Sunday Morning Worship! 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 19th FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY!!!

Couple of important things...

1. We are going ahead with in-person worship tomorrow morning at 10am since we have no clue when the snow is actually gonna start. We ask that you use your best judgement in terms of attending worship in person and if you are at all worried to please simply join us for worship online. We will be postponing this Sunday’s Fellowship Team Meeting to next Sunday, January 26th. Stay warm everyone!

2. Ya-Jhu is away for the first time this weekend as she has traveled to California for music stuff and we are very happy to welcome back Kirsten Olsen as our guest organist this Sunday. Ya-Jhu will be back next Sunday and then she'll be traveling again to go to Taiwan to see her family in the beginning of February. Please pray for her safe travels throughout the next couple of weeks!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!

Annual Congregational Meeting February 2nd

ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING!

Our Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 2nd following the 10am worship service. A Zoom link will provided for those who are unable to attend in person and the Annual Congregational Report will be available soon. There is Coffee Hour that Sunday before and after worship too! So yeah there's a meeting but you get snacks and coffee!!! Please join us for this important day in the life and ministry of St. Peter's as we elect new Council members, thank outgoing Council members, approve our annual budget, give out World of Difference awards, and celebrate all the tremendous work that St. Peter's has done in the past year and will continue to do in the coming year!!! If you have any questions regarding the Annual Meeting please contact Pastor Suloff or Gary Rotenbury.

This year we will also be holding Budget Forums in the leadup to the Annual Congregational meeting if you are interested in learning more details about the church budget or the budgeting process. We will be holding one meeting following worship next Sunday, January 26th and we will schedule a Zoom meeting on a weekday evening of the 26th (date will be determined soon). If you have any questions regarding the Forums or the budget process please contact Jack Melillo.

Souper Bowl Sunday Soup Sale!

Souper Bowl Sunday Soup (and Chili) Sale!

We will once again be having our annual Soup Sale on Super Bowl Sunday, February 9th with all proceeds going to support our Social Ministry efforts at St. Peter's! If you are interested in participating or plan on making soup or chili for the sale please contact Sue Speers or use the sign up sheet that will be available in the chapel. Soup cups will be available soon.

Sunday Morning Worship! Baptism of our Lord Spoken Word Service

Sunday Worship!

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, January 12th for the BAPTISM OF OUR LORD SPOKEN WORD SERVICE!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!

Important Boar's Head Festival and Sunday Worship Updates!

Hi St. Peter's! Hope you are all staying warm in all this cold and wind!! We have a number of items to update you on for this weekend for both worship on Sunday and the Boar's Head Festival throughout the weekend so let's get to it...

1) Sunday Morning Worship will be a Spoken Word Service - our choir and musicians do so much during a weekly basis but especially during this time of year (and always!) so we have decided to make the Sunday morning worship service a Spoken Word Service and there will be no music (these hard working folks need both a little break and an opportunity to rest their voices - singing isn't easy, it's why the Pastor doesn't do it!). We will be celebrating communion as always and the rest of the worship service will be basically the same as usual (sorry in advance for the boring sermon, can't be helped). Also, we will not be having Sunday School this coming Sunday. Both Music and Sunday School will resume next Sunday, January 19th.

2) If you would like to attend the Boar's Head Festival, or know someone who would, tickets are still available so don't hesitate - while we livestream the worship service, we do not livestream the Boar's Head Festival! A link can be found below for you to order your tickets right now.

3) For all cast, musicians, crew, and anyone else helping out with the Boar's Head Festival we ask that you please park over at the Fire station across Germantown Avenue and use the Shuttle service to come over to the church so that we have adequate parking for all of our guests this weekend.

4) For all cast, musicians, crew, and anyone else helping out with the Boar's Head Festival we ask that you please arrive for dress rehearsal by 6pm for our 7pm start and by 12pm on both Saturday and Sunday for our 1pm showtime starts so that there will be plenty of time for costuming and makeup.

5) Finally, we appreciate everyone's support in this tremendous ministry where we share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all. If you have any questions regarding any of the above items or anything else for the coming weekend please contact Pastor Suloff directly.

A Brief History of the Boar's Head Festival

A Brief History of the Boar’s Head Festival

by John Shiffert

The signature event in the St. Peter’s evangelism calendar since 1980, the Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival celebrated its 42nd renewal in January 2025. Thus, there is a lot of history to the Boar's Head at St. Peter’s, far too much for this venue. So, we’ll take a brief dive into origins.

