Hello faith family!  2020 continues to throw us curve balls.  This week, we experienced some severe weather.  I pray that everyone came through it unscathed. A large tree to the right of the entrance came uprooted, and a few sizable branches in the grove came down. These issues were already being addressed when I arrived at the church building on Wednesday morning. THANK YOU to all the helpers involved. The phone lines were also damaged during the storm. This problem is also being worked on, but may take until some time on Monday to be resolved.  If you need anything from the office in the meantime, feel free to call or text me (302.354.3277) or shoot me an email, or for pastoral requests, call Fr Howie on 704.578.4724.  I am unable to retrieve messages left to the office phone at this time.

See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of August 9, 2020. In the newsletter, you will find a poem found on the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) website, as well as some ECW history. Please see the August 2020 issue of Proclaim!, their occasional newsletter.

See the most recent edition of our Diocese weekly newsletter titled The Net, as well as the quarterly magazine, The Communion.  In the weekly Net, you will see not one, but two invitations from Bishop Kevin. One invitation is to the online forum, “Speaking of Freedom in Delaware”.  And, the other invitation is to participate in 21-day Racial Equity Challenge.  Check it out! I’ll be giving more information about this challenge in next week’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter.

The EpisGOpal race has wrapped up, but the donations are still coming in.  THANK YOU!  If you have not yet sent in your donation, please do so this week.  We actually completed way more than one marathon; can you believe it?!  Together, we can do CRAZY good things.  Next week, we will be mailing our Soul Surrenderers donation to The Episcopal Church’s United Thank Offering (UTO).  I will share that total with you.

This week, we will have three services.  ALL are Welcome; contact the office to have the leaflet mailed to you.

• Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube.
• Wednesday noon – intercessory prayer LIVE on YouTube a leaflet for Pentecost.
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline evening prayers with Deacon Cecily.  ALL are Welcome.  Let me know if you need a Zoom link for this calming and prayerful end to the day.
• Sunday, August 16, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube.

Kind Regards,
Cana Hartman, Parish Administrator
StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com

Hello faith family!  See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of August 2, 2020. In it you will receive a lovely blessing, and read about an experience using the Forward Day by Day (the new edition is in!).

This is our newsletter: please let me know your thoughts and suggestions.  And, your letters, stories, and articles are welcome!  Any art or poetry you’d like to share?  How about a book or movie review (church appropriate).
Also, see the most recent edition of our Diocese weekly newsletter titled The Net, as well as the quarterly magazine, the Communion. 

Tomorrow is the last day to participate in the Great EpisGOpal Race.  St. Thomas’s team, the Soul Surrenderers, has positively been crushing goals!  I’m excited to share the final round-up next week.  Thank you to all those who have sent in their progress.  Please share any pics even if it’s just your shoes.  And, if you still want to join in – you can!  It’s as easy as taking a short walk around the block this evening and sending me a text or email.  Together, we can literally do marathons! Sign up using the sign-up genius. 

This week, we will have three services, as well as children’s ministries.  ALL are Welcome; contact the office for Zoom invitations. Please let me know if you would like a paper copy of any service leaflet mailed to you. 

• Sunday, August 3, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Nicholas on YouTube.
• Sunday at 11 a.m. – children’s worship via Zoom.
• Wednesday noon – intercessory prayer LIVE on YouTube a leaflet for Pentecost.
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline evening prayers with Deacon Cecily.  ALL are Welcome.  Let me know if you need a Zoom link for this calming and prayerful end to the day.
• Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube.
• Sunday at 11 a.m. – children’s worship via Zoom.

Please let me know if you have ANY feedback, questions, or suggestions regarding our online worship. Let’s work together to make this “now normal” as great as we can imagine! Your input could make a big difference.

Please let me know if you have any meetings – virtual or otherwise – that you would like to have included on the Parish calendar.   

