St. Thomas Tidings: April 6, 2023 Edition
Today is Maundy Thursday, the beginning of the Triduum, or Great Three Days. Here is the collect for the day: Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Quick Service Reminder: Maundy Thursday service TONIGHT at 7pm at St. Thomas; “Stations of the Crosswalk” from St. Thomas to St. Gregory’s beginning at noon on Friday; Good Friday service at 7pm at St. Gregory’s; Easter Vigil at St. Thomas at 7:30pm Saturday; festive Easter Sunday Eucharist at 8:00am and 10:15am. We plan to livestream all the services (except the Crosswalk and 8am Sunday) on our Facebook page.
Men’s Breakfast April 8: All men of the parish and any friends who identify as men are welcome to come to the Men’s Breakfast this Saturday, April 8. Meet at the Denny’s at South and Bellflower at 8:00am for food and fellowship.
Church Office Closed Monday: The office will be closed on April 10 in observance of Easter Monday. Mother Sharon will be available by cell phone for pastoral emergencies only.
Jury Duty Reminder: Mother Sharon has call-in jury duty the week of April 17, and will not know if she has to go to the courthouse each day until the night before. She will send out an email if she has to go to court; otherwise it’s business as usual.
Book Signing April 23: St. Thomas, St. Gregory’s, and St. Luke’s are co-sponsoring a reading and book signing of the Rev. Canon Gary Commins’ new book, Evil and the Problem of Jesus, on Sunday, April 23, at 4:00pm. The event will be held at St. Gregory’s. Rev. Commins will discuss why he wrote the book, read selected sections, engage in Q&A, and sign copies of the book, which will be for sale at the event. Light refreshments will be served. No need to RSVP – just come on out and support Gary!
Reminder of May “Raise the Roof” Events: We hope you have marked your calendars for the following events: Bunco, Friday May 5, 5:30-8:30pm (rsvp to Sue Williams at kyliesgrammy@yahoo.com); Coronation Tea Saturday, May 13, 11:00am-2:00pm (rsvp to Jane Gordon-Topper by May 3 at jngt@verizon.net); Boot Sale Saturday May 20, 8:00am-1:00pm (rsvp to Andrea Utzman at apqueen02@aol.com). Additional information was in the April Canterbury Tales and is also available from Sue, Jane, and Andrea.
The New Website is Here!: We are proud to announce that our new website is up and running. Please bookmark the new URL: stthomascanterbury.org and use it from now on. More information about our site and its contents will appear in a separate email.
Are You Interested in Genealogy?: Questing Heirs, one of our newer community groups, invites us to visit their meetings and explore our heritage. They meet the third Sunday of every month at 2pm in Larkin Hall.
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.