St. Thomas Tidings: December 21, 2023
Today we commemorate Saint Thomas the Apostle. Here is the collect for the day: Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in your Son’s resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Quick Update on Advent Dinner and Quilt Raffle: We had a lovely time on December 17 with our Lessons & Carols Service and our Advent Dinner, at which the winning raffle ticket for the quilt was drawn. Between dinner and the raffle we raised almost $1000! More details will be in the January Canterbury Tales. Thanks to everyone who made our events a success.
Christmas Service Reminder: Sunday, December 24, 6:30pm: Christmas Eve Pageant and Eucharist; Monday, December 25, 9:00am, Christmas Day Eucharist. We look forward to seeing you in church as we celebrate the Incarnation.
Year-End Donation Reminder: All donations for the 2023 tax year need to be received and deposited by December 31. As this is a Sunday, please help our volunteer counters by making sure your donations are in the church office no later than December 27. Thanks for your support and your help.
No Livestream Morning and Evening Prayer Christmas Week: In an effort to help our clergy have a true holiday break, we will not livestream Morning and Evening Prayer December 26-28. You are always welcome to pray the offices on your own when we don’t livestream. We’ll have our usual schedule of services beginning January 2.
Church Office Closures: The church office is closed December 26, and January 1-2. Mother Sharon will not be keeping regular office hours between Christmas and New Year’s, although the Tidings and bulletin emails will be on their regular schedule. If you have a pastoral emergency, please call Mother Sharon’s cell phone. Otherwise we will pick up business as usual in the New Year.
Mark Your Calendars: St. Gregory’s is having an Epiphany Lessons & Carols service on Saturday, January 6 at 4:00pm. This will be our only real chance to celebrate the Epiphany, since January 7 we will celebrate the Baptism of Jesus at both services. Please come out and enjoy the fun!
Pledge Income: Our pledge income is down significantly from our projections at the beginning of the year. If you regularly give or pledge to St. Thomas, you should have received a third-quarter statement in your pledge drive envelope. If you are behind in this year’s pledge, please do your best to catch up by the end of the year, so that we don’t end the year with a deficit. Remember that Mother Sharon and the Bishop’s Committee are always available if you have any concerns or pastoral needs.
Prayer Tree: We are revamping our community prayer tree. A small and dedicated group of people prays for those on our prayer list and are alerted when new prayer needs arise. If you would like to be part of this praying network, please contact Jane Gordon-Topper.
Service Reminder: All our services stay on our Facebook page so you can view them whenever it’s convenient for you. It’s always better to view a service later in the day than not at all! The link to the page for all our services is here: https://www.facebook.com/Saint-Thomas-of-Canterbury-Episcopal-Church-of-Long-Beach-CA-124554214274325
Share Our Services: Please feel free to share our Morning Prayer and Sunday services. The more people we reach, the better we do at evangelism. People are hungry for what we have to offer, and I encourage you to do your part to share our services with your friends and neighbors. Send them the link when you email them, invite them to join you on Facebook or in person… whatever way works best for you to share what we have to offer.
Episcopal News Updates: The email updates from the diocese are a great way to stay informed about what’s happening all over our six-county diocese. If you want to receive the Episcopal News, visit https://diocesela.org/episcopal-news/contact/ and enter your email address in the box provided.
In Case of Emergency: Notify your priests! With our combined ministry program comes additional coverage for pastoral emergencies. In the event of a hospital stay, illness, death in the family, or other pastoral emergency, please call Mother Sharon on her cell phone (562-833-3393) any day except Friday, her Sabbath day. Father Michael Fincher covers emergencies in both communities on Friday, just as Mother Sharon covers emergencies in both parishes on Monday, Father Michael’s Sabbath. Father Michael’s cell phone is 909-373-6478.