24 Feb 2023

Noisy Sundays – bring your change!

by | posted in: Children's Ministries | 0

We are collecting loose change! The kids will have cans to shake and make some NOISE!

This Sunday, and throughout Lent, the Sunday school children will have a noisy collection in all Sunday services. Members are encourage to find your spare change at home and bring it in. During the week, the change bucket will be available for rattling and donations in the lobby. The more “noise” the change makes the better! (They will even accept money that is not so noisy!)

The proceeds will go to a charity to be selected. Some of their ideas include:
• A local school’s donors’ choice
• School lunch debt
• Medical debt
• Micro-loans

You will be updated as this project progresses. Please let Fr. Howie know if any of these choices jump out to you, or if you have another suggestion to give the kids.

24 Feb 2023

Many ways to show love to our neighbors

by | posted in: Outreach | 0

In the Great Hall, next to the name tag station, we have always had a few collections going on. For quite some time, we have had a box for eyeglasses, which go the Lions Club. Also, there is a container for your pop tabs that our janitorial team of Tradeworks students enjoy taking to the Ronald McDonald House. Of course there is are bins for food donations for Hope Dining Room and for Blue Hen Bounty. There is a place for Go-Bags for the Empowerment Center, and now there are three new bins. Two of these bins are marked for “Shoes” and “Clothes” to go to the Clothing Bank of Delaware. And a third bin is marked “Sheets and Towels” for the Faithful Friends Animal Society.

A few notes about our new bins.
• All donations should be washed.
• Any socks or undergarments need to be new in packaging.
• Tie or zip tie shoes together- no boxes please.

We do not talk about these donations often, but they make a big difference to those in need

20 Feb 2023

2 Saints Readers Program April 2023

by | posted in: News | 0

2 Saints Readers include Parishioners of St. Nicholas and St. Thomas’s for a book discussion virtually over Zoom on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. This is another way the extended families of St. Nicholas and St. Thomas’s can stay in touch and get to know each other too! This is a joint book reading with discussion. You are invited.

An Invisible Thread bookOn Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 4:00 p.m., 2 Saints Readers resumes via Zoom with “An Invisible Thread” by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski.

If you are on our parish mail lists, you will receive an email invitation to this Zoom series. Or, write to the Office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com or call (302) 368-4644 for Zoom information.

Everyone is welcome to participate in this friendly and engaging sharing of ideas with our neighbors at St. Nicholas’s Parish.

18 Feb 2023

Worship and weekly news – February 19, 2023

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This Sunday is the Seventh and Last Sunday after Epiphany – February 19, 2023, Year A.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter for this week.

Worship at St. Thomas’s

Services are held in-person and online via our YouTube channel. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or Fr. Howie with any questions or concerns about these options. We are listening to the experts and considering how to best keep our faith family safe.

Our weekly Worship schedule

This Sunday’s Worship Schedule

Growth and Fellowship:

  • 1st Sunday of the month – Gospel in Spanish
  • Last Sunday of the month – Family Church Sunday
  • Last Sunday of the month – Coffee and Fellowship between services
  • 2nd Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Novel Theology
  • 3rd Monday of the month – Hope Dining Room
  • Sundays from 4-6 p.m. – free dinners for ECM students. Eat in or take homemade dinners to go.
  • Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saint Readers
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Monday, February 20, 2023 – Hope Dining Room volunteers needed
  • Feb. 21, 2023 from 5:30-7 p.m. – Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner – for food, games, and fun. See dinner details.
  • Feb. 22, 2023 ASH WEDNESDAY: services at 7 a.m., Noon, 7 p.m. In-person and via YouTube.
  • Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 – Family Church Sunday at 10:30 a.m. service. Ministry Breakfast between services (9:15 -10 a.m.)
  • Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 – adult inquirers class series begins. See Fr. Howie for more info.
  • Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 4:00 p.m., 2 Saints Readers resumes via Zoom with “An Invisible Thread” by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski.
  • Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 12:30 p.m. – Annual Meeting and Vestry nominations

In this strange pandemic time, the church is aware that some of its members are struggling to make ends meet. If you are in this situation, please let the clergy know of your needs, pray for the church, and feel no guilt about your giving. But if you are able to give, options for giving include mailing a check to our church or online giving.