According to the program for the fourth St. Peter’s festival (Jan. 8. Jan. 9, 1983), the original Boar’s Head dates back to Roman times, with the serving of the Boar’s Head (one would assumed a cooked boar’s head, since it was the first dish at the great Roman feasts) representing the triumph of Christ over evil, since the boar was considered a menace to man and a great evil in Norman England. (Something William the Conqueror would agree to.)

As to the first boar’s head procession, mythology tells us that a youth was walking through a forest, studying a book of Aristotle when he was attacked by a wild boar. He shoved Aristotle down the boar’s throat with the cry of “Graecum est!” Latin for “It’s Greek to me” (what Aristotle had to do with a Christian legend is a mystery). More specifically, Oxford and Cambridge universities were holding boar’s head festivals as early as the 14th Century.

Jumping ahead to January 1979, another fearless individual, St. Peter’s organist and choirmaster Robert H. “Bob” Rosenberger, flew to Palm Beach, Florida to research a festival held at an Episcopalin church there. As the “father” of St. Peter’s Boar’s Head Festival, Bob was the guiding light of a successful pageant for many years. His only disappointment with St. Peter’s festival was that they could never get permission to use a live donkey to bring the holy family on stage.

Speaking of the holy family, the program for the 1983 Boar's Head has a couple of interesting inclusions. We all know that our distinguished Church Council President, Gary Rotenbury, now fulfills the role of Joseph with heart, passion and song. However, in 1983, the role of Joseph was a non-singing role, and Gary was playing Good King Wenceslas. As for the holy family, Susan Neborak played Mary and a totally non-singing John Shiffert, Sr. played Joseph. A well-known “ham” himself, Jack Shiffert was a fine actor, but a terrible singer… lol.

Sunday Morning Worship! Epiphany of our Lord!

Sunday Worship!

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, January 5th for the EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!

Support St. Peter's with RaiseRight!

SUPPORT ST. PETER’S WITH RAISERIGHT!

RaiseRight (formerly ShopWithScrip) has been in operation at St. Peter’s since 2007. So far, the RaiseRight program has contributed $41,700.00 to St. Peter’s. This includes $2,100.00 raised in 2023. When someone buys RaiseRight cards, they pay the face value of the card and they get the face value of the card. St. Peter’s receives a percentage of that face value from RaiseRight. The customer doesn’t need to do anything except purchase the cards. The “donation” part of the process is all done behind the scenes.

Gift card purchases through RaiseRight are available in various increments. $5, $10, $25 and $100 cards are available and all amounts help pay down the church mortgage. Go to www.RaiseRight.com and sign up (our Enrollment Code is 84AE323B15851). If you are placing an on-line order for physical cards (e-cards are available from some retailers), please place the order by Sunday at 8:00 p.m. for pickup the following Sunday at church. Or you can place a paper order with Jane Stettler at the front door of the church before or after the service using cash or check. Please email Jane or the church office with any questions.

Boar's Head Festival 2025!

BOAR’S HEAD FESTIVAL 2025!!!

42nd Presentation of the Boar’s Head Festival

January 11 & 12, 2025

January 11th at 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm

January 12th at 1pm. and 4pm

For more information about tickets please use the button or QR code below, or to participate in the Boar’s Head Festival please contact the Church Office or use the button below. The Boar's Head Choir Rehearsal Schedule can be found on the church website.

Christmas Eve Worship!

Christmas Eve Worship!

Join us for Christmas Eve Worship! Our Family Service at 3pm (more kid-friendly, glow sticks instead of lit candles, but still all the good stuff of Christmas Eve worship) or for our Traditional Service at 8pm (candles, basically what you grew up with, a super pretty and wonderful service). We hope to worship with you in-person or online this Christmas Eve - and don’t forget to share with your friends to join us in sharing the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all!

Tuesday, December 24th

3pm - Family Christmas Eve Service

8pm - Traditional Christmas Eve Service

Sunday Morning Worship! 4th Sunday of Advent

Sunday Worship!

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22nd for the FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!

RaiseRight Wreath Raffle!!!

Through December 15, 2024, every time you make a $25.00 RaiseRight purchase on-line or in-person you will receive ONE raffle ticket towards winning approximately $300.00 worth of cards on the St. Peter's RaiseRight Christmas Wreath.

A drawing will be held on December 15, 2024 when the winner will be notified.  You do not need to be in attendance on December 15, 2024 to win (but you really should come to church anyways).  The more RaiseRight $25.00 purchases you make the more chances you will have to win!

So, yes, if you purchase $100.00 worth of cards you will receive 4 raffle tickets.  

Support St. Peter's with RaiseRight!

