St. Thomas Tidings: October 26, 2023
Today we commemorate Alfred, King (899). Here is the collect for the day: O God, who called your servant Alfred to an earthly throne that he might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for your church and love for your people: Grant that we, inspired by his example and prayers, may remain steadfast int eh work you have given us to do for the building up of your reign of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Bishop’s Visit This Sunday: Bishop Taylor will be at St. Thomas for our almost-annual visitation on Sunday, October 29. We will have one service at 10:15 and a reception afterwards. Please be sure your calendars are marked so we have a great turnout for the Bishop. He’s always interested in talking with us and seeing what we’re doing. Thank you for making any adjustments necessary to accommodate his schedule and help St. Thomas look good.
All Saints Necrology: As is our custom, we will read the names of our beloved dead at both services on November 5, our observance of All Saints. The notebook will be in the narthex starting this weekend for you to write in the names you would like read from the altar. If you can’t be at church, please email your names to stlb47@verizon.net and I will include them. Remember that I don’t carry over names from year to year, so please write in everyone you’d like remembered. Thanks!
Pledge Income: Our pledge income is down significantly from our projections at the beginning of the year. We will be sending out third-quarter statements shortly for you to review and compare to your planned giving. If you are behind, please do your best to catch up by the end of the year, so that we don’t end the year with a deficit. Remember that Mother Sharon and the Bishop’s Committee are always available if you have any concerns or pastoral needs.
Day by Day: The November-January 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.
Daylight Savings Time Ends November 5: Please remember to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed on November 4. We want you to be on time for our All Saints Sunday services.
Our Pledge Drive Continues: Our annual pledge drive continues through November 19. Look in the October Canterbury Tales for more information, read the weekly meditations that will come out with the bulletins, and watch your mailbox for letters from the Vicar, the Stewardship Chair, and the Bishop’s Warden.
Book Drive: Each year we gather new and gently-used fantasy and science fiction books for the “Heinlein for Heroes” book drive. We are collecting books through October and will bless them at our services on November 12, when we will also honor our veterans. This is a great way to engage your friends and neighbors in our community life – many people are downsizing and might be glad of a home for some of their books.
Prayer Tree: We are revamping our community prayer tree. A small and dedicated group of people prays for those on our prayer list and are alerted when new prayer needs arise. If you would like to be part of this praying network, please contact Jane Gordon-Topper.
Sanctuary Lighting: We are very fortunate to have Long Beach Chorale and Chamber Orchestra using St. Thomas for rehearsal and performance space for the rest of 2023. In order to help with rehearsals, we have two small work lights at the front of the sanctuary, to boost the lighting at night. Since we’ve had comments that parts of the altar area are quite dark when viewed on a computer, we’re going to experiment with the lights when we livestream as well. The lights are out of the way of Altar Guild and cleaning folks, so they shouldn’t come to any harm. Thanks for your patience as we try new things, and mark your calendars for the Chorale performances in December!
Raise the Roof Reminders: We have events planned through the rest of the year, and we hope you have your calendars marked to take advantage of our concerts, BBQs, and other events. And please be thinking about what you might do as a fun event next year. If there’s something you like to do and would like to share, chances are others in our community will enjoy it too. It doesn’t have to be elaborate to be fun! If you have any questions or ideas, please speak with Shelley Arnold or Mother Sharon.
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.