If you have anything to add to the Parish calendar or the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter, please email the office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com.

To see worship, events or news, see our website, FaceBook, InstaGram, YouTube, or the posted events on the board next to the name tag station. Recent Newsletters, Sermons, or Announcements are also available.

Regardless of whether we are together in-person or virtually, we are connected by the Holy Spirit:  Always together; never apart…maybe in distance, but never in heart.

Kind Regards,
Cana Hartman, Parish Administrator
StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com or (302) 368-4644

18 Feb 2023

Hope Dining Room volunteers needed Monday, February 20, 2023

by | posted in: Outreach, Service | 0

Dear Families of St. Thomas’s and St. Nicholas,

Monday, February 20, 2023, is our opportunity to serve at Hope Dining Room.  Guests at Hope, are now “dining in” so we have 2 different short shifts that you can volunteer for. The cooking shift goes from 10 – 11:45 a.m. The serving and cleanup shift, goes from 11:45 – 1:30 p.m.

If you’d like to help, please bring an apron and a ball cap.  We would LOVE to see you! All of this takes place at Kingswood Methodist Church kitchen on Marrows Road in Brookside Park. It is a team effort, lots of fun and it makes you feel so good to feed people who really appreciate it.

Please sign up to donate things we need for the meal, which may be brought to St. Thomas’s on Monday – Thursday between 9 and noon OR when you come to church on Sunday.  If that doesn’t work for you, give me a call and I will pick it up at your house.

BLESSINGS to you ALL,

Madeline Johnson

17 Feb 2023

Annual Meeting 2023 and Vestry Nominations

by | posted in: Annual Meeting | 0
It’s time to send in your vestry nominations!

It’s hard to believe it’s that time again!

Strong lay and clergy leadership teams are at the heart of healthy, thriving Episcopal congregations. These teams start with the vestry. Now is the time to pray about whom God would have you nominate for the 2023-2024 Vestry. See our Vestry and Ministries information.

Here are the steps to take:

  1. PRAY.
  2. Submit a name or names to the office by emailing cana.hartman@gmail.com or call 302.368.4644 Monday-Thursday between 9-noon. (Yes, you can nominate yourself if you feel so moved!)
  3. We will then confirm that the person meets requirements according to Church Bylaws and Diocesan Canons.
  4. And then, finally, we will speak with the nominee to review the responsibilities of the vestry and confirm that they are open to having their name on this year’s ballot.

Please submit your nominee(s) by April 3, 2023.

If you are curious about the vestry experience, please reach out to Fr. Howie, the office, or speak to any member of the vestry.

Nominations are requested to fill three openings. The Vestry has prayerfully decided to transition from 12 Vestry members to 9. This will be the second year in that transition and we are replacing four Vestry members with three. In 2024, we will complete this transition to a nine-member Vestry.

Vestry elections will be conducted during the annual congregational meeting following the 10:30 a.m. service on March 19, 2023.

Please give your full and prayerful attention to this important yearly call to leadership in the life of St. Thomas’s Episcopal Parish.

17 Feb 2023

Adult Education for February 2023

by | posted in: Adult Education | 0

There are three upcoming opportunities for AWESOME spiritual growth.

THIS SUNDAY, February 19, 2023 at 9:15 a.m. Learn about the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. We will meet in the Great Hall classroom in-person or LIVE via Zoom. ALL are welcome.

NEXT SUNDAY, February 26, 2023 at 9:15 a.m. Growing up in the Church – what we learned about faith, race, and gender featuring Teri Quinn-Gray, Denise Burgher, and Fr Howie. We will meet in the Great Hall classroom in-person or LIVE via ZOOM. ALL are Welcome!

