“Everything in life has its own time. There is time to celebrate and there is time to mourn. This is the time for reflection and transformation. Let us look within and change into what we ought to be.” — Aaron Saul

Here is the link to the Carpenter’s Helper for the week of March 1, 2020.

Just a few calendar reminders:

• The New service of Gregorian Chanting starts Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. and will continue throughout Lent.
• Our Annual Meeting is coming up on March 15, 2020 at noon.  Please let Rejane or Kelly know if you are able to lend a hand with set-up, serving, or clean-up.
• The next Coffee Hour speaker is a good one!  Mark off your calendars for Sunday, March 29, 2020 at noon, when state legislator Sheri Dorsey Walker will come and speak to us about sentencing reform.  
  • This event is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, so please spread the word by sharing the FB event page, passing along the flyer, or simply talking to friends and neighbors.  
  • Do you have other ideas of how we can get the word out there about this and other events?  PLEASE let any of the communications committee know your thoughts: Fr Howie, Cana, Kristin, Bob G, Devon, Joy, or Mark.

These are just a few events. 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

Ash Wednesday is February 26, 2020, with services at 7:30 a,m,, noon, and 7:00 p.m.

Due to the generosity of several people/groups, Blue Hen Bounty as an excess of some items and would like to made a trade. 

If you are making chili or soup soon, please consider picking up the following items at church: 

Kidney Beans 
Black Beans 
Corn and other various canned veggies 
29 oz cans of tomato sauce 

In exchange, Blue Hen Bounty needs:
Pasta 
tuna 
fruit 
Hygiene  items – dish soap, laundry soap, face soap, toothpaste, dental floss, deodorant,  feminine hygiene. 

Please consider trading with us so we can better meet the needs of our clients. 

Thanks for your help with this project. 

Happy Friday faith family!  I hope that this last week of Epiphany is treating you well.  Are you ready for Lent?  There are some ideas in this week’s helper on how to have a meaningful Lenten season.  Please be sure to pick up your copy of Fr Howie’s virtual Lenten Retreat “Into the Desert” along with a rock, found in the back of the sanctuary.

Here is the link to the Carpenter’s Helper for the week of February 23, 2020.

I will be out of town next week, returning on Tuesday March 3, 2020.  Thanks to the wonderful volunteers, the office will be open.  I will be checking email periodically, however if you have a time sensitive question or concern, please reach out to Fr. Howie.

There are a few calendar reminders:

o The New 6 Week Series, An Absurdly Short History of Christianity, continues this Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 9 a.m. in the music room (change of venue from the parlor to the music room because of a great interest in this series!)

o Shrove Tuesday Pancake Feast!  February 25, 2020, 5:30-7:00 p.m.  Bring a friend or 5!  FREE for college students.

o Ash Wednesday is February 26, 2020, with services at 7:30 a,m,, noon, and 7:00 p.m.

o On Sundays in Lent, starting March 1, 2020, there will be a special service at 5:30 p.m. featuring Gregorian Chant.

o The Annual Meeting will be on March 15, 2020 at noon.

These are just a few events. 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

On Sundays at 5:30 p.m., during Lent, please join us for a special service featuring Gregorian Chanting, connecting our modern day spiritual experience with a timeless and ancient tradition of contemplative, unison singing.

ALL Are Welcome!

Please join us on Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. to clean up the grounds at St. Thomas’s. We will provide details about the work to do and equipment needed closer to the date.  We typically rake or blow leaves, move branches, trim bushes, and pull weeds.  Plan to join us!

Happy Friday!  Today is do a Grouch a Favor Day. Maybe they are our neighbor, a coworker, part of our family, or a stranger we meet at the store or on the street. Some people are always grouchy, and some people only become grouchy after a lot of stress is placed on them. We probably have all been grouchy at some point. No matter where a grouch is found today, the day is for doing them a favor, with the hope that it will cheer them up, and help their grouchiness subside.  Here are ideas on how to celebrate Do a Grouch a Favor Day.

Here is the Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for February 16, 2020. We have many exciting events taking place this month.  Here are just a few, but to see all the happenings, you can visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out the posted events on the board next to the name tag station.

