4 Nov 2021

Worship services for week of November 7, 2021

by | posted in: Worship | 0

Twenty-fourth Sunday after PentecostHello faith family! Sunday, November 7, 2021 is the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Services are held in-person with precautions 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 during this pandemic.

Worship this week:

Have you caught any of Fr. Howie and Fr. Jim’s phenomenal  “Beatitudes- Conversations of Blessings” podcast?.  If not, what are you waiting for?  Every Friday, they bring a new episode full of thought provoking insight and each week they bring in a new special guest to provide even more angles.  Visit the website for more info, and to catch up on any episodes you may have missed! https://beatitudes.online/podcast-series

The new Forward Day by Day booklets are available. Please feel free to stop into the lobby for a copy, or let me know if you’d like one mailed out to you!  There are plenty in both large and small print.

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 your church or online giving. See our Giving information.

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 all events or news, visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out 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.

I look forward to worshiping together on Sunday!

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

4 Nov 2021

Children’s and Youth Ministries update

by | posted in: Children's Ministries, CREW | 0

Greetings All, A few Updates;


1) CREW’s next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Nov. 14, 2021 (corrected date–second Sunday) at St. Thomas’s.
2) We look forward to seeing everyone from ages 4 to 7th grade for Sunday School on Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 21, 2021. Hope for good weather so we can meet under our big red tent!  Otherwise, we will meet in the Undercroft.
3) We are still in need of leaders for Sunday School and hosts for CREW youth group activities. Please let me know if you are interested in either or use this link to indicate your interest in one of the activities that CREW is hoping to engage in this year:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CAAA62CAB9-stthomas5

4) December is fast approaching. It would be wonderful if St. Thomas’s could have the blessing of a children’s Christmas pageant.  We are looking for ideas and leadership for this endeavor. Please, please, please let me know if you are interested in being a part of this gift to the parish and to God. 

Thanks!  Have a good week!
Blessings,
Belinda Young-Payne.

29 Oct 2021

Worship services for week of October 31, 2021

by | posted in: News | 0

Twenty-third Sunday after PentecostHello faith family! Sunday, October 31, 2021 is the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. Services are held in-person with precautions 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 during this pandemic.

Worship this week:

Have you caught any of Fr. Howie and Fr. Jim’s phenomenal  “Beatitudes- Conversations of Blessings” podcast?.  If not, what are you waiting for?  Every Friday, they bring a new episode full of thought provoking insight and each week they bring in a new special guest to provide even more angles.  Visit the website for more info, and to catch up on any episodes you may have missed! https://beatitudes.online/podcast-series

The new Forward Day by Day booklets are available. Please feel free to stop into the lobby for a copy, or let me know if you’d like one mailed out to you!  There are plenty in both large and small print.

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 your church or online giving. See our Giving information.

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 all events or news, visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out 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.

I look forward to worshiping together on Sunday!

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

29 Oct 2021

Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for October 31, 2021

by | posted in: News | 0

Good morning faith family.  See St. Thomas’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for news and events information for the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost and the week of October 31, 2021. This week, you will find info about the annual St. Thomas’s fall clean-up on November 6, 2021, an invitation to Mass for the Departed, a call for Blue Hen Bounty donations, a reminder of Tuesdays 2 Saints Readers book discussion, and Eye Spy gives some history of our St Thomas cemetery.

Some of our events are as follows.

  • Sundays at 9 a.m. – Youth Confirmation in the Undercroft.
  • Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries under the tent in the courtyard.
  • Sundays from 10:30-11 a.m., Communion at the Curb is offered for those who have not received the Sacrament in-person during the service.  You do not need to sign up for this.  ALL are WELCOME!
  • Sunday, October 31, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. – Mass for all the Departed in St. Thomas’s cemetery.
  • Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 10 a.m. – 2 Saints Readers, the book study that brings us together with our St. Nicholas friends, will be discussing “The Language of God, A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” by Dr Francis S Collins, via Zoom. ALL are Welcome – you will receive an email invitation.
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m., lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Wednesday at noon: Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion, live on our YouTube channel and in-person with precautions. Here is the accompanying booklet.
  • Thursday at 7 p.m.: Compline Evening Prayer with Deacon Cecily, live via Zoom. Here is the accompanying booklet.
  • Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 8 a.m. – noon – St. Thomas’s Annual Fall Clean-up.
  • Annual Bazaar on November 12-13, 2021 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. – come shop! Volunteer! All proceeds go to Outreach Ministries.

