St. Thomas Tidings: October 5, 2023
There is no special commemoration for today in the calendar of saints. The collect for the day is the collect from this past Sunday: O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Blessing of the Animals: All creatures great and small – and their human family members – are invited to our annual Blessing of the Animals this Saturday, October 7 at 10:00am. All well-behaved animals are welcome to attend. If your animal is shy, or if you would like to remember a pet who has died, you welcome to bring a picture. See you on the front plaza this Saturday!
Men’s Breakfast October 14: All men of the parish and any friends who identify as men are welcome to come to the Men’s Breakfast on Saturday, October 14. Meet at the Denny’s at South and Bellflower at 8:00am for food and fellowship.
Halloween Festivities: We will have Halloween fun and food on Sunday, October 22 after the 10:15 service. Feel free to wear a costume, as we will have the Blessing of the Costumes at both services that day. Please sign up in the narthex or send an email to stlb47@verizon.net by October 14 if you plan to attend, so that we know how much food to prepare and so that we don’t need to cancel for lack of attendance.
Our Pledge Drive Has Begun: 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.
Fall Christian Education Continues: We had a great first meeting of our Fall Book Study, but it’s not too late to join in. You are invited to take part in a diocesan program meant to bridge the divide that is present in many of our Christian denominations today. Beginning Wednesday, September 13, we will engage with the challenging issue of Christian Nationalism, using as our primary text The Psychology of Christian Nationalism by Pamela Cooper-White (the book is available from Fortress Press and Amazon). Classes will run from 6:30-8:30 on September 13 and 27 and October 11 and 25 and will be on Zoom:
Topic: Shelley Arnold's Zoom Meeting
Time: Sep 13, 2023 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81314226398
Meeting ID: 813 1422 6398
If you would prefer to meet in person, St. Gregory’s will be running the same class on Sunday afternoons beginning October 1. You can get more information by contacting the St. Gregory’s office at info@stgregoryschurch.com For more information on our class, please talk with Shelley Arnold or email her at shelleyarnold1@aol.com
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.