Merry Christmastide St. Thomas!

THE EPISTLE:

December 26, 2025

The Feast of St. Stephen, Deacon & Martyr

Pray the Rosary on this first day after Christmas,

TODAY, Friday, December 26

Pray the Rosary with us TODAY, St. Stephen's Day, the first day after Christmas dedicated to the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen. We will begin the rosary today at 12:10pm in the Nave of the Church.

Each prayer session lasts around half an hour and, during Advent, includes the reading of each scripture passage for the five decades of the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

If you’ve never prayed the Rosary before, we always have Rosary beads available, as well as written directions to help you fully participate in this meaningful, scriptural, and contemplative prayer practice.

One Eucharist this Sunday, December 28th, at 10 am

During this first weekend of the Twelve Days of the Christmas season, St. Thomas will offer only one Holy Eucharist at 10am on Sunday, December 28, the First Sunday after Christmas. Fr. Donavan will preach on the Prologue of John's Gospel, John 1:1-18, and there will be coffee and conversation available to anyone who'd like to stay after worship in the Parish Hall. Our regular Sunday morning worship schedule of 8am, 10:30am, and 5pm, along with breakfast, Children & Adult Christian Formation, and the nursery, will return on the first Sunday of the New Year, Sunday, January 4th, when we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.

St. Thomas Church Office Closed: Now through January 1

The St. Thomas Church Office is closed through January 1 for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays in order for our hard working and dedicated staff to celebrate the greatest gift of Christ's birth with their families and those dear to them. This will also allow everyone on our church staff to take well-deserved sabbath time for rest and renewal to prepare for the coming New Year. 

The Church Office will reopen on Friday, January 2.

For pastoral emergencies during office closure, please call the clergy directly. All clergy contact information, including phone numbers, is available through the REALM church directory. You can also call the church office for an emergency number.

UPCOMING

The Feast of the Epiphany & the Burning of the Greens set for Sunday, January 4!

Bring your tree and other greens to burn for our Feast of the Epiphany "Burning of the Greens" Celebration on Sunday evening, January 4, at 6 pm! 

We will be collecting Christmas trees and wreaths again this year in the South Parking Lot after Christmas to be burned in this celebratory fire, as we honor the arrival of the Magi to worship and give the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus!

Join us in the church for a special Feast of the Epiphany 5 p.m. "Come As You Are" Holy Eucharist, followed by a joyful procession to the parking lot immediately following the Post Communion Prayer for the Burning of the Greens. We will conclude the evening by feasting on King Cake (you know, "We Three Kings"), which was originally eaten on Epiphany and not Shrove Tuesday, along with hot chocolate to warm up your fingers as we bring the Christmas season to a fitting close!

Fr. Donavan will also bless chalk to be picked up and taken home to bless your house with the inscription of the New Year and the initials of the traditional names of the Three Kings, 20+C+M+B+26, over your house door!

Don't miss one of the BRIGHTEST nights of the winter season, and invite your friends and neighbors to join us for our Twelfth Night-Epiphany celebration!

St. Thomas' Annual Meeting is being moved to Sunday, February 15

This past Tuesday, your St. Thomas Vestry, at the request of Fr. Donavan, voted to move our regular Annual Parish Meeting and Budget Presentation from January 11 to Sunday, February 15. This change allows more time for our final stewardship drive and ensures our 2026 budget is as up-to-date and complete as possible for presentation to the parish. This year, in particular, moving our Parish Meeting to February also allows for a report on both the election of the 13th Bishop of Alabama and the 195 Convention of the diocese. A February Annual Meeting, following our Diocesan Convention, also makes it possible for St. Thomas to elect delegates for next year's convention at the same time that we elect our new Vestry members. The Vestry motion, approved unanimously, moves this year's as well as all future year's Parish Meetings to February.

Finally, because February 15 this year will be the final Sunday of Epiphany, also referred to as Mardi Gras Sunday, we hope to plan to move the Annual Meeting back to beginning AFTER the 10:30 a.m. Eucharist and to incorporate a special Mardi Gras style lunch into our Annual Meeting reports and presentations! Be on the lookout for more information on that after the start of the New Year!

Thank you to our St. Thomas Vestry for all their hard work over the past year and a special THANK YOU to our four off-going Vestry members (Grace Casey, Kathie Clayton, David Hattaway, and Richard Williams) who agreed to continue for one additional month in 2026 to allow for this Annual Meeting/Vestry Election alteration. All future elected members of the Parish Vestry will begin their three-year term immediately following the February Annual Parish Meeting and will finish their term at the February meeting three years later.

Nominations for the St. Thomas Vestry EXTENDED through January 25!

St. Thomas is preparing to elect four new Vestry members at the upcoming Annual Parish Meeting & Breakfast, now set for Sunday, February 15. If you or someone you know would be interested in serving on the vestry, you can now submit the name in the box marked VESTRY in the Narthex. If you'd like to nominate someone, please be sure to discuss it with that person first to be sure they are willing to serve the three-year term. 

Vestry responsibilities include:

·Attending vestry meetings on the third Tuesday evening of each month.

·Attending a Saturday Vestry Retreat.

·On a rotating basis, two vestry members count the offering and secure the building each Sunday after worship services.