You will receive an emailed invitation to all the above events and their accompanying booklets. As always, there are copies available to be mailed, so please let me know if you’d like a paper copy.

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 your church or online giving. See our Giving information.

The new Forward Day by Day booklets are available.  Please feel free to stop into the lobby for a copy, or let me know if you’d like one mailed out to you!  There are plenty in both large and small print.

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 all events or news, visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out the posted events on the board next to the name tag station. Recent Newsletters, Sermons, or Announcements are also available.

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

25 Oct 2021

ECM update for September and October 2021

by | posted in: ECM | 0

ECM decided to change our meeting days from Sundays at 5:30 p.m. to Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m. The choice to meet on Sundays was meant to facilitate the participation of more members—both on Zoom and in person. But, with the beginning of the semester and the complete return of students to in person classes, the decision was made to return to our original date and time. Aly—our president sends out reminders via Groupme and email.

In September 2021, we had a Spaghetti dinner for the St. Thomas’s family as a thank you for all the support we have received form the parish. We made whole wheat pasta, vegetarian sauce and served garlic bread. This went over very well, especially with Sunday school group. People seemed pleased with our efforts—and we served every last bite!

Blue Hen Bounty (BHB) food pantry has not stopped serving the community during the pandemic, over Winter break and into the Fall 2021 semester. We have seen a predictable uptick in patronage which has severely depleted our pantry. In response, we emailed Blue Hen Vets and asked them for help—they responded generously as always, and we asked the St. Thomas’s Family for help as well. Donations have been coming in and we are grateful. Please keep us in mind when you shop. In our Fellowship Hall, there is a neat whiteboard in the classroom which has our wish list items on it. When you make purchases, please leave them in the classroom and we will sort and put them away.

We began the exploratory process of determining ECM’s eligibility for the last disbursements of the CARES Act grant courtesy of New Castle County. Unfortunately, we are not eligible because of the funding criteria. Please do keep us in mind if anyone hears about another grant opportunity for BHB. Shout out to Cana and Amy for always alerting us to opportunities.

We asked Cana to distribute a sign-up sheet for ECM dinners. We ask parishioners to make dinner for us and join us in fellowship on Wednesdays. We are roughly seven in number and there are no known food allergies. We have fond memories of freshly baked challah, white bean chili, Stouffer’s lasagna with garlic bread, curry chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup and more! Please come and join us! In lieu of parishioner meals, we have been ordering pizza and French fries, which we eat in the kitchen—to give the Girl Scouts some privacy.

In response to an inquiry from a parishioner, we had another discussion about the violent assault that took place recently connected to our campus. As a result, the students decided to reach out to one of the organizers of the protests and verify if we can be supportive during this distressing time. More to come.

We are in the process of working on our budget and will receive support from Amy and Teresa at our next ECM meeting—where they will be sharing a meal with us!

We have begun the process of re-decorating the bulletin boards in the classroom. Please stay posted for our new boards soon!

We are working on our ECM sweatshirts.

Please do remember that Shannon has transitioned from president of ECM to Coordinator of BHB, Aly Hall is our new ECM president, our new ECM treasurer is Claire Wadman with Noah Farnsworth as backup.

With regards,   

Denise Burgher

ECM Convening Graduate Advisor

25 Oct 2021

Children’s and Youth Ministries Updates October 24, 2021

by | posted in: Children's Ministries, CREW | 0

Greetings all. A few updates follow.

1) CREW will not be meeting tomorrow, Oct. 24, 2021, as originally scheduled. Our next meeting will be on Nov. 7, 2021.

2) Ms. Madeline looks forward to seeing everyone from ages 4 to 7th grade tomorrow, Oct. 24,  2021, at 10:15 a.m. for Sunday School. Hope for good weather so we can meet under our big red tent!

3)Trunk or Treat is cancelled for next week due to a scheduling conflict.  But we would still like to help UNICEF. Please keep a look out for an alternate plan.

4) We are still in need of leaders for Sunday School and hosts for CREW youth group activities.

Please let me know if you are interested in either. Thanks! 

Blessings,
Belinda Young-Payne.  

