St. Thomas Tidings: August 29, 2024
Today we commemorate the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Here is the collect for the day: Almighty God, who called your servant John the Baptist to go before your Son our Lord both in life and death: Grant that we who remember his witness may with boldness speak your truth and in humility hear it when it is spoken to us; through Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
Labor Day Closures: The church office will be closed Monday, September 2, in observance of the Labor Day holiday. As always, Mother Sharon will be available via cell phone for pastoral emergencies.
Choir Returns September 8: We look forward to the choir’s return at our 10:15 service on Sunday, September 8. If you’re interested in joining the choir, whether full or part time, please speak with Bill Henderson. Rehearsals are on Sunday morning before the 10:15 service. There’s always room for one more voice!
Taizé Service September 11: Please come to the sanctuary Wednesday, September 11, for our monthly Taizé service. We will meet at 6:15 for a brief time of prayer, scripture, song, and silence. You are welcome to bring a friend who will enjoy a simple meditative service.
Men’s Breakfast September 14: All men of the parish and any friends who identify as men are welcome to come to the Men’s Breakfast on Saturday, September 14. Meet at the Denny’s at South and Bellflower at 8:00am for food and fellowship.
Welcome Back Sunday September 15: We will have one service at 9:00am on September 15, and then enjoy a potluck brunch together. We’ll have information about our ministries, fall programs, and other important community topics, so please plan to come to both the service and the potluck. A signup sheet for the potluck is in Larkin Hall.
St. Gregory’s Music at Four: We are invited to join our St. Gregory’s siblings September 22 at 4pm for “Music for Brass and Organ,” the first concert in their 2024-2025 Music at Four series. The South Coast Brass Quintet, organist David York and percussionist Paul Sternhagen will present festive music for brass, organ, and timpani, featuring selections from Gabrieli to Gershwin, Bach to the Beatles. Admission is free, with a free-will offering; a reception follows the concert. See you there!
Livestream Help Still Wanted: We still need one or two people who are willing to step up and learn the livestreaming system so that we can remain online. After three years of being our livestream coordinator, John Mitchell would like to explore other ministries. We don’t want to deprive our livestreaming siblings of the services they rely on! If you are interested, please speak with John or Mother Sharon. Please note that if we can’t find a volunteer, or several volunteers, we will have to look at hiring someone, and that will strain our already tight budget. Please pray about how you might help keep our shut-in and long-distance community members connected!
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.