Hello faith family! Sunday is the Third Sunday in Lent – March 20, 2022, Year A. Services are held in-person with precautions and online via our YouTube channel. See the Worship Schedule below. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or Fr. Howie with any questions or concerns about these options. We are listening to the experts and considering how to best keep our faith family safe during this pandemic.

See the St. Thomas’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for news and events information for this week. In this tissue, you will read about an opportunity to support Ukrainian refugees (t-shirts will be sold between services), and you will see your last reminder of the Annual Meeting next Sunday, as well as meet your vestry candidates.

Worship this Week:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Wednesday at noon – Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion in-person with precautions. (booklet)
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline Evening Prayer, live via Zoom. (booklet).
• Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist, in-person with precautions. This week will be a service of Lenten interactive stations.

This week’s Sunday Schedule:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 9 a.m. – Youth Confirmation in the Undercroft.
• Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries in the Undercroft.Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist. This week will be a contemplative service with candles and the music of Taize.

Other Parish Events:

• Monday, March 21, 2022 – Hope Dining Room outreach
• Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saints Readers March 2022 series on “Soul Stages” by Christopher Moore.
• Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
• Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. – Poets’ Corner presentation
• Sunday, March 27, 2022 – Annual Parish Meeting in the Great Hall following the 10:30 a.m. worship service.

In this strange pandemic 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.

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 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.

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

Hello faith family! Sunday is the Second Sunday in Lent – March 13, 2022, Year A. Services are held in-person with precautions and online via our YouTube channel. See the Worship Schedule below. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or Fr. Howie with any questions or concerns about these options. We are listening to the experts and considering how to best keep our faith family safe during this pandemic.

See the St. Thomas’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for news and events information for this week. You will find a reminder that this Sunday starts DAYLIGHT SAVINGS time! Spring forward one hour., a plea from me for your crocus photos, an invitation to Novel Theology, and information about a new ministry – YouTube greeters!

Worship this Week:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Wednesday at noon – Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion in-person with precautions. (booklet)
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline Evening Prayer, live via Zoom. (booklet).
• Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist, in-person with precautions. This week will be a service of Lenten interactive stations.

This week’s Sunday Schedule:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 9 a.m. – Adult Education in the parlor and live via Zoom: From a boatful, to billions: An absurdly short history of Christianity. (1/30-3/13/22)
• Sundays at 9 a.m. – Youth Confirmation in the Undercroft.
• Sunday, March 13, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., Novel Theology will meet to discuss “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant.  ALL are Welcome to join in the discussion.
• Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries in the Undercroft.Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Sunday, March 13, 2022 after 10:30 a.m. service – Youth CREW meeting
• Sunday, March 13, 2022 at noon – Vestry meeting
• Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist

Other Parish Events:

• Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saints Readers March 2022 series on “Soul Stages” by Christopher Moore.
• Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
• Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. – Poets’ Corner presentation
• Sunday, March 27, 2022 – Annual Parish Meeting in the Great Hall following the 10:30 a.m. worship service.

In this strange pandemic 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.

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 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.

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

Hello faith family! Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent – March 6, 2022, Year A. Services are held in-person with precautions and online via our YouTube channel. See the Worship Schedule below. This is the first week of the additional 5 p.m. Sunday service, which this week will be a service of penance and reconciliation. This service is in-person only. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or Fr. Howie with any questions or concerns about these options. We are listening to the experts and considering how to best keep our faith family safe during this pandemic.

See the St. Thomas’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for news and events information for this week. You will find a prayer for peace, an invitation to a new ministry, and some thought-provoking poetry musings from our sexon, Kenneth. Kenneth’s choice of poem for the Helper is so appropriate for this week, as we will be enjoying the Gospel reading in both Spanish and English, and this poet is published in both languages.  He also grabbed a book of post-Soviet Ukrainian poetry from the library, “From Three Worlds: New Writing from Ukraine“.  It is not only a collection of some of Ukraine’s most talented writers, but is also a medium for Ukrainian literature to rewrite the Soviet palimpsest that has systematically repressed and excluded Ukrainian voices. 

Worship this Week:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Wednesday at noon – Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion in-person with precautions. (booklet)
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline Evening Prayer, live via Zoom. (booklet).
• Beginning March 6, 2022, Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist, in-person with precautions.

