hall). The last Sunday of the month will be a pre-recorded children’s homily led by one of our clergy (posted to our St. George’s children’s YouTube page).

On Sunday 8/8 we will meet from 11:30 am – 1 pm for tubing at the Virginia Outdoor Center followed by picnic at Old Mill Park). Please contact James Maxfield for more details (fredburgmax@cox.net). Our program year resumes in September.

“If you go see Mr. Campbell today, bring him a vanilla milkshake from Carls; he loves them.”

We had just finished worship and everyone was cleaning up around us. It was a joy to see all of our people working together and ensuring all of the pieces of our mobile worship service were put away. We had a wonderful service where many gifts of the body were lifted up, including our neighbors Adam and James joining our worship band on the tambourine... read more