These were not the first times in Virginia that we have faced difficulty. In the first years of settlement, 1607 and for several years thereafter, the colonists barely survived. They were men unused to the kinds of hardship they met in the New World, in addition to unfriendly Native Americans, illness, and starvation. Resupply ships finally arrived and the colony began to recover.

By the time Wicomico Parish Church was established around 1645 tobacco was a prime cash crop for export to England and the colony of Virginia seemed established on a sounder economic basis.

By the time the Puritan Rebellion and Cromwell Protectorate in England had ended daily life had become better although diseases – yellow fever, smallpox, measles, and other life threatening illnesses – continued to decimate families and the small settlements that had begun to spring up in land from Jamestown. Indian attacks continued for a number of years.

Subsequent “times of troubles” hit Virginians hard. Bacon’s Rebellion, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War – all saw fierce fighting and economic devastation in many parts of Virginia as well as radical political changes which kept people and economies off balance.

Late in the 19th Century there were economic depressions and in 1929 the Great Depression did not leave Virginians untouched. The wars of the 20th and early 21st Centuries have also played a part in a series of recessions to the present day. Not to mention greed and poor political decisions concerning the banking and finance industries in the 1990s, the effects of which lie at the roots of the present recession.

This history of this parish has echoed and shadowed economic boom and recession. We live in this world and are affected by it. But times of tribulation have seen the parish emerge stronger than ever as we have pulled together in determination to see that this small bright point of light continues to shine in the darkness and is not overwhelmed by the shadows of economic recession and war.

Some of us will be more affected than others and may feel it necessary to reduce their pledges. But we must all give as much as we can. The work the Lord has given us to do, the task laid upon us, the people handed over to our care for their very survival and daily sustenance – this does not diminish in such times as these – it increases.

Recessions are cyclical; they go away. What is important to remember that everything we have is of God, everything we are is of God, and the God who loves us will see us through as we do our part. Be of good courage and generous heart and hands. God bless us all.