A Christian community of all ages

grounded in

worship, well-being, and service.

From the Associate Rector

Dear Friends,

Many of us can recall “wise things” our mothers said. One that remains in my mind was, unusually, somewhat political in nature: “Jimmy Carter was too good to be president”. If you happened to see any of the coverage of President Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral a year ago, you could perhaps get a sense of the validity of my mother’s saying. The substance of many of the memories shared at the ceremony were not so much about his political years as governor of Georgia and as our nation’s president as on his personal qualities and his post-presidential years.

It was during those years that he devoted himself to working for conflict resolution in the world and for democracy and free and fair elections, especially in developing countries. He also took up his hammer to help build new housing for those in need through Habitat for Humanity. While I was a priest in South Carolina I had a couple of parishioners who traveled to Plains, Georgia, to attend the bible class President Carter led most Sundays at the Maranatha Baptist Church.

Jimmy Carter was a serious Christian and it showed in his life. In the second paragraph of his inaugural address, he quoted the closing verse of the passage from this weekend’s reading from the Hebrew prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8). Many of us would wish that this could be a guiding principle for our national life today.

The passage for this weekend could be seen as a summary of the ethical teaching of the great 8th century BC Hebrew prophets. It is as if Micah is bringing a lawsuit against the leaders of the nation for their faithlessness to God and their ingratitude for all God has done for

his people. God indicts them for their pretense of devotion to the external displays of religion and their lip service to God. Instead, they should be committing themselves to humble devotion to kindness and justice.

In the epistle reading this weekend, Paul challenges the value system of the world in which his Christian converts in Corinth live. God, he says, has made foolish the wisdom of the world through the “foolishness” of the cross. “Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many of you were powerful, not many of you were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” (1 Cor. 27,28). So, the only source of boasting is not in human wisdom or status but in knowing what God has done in Christ.

This reversal of values that lies at the heart of Jesus’s teaching. Christian values fulfill the heard of the call of the Hebrew prophets. A deeper understanding of their prophetic teaching can deepen our appreciation of our own call as believers. Our Lenten bible study this year will explore themes from the prophets. We will be using as a guide a new book by the noted writer and spiritual teacher, Fr. Richard Rohr, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage. In his book, Fr. Rohr writes, “I am convinced that unless we know … the Hebrew prophets we really cannot understand Jesus.” In these times, I believe this deeper understanding can be a spiritual blessing.

Faithfully,

Greg+

From the Rector

On January 2, member of St. Mary’s, Don Barrett died unexpectedly at his home in Portsmouth. 

Many of you have known Don as a member of St. Mary’s or through other organizations in which he was active and engaged.

We will give thanks for Don’s life and commend him to God in a funeral at St. Mary’s on Friday, February 6, at 11 a.m. This will be followed by burial in the churchyard and a collation in the parish house. 

Please signup online or contact Murry Edwards if you would like to contribute or help with the collation. 

Don’s obituary is available online.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our 

prayers on behalf of your servant Don, and grant him an 

entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of 

your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and 

reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Jennifer+

Weekly worship is on

Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and

Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

Christian Meditation is weekly

on Saturdays, 4:00 - 4:45 p.m., Southside Classroom, Lower Level, Parish House.

For all of St. Mary's activities visit our online calendar.

Click on the image above for the Saturday evening bulletin and the one below for the Sunday morning.

Join us in worship at 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays or 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. The liturgical ministers for our worship services are listed in the bulletin.

Worship on Sundays at 10:00 is live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Use the comment section to say hello if you use Facebook.

You also can listen to the Gospel reading and sermon at your convenience on Apple Podcasts and Podbean. They are available by 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

We are trying to make better connections between those who are in person and those who are at home.If you miss worship on Sunday and just want to hear the sermon, you can listen to it online.

Prayer requests for individuals can be added to the prayers of the people on Sunday mornings and in the daily evening prayers by contacting Parish Administrator, Karen Laroche. We typically keep people in the prayers for one month.

2026 Annual Meeting

We will hold the annual meeting on Sunday, February 1 at 11:15. If you feel uncomfortable coming out because of the weather, you can watch it on Facebook. We will be monitoring the comments to answer any questions.

Sunday, February 1, 2026, 11:15

St. George's Chapel, Parish House

Everyone is invited to attend and celebrate the work of the parish in 2025 and to look ahead to 2026.

Agenda Highlights

• Acceptance of the Minutes of the 2025 Annual Meeting 
• Acceptance of 2025 Annual Reports by Title as Published
• Acknowledgement and Gratitude for Retiring and Other Leaders
• Nominating Committee Report and Elections
• Financial and Investment Report for 2025
• Budget for 2026

All of the above highlights are in the 2025 Annual Report which is available online. Also, the vestry slate is available online as well.

If there are any changes that need to be made to the 2025 Annual Report, please send them to website@smcportsmouth.org

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and Pancake Games

Who’ll win the Golden Spatula this year?

To find out, join us for pancakes and games on Shrove Tuesday (2.17) at 5:00 p.m. in St. George’s Chapel. We’ll have an evening of merriment before we begin Lent. If you’d like to help with dinner and setup, you can signup here. To RSVP for dinner, please click here. And to help with the dinner, you can click here.

The Tears of Things: The Hebrew Prophets

Greg will be leading a Lenten bible study on Fridays during Lent. It will offer an introduction and exploration of themes from the Hebrew scriptures based on insights from the recent book by Richard Rohr: The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage. The first session will be on Friday, February 20 at 11 in the Adult Education Room. Purchase of Fr. Rohr’s book is recommended and is available through the church office or on Amazon for $15. However, don’t let the cost of the book prevent you from joining in. For more information, speak to Greg. Sign up for the class here.

Taking place at St. Mary's . . .

Click on the image to see how you can enhance your well-being.

For all other types of communication:

Contact the Rector if you'd like it verbally announced at worship. 

Contact Parish Associate for Administration Karen Laroche to be included in writing in the weekly worship bulletin.

Image credits: Richard Grosvenor, Historic Church, watercolor, used with permission.

Stay Connected:

http://www.smcportsmouth.org/