25 Oct 2021

Adult Education classes

by | posted in: Adult Education | 0

Dear Parishioners,

Regular 9:15 a.m. Adult Classes will resume December 5, 2021 (not November) with “Telling our Story: Easing into Evangelism”, led by Fr. Howie.

Blessings,
Rue Manning, Co-chair, Adult Christian Education

22 Oct 2021

Bring and Share a meal with ECM

by | posted in: ECM | 0

Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) is a place to explore and live spirituality in community with UD students, faculty, staff and parishioners. They meet every Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.

If you would like to help provide our group of approximately 7 with dinner for one of our future meetings please sign up either online or on the sheet in the lobby, which will be posted on the notice board if anyone would like to choose a date to make dinner for us and come and fellowship. Please post any dates you would like on the actual sheet which will be on the notice board by the Fellowship Hall.

We kindly appreciate your willingness to provide our meeting with a meal to share!

22 Oct 2021

Worship services for week of October 24, 2021

by | posted in: Worship | 0

Twenty-second Sunday after PentecostHello faith family! Sunday, October 24, 2021 is the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. Services are held in-person with precautions 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 during this pandemic.

Worship this week:

Have you caught any of Fr. Howie and Fr. Jim’s phenomenal  “Beatitudes- Conversations of Blessings” podcast?.  If not, what are you waiting for?  Every Friday, they bring a new episode full of thought provoking insight and each week they bring in a new special guest to provide even more angles.  Visit the website for more info, and to catch up on any episodes you may have missed! https://beatitudes.online/podcast-series

The new Forward Day by Day booklets are available. Please feel free to stop into the lobby for a copy, or let me know if you’d like one mailed out to you!  There are plenty in both large and small print.

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 your church or online giving. See our Giving information.

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 all events or news, visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out 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.

I look forward to worshiping together on Sunday!

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

22 Oct 2021

Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for October 24, 2021

by | posted in: News | 0

Good morning faith family.  See St. Thomas’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for news and events information for the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost and the week of October 24, 2021. This week, you will find information about the annual St. Thomas’s fall clean-up (11/6/21), an invitation to share a meal with ECM, a call for Blue Hen Bounty donations, a reminder of Tuesdays 2 Saints Readers book discussion, and Eye Spy sees a friend from far away.

Stewardship pledge packets have been mailed out. If you have not received yours, please let me know – I have extras.

Have you caught any of Fr. Howie and Fr. Jim’s phenomenal  “Beatitudes- Conversations of Blessings” podcast?.  If not, what are you waiting for?  Every Friday, they bring a new episode full of thought provoking insight and each week they bring in a new special guest to provide even more angles.  Visit the website for more info, and to catch up on any episodes you may have missed! https://beatitudes.online/podcast-series

Some of our events are as follows.

  • Sundays at 9 a.m. – Youth Confirmation in the Undercroft.
  • Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries under the tent in the courtyard.
  • Sundays from 10:30-11 a.m., Communion at the Curb is offered for those who have not received the Sacrament in-person during the service.  You do not need to sign up for this.  ALL are WELCOME!
  • Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 10 a.m. – 2 Saints Readers, the book study that brings us together with our St. Nicholas friends, will be discussing “The Language of God, A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” by Dr Francis S Collins, via Zoom. ALL are Welcome – you will receive an email invitation.
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m., lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Wednesday at noon: Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion, live on our YouTube channel and in-person with precautions. Here is the accompanying booklet.
  • Thursday at 7 p.m.: Compline Evening Prayer with Deacon Cecily, live via Zoom. Here is the accompanying booklet.
  • Monday, October 18, 2021 from 10 a.m. – noon – Hope Dining Room
  • Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 8 a.m. – noon – St. Thomas’s Annual Fall Clean-up.
  • Annual Bazaar on November 12-13, 2021 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. – come shop! Volunteer! All proceeds go to Outreach Ministries.

You will receive an emailed invitation to all the above events and their accompanying booklets. As always, there are copies available to be mailed, so please let me know if you’d like a paper copy.

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 your church or online giving. See our Giving information.

The new Forward Day by Day booklets are available.  Please feel free to stop into the lobby for a copy, or let me know if you’d like one mailed out to you!  There are plenty in both large and small print.

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 all events or news, visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out the posted events on the board next to the name tag station. Recent Newsletters, Sermons, or Announcements are also available.

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