RaiseRight (formerly ShopWithScrip) has been in operation at St. Peter’s since 2007. So far, the RaiseRight program has contributed $41,700.00 to St. Peter’s. This includes $2,100.00 raised in 2023. When someone buys RaiseRight cards, they pay the face value of the card and they get the face value of the card. St. Peter’s receives a percentage of that face value from RaiseRight. The customer doesn’t need to do anything except purchase the cards. The “donation” part of the process is all done behind the scenes.

Gift card purchases through RaiseRight are available in various increments. $5, $10, $25 and $100 cards are available and all amounts help pay down the church mortgage. Go to www.RaiseRight.com and sign up (our Enrollment Code is 84AE323B15851). If you are placing an on-line order for physical cards (e-cards are available from some retailers), please place the order by Sunday at 8:00 p.m. for pickup the following Sunday at church. Or you can place a paper order with Jane Stettler at the front door of the church before or after the service using cash or check. Please email Jane or the church office with any questions.

Hope Lodge Dinner!

We will be serving Christmas Dinner to the guests at the Hope Lodge on Thursday, December 19th. We will begin cooking around 4 PM and serve the guests at 6 PM. We will need turkeys, hams, sides and volunteers for the dinner. A sign-up genius will be sent out in early December. Do not worry if you cannot attend on the 19th but would still like to participate. Matt Clark will be in the church parking lot on December 18th from 5 PM – 6 PM collecting donations for the dinner. The Sign-Up Genius is now available with a link included in the weekly email and can be found using the button below.

Sunday Morning Worship! 1st Sunday of Advent

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1st FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!

Hope Lodge & St. Peter's Cookie Exchange

Hope Lodge & St. Peter's Cookie Exchange!

We will be serving Christmas Dinner to the guests at the Hope Lodge on Thursday, December 19th. We will begin cooking around 4 PM and serve the guests at 6 PM. We will need turkeys, hams, sides and volunteers for the dinner. A sign-up genius will be sent out in early December. Do not worry if you cannot attend on the 19th but would still like to participate. Matt Clark will be in the church parking lot on December 18th from 5 PM – 6 PM collecting donations for the dinner.   

A big part of our Hope Lodge Christmas Dinner is the cookie exchange we do for the guests. The fellowship committee will be hosting a cookie exchange for both the church and the guests at Hope Lodge at the church on Saturday December 7, 2024 from 10 AM to 1 PM. We ask those wanting to participate to bring the following: 

• 4-5 dozen cookies. 2-3 dozen will be for the cookie exchange at the church and 1-2 dozen will be frozen and saved for the Hope Lodge cookie exchange 

• A copy of your Christmas Cookie recipe to share with everyone

• Please indicate if your cookies contain nuts or are gluten-free 

• A container to take your cookies home 

Christmas Poinsettia Orders!

Red and White poinsettias will be plentiful upon the altar again this Christmas with your dedications. The potted plants also make lovely gifts after Christmas Eve worship, especially for shut ins. Everyone looks forward to a beautiful display of poinsettias at the altar, so place your orders by December 9th. Dedications in memory and honor of loved ones will be listed in the Christmas Eve Worship Bulletins. The order forms can be found in the church narthex and by using the button below. If you have any questions please contact Lisa in the church office.

Sunday Morning Worship! All Saints Sunday

Sunday Worship!

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd FOR ALL SAINTS SUNDAY!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!

Church and Snacks?!?! YES PLEASE!!!

COFFEE HOUR & FELLOWSHIP TIME BEGINS NOVEMBER 3rd!

We are bringing back Coffee Hour! A time of snacks, coffee, and community fellowship THIS Sunday, November 3rd! Coffee hour will be both before the worship service, beginning at 9:15am and after the service so come a little early and grab some snacks, have some coffee, enjoy some conversation or stick around for a little while after the service for the same (or do both if you really like snacks, coffee, and conversation!). If you'd like to help with future coffee hours please contact Silvia Rotenbury.

Monthly Mailer!

MONTHLY MAILER!

We are beginning to send out a monthly mailer from the church for folks who don't use email or the internet that much - it is basically a summary of important items from our weekly emails. If you would like to receive the monthly mailer or you know someone who you think should be added to the mailing list please contact Lisa in the church office. Copies will also be available in the narthex and if you have any ideas about additional items to include please contact Pastor Suloff. A digital copy of the monthly mailer can be seen using the button below.

Sunday Morning Worship! REFORMATION SUNDAY!!!

Sunday Worship!

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27th FOR REFORMATION SUNDAY AND TRUNK OR TREAT FOLLOWING WORSHIP!

Join us as we celebrate and proclaim and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all at 10am in person and on Facebook Live or through the Church Website.

The worship bulletin can be found by clicking below. Don't forget to share with your friends and comment during the service - it is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do!