Sunday Schedule:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 9 a.m. – Adult Education in the parlor and live via Zoom: From a boatful, to billions: An absurdly short history of Christianity. (1/30-3/13/22)
• Sundays at 9 a.m. – Youth Confirmation in the Undercroft.
• Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries in the Undercroft.
• Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist

Other Parish Events:

• Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saints Readers March 2022 series on “Soul Stages” by Christopher Moore.
• Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
• Sunday, March 13, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., Novel Theology will meet to discuss “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant.  ALL are Welcome to join in the discussion.
• Sunday, March 27, 2022 – Annual Parish Meeting in the Great Hall following the 10:30 a.m. worship service.

In this strange pandemic 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.

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 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.

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

Hello faith family! Sunday is the Last Sunday after Epiphany – February 27, 2022, Year A. Services are held in-person with precautions and online via our YouTube channel. See the Worship Schedule below. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or Fr. Howie with any questions or concerns about these options. We are listening to the experts and considering how to best keep our faith family safe during this pandemic.

See the St. Thomas’s Carpenter’s Helper newsletter for news and events information for this week. This Sunday, February 27, 2022, there is no Sunday morning adult education series – From a boatful, to billions: An absurdly short history of Christianity.  You will find a brief introduction to Fr. Howie’s Lenten devotional, the Ash Wednesday and Lenten season worship schedule, a reminder of the Shrove Tuesday dessert party on March 1, 2022, and a plea from me for Crocus pictures from the Grove.

Worship this Week:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Wednesday at noon – Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion in-person with precautions. Here is the accompanying booklet.
  • NO INTERCESSORY PRAYER on February 23, 2022. 
  • Wednesday, March 2, 2022, is Ash Wednesday with services at 7 a.m. (spoken), noon (spoken), and 7 p.m. with music.
• Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline Evening Prayer, live via Zoom. Here is the accompanying booklet.

Sunday Schedule:

• Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
• Sundays at 9 a.m. (except Feb. 27) – Adult Education in the parlor and live via Zoom (1/30-3/13/22): From a boatful, to billions: An absurdly short history of Christianity.
• Sundays at 9 a.m. – Youth Confirmation in the Undercroft.
• Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries in the Undercroft.
• Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person with precautions and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
• Beginning March 6, 2022, Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Lent – Lenten service with Holy Eucharist

Other Parish Events:

• Monday, February 21, 2022 – Hope Dining Room outreach
• Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. – 2 Saints Readers March 2022 series on “Soul Stages” by Christopher Moore.
• Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. – lectionary bible study in the classroom.
• Thursdays at 10 a.m. – St. Nicholas Parish invites you to Adult Education, live via Zoom (2/3-2/24/22): Christianity: the first 1500 years.
• Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. – Dessert PARTY on Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday.
• Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season worship schedule.

In this strange pandemic 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.

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 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.

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

With all due respect to Bill Murray, let’s skip the groundhog watch this year, and instead celebrate Candlemas. Wednesday, February 2, 2022, marks 40 days after Christmas. Candlemas is actually a very old feast, celebrated by both the churches of the East and the West, and in some places it is on this day that the creche is finally removed from the church. If you haven’t done so already, it’s really time to put your Christmas decorations away. This date occurs at a period between the December solstice and the March equinox, so many people traditionally marked that time of the year as winter’s “halfway point” while waiting for the spring.

Candles are blessed on this day (hence the name “Candlemas”). It is the day of the year when all the candles, that are used in the church during the coming year, are brought into church and a blessing is said over them – so it is the Festival Day (or ‘mass’) of the Candles. Candles were important in past days not only because there was no electric lights. Some people thought they gave protection against plague and illness and famine. For Christians, they were (and still are) a reminder of something even more important. Before Jesus came to earth, it was as if everyone was ‘in the dark’.

Also called the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, it is the Christian festival marking the ritual presentation of Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem, during which prophets Simeon and Anna proclaimed him the Messiah. Simeon spoke the prayer known as the “Nunc Dimittis,” calling the baby “a light to lighten the gentiles.”

In this Sunday’s service booklet, you will find an insert with our Candlemas blessing. You are welcome to bring a special candle to church on Sunday, or on Wednesday for intercessory prayer at noon, for a blessing. Give Punxsutawney Phil a break this year, and remember, “if Candlemas Day be fair and bright, winter will have another fight. If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, winter won’t come again.”