St. Thomas Tidings: December 19, 2024
There is no special commemoration in the calendar of saints. However, tomorrow is the feast of Katharina von Bora, Church Reformer (1552). Here is the collect for that commemoration: Almighty God, who called your servant Katharina von Bora from a cloister to work for the reform of your church: Grant that, for the sake of your glory and the welfare of your church, we may go wherever you should call, and serve however you should will; through Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Amen.
Christmas Flowers: The Altar Guild always does a wonderful job decorating our sanctuary for Christmas. If you’d like to make a Christmas flower donation, and you haven’t turned in an envelope yet, please email your names to the church office no later than 5:00pm today, so that we can print the tributes for our loved ones in the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day bulletins. It’s fine to email the names and then put your envelope in the plate on Sunday. Thanks for your help!
Reminder of Christmas Services: Christmas Eve Lessons & Carols and Eucharist, led by our youth, 6:30pm; Christmas Day Eucharist with music, 9:00am. We look forward to seeing you there.
Year-End Donations: The IRS requires all 2024 donations to be received and deposited before midnight on December 31. Please help our volunteer counters by making sure that all donations are received at church by Sunday, December 29 so they can be counted and deposited by December 31. Thanks for your help!
Morning and Evening Prayer Reminder: Because of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, we will not livestream Morning or Evening Prayer the weeks of December 23 and December 30. Morning and Evening Prayer will resume the usual schedule on Tuesday, January 7.
Annual Reports: With the New Year rapidly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about our Annual Meeting. In preparation for the Annual Meeting, we will need to produce the Annual Report. All persons responsible for a ministry program or group (you know who you are) should submit written reports of the year’s activities to the church office no later than Sunday, January 19. Reports need to be in Word or Word-compatible format and emailed to stlb47@verizon.net. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
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.