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

All are welcome to join the Adult Education Fall 2021 events shared below.

Join Fr. Howie and Fr. Jim plus a weekly special guest for a 12-week series discussing The Beatitudes in the 21st Century. For reference, see https://beatitudes.online/.

3-week mini series on Sunday, October 3, 10, and 17, 2021 at 9:15 a.m.: Celtic Spirituality offered in-person with precautions and LIVE via Zoom. ALL are Welcome to explore Celtic Spirituality. Meets in the parlor in-person with precautions and live via Zoom.

The sacraments are intended to tie together our life in the world and our relationship with God. In words and gestures, they represent and embody what we believe. So, it is well worth the time to think about what the sacraments are saying to and for us.

In this Lenten series, we will take a look at three elements of Christian practice that are among the faithful: baptism, Eucharist, and the rites surrounding death and burial. We will also review more briefly some of the other sacraments, including marriage, ordination, and unction.

This is a 3 week series available via ZOOM on March 7, 14, and 28 at 10:45 a.m.

See original announcement and update below.

Well, dear friends, last Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021, we tried to have the first class on “Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues”, but attendance was very low. After a 15-minute wait, we decided to postpone the beginning. I’m going to start over this coming Sunday.

The new dates will be January 17th, January 31st, and February 2nd, 2021, all at 10:30 a.m.  Novel Theology will be January 24, 2021. 

Please read the Introduction and Parts 1 and 2 prior to Sunday, January 17, 2021 (they’re a quick read).

The info on the book is: “Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues: Exploring the Spiritual Themes of The Lord of the Rings” by Mark Eddy Smith.

Stay well; I’ll hope to see you in Middle Earth!

Rue Manning
Co-chair Adult Education

Greetings, Friends!

See an UPDATE to this article.

On January 10th, 17th, and 31st, 2021, our Adult Education offering will be the exploration of J.R.R. Tolkien’s use of spiritual themes in his great trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings”. 

Have you ever thought of wonder, humility, or imagination as virtues? How about mirth?  Or perseverance?  Mark Eddy Smith’s “Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues” describes those, as well as many others, using the attitudes and actions of the trilogy’s characters as examples.  Mr. Smith’s writing is straightforward and easy to read, but the themes are deep, encouraging us to re-examine our own attitudes and actions from a point of view possibly not considered before.

If you have the book, or can get it by Sunday, January 10, 2021, please read from the Introduction through Part 2. We will attempt to cover two parts during each of the three weeks of class.

“Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues, An Explorations of Spiritual Themes of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” by Mark Eddy Smith is available from Amazon, and, I would guess, from other booksellers as well.

A Zoom link will be sent out a bit later in the week, and will open at about 10:15 AM on Sunday.  We hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us for an enjoyable, satisfying, and perhaps enlightening excursion through Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

See you Sunday!
Rue Manning, Co-chair, Adult Education

Greetings friends.  You are invited to the May meeting of St Thomas’s Novel Theology group.  This month, the meeting will be held via Zoom on Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 10:15 a.m.   The novel titled Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline will be discussed.  Reading this novel is not required to participate in the discussion.  However, do note that this book is available via download from the public library.

Please email the Parish Office at StThomassOffice@googlegroups.com if you are interested in attending and you will be emailed the Zoom link.

The Christian life is a source of endless fascination. Just when we think we have seen and heard everything it has to offer, something new turns up. Committing to a life of learning and growing in the faith is an excellent way to make sure there is always enough fuel in the spiritual tank.

Ask, Seek, Knock from Matthew 7:7-8
⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

All events are open to the public and are held at St. Thomas’s Parish, 276 S. College Ave., Newark Delaware 19711. See our web site at stthomasparish.org for more information and updates. Questions? Call the Parish Office at (302) 369-4644,

Lecture Series

An Absurdly Short History of Christianity
Six-Week Series on February 16 and 23 & March 1, 8, 15, 22, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.

Who invented church? How did we go from a few fishermen to billions of faithful people? And, what relevance can the church have in a time when belief seems to have become a dirty word? In six sessions, we will follow the development of the Christian Movement from the time of the Apostles to the Electronic Age.

Along the way, there will be a few heretics and councils, but we will also talk about how our past shapes us and what we believe. Come along for new insights on familiar stories and maybe some new information too.

Guest Lecturer at noon

Prayer Beads: Touching Holiness on February 9, 2020

Most of us know about rosaries and how they are used in prayer, but there are many practices (in many faiths!) that incorporate beads as a way to connect the spiritual with the physical. This session will suggest a few prayer techniques you might try, but will also be hands-on. Beads and stringing materials will be provided and a knowledgeable beader will be on hand to guide us in making our own aids to prayer.

Faith and Fear: A Primer on Sentencing Reform on March, 29, 2020

Mandatory minimum sentences, “three strikes” laws, and the war on drugs. These and other social forces have combined to fill our prisons beyond their intended capacities. These are places that most faithful people rarely see of even think about. And yet our faith calls us to a special concern for prisoners. This session will give us an update on current conditions and future possibilities.