28 Sep 2023

Annual Giving for 2024

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Gracious God, we thank you for creating and recreating us to do your good works in the world. Pour into our hearts the spirit of your abundance. Remind us that what we have is only and always for your glory, and that what we give for the work of your church is our testimony to the blessings we have already received. Guide us as we make the choices that will help build your kingdom now and in the future. And sustain us always with the promise of the gift beyond price, your presence among us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Annual Giving for 2024 displayDuring the last week of September 2023, an Annual Giving packet is being mailed to our homes. Annual Giving is when parishioners are asked to give thanksgiving and pledge their financial gifts for the coming year. Our parish budget is based on our gift giving. Our Vestry has determined that the goal for this year’s campaign is $290,000.

The Annual Giving packet includes an invitation letter, narrative budget, budget explanation, and pledge card.

Throughout October 2023, we will share thanksgivings of our blessings and ask how we might share our gifts with our church and others. We hope you will use these to pray about your annual gift to our church and how our church might serve in our community.

Please enjoy blessings we are sharing….
Annual Giving for 2024 Thank You
Annual Giving Pledges Welcomed
Ingathering this Sunday, October 29, 2023
Invitation to pledge
Helen Spence’s October 15 homily

The Annual Giving theme this year is “Created in Christ Jesus for Good Works.” Ephesians 2:10
An opportunity exists before us to examine how much we give and whether we can do more. Opportunities welcome us if we seek them.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need more information.

Won’t you please pledge your financial gifts on your pledge card and return it by October 29, 2023?

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

22 Sep 2023

Blue Hen Bounty Food Pantry URGENTLY needs donations

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

Blue Hen Bounty food pantryThe school year has started in earnest, the students are back, and Blue Hen Bounty (BHB) food pantry is seeing its highest need ever (yes, even more than pandemic levels). One thing in particular contributing to this is that we are seeing student athletes for the first time.

I took a look today, and the cupboard is almost bare. Can we make an effort to refill it this weekend? The most requested items are rice, eggs, cooking oil, soup, bread, tomato sauce, instant oatmeal, and sanitary products. Pasta isn’t going as quickly, so there is less need for that.

Just today, a student stopped by to share that BHB is what makes it possible for them to attend classes and work. Let’s keep it as well stocked as we can.

Thanks 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.

While you are doing your grocery shopping, please consider purchasing anything that is on sale for Blue Hen Bounty.  If you have an overabundance from your garden or bought more than your family will use, fresh fruit and veggies are always welcome.

Donations can be left in the box for BHB in the Great Hall or left in the classroom.

We even get requests for eggs.  (If you donated eggs, please place in the frig with a note saying ” For BHB”)

If you prefer, you can always make a cash/check donation – just indicate funds are for BHB.

Thanks for your support for this important ministry.

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.

Thanks,
Kristin Sausville, Senior Warden

22 Sep 2023

Family Church Choir

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Family Church ChoirHello everyone!

This Sunday, September 24, 2023 – the last Sunday of the month – there will be Family Choir.  Please arrive no later than 9:45 a.m. to the front choir area of the church.  Anyone who is interested will be welcomed; we are all part of this wonderful faith family.

Come sing with the Family Choir this Sunday….meet at 9:45 a.m.  No worries about your voice…come have a wonderful experience using it in worship!

See you at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday!

Marc Cheban, Organist and Choir Director

22 Sep 2023

Worship and weekly news for September 24, 2023

by | posted in: Events, News, Worship | 0

Hello faith family! This is the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 24, 2023. This week, I wish you a happy Michaelmas! also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 September. To celebrate, you could bake a special bread or cake, called Sruthan Mhìcheil. The bread is made from equal parts of barley, oats, and rye without using any metal implements. In remembrance of absent friends or those who had died, special Struans, blessed at an early morning Mass, were given to the poor in their names.

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter. Fall continues to bring exciting fellowship opportunities and FUN. Read about all of the EXCITEMENT headed our way!

Blue Hen Bounty food pantry urgent request
Monthly Ministry Breakfast
Newark Community Days Recap
Adult Education resumes! Check out the schedule for this year.
Children’s Ministries update

Our weekly Worship schedule

Seventeenth 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

22 Sep 2023

Newark Community Days 2023 Recap

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It was a great day for Mutual Ministry with St. Thomas’s and St Nicholas!

Newark Community Day 2023The City of Newark’s annual Community Day was this past Sunday. This event brings thousands of folks together: Newark residents, University of Delaware students and faculty, and people from neighboring towns. It is a beautiful and eclectic gathering of young and old that takes place on the University of Delaware Green. Hundreds of local businesses, crafters and nonprofits set up booths, and among them was St. Thomas’s and St. Nicholas, together in mutual ministry, under the banner of The Episcopal Church in Delaware.

