St. Thomas Tidings: February 15, 2024
Today we commemorate Thomas Bray, Priest and Missionary (1730). Here is the collect for the day: O God of compassion, who opened the heart of your servant Thomas Bray to answer the needs of the church in the New World: Make your church diligent at all times to propagate the Gospel, and to promote the spread of Christian knowledge; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lent Book Study Has Begun: This year we are reading and using the spiritual practices in A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding Our True Hungers in Lent, by Christine Valters Paintner. This is a brand-new book and is available from Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org, Broadleaf Books, and Amazon. Each week we will explore a different kind of hunger and a different way to live in the world, using practices such as lectio divina, contemplative walking, journaling, and imaginative prayer. We had our introductory session on February 7, but you can still buy the book and join the class during Lent. We will meet weekly in Larkin Hall at 7:00pm from February 21 through March 27.
Thursday Soup Suppers and Compline at St. Gregory’s: On each of the Thursdays in Lent (February 22 and 29, March 7, 14, and 21), our St. Gregory’s siblings will host a soup supper beginning at 6:00PM. Diane Kela and her team of cooks will feed us delicious meals of soup, salad, and bread. A free-will donation, as you are able, will help defray the cost of the food. There is no need to RSVP before the meals. Following supper, at about 7:00pm, there will be a brief service of Compline in the church. See you there!
Livestream Assistant Wanted: We need someone who is willing to learn our livestreaming system to fill in when John Mitchell is away. If you are interested, please speak with John or Mother Sharon.
Safety Preparedness Presentation: St. Francis will be hosting PVEPD Safety Preparedness Presentation by the Palos Verdes Police. We would like to invite you and your interested parishioners to join us for this presentation. The presentation will be on Sunday, February 25, 2024, at 11:30 am in St. Francis’ Parish Hall. We welcome anyone who may be interested and ask that they RSVP to Claire at 310-375-4517 so that we will know how many to expect. St Francis is at 2200 Via Rosa, Palos Verdes Estates 90274.
Music at Four: On Sunday, February 25th at 4:00 PM, St. Gregory's Music at Four concert series presents the Bridge Creek Band, a diverse group of musicians on guitar, banjo, bass, percussion, and vocals, in a concert of Americana, Bluegrass and Gospel music. A free-will offering will be received and a reception will follow the concert.
Mark Your Calendars: We are starting a new fellowship group, Supper Club. The first meeting is Monday, March 4, from 5-7pm. We will have time for socializing, dinner, and fun and games. There is no cost – bring a friend and come enjoy some St. Thomas fellowship!
St. Patrick’s Party: We’re having a St. Patrick’s Party on Saturday, March 16, from 6-9pm. There will be food! There will be bingo! There will be lots of fun! Further details will be in the Canterbury Tales.
Easter Service Update: The survey responses were overwhelmingly in favor of trying an early morning Easter service in lieu of the Saturday Vigil. So that’s what we’ll do! We will have our usual Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, and then hold services Easter morning at 7:00am and 10:15am. St. Gregory’s will have a Saturday evening Vigil service, so you can go there if you want a Saturday service as well. We hope that any St. Gregory’s folks who want an early morning service will join us! Thank you for your flexibility as we try something new, and we’ll evaluate how well it worked afterwards, as we do with all our experiments.
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.