Hello faith family! This is the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King – November 26, 2023. Christ the King Sunday is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It celebrates Christ’s messianic kingship and sovereign rule over all creation. The feast is unofficially celebrated in some Episcopal parishes, but it is not mentioned in the Episcopal calendar of the church year. Marion Hatchett notes that the Prayer Book collect for Proper 29, the last Sunday of the church year, is a “somewhat free” translation of the collect of the Feast of Christ the King in the Roman Missal. This collect prays that God, “whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” will “Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule” (BCP, p. 236). The feast was originally instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and celebrated on the last Sunday in Oct. It has been observed on the last Sunday before Advent since 1970.
Weekly News
See our Carpenter’s Helper Newsletter. We are just beginning to gear up for a busy December. There will be opportunities for everyone to fellowship together and get involved!
Annual Pledge Ingathering continues
Incarceration Reform presentation
St John’s Bible presentation and training
St. Thomas’s ties to Indian culture
Children’s and Youth Sponsored Holiday 2023 Celebrations
Code Purple returns this winter
Our weekly Worship schedule
- Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
- Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
- Wednesday at noon – Intercessory Prayer with Holy Communion in-person. (Intercessory Prayer booklet).
- Thursday at 7 p.m. – Compline Evening Prayer, live via Zoom. (booklet).
This Sunday’s Schedule
- Sundays at 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite I spoken, in-person and online at our YouTube channel (8:00 booklet).
- Sundays at 9:15 a.m. – Adult Education
- Sundays at 10:15 a.m. – Children’s Ministries program
- Sundays at 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music, in-person and online at our YouTube channel (10:30 booklet).
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
- Sun., Dec. 10, 2023 – Incarceration Reform presentation
- Wed., Dec. 13, 2023 – St. John’s Bible presentation and training
- Sun., Dec. 17, 2023 at noon – LIVE nativity. Full faith family cookie exchange.
From 1-2 p.m. – Children and Youth Christmas party. - Thurs., Dec. 21, 2023 – St. Thomas’s ties to Indian culture
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