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

Hello faith family!  St. Nicholas friends, I know you don’t usually receive the St. Nicholas weekly newsletter, however there is a message to you in this edition!  All past newsletters are available on the News page of our website.

See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of July 26, 2020. In it, you will get a reminder about the Great EpisGOpal Race, and there is a lovely message from Madeline regarding feeding the less fortunate in our community. Also, see the most recent edition of our Diocese weekly newsletter titled The Net, as well as the quarterly magazine, the Communion. 

This week, we will have two services, as well as children’s ministries.  ALL are Welcome; contact the office for Zoom invitations. Please let me know if you would like a paper copy of any leaflet mailed to you.  Note, there will be no Wednesday service this week, but it will resume on August 5, 2020.  Past Intercessory Prayer services are available on our YouTube channel.

• Sunday, July 26, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube.
• Sunday at 11 a.m. – children’s worship via Zoom.
• Wednesday noon – intercessory prayer LIVE on YouTube a leaflet for Pentecost. Cancelled for July 29.
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline evening prayers with Deacon Cecily.  ALL are Welcome.  Let me know if you need a Zoom link for this calming and prayerful end to the day.
• Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Nicholas on YouTube.
• Sunday at 11 a.m. – children’s worship via Zoom.

Please let me know if you have ANY feedback, questions, or suggestions regarding our online worship. Let’s work together to make this “now normal” as great as we can imagine! Your input could make a big difference.

The July Fun fellowship project: Passing the Peace with Postcards, has been launched!  By now, you should have received your envelopes with postcards to pray over and pass along.  And, you may have even started to recieve your own messages of positivity back!  PLEASE, let me know if you have not received any postcards, or if you would like a few more.  I’ll be more than happy to send some more out.

Participate in The Great EpisGOpal Race.  Sign up using the sign-up genius.  In case you haven’t heard me shouting this from the roof, The United Thank Offering is running a virtual marathon from July 24th to August 1st and have called it “The Great EpisGOpal Race”.   It is a relaxed, low-pressure effort that can be done at your own pace, over several days.  You choose the distance you will travel, as well as your modality: walk slow, run fast, swim, bike, roller skate, etc.⁠ We will join together as a team: The Soul Surrenderers, to race for OUR lives and the lives of those affected by COVID-19. ⁠Email the office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com or use the sign-up genius to join in the FUN!⁠  Everyone signing up for The Soul Surrenderers will receive a team water bottle, so please let me know the number of people participating from your household.  I’m asking for a suggested donation of $5 per km. Feel free to solicit additional donations from family and neighbors. 100% of the money raised will go to the 2020 UTO Ingathering in support of Episcopal ministries responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.⁠

This is a FUN opportunity for our faith family to join together in a safe and socially distanced way to make a positive difference.   Everything is by the honor system.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Please let me know if you have any meetings – virtual or otherwise – that you would like to have included on the Parish calendar.   

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

It’s important to recognize the cumulative impact of weekly passing of the peace. By regularly practicing this gesture, our hearts are shaped in the form of the words. Consider the daily practice of teaching toddlers to say “please” and “thank you.” Though at the beginning the toddler mechanically repeats the words, eventually her heart fills the words with grace and gratitude. In the same way, passing the peace gives us the vocabulary for expressing peace as we grow in faith and, in fact, shapes our hearts and minds to extend that peace out into the world.

This week, look for a packet to be delivered to your home. In it is an an opportunity to pass the peace around our faith family. In the envelope, you will find two postcards: each is stamped and addressed to another household in the parishes of St. Thomas’s or St. Nicholas. We ask that you take a moment to reflect on these faith family members and say a prayer. Then, write in an encouraging message and drop in the mail. You may not know these members directly, but knowing the faith that we have in common, there is a message of hope to share. Within a few days, you can look forward to receiving similar messages, and know that there are others in our family that are thinking of you and praying for you.

Thank you for your participation in this FUN fellowship project. Please note that this was made possible by the generosity of an anonymous donor.