8 Jan 2023

The Epiphany Chalk Blessing

by | posted in: Epiphany, Worship | 0

The Church has a custom of blessing homes on the Feast of the Epiphany and the week following. Family and friends gather to ask God’s blessing on their homes and those who live in or visit the home. It is an invitation for Jesus to be a daily guest in our home, our comings and goings, our conversations, our work and play, our joys and sorrows. See details of the Epiphany Chalk Blessing.

A traditional way of doing this is to use chalk blessed during the Epiphany liturgy and write above the home’s entryway. If you miss the service in-person this Sunday, there will be extra blessed chalk in the church for you to pick up Mon-Thur. from 9 a.m. – noon, or you can email a request to have some mailed to you.

6 Jan 2023

2 Saints Readers January 2023 Program

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.

On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at 4 p.m., 2 Saints Readers resumes via Zoom with “The Book of Longings” by Sue Monk Kidd.

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.

4 Jan 2023

Worship and weekly news – January 4, 2023

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This Sunday is Sunday of the Baptism of our Lord – January 8, 2023, Year A.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter for this week, which includes information on our Epiphany Potluck Gathering and Epiphany Chalk Blessing, as well as, several items mentioned below. For those who have requested pledge envelopes, they will be available this Sunday. Please look for them in the Great Hall.

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

Sunday’s Worship Schedule

Growth and Fellowship:

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

30 Dec 2022

Annual Bazaar 2022 Followup Report

by | posted in: News | 0

The Mini-Bazaar Committee would like to thank everyone who donated items or their time to ensure that our Mini-Bazaar was a success. As is standard practice for our previous Bazaars, the proceeds will be given to outreach. Hopefully, we will be able to distribute the money early next year.

We took in close to $900 in one short half day!

Our intention for next year is to return to a full three day event. Our committee could use additional members. If you are interested, please see any current Annual Bazaar committee member.

30 Dec 2022

Worship and weekly news – December 30, 2022

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This Sunday is Sunday of the Holy Name – January 1, 2023, Year A.

News for the Week

See the Carpenter’s Helper Weekly news for January 1, 2023, Annual Bazaar update, Epiphany Potluck Gathering, as well as, the many activities below.

ONE SERVICE ONLY THIS SUNDAY AT 10 A.M.

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

Sunday’s Worship Schedule

  • Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
  • Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Adult Education via Zoom or in-person in the Great Hall classroom. Fr. Howie will lead an Advent themed, spiritually inspired discussion of artworks by John August Swanson.
  • Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries program
  • SUNDAY OF THE HOLY NAME at 10:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person and online at YouTube (10:00 a.m. booklet)

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
  • Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saint Readers
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 6 p.m. – Epiphany Potluck Gathering
  • Sunday, January 8, 2023 Novel Theology
  • Sunday, January 8, 2023 at noon – Vestry meeting
  • Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 4 p.m. – 2 Saints Readers resumes. Parishioners of St. Nicholas and St. Thomas’s book discussion group over Zoom. “The Book of Longings” by Sue Monk Kidd. Everyone is Welcome to participate in this friendly and engaging sharing of ideas with our neighbors at St. Nicholas’s Parish.
  • Everyone is Welcome to participate in this friendly and engaging sharing of ideas with our neighbors at St Nicholas’s Parish.
  • Sunday, January 29, 2023 between services – presentation from The Friendship House/Empowerment Centers hosted by our Outreach Ministry.

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

23 Dec 2022

Worship and weekly news – December 23, 2022

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This Sunday is Christmas Day – December 25, 2022, Year A.

News for the Week

See the Carpenter’s Helper Weekly news for December 25, 2022, Christmas Letter from the Rector, as well as, the many activities below.

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

Christmas Worship Schedule

  • CHRISTMAS EVE – Dec . 24, 2022
    • 4:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person and online at YouTube (4:00 booklet)
    • 8:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person and online at YouTube (8:00 booklet)
  • CHRISTMAS DAY – Dec. 25, 2022
    • 10:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person and online at YouTube (10:00 booklet)

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
  • Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saint Readers
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 6 p.m. – Epiphany Potluck Gathering
  • Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 4 p.m. – 2 Saints Readers resumes. Parishioners of St. Nicholas and St. Thomas’s book discussion group over Zoom.
  • Sunday, January 29, 2023 between services – presentation from The Friendship House/Empowerment Centers

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

21 Dec 2022

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2022 for the homeless

by | posted in: Christmas, Outreach | 0

Dear Family of St. Thomas’s,

Calvary Baptist Church on Delaware Ave., Newark, is once again hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2022 for the homeless in Newark. They are in need of food donations and “gift” donations from anyone who would like to do that.  Here’s what they need:

FOOD list:

            Sliced and ready to serve turkey, ham or beef

            Breakfast casseroles, donuts or pastries, juice

            Lunch meat, rolls, individual serving chips bags, canned soda

GIFTS:   $15 gift cards to Wawa, McD’s, Jersey Mikes or Dunkin

               DART bus passes (1 day,1 zone) – available at Acme for $4

                New underwear, warm socks, insulated gloves, hand warmers

VOLUNTEERS:

             Christmas Eve: 3:30 – 5:30,  5- 7 , 7 – 9, 9 – 11

IF you have a donation for this, you can take it to Calvary anytime after 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve or leave it at St. Thomas’s and I will take it over after the 8 p.m. Christmas Eve service.   

Christmas Blessings to ALL,
Madeline Johnson     mad1240@comcast.net

15 Dec 2022

Christmas 2022 Letter from the Rector

by | posted in: Christmas | 0

Christmas 20226 December 2022

It would be hard to imagine the Christian faith without any stories of the birth of Jesus. This is because Jesus’ origins are central to our understanding of who he is and what he means to us. Part of the power of Christmas is that we are not just telling a story about an amazing person who did amazing things. We are telling a story about someone who was both human and yet more than human. Our mortal life and God come together.

The story of the birth of Jesus gives us many things to think about. One of those things is that this birth is a great, divine act of self-giving. The Son is willing to be born, to somehow squeeze his godly essence into the incredibly vulnerable and limiting body of a human person. Such a gift!

It is that Godly example which also inspires us to give gifts of all kinds this season. Most of us will give gifts to relatives and close friends as tokens of love and affection. This letter is a small reminder that your church also has great need of your gifts – of all kinds – to continue to tell the story of Jesus among us and to do ministry in his name. 

And so, I ask that you consider giving a Christmas gift to St. Thomas’s. If you have already given all that you can this year, please do not worry or feel guilty.  Instead, I ask for your prayers for the ministries of our church. If, on the other hand, you can give a special Christmas offering, know that your gift will be received gratefully and applied faithfully to the work we all wish to continue.  There are a number of ways to give, including our secure on-line donation form.  A gift of your time and skill would also be most welcome.

Please join us at Christmas  – at 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Christmas Eve, and 10:00 AM on Christmas Day. Please invite those close to you to come along. And thank you for remembering St. Thomas’s at Christmas and all through the year.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Howell Sasser
Rector