St. Thomas Tidings: September 12, 2024
Today we commemorate John Henry Hobart, Bishop (1830). Here is the collect for the day: Revive your church, Lord God of hosts, whenever it falls into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders like your servant John Henry Hobart; and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken your people to your message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Men’s Breakfast This Saturday: 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 This Sunday: Remember that we have one service at 9:00am on September 15, and then we’ll 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. Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the potluck; please bring something to share even if you didn’t sign up so there’s enough to go around.
News for St. Thomas Delegates and Alternates to Convention: Hotel room and meal reservations are now open on the diocesan website for the November 8-9 convention. Please go to the Diocesan Convention page at https://diocesela.org/convention/meals-and-lodging/ to reserve your meals and room. Note also that our pre-convention Deanery meeting is Saturday, October 19 at 2pm via zoom. More information on the meeting, and the zoom link, is available at https://diocesela.org/convention/ If you have any questions, please talk with Mother Sharon.
Convention Movie Screening Open to All: The film “The Philadelphia Eleven,” a documentary about the first women ordained in the Episcopal Church, will be shown Friday, November 8 as part of Diocesan Convention in Riverside. Attendance is not limited to delegates and alternates – everyone in the diocese is invited to attend! A dinner option is also available. For more information, please see the “Call to Convention” page at https://diocesela.org/news/call-to-the-2024-diocesan-convention/
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!
Remind Your Friends: Our Blessing of the Animals is Saturday, October 5 at 10am on the front plaza. This is a great way to introduce St. Thomas to our neighbors, especially children and youth. All well-behaved pets are welcome to attend; if your pet is shy, or if you have pets that have died, you are welcome to bring pictures to be blessed. 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.