1 Dec 2023

2 Saints Readers – December 2023

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2 Saints Readers2 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 stay in touch and get to know each other too! This is a joint book reading with discussion. You are invited.

We will discuss “The Story of the Other Wise Man” by Henry Van Lyke on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. live via Zoom. This is a classic book from 1895!

For the Zoom link, please email the office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com

30 Nov 2023

Saint John’s Bible History December 2023

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Saint John's Bible articlesThe Saint John’s Bible (saintjohnsbible.org), an amazing work of art, is coming to St. Thomas’s for the 2023 holiday season. It will arrive on December 13, 2023 and remain for the Christmas 2023 season though January 2024.

Everyone should experience this masterpiece of Sacred Word and Art. See info on this experience.

The St. John’s Bible is a major artistic project – a hand-written and illuminated book – produced over many years. The book is quite large – two feet tall and three feet wide! The production of the book required the renewing of many historic artistic and calligraphic techniques. The artwork is especially interesting in the ways it combines many artistic styles and techniques. Full-page illuminations are engaging ways to talk about how we see the world and where imagination can take us.

Here is background information you are likely to find fascinating and which will broaden your understanding of the times and the St. John’s Bible.

30 Nov 2023

Advent 2023 Devotional

by | posted in: Advent | 0

First Sunday in AdventToday, the first Sunday of Advent, is the first Sunday of the Church’s year. And with a new year comes a new theme for the bulletin covers. This year, the pictures on the covers of the bulletins will all be on the theme of embroidery. The queen of the sewing arts, embroidery takes an ordinary piece of fabric and turns it into an object of extraordinary beauty. That seems like a good metaphor for the action of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives. So enjoy this year of pictures, and may you see God stitching away in your soul also!

Advent DevotionalTo help us prepare for Christmas, Fr. Howie has prepared a wonderful series of devotional recordings, following along with “Preparing the Way; Christian Practices for Advent” published by Forward Movement.

This series will be released daily via a YouTube link emailed each morning, beginning this Sunday. Or, see a listing below of the YouTube recordings. A generous parishioner has purchased many copies of this book for us all to enjoy. Please pick up a copy in the back of the church, to follow along.

“During this time of year and always, let us bring glad tidings of great joy into our homes and communities, transforming our traditions with prayer, intention, and devotion.”- Richelle Thompson, Editor

Advent 2023 Daily Devotional narrated by Fr. Howie.
Week 1, Day 1 – Sunday, December 3, 2023
Week 1, Day 2 – Monday, December 4, 2023
Week 1, Day 3 – Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Week 1, Day 4 – Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Week 1, Day 5 – Thursday, December 7, 2023
Week 1, Day 6 – Friday, December 8, 2023
Week 1, Day 7 – Saturday, December 9, 2023

Week 2, Day 1 – Sunday, December 10, 2023
Week 2, Day 2 – Monday, December 11, 2023
Week 2, Day 3 – Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Week 2, Day 4 – Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Week 2, Day 5 – Thursday, December 14, 2023
Week 2, Day 6 – Friday, December 15, 2023
Week 2, Day 7 – Saturday, December 16, 2023

Week 3, Day 1 – Sunday, December 17, 2023
Week 3, Day 2 – Monday, December 18, 2023
Week 3, Day 3 – Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Week 3, Day 4 – Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Week 3, Day 5 – Thursday, December 21, 2023
Week 3, Day 6 – Friday, December 22, 2023
Week 3, Day 7 – Saturday, December 23, 2023
Week 4, Day 1 – Sunday, December 24, 2023

28 Nov 2023

Annual Giving for 2024 Thank You

by | posted in: Stewardship Campaign | 0

Created for good worksBrothers and Sisters:

As we prepare to send the pledge totals to the Vestry for their final budget meeting in December, we want to bring you all up to date.

First, thank you to everyone who has submitted a pledge card.  Your gifts are all important and we appreciate your willingness to give.  Those of you who give electronically, and have not submitted a pledge card, please do so, as it gives the Vestry additional necessary information.  And, those of you who are still considering whether you will give, know it is never too late to submit a pledge. Our Annual Giving site provides info you may need.

At this point we have 75 pledges totaling about $238,000.  This is roughly 82% of our $290,000 pledge goal.  We are very pleased with this information, but as you can see there will be things that we will not be able to accomplish with this total. We pray that more of you will respond with pledge cards in the weeks ahead.  WE are the church. WE are created for good works and together we can accomplish more than we can individually.  As Father Howie said this morning, we must remember who we are – and WHOSE we are.

In God’s Love,

Your Annual Giving Ministry Ministry
Fr. Howie, Joy Lynam, Kristin Sausville, Helen Spence, Jinglan Redder

24 Nov 2023

Children’s and Youth Sponsored Holiday 2023 Celebrations

by | posted in: Advent, Children's Ministries, Christmas, Worship | 0

Greetings St Thomas’s Family,

As we approach the season of Advent, I would like to invite you all to join me at a holiday gathering on December 17, 2023. The event will be in 3 parts. The first event will be a live Nativity at 12 noon. Please let me know if you or your child are interested in playing a part in staging this gift to the parish. Second event will be a parish-wide holiday cookie exchange at 12:30; all members of the parish are welcome and encouraged to participate.  Part Three of the celebration is a holiday party for children, youth and their grownups.  