Our goals were to let people know about our parishes’ upcoming events, outreach, and worship opportunities. But more importantly, we wanted to be a face of love and peace in our community, living out The Way of Love. Our double booth had a fun coloring activity for children (though several “seasoned” children also joined in the fun), frisbees, stickers, candy, and book give aways, pet treats with an invitation to St Thomas’ blessing of the Animals event, and just a ton of love and laughter.

Newark Community Day 2023We met proud Episcopalians from several other parishes in the diocese, and even one group from Oregon, excited to meet some extended faith family. Many visitors inquired about “rainbow friendly” churches, invited in by our flags and pins, and were given a list of churches in our state. A few guests asked about services in Spanish, and others wanted to know what was available online for the homebound. We were also able to network with several other booths, such as Water is Life Kenya and the City of Newark PAL.

Overall, I feel we accomplished our goals of Inviting, Welcoming, and Connecting with our greater community. The mutual ministry of St Thomas and St Nicholas continues to build up both of our parishes. We look forward to more joint book clubs, holiday worship, and events like Newark Community Day.

22 Sep 2023

Blessing of the Animals 2023

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Blessing of the Animals 2023Blessing of the Animals will be more of an EVENT this year with sheep, horses, vendors, and giveaways. Please invite your family and friends to the blessing on October 8, 2023 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at St. Thomas’s.

ALL God’s creatures are invited: please bring your companion on a leash or in a carrier. If your wild one does not travel well, you are welcome to join in the blessing and carry it home with you.

The City of Newark is allowing us to park on Sunset Road between 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., and the University of Delaware lot across the street should be available as well. Looking forward to seeing you there!

This event is open to the public.

18 Sep 2023

Step Up Together 2023 Campaign September 17, 2023 Update

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We did it! We did it church family! Thank you for your gifts toward our September 30, 2023, Step Up Together Campaign $25,000 goal. Thank you!

We will receive a matching grant of $25,000 from the diocese of Delaware. Thank you Diocese!

We hope work will begin in October 2023 and are working with our contractor to confirm that. 

The diocese will continue to match $.75 to our $1, up to $5,000.  If you still have gifts to give for this project, please continue to send them in.  Additional funds raised beyond $30,000 will reduce the amount we need to borrow from the diocese.

With much gratitude and thanks, 

The Step Up Together Committee

15 Sep 2023

Ministry Breakfast on September 24, 2023

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Monthly Ministry BreakfastNext Sunday, September 24, 2023, the Annual Bazaar Committee will be hosting this month’s ministry breakfast between services from 9-10 a.m.

Ministry Breakfasts are faith family gatherings between the services from 9-10 a.m. to share information about St. Thomas’s ministries.

14 Sep 2023

Worship and weekly news for September 17, 2023

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Hello faith family! This is the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 17, 2023. This week we celebrate Hildegard of Bingen also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages. Although the history of her formal canonization is complicated, regional calendars of the Roman Catholic church have listed her as a saint for centuries. On 10 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI extended the liturgical cult of Hildegard to the entire Catholic Church in a process known as “equivalent canonization”. On 7 October 2012, he named her a Doctor of the Church, in recognition of “her holiness of life and the originality of her teaching.”

Weekly News

See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter. There is quite a bit of news coming up as we roll into the fall. Watch for details about all of the EXCITEMENT headed our way!

Our booth at Newark Community Days on Sunday
Poets’ Corner on Saturday
Adult Education resumes! Check out the schedule for this year.
Children’s Ministries update
Blue Hen Bounty food pantry requests
Monthly Ministry Breakfast

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Our weekly Worship schedule

This Sunday’s Schedule

Growth and Fellowship

  • Last Sunday of the month – Family Church Sunday
  • Last Sunday of the month – Coffee and Fellowship between services. Resumes in September.
  • Third Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Novel Theology. Resumes September 17, 2023
  • 3rd Monday of the month – Hope Dining Room.
  • Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.

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

14 Sep 2023

Hope Dining Room volunteers needed Monday, September 18, 2023

by | posted in: News, Service | 0

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

Monday, September 18, 2023, is our opportunity to serve at Hope Dining Room.  Guests at Hope are “dining in”, so we have 2 different short shifts for which you can volunteer. The first one is the set-up and cooking shift from 10 – 11:45 a.m.   The serving and cleanup shift goes from 11:45 – 1:30 p.m.

If you would 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 volunteer for the things we need for the meal and to volunteers. If you are donating one of these items, THANK YOU! You can bring it to St. Thomas, Monday – Thursday from 9 – noon, OR you can bring it when you come to church on Sunday! If that doesn’t fit into your schedule, give me a call or text and I will pick it up at your door.

We don’t need to ask for cookies this month, because Father Howie is making his famous secret-recipe cake for dessert for our guests! THANK YOU, Father Howie!

Blessings to you ALL,
Madeline Johnson