St. Thomas Tidings: February 2, 2023 Edition
Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple, also known as Candlemas. Here is the collect for the day: Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so may we be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Annual Meeting This Sunday: Our Annual Meeting is this Sunday, February 5. We will discuss and accept the 2023 budget, elect two new members of the Bishop’s Committee, elect alternates to Diocesan Convention, and hear about what we did in 2022 and what is planned for 2023. As we have done before, we will have one service at 9am and then hold the meeting immediately afterwards, so the 8:00 congregation doesn’t need to come back for the meeting. We will have a potluck brunch, so please bring something to share as we meet. See you then! 2023 Annual Report
Raise the Roof: We are planning a number of fundraising events this year to help with our roofing and other building costs. Part of our Annual Meeting will be signing up to host events and come to the ones that are planned. Please come ready to sign up for interesting events and take away information to invite your friends and neighbors. These events will be the best way of both inviting the larger community to events and making sure we get extra money from outside our congregation.
Check Out the Garden: Cathy Khoury has been working with Eureka Montessori to revitalize the garden beds in the back of the church. She and Petra have selected plants, and the preschoolers have helped to put them in the ground. We look forward to working with the preschool as they learn about gardening and enjoy the fruits of their labors. Thank you, Cathy, for getting the gardens going again!
Online Classes Available: Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles, invites everyone to explore their formation classes for winter and spring. All classes are held via zoom. The flyer for classes, with registration information, is attached. Bloy House Flyer
Men’s Breakfast February 11: All men of the parish and any friends who identify as men are welcome to come to the Men’s Breakfast on Saturday, February 11. Meet at the Denny’s at South and Bellflower at 8:00am for food and fellowship.
What Do Deacons Do?: Deacon Steve Alder will preach and talk about the diaconate at both services on Sunday, February 12. The deacons of the diocese are visiting communities throughout the diocese so we can all learn about what deacons do and how they are an integral part of our church life. Please give Deacon Steve a warm welcome and come prepared with questions about the diaconate and the vocation of a deacon.
Pancake Supper: Our Annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper is Tuesday, February 21, from 4-7pm. The Utzman and Riley families will provide pancakes with the option of adding fruit topping or bacon. You can either dine in or take your dinner to go. Reservation flyers with space for you to reserve your dinner and time are in the narthex, and one is attached to this email if you want to email a copy to the office. We look forward to seeing you! Shrove Tuesday Flyer
Lenten Book Study Begins March 1: Our Lenten book study, “When Did We See You?”, will look at theological writing in modern science fiction and fantasy books. The class will run Wednesday nights from March 1 through April 19 (except the Wednesday of Holy Week) from 6:30 to 8:00pm. We are asking for reservations so we know how many copies of readings to make. More information is in the February Canterbury Tales, and flyers are in the narthex if you want to share one with a friend.
Lenten Pilgrim Bags: We continue our tradition of having Pilgrim Bags to use on our Lenten Journey. Each bag will contain a Lenten devotional booklet, the Lent Madness game, a candle, and a prayer card, wrapped in a muslin bag that you can decorate for the journey. We will have 120 bags available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Shrove Tuesday dinner and the Ash Wednesday services. If you would like a Lenten Pilgrim Bag but are unable to attend the Shrove Tuesday dinner or Ash Wednesday services, please notify Kevin Wood in the St. Gregory’s Parish Office at info@stgregoryschurch.com or 562-420-1311. (Kevin is taking requests for the Pilgrim Bags only, as we are taking the RSVPs for the dinner.)
Day by Day: The February-April edition of Day by Day, the daily devotional booklet, has arrived and is available in the narthex. Please come pick one up if you enjoy using the booklet.
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 http://episcopalnews.ladiocese.org/ 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.