To sign up for the cookie exchange and/or the holiday party, please use the links below.

Kids Party:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CAAA62CAB9-46320308-stthomasCookie Exchange:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CAAA62CAB9-46325666-stthomas

I look forward to celebrating with you!

Blessings,
Belinda Young-Payne

24 Nov 2023

Worship and weekly news for November 26, 2023

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This is the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King – November 26, 2023. Christ the King Sunday is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It celebrates Christ’s messianic kingship and sovereign rule over all creation. The feast is unofficially celebrated in some Episcopal parishes, but it is not mentioned in the Episcopal calendar of the church year. Marion Hatchett notes that the Prayer Book collect for Proper 29, the last Sunday of the church year, is a “somewhat free” translation of the collect of the Feast of Christ the King in the Roman Missal. This collect prays that God, “whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” will “Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule” (BCP, p. 236). The feast was originally instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and celebrated on the last Sunday in Oct. It has been observed on the last Sunday before Advent since 1970.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter. We are just beginning to gear up for a busy December. There will be opportunities for everyone to fellowship together and get involved!
Annual Pledge Ingathering continues
Incarceration Reform presentation
St John’s Bible presentation and training
St. Thomas’s ties to Indian culture
Children’s and Youth Sponsored Holiday 2023 Celebrations
Code Purple returns this winter

Our weekly Worship schedule

Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the KingThis Sunday’s Schedule

Growth and Fellowship

  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Third Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Novel Theology
  • 3rd Monday of the month – Hope Dining Room
  • Last Sunday of the month – Family Church Sunday
  • Last Sunday of the month – Coffee and Fellowship between services

Other Parish Events

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 Nov 2023

Code Purple Returns this Winter 2023

by | posted in: Outreach, Service | 0

Code Purple is a program administered by Friendship House to provide a warm dinner and overnight shelter for our homeless friends when overnight temperatures drop to 20 degrees Fahrenheit or less. The location rotates among five churches in Newark, Delaware and St. Thomas’s is proud to be among them. Please watch for updates when the forecast calls for cold temperatures. Volunteers will be needed. Thank you for your consideration.

18 Nov 2023

Worship and weekly news for November 19, 2023

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This is the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost – November 19, 2023. This week, we celebrate C. S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis, FBA (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar, and Anglican lay theologian. Lewis wrote more than 30 books which have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularized on stage, TV, radio, and cinema, but he is also noted for his other works of fiction, such as The Screwtape Letters and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, including Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. His philosophical writings are widely cited by Christian scholars from many denominations.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter. We are just beginning to gear up for a busy December. There will be opportunities for everyone to fellowship together and get involved!
Annual Pledge Ingathering continues
Annual Bazaar
Hope Dining Room needs volunteers
Incarceration Reform presentation
St John’s Bible presentation and training
St. Thomas’s ties to Indian culture
Code Purple returns this winter

Our weekly Worship schedule

Twenty-fifth Sunday after PentecostThis Sunday’s Schedule

Growth and Fellowship

  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Third Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Novel Theology
  • 3rd Monday of the month – Hope Dining Room
  • Last Sunday of the month – Family Church Sunday
  • Last Sunday of the month – Coffee and Fellowship between services

Other Parish Events

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

16 Nov 2023

Hope Dining Room volunteers needed Monday, November 20, 2023

by | posted in: Outreach, Service | 0

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

Monday, November 20, 2023 is our opportunity to serve at Hope Dining Room where we serve “a midday hot meal with dignity, to those in need in the Greater Newark Delaware area.” Guests at Hope are now “dining in”, so we have 2  different short shifts for which you can volunteer.  The setup and 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 a ball cap and an apron. 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 volunteer for the things we need for the meal and to volunteers. If you are donating one of those items, THANK YOU! You can bring it to St. Thomas’s, Monday – Thursday from 9 – noon, OR when you come to church on Sunday! Please put it in the kitchen and mark it for “HOPE DINING ROOM”.  If that doesn’t fit into your schedule, give me a call, text or email and I will pick it up at your house.

MANY Blessings to you ALL,
Madeline Johnson

      mad1240@comcast.net

10 Nov 2023

Worship and weekly news for November 10, 2023

by | posted in: News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This is the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost – November 12, 2023. This week, we celebrate Herman of Alaska. His gentle approach and ascetic life earned him the love and respect of both the native Alaskans and the Russian colonists. He is considered by many Orthodox Christians to be the patron saint of North America.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter. We are just beginning to gear up for a busy December. There will be opportunities for everyone to fellowship together and get involved!
Annual Pledge Ingathering continues
Poets’ Corner Reading Series
2 Saints Readers
Annual Bazaar
Incarceration Reform presentation
St John’s Bible presentation and training
St. Thomas’s ties to Indian culture

Our weekly Worship schedule

24th Sunday PentecostThis Sunday’s Schedule

Growth and Fellowship

  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
  • Third Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Novel Theology
  • 3rd Monday of the month – Hope Dining Room
  • Last Sunday of the month – Family Church Sunday
  • Last Sunday of the month – Coffee and Fellowship between services

Other Parish Events

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