INQUIRERS CLASS on Mondays in Lent at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Are you looking for a general refresher on the Christian faith and the Anglican / Episcopal way of approaching it? Do you have questions you have always wanted answers to? Do you wonder what makes us, us? Attend one class or several! ALL are Welcome!

9 Feb 2023

Shrove Tuesday 2023 Pancake Supper

by | posted in: Lent, News | 0

Shrove Tuesday Pancake DinnerHello Church Family,

St. Thomas’s Parish will once again be celebrating Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday … or Mardi Gras ….. or Pancake Tuesday….) with a Pancake Supper, fellowship, and fun on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 from 5:30-7:00 p.m.  There will be plenty of pancakes, sausages and beverages for all who attend.  Music, games and crafts will also be part of the fun. 

In order to make this event the best it can be, volunteers are needed to set up, cook, plan activities, and clean up. A HUGE Thank You to those of you who have already volunteered.  We also need to have an estimate of how many people to expect.  (No worries!!  It’s absolutely ok to just show up, the more the merrier of course. But an estimate is always nice.)

Please RSVP if you can (even if it is just to say Maybe) or to volunteer to help with the event.

Thank you so much!  I am really looking forward to seeing as many of you as are able to come!

Blessings,
Belinda Young-Payne 

9 Feb 2023

Worship and weekly news – February 12, 2023

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This Sunday is the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – February 12, 2023, Year A.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter for this week.

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Worship at St. Thomas’s

Services are held in-person and online via our YouTube channel. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or Fr. Howie with any questions or concerns about these options. We are listening to the experts and considering how to best keep our faith family safe.

Our weekly Worship schedule

This Sunday’s Worship Schedule

Growth and Fellowship:

  • 1st Sunday of the month – Gospel in Spanish
  • Last Sunday of the month – Family Church Sunday
  • Last Sunday of the month – Coffee and Fellowship between services
  • 2nd Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Novel Theology
  • 3rd Monday of the month – Hope Dining Room
  • Sundays from 4-6 p.m. – free dinners for ECM students. Eat in or take homemade dinners to go.
  • Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saint Readers
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Feb. 21, 2023 from 5:30-7 p.m. – Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner – for food, games, and fun. See dinner details.
  • Feb. 22, 2023 ASH WEDNESDAY: services at 7 a.m., Noon, 7 p.m. In-person and via YouTube.
  • Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 – Family Church Sunday at 10:30 a.m. service. Ministry Breakfast between services (9:15 a.m.-10 a.m.)
  • Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 – adult inquirers class series begins. See Fr. Howie for more info.

In this strange pandemic time, the church is aware that some of its members are struggling to make ends meet. If you are in this situation, please let the clergy know of your needs, pray for the church, and feel no guilt about your giving. But if you are able to give, options for giving include mailing a check to our church or online giving.

If you have anything to add to the Parish calendar or the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter, please email the office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com.

To see worship, events or news, see our website, FaceBook, InstaGram, YouTube, or the posted events on the board next to the name tag station. Recent Newsletters, Sermons, or Announcements are also available.

Regardless of whether we are together in-person or virtually, we are connected by the Holy Spirit:  Always together; never apart…maybe in distance, but never in heart.

Kind Regards,
Cana Hartman, Parish Administrator
StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com or (302) 368-4644

3 Feb 2023

Blue Hen Bounty Needs Donations

by | posted in: ECM, News, Outreach | 0

Blue Hen Bounty food pantryThanks to all of you who have been donating items to Blue Hen Bounty (BHB) food pantry provided by Episcopal Camus Ministry (ECM) for University of Delaware students who are food insecure and cannot provide ample nutrition for themselves.

We are currently in need of peanut butter, strawberry preserves, grape jelly, dish soap, salt and pepper along with any other items you find on sale.

The church building is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. – noon. There is a bin by the name tag station marked for Blue Hen Bounty donations or put donations on the tables or counters in the great hall classroom. For questions, email bluehenbounty@gmail.com. Thank you.