·Vestry members also cook, serve and clean up breakfast on a rotating schedule, one Sunday per month. Each vestry member signs up for breakfast four times a year.

If you would like more information or have additional questions about the responsibilities and expectations of serving on the St. Thomas Vestry, you are very welcome to ask Fr. Donavan, Mtr. Katie, our Sr. Warden, Brett Tomlin, our Jr. Wardens, David Hattaway and Doug Eskew, or any current member of the Vestry. To set up a time to meet with Fr. Donavan, you can email him HERE and to set up a meeting with the Senior Warden, email Brett HERE.

Please prayerfully consider if you, or someone you know, may be called to serve our parish in this important leadership role. Nominations will now close Sunday, January 25, and nominations will not be accepted from the floor during the annual parish meeting.

To be nominated for the Vestry, a person must be a confirmed communicant in good-standing, known to the treasurer to be pledging, and a regular participant in the life and worship of the parish.

Daughters of the King

Prayer Shawl Request

The DoK is asking for help with making prayer shawls.

Prayer shawls are handmade expressions of comfort and prayer, lovingly given to those who are ill, grieving, or in need of encouragement. Each shawl is a reminder that the recipient is wrapped in God’s love and held in the prayers of our church community.

If you are able, please consider creating a prayer shawl over the coming weeks. Shawls may be knitted, crocheted, or made from fleece or another soft material. Completed shawls may be brought to the church office, where Fr. Donavan will bless them. If crafting is not your gift, you are welcome to donate materials, and a shawl will be made on your behalf. Thank you and many blessings from above on you and yours.

An Opportunity to help First Stop provide Showers for the Homeless

A group of Friends of First Stop are building an office to shelter volunteers who will daily manage the new First Stop shower facility. The Diocese of Alabama recently donated a two shower unit trailer to First Stop. Now Habitat for Humanity, a local Rotary Club, and several churches have begun building an office to protect the volunteer shower workers from the weather. A generous donor has funded all of the materials for the project.

The floor, the framework for the walls, and structure for the roof have all been fitted together. In January, volunteers will assemble these pieces to form an 8 by 12 feet air-conditioned office and a covered patio. First Stop is planning a number of workdays to finish the project. Dates and jobs will be announced soon. If you wish to help complete the shower office, contact Tim Davis at 661-618-2978 or timdavis1968@gmail.com.

ONGOING

Compline Online

Mondays at 8 PM

with Dcn. Jeannie

There will be no Compline Online on Monday, December 29. Compline Online will return on Monday, January 5!

Looking for a new prayer opportunity and a way to center yourself in prayer each week? Every Monday at 8 p.m., you’re invited to join Dcn. Jeannie online for Compline. Compline is a brief evening prayer service and a peaceful way to set your week with intention and to end your day with a sense of completion and stillness.

The service lasts just 15 minutes and can be accessed on St. Thomas’ Facebook page. You simply need a Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and to turn to pg. 127.

It will be LIVE every Monday at 8 PM.

Please contact jrann228@gmail.com or the front office for more information.

Morning Prayer at St. Thomas St. Anne's Chapel in Hiers Hall

Thursdays 7 AM

There will be no Morning Prayer offering at St. Thomas on Christmas Day or New Year's Day. Our Morning Prayer service led by Mtr. Katie will return to St. Anne's Chapel at 7am on Thursday, January 8!

Every Thursday morning, join us for Morning Prayer in St. Anne’s Chapel at the end of Hiers Hall. Simply enter Hiers Hall and follow the hallway all the way to the end. There will be signs directing you. As we seek to expand our options for praying together during the week, we hope to see our early birds and any brave night owls at this service of prayer and Scripture. You don't have to know how to read Morning Prayer; we'll teach you!

Treble Choir

The Treble Choir sings approximately once a month at the 10:30 a.m. worship service and our special services this year will include Lessons and Carols and Christmas Eve. All children in 2nd-8th Grades are invited to join! Bring a friend!

The Treble Choir schedule is available HERE and is posted on the bulletin board leading to Hiers Hall, the choir bulletin board in Hudson Hall, and the St. Thomas Website. Rehearsals are Sunday afternoons 3:30 – 4:15 p.m. Please email Miss Kathy at music@stthomashuntsville.org for details!

Join the St. Thomas Adult Choir

You don't have to be a kid to sing! Click HERE to see and hear the St. Thomas choir practicing their anthem for this Sunday.

NO SUNDAY SCHOOL DECEMBER 28

Children's Sunday School Sundays from 9:30am-10:15am! Join us in Hiers Hall as we share a year of faith, love, and fun! 

Godly Play class for Pre-K through 1st graders is led by Renee' Redfield in Hiers 4. 

Storymakers for 2nd and 3rd graders is by Nichole Hargrove in Hiers 6. 

Thou Art class for 4th through 6th graders led by Laura Beth Bestor in Hiers 2.  

Our nursery is open from 7:45 a.m.-12 p.m. on Sundays for our Pre-K and under children. We have our Play'n'Worship curriculum available for those in the nursery to enjoy on Sunday mornings. Contact our Children's Ministry Coordinator via email at children@stthomashuntsville.org.

Phone: 256.880.0247

Email: StThomas@stthomashuntsville.org