There are a few calendar reminders:

• This Saturday, February 15, 2020 Devon Miller-Duggan will be the featured poet at this month’s Poets’ Corner, at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary.
• On Sunday, February 16, 2020 the new 6-week series by Fr Howie, An Absurdly Short History of Christianity, begins at 9 a.m. in the parlor.
• The Vestry will be meeting this Sunday, February 16, 2020 and will be hosting Coffee Hour. This is the perfect time to let them know your questions and concerns!
• Monday, February 17, 2020 is Ladies’ Night Out at the Courtyard at the Marriott at 6 p.m.
• Shrove Tuesday pancake feast will be on February 25, 2020 from 5:30-7 p.m.  ALL Are Welcome to this dinner- bring a friend or 5!  FREE for college students!
• Ash Wednesday is February 26, 2020.  There will be services at 7 a.m., noon, and 7 p.m.
• Our annual meeting will be on March 15, 2020 following the 10:30 a.m. service.  If you are interested in helping in any way (set-up, serving, clean-up, etc.), please, please reach out to Cana (does anyone want to craft and decorate with me?), Kelly, or Rejane (this lunch takes a LOT of cooperation in the kitchen).  This is such a special time when our whole faith family comes together to share a meal, reflect on the year, and elect a new Vestry class to carry us into the next year.

See recent Newsletters, Sermons, or Announcements. It’s fun to look back and see what was going on in years past.

Kind Regards,
Cana Hartman, Parish Administrator

I have not heard any feedback on the emailed leaflets and I’d love to hear your thoughts.  The leaflets are still available on Sunday, as usual.  

Here is the 10:30 a.m. leaflet and here is the 8:00 a.m. leaflet.

You can preview what will be upcoming this Sunday, and share the Good News with others.  Please feel free to forward this email!  Also, if you need a paper copy to share in advance of a Sunday service, please just let me know.  Typically they are printed no later than Wednesday afternoon.

Reminders for this weekend:

• Poets Corner will begin the 2020 season on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 4 p.m., featuring Devon Miller-Duggan.  This event is open to the public; bring a friend!
• a new 6-week series will begin this Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. in the parlor: An Absurdly Short History of Christianity

Kind Regards,
Cana Hartman, Parish Adrminustrator

St. Thomas’s Annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper is coming! On Shrove Tuesday, February 25, 2020, we start serving at 5:30 p.m. Come anytime until 7:00 p.m. to eat. Cost is $6 per adult, $3 per kid age 3-8, and $20 per family. UD students are FREE.

We need help!

• At least one other pancake cooker

• Table tenders – clearing and setting up tables, making sure there’s butter and syrup

• Drink tenders – make sure there’s plenty to drink

• Dish washers and put away-ers

• Money takers

• Pancake and sausage servers and runners
  

• Set up and decorating
  

• Clean up

Let me know how you can help make this FUN raiser successful We look forward to seeing you

Sally Price

Happy February!  Today is wear red day. Taking place during American Heart Month, National Wear Red Day® encourages people to wear red to raise awareness about women’s heart health and cardiovascular disease in general, and to help make people aware that heart disease is the number one killer of women. The ultimate goal of the day is to help save lives.

Please see this week’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter. We have many exciting events taking place this month.  Here are just a few, but to see all the happenings, you can visit our website, check FaceBook, or check out the posted events on the board next to the name tag station.

• This Sunday Novel Theology will meet at 9:15 a.m. in the classroom to discuss A Step of Faith by Richard Paul Evans.  Reading this novel is a treat, but it is not a requirement to participate in the discussion; the book only kick-starts the conversation.
• This Sunday following the 10:30 a.m. service, we will have a Fun Coffee Hour Event: Prayer Beads, touching holiness.  Stick around after the service to hear about different ways to use beads to aid in meaningful prayer, and then have some Fun creating your own prayer beads!  This is an ALL AGES event; invite your friends and neighbors!
• Next Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 4 p.m., come and enjoy a poetry reading by the always engaging and enchanting Devon Miller-Duggan.  This is another event that would be perfect to invite a guest or three to.  It is co-hosted by the UD English department.  Let’s bring a good…no an awesome turn out for Devon!
• Next Sunday kicks off another 6-week series at 9 a.m. in the parlor: An Absurdly Short History of Christianity.  Each week can be enjoyed as a stand alone, so no pressure to attend all 6; come when you are able to one or to all.
• Monday, February 17, 2020 is the next Ladies’ Night Out at 6 p.m. at the Courtyard at the Marriott.
• Looking ahead to Ash Wednesday, February 26, 2020, there will be services at 7 a.m., noon, and 7 p.m.  More details to follow.

Kind Regards,
Cana Hartman, Parish Administrator