We are sharing an overview of what in-person worship will look like, beginning NEXT Sunday, September 13, 2020. All services will continue to be broadcast through YouTube and Sunday worship will remain at 9 a.m. You can look for the sign up email fro Sunday worship from me on Wednesday. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Fr. Howie at StThomassRector@googlegroups.com with any questions regarding the guidelines, and please contact the office with any questions regarding the sign-up for in-person worship or YouTube broadcasting. Your comments and questions are appreciated!!

Our friends at St. Nicholas are still most welcome to worship with us online every Sunday although their parish will return to in-person gathering this week. Next Sunday, September 13, 2020, we will also begin offering in-person worship, still at 9 a.m. Please look for upcoming email communication about what this in-person service will be like, and what the safety protocols will be. Each service will continue to be streamed, and I suspect many of us will still be participating from home. Regardless of whether we are together in-person or virtually, we are connected by the Holy Spirit.

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

Happy Friday faith family!  I hope this finds you all well.  See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of September 6, 2020. In it is a call from Bishop Brown to share your artistic talents. I know there are many artists in our faith family who use many different media: photography, painting, collage, etc.  Share your gifts!  Also, the schedule for 2020-2021 Novel Theology is available for meetings via Zoom at 10:30 a.m. on one Sunday a month.  

This week, we will have our 3 regular services, as well as a memorial service:

• Sunday, September 6, 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.
• Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 11 a.m. – Bob Browning memorial live on YouTube
• Sunday, September 13, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube and in-person (in-person guidelines).

In this strange 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 page. 

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.

ALL are Welcome!  Please let me know if you’d like a paper copy of any of the leaflets mailed to you.

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

Meetings will be held on the Sundays listed below at 10:30 a.m. via ZOOM until it is safe and comfortable for us all to meet again in person. Please contact the office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com for a ZOOM link.

Oct. 25, 2020: A New Song by Jan Karron
Nov. 22, 2020: The Girls of Ennismore by Patricia Falvey (pp361)
Dec. 27, 2020: Where Courage Calls by Jeanette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan (pp329)
Jan. 24, 2021: Season of Wonder by Rae Anne Thayne (pp339)
Feb. 14, 2021: The Peppermint Tea Chronicles by Alexander McCall Smith (pp310)
March 21, 2021: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Meggoch
April 18, 2021: Dimity and the Heart of Gold by Nancy Atherton (pp228)
May 23, 2021: Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien

26 August 2020

Dear friends,

At a recent funeral (the first in the church since February) we heard the famous reading from Ecclesiastes that begins, “For everything there is a season.”  More on my mind lately is how it ends: “That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.”  After six months in which it has felt as if the world has been holding its breath and time has been on pause, this seems like a good time to look back and look ahead.

My first and most important message is to say thank you.  We devoted a Carpenter’s Helper issue to this theme, but I must add my own thanks.  Many people have kept St. Thomas’s going through the COVID Spring and Summer of 2020.  The altar has been tended.  Meals have been made and delivered. The grounds have been planted and weeded and cleared of storm damage.  Pledges and other donations have continued to come in.  Our ability to share our events over the Internet has expanded rapidly.  A wonderful new chapter in our cooperation with St Nicholas’s has begun.  To all those who have made these and other things happen, I extend my personal thanks and the thanks of the parish.  Well done, good and faithful servants of our Lord Jesus.

With that as a launching pad, we are ready to begin looking forward.  Committees have been meeting over the summer to work on stewardship and Christian education for children and youth.  They will begin to share the fruits of their work soon. 

The first offerings of the adult education program for the year will also be coming up in September.  For these and other events, we are excited to be able to use what we have learned about Zoom and YouTube to make sure that everyone has a chance to participate. 

Another small group has joined with members of St. Nicholas’s to explore ways we can cooperate on service, fellowship, and worship.  Expect to hear more about this mutual ministry in the coming weeks.

At a meeting of the clergy this week, the diocesan Commission on Ministry rolled out a new program to help parishes organize small groups for the deepening of faith and the discernment of new opportunities to which God may be calling us.  I am excited about this initiative and am confident that many at St. Thomas’s will find it to be a powerful faith fertilizer.

Another diocesan group has been working on our response to racism inside and outside the church.  The first of their recommendations and the programs they inspire will be coming to St. Thomas’s and churches all over Delaware this fall.  I encourage everyone to join in this part of the church’s mission to heal creation.

And I am pleased to report that the Vestry has voted to resume in-person worship at St. Thomas’s on Sunday, September 13^th.  A group of parishioners met over the summer to produce a plan for a safe resumption of services.  This plan has been approved by the Diocese and will guide us in helping to make sure those who wish to be present for worship can do so with the least risk possible.

For the present, our weekly schedule will remain the same: Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. and Wednesday at noon.  All services will continue to be live-streamed.  Some details of our routine will look a bit different.  Numbers will be limited and safety precautions like masks and hand sanitizing will be firmly in place.  Look for another communication in the next week to give more information and answer some frequently asked questions.

And so, friends, we approach the end of the summer with a lot to show for the odd “in-between” days we have been passing through.  I hope your summer has been restful and that, like me, you are ready for some new beginnings.  May God shower you with every spiritual blessing as we move toward what is yet to be.

Peace and be well,
Fr. Howie+
The Reverend Dr. Howell C. Sasser, Jr.

Happy Friday faith family!  I hope this finds you all well. See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of August 30, 2020. In it is a write up about our Solar Panels installation!  Also, the 2020-21 Adult Christian Education Program has been announced!  This looks to be an absolutely stellar program with interesting 2-4 week series, as well as some excellent special events with guest presenters.  This year, you can explore topics ranging from world religions to The Lord of the Rings to the history of our own St. Thomas’s Parish.  All of these offerings will be available in person as well as online at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. 

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

• Sunday, August 30, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Nicholas 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, September 6, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube.

In this strange 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 page. 

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 or (302) 368-4644

See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of August 23, 2020. In it, you read a message of thanksgiving.  See the most recent edition of our Diocese weekly newsletter titled The Net, as well as the quarterly magazine, The Communion. And, here is a link to the Diocese’s “regathering” guide.  

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

• Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Nicholas 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 30, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Thomas’s on YouTube.

This Tuesday, August 25, 2020, is Ladies’ Night OUT on the front lawn at 6 p.m.  Bring your own snacks, beverage, and chair.  This is going to be FUN!  Please contact me if you have any questions.

The 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge has begun, but you can still participate.  Learn more, and sign up!

In this strange 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 page. 

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 or (302) 368-4644

See the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for the week of August 16, 2020.  In it, you will find a recap of the Great EpisGOpal Race, as well as information on our next challenge from Bishop Kevin- to become more effective disciples in the quest for equity and justice through the 21-day challenge.   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 three services.  ALL are Welcome; contact the office to have the leaflet mailed to you.

• Sunday, August 16, 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 23, 2020 at 9 a.m. – Worship Service, Rite II with music LIVE from St. Nichols on YouTube.

In this strange 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 page. 

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 or (302) 368-4644