6 December
2004
EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA
REGION IX
ANNUAL REPORT
2004
We had a very successful and productive year in Region
IX. Early in the year, the Region IX
council reelected Dr. Stephen von Hitritz of St. Peter’s New Kent as its
President, Ms. Carol Johnson of St. Peter’s New Kent, Secretary and Alternate,
and Ms. Laura Harris of Westover Church,
Charles City
remained Treasurer, all to a term of three years. Very Rev. Bruce Gray of St. John’s
Richmond remained as Dean of the
Region and Rev. Michael Hadaway remained as the Region IX representative to
Executive Board.
The Region met four times during 2004. In February, we met at Varina
Church. In May, we met at Historic
St. John’s Church,
Richmond. In September, we met at Richmond
Hill Retreat Center,
Richmond, and finally in November, we met at St.
Paul’s Church, Richmond.
Thankfully, there were no clergy vacancies in Region IX
during 2004. In late 2003, Rev. Geoff
Price was named Priest-in-Charge of St. Peter’s New
Kent, for a term of three years.
At Historic St.
John’s Church,
Rev. Bruce Gray continued his ministry.
The Patrick Henry reenactments continued to be very successful during
the summer months. St.
John’s has also been proactive in diversity events on
Church Hill. St.
John’s is started a small children’s Sunday school
this year. $400,000 has been raised
through grants for improvements to the church and grounds. The first improvement to be made will be
handicap accessibility with an elevator. Other projects will include a larger
gift shop, the present one to become a visitor center and purchase of a
building across the street to allow for expansion. During the Hurricane Gaston flooding, St.
John’s lost a portion of the brick wall facing 24th
street.
Since then the wall has been rebuilt and strengthened though there is
still work to be done. The church’s web
address is http://www.historicstjohnschurch.org/
At St. Paul’s Richmond,
Rev. Bob Hetherington continued his ministry now assisted by Rev. Holly
Antolini, associate rector. The Lenten
services with nationally recognized guest speakers are always well attended in Richmond. In November, a book about the stained glass
windows at St. Paul’s was
published, entitled “Windows of Grace, a Tribute to Love”. This beautiful book is available at St.
Paul’s. All
proceeds from this book go to St. Paul’s
Outreach program. St.
Paul’s offers a wide spectrum of programs and services
to both the community and to the congregation.
Their web address is http://www.stpauls-episcopal.org/
At St.
Peter’s Richmond, Rev. Simeon Newbold continued
his ministry. Short and Long term goals
have been adopted by the Vestry of St. Peter’s to grow the church. There are now many more youth activities than
in the past at St. Peter’s. A Board of
Advisors compiled of members of different groups within the church will work
together to help grow the church. St.
Peter’s honored Rev. Newbold on his 50th birthday in September.
At St.
Peter’s Parish, New Kent, Rev. Geoffrey Price continued his ministry. The church sponsored Oyster Roast was the
largest yet with over 600 attending in October. St. Peter's supports an outreach
program called Matthew's Haven, which contains clothing, etc. for the needy of
New Kent. In
addition, St. Peter’s is the focal point for the countywide Meals on Wheels
program. The improvements to the grounds
and Parish Hall were completed in 2004.
This improvement supported by a capital campaign enlarged the parking
lot and improved pedestrian access to church and Parish Hall. The 3rd Annual Golf
tournament to benefit the youth mission trip raised $1,600. Long time Parish Administrator, Jayne Thomas
retired in 2004 and was honored at an event in September at the home of a
parishioner. Their web address is http://www.geocities.com/stpeterstc/
At Trinity, Highland Springs, Rev.
Roger Robillard continued his ministry. Trinity is assisting with
Caritas, serving dinners to the homeless; food and family night continue on the
3rd Friday of each month. Trinity has a
Cursillor Ultreya, faith walk, on the 4th Friday of the month at 6:30. Events during the year included Lenten community
services, clean-up/work day, community Easter egg hunt, blessing of the pets,
UTO Sunday with breakfast, fun and food night, the ECW annual yard and bake
sale. Trinity honored Rev. Robillard on
the occasion of his 25th anniversary of ordination. An
outreach project provided school supplies to local students.
At Varina
Church, Rev. Michael Hadaway continued his ministry. The church also sponsored its annual
golf tournament to raise money for their general fund. Varina has a Prayer Guild. During the summer
a review was conducted of the Sunday school program and lay reader
training. Also during the summer needed
repairs to the church building were finished, including plans to make the
facility handicapped accessible and make needed renovations to the parish
hall. Varina also has an ALPHA
program. Their web address is http://www.varinachurch.com/.
At Westover
Church, Rev. Virginia
Heistand-Jones continues her ministry.
September 25 was their Autumn Pilgrimage to visit plantations and homes
and it was very successful, raising more than $20,000, all of which is used in
their outreach program. Westover is the
staging area for Meals on Wheels in Charles
City County,
so some of the money will go to that program.
Westover’s youth group is active; six members went on a mission trip to Montana
this summer. The parish assisted in a
county program, No Greater Love, repairing structures for the less fortunate;
Westover held a blood drive this year.
There are currently three EFM classes.
A silent auction was held on Mother’s day and raised $1600 to benefit
the youth trip. Their web address is http://www.westoverparish.org/index.html
The Region
provided financial support to the Richmond Hill Ecumenical
Retreat Center, the
Region IX Church plant savings account, the Peter-Paul
Development Center
at St. Peter’s Richmond, Shrine Mont
camper scholarship at St. Peter’s Richmond,
a Diocesan Pledge, Region IX Clericus, and various Episcopal Church Women (ECW)
initiatives.
The Region
expects to kick-off efforts to support a new Episcopal church in Providence
Forge. The property for this church was
purchased by the Diocese in 2003. This
will be the first church plant in Region IX since the 1950s. A committee has been established to commence
the first stage, feasibility study which should commence in 2005.
The Region IX
Web site will be completed in 2005.
The Region
looks forward to 2005 with increased emphasis on communication and moving
forward with the church plant effort in Providence Forge.
Very
respectfully submitted,
Dr. Stephen R.
von Hitritz
Region IX
President