Ministries at St. Peter's
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Worship
Worship at St. Peter’s features spirited music and a Bible-based message led by an active laity and pastor committed to the Word of God. The 8:30am service offers an informal atmosphere for adults, youth, and children who seek a less structured worship experience. The 11:00am service is more traditional, with music by the Adult Choir. In addition, during the sermon children are invited to attend Children’s Church.
A nursery is provided for small children during both services. While at the 8:30am service Holy Communion is celebrated every Sunday, at 11:00 Communion is usually offered on the first Sunday of each month.
Education
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Sunday School classes for all ages meet at 9:45am. The nursery and preschool classes are on the main level. The remainder of children and youth classes meet on the lower level. There are three adult classes:
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The Gin Holman Class meets in a classroom on the first floor hall. The Wesley Class and the Young Adult Class are currently meeting together in the Fellowship Hall. On August 29 they started studying From Members to Disciples by Michael W. Foss. All people of any age are urged to join this class.
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- After a summer break the Thursday morning Bible Study Group will resume on September 9 at 9:45am to study Beth Moore’s workbook entitled Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman. All ladies are welcome! This group meets in the fellowship hall from 9:45 to 11:30am.
- Watch your church bulletin and newsletter for news of the Sunday night Women's Bible Study Group which hopes to resume meeting this fall.
Missions
The people of St. Peter’s feel called by God to reach out in love and concern to the hurting of our community and the world.
- On August 14 the second of two free clothes closets was successfully held. Tons of clothes were donated and most were distributed to some 200 grateful recipients. This was a new mission for St. Peter’s and one that will undoubtedly be repeated in the future.
- Hold the Date: As part of the Fall Festival on October 16 & 17, St. Peter’s will be hosting a craft fair featuring mountain crafts from Red Bird Mission, located in a depressed Appalachian area of Kentucky.
- St. Peter’s Church is in covenant relationship with Valentine and Jacques Akasa, a husband and wife team of missionaries assigned to the Wings of Caring Aviation Ministry based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jacques works as a pilot-mechanic and program director of the ministry while his wife is a radio operator, bookkeeper, and flight tracker. Jacques and Valentine visited St. Peter’s in September to explain how Jacques survived a crash earlier this year, but his plane did not. This Christmas St. Peter’s had the goal of raising $5,000 toward the purchase of another plane for the Wings of Caring ministry. Despite snowy weather in December, St. Peter’s surpassed its goal, raising more than $6,000 for the Wings of Caring Aviation Ministry.
- We support local organizations including the Western Hanover Emergency Action Team [WHEAT]. Love offerings at the June 2 Family Night Dinner totaled over $600 which will help WHEAT to provide assistance to families in crisis in our community.
- St. Peter’s cares for the children of our community. Just before Easter 12 bags of food were delivered to South Anna and Beaverdam Schools for distribution to children who would not have enough food over the Easter break.
- Families enjoy the joy of giving as they shop in the fall to pack shoe boxes with toys, clothes, games, etc. for Operation Christmas Child, sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse. St. Peter’s typically sends more than 100 shoeboxes to join the millions delivered to children worldwide.
- For the 6th year in a row, St. Peter’s sent volunteers and supplies to the All God’s Children Camp at Westview on the James, where the children of incarcerated mothers enjoy a carefree week of recreation and Christian nurturing. The church also supports the camp financially.
- Mission to Virginia is an annual outreach effort to help those in need in our own community. After a rainout in November, participants gathered on December 12 to complete winterization tasks on homes in Montpelier.
- Hurricanes, floods and tornadoes – UMCOR [United Methodist Committee on Relief] is ready to
help. Our church agency is recognized for its prompt and efficient operation. St. Peter’s collects
items for health, school, layette, and sewing kits to send to UMCOR in June. Monetary gifts are also welcome at any time during
the year when disasters strike.
To Make a Birthing Kit:
Put the following in a one-gallon zip plastic bag, all items must be NEW:- 1 hotel-size bar of soap
- 1 pair of clean latex gloves
- 1 square yard of clear 4 mil plastic sheeting
- 3 pieces of clean string each 12" long
- 1 clean single use razor blade (carefully wrap the blade in paper or plastic to protect it and keep it from causing injury
- 2 flannelette receiving blankets, each 1 square yard
To Make A Health Kit:
Put in one-gallon zip plastic bag:- 1 Hand towel (15’-17’ x 25’-27’) No kitchen towels
- 1 Sturdy washcloth
- 1 Comb
- 1 Nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
- 1 Bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
- 1 Toothbrush (single brushes in original wrapper, no child-size brushes)
- 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
- $1.00 to purchase toothpaste
(UMCOR purchases in bulk to add to health care kits to ensure that the product does not expire before they are sent.)
- February was Heart Havens Month. Heart Havens is a ministry of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church which builds homes so that adult mentally challenged persons can live independently, yet be supervised. On January 3, the Ashland District broke ground for a Heart Havens home to be built in Ashland. The Youth of St. Peter’s have committed to raising all the money needed to furnish one bedroom of this house.
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Scouting
The church sponsors Boy Scout Troop 706, Cub Scout Pack 706 and Girl Scout Troop 89. Since its creation in 1984, Troop 706 has awarded over 31 Eagle Scouts. Check out the church calendar for meeting times and days.
Fellowship
Known for our friendliness, we believe opportunities for fellowship build relationships and strengthen the sense of belonging to a caring congregation:
- St. Peter’s offers Family Night Dinners from 6:00–6:45pm on the first Wednesday of each month during the school year. The dinners resume on September 8 after the summer break.
- Work areas in the church sponsor small fellowship dinners in members’ homes, and activities such as day trips, picnics, Easter sunrise breakfast, and theater outings.
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St. Peter’s plans meaningful activities to teach children about God’s love and enhance parenting skills in the congregation.
- St. Peter’s is pleased to announce that as of September 1, Jennifer Kahler will be joining our ministry team as the new Director of Children’s Ministries. Jennifer has spent the last 2 years as a teacher in a Christian education setting, as well as Program Council Chairperson in a local church. She describes herself as “a creative and highly energetic person with a love of children and a firm basis in Christian values.” We welcome Jennifer’s enthusiasm, forward thinking, and Christian foundation as St. Peter’s builds its faith-based children’s ministry.
- Children’s Sunday School Program under Construction
Outgoing Interim Children’s Coordinator, Stacy Gilman, is working with the newly hired Director of Children’s Ministries to design the children’s Sunday School Program for the fall. It is likely to be based on Power Express, the innovative multi-age Sunday School program that was such a success earlier this year, and featured interactive hands-on lessons with:
- Creative Cookery
- Art
- Music/Movement
- Science
- Storytelling/Drama
- Games
Children are asked to bring a non-perishable food item each Sunday for community pantry needs as we follow Christ's instructions to feed His sheep.
The Youth meet every Wednesday night during the school year at 7:00 pm and for Sunday School every Sunday morning at 9:45am. The Wednesday night group broke for the summer but will resume on Sept. 8 with an Ice Cream Kick-off event at 7:00 pm. Youth director Katherine Burton and the teens are looking forward to the 8th Annual Pumpkin Patch, part of the Fall Festival on Oct. 16-17th.