THE EPISTLE:

February 22, 2024

Everybody's Pub Theology TONIGHT, Feb. 22nd!

Sit down with Fr. Donavan and Deacon Jeannie TONIGHT, Thursday, February 22nd, from 6-7:30pm, at PaPPo's Pizzeria, at 7540 Memorial Pkwy SW, Huntsville, for great fellowship, good food, tasty drinks, and hearty discussion!

Email Jeannie at jrann228@gmail.com and let her know if you plan on joining us!

Stations of the Cross for Lent returns TOMORROW, Friday, February 23rd

Every other Friday in Lent, beginning tomorrow, Friday, February 23rd, Fr. Donavan will open up the church again to lead anyone who'd like to join him through the fourteen Stations of the Cross. If you've never walked through the Stations, this is another opportunity to spend your Fridays in Lent enriching your soul with each Stations' powerful prayers, scripture readings, and physical movement through the church with Our Lord Jesus Christ. 



Join Fr. Donavan tomorrow, Friday, February 23rd, at 12:05pm in the Nave, and make the Stations of the Cross a part of your Lenten season of devotion this year. And pray the Rosary with Fr. Donavan next Friday, March 1st.

The Bailey Cove Farmer's Market at St. Thomas is just around the corner! Come learn how you can join the team and help THIS SUNDAY!

St. Thomas has been blessed for the past 10 years to offer an amazing Farmer's Market to our community here in South Huntsville! This year, our dedicated volunteer organizer, Kim Cantrell, needs to step away from her leadership role, and our Farmer's Market Committee needs NEW HANDS & NEW HEARTS to help keep our Farmer's Market going! Would you like to help St. Thomas do that? There is no previous skills needed. Just some time and some enjoyment in helping set up, take down, and assist our great local farmers to find a space to sale their wide array of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and food!

If you're interested in finding out how you might join the St. Thomas Farmer's Market Team, join us THIS SUNDAY, February 25th, in Conference Room 1, immediately following the 10:30am Holy Eucharist!

Are You New to St. Thomas? Newcomers Class THIS Sunday,

Feb. 25th at 9:30am

Newcomers: We are so glad you are worshipping with us. Please join us for a 1 hour class on February 25 to learn the history of the Episcopal Church from the death of Christ to present day. We will meet in the Crossroads Room at 9:30 between the services. Follow the blue signs to find us. On March 10, we will have another class that tells the history of St. Thomas and includes a tour of the church. We will meet in the Crossroads Room at 9:30 and have the blue signs out. We look forward to meeting you. Elouisa Stokes at 256-604-8669

Want to go work with our Ministries in Honduras this April? Space is still available for Honduras Missioners!



This is the last call for missioners to join our our annual visit to Honduras this April. Please contact Jeannie now if you would like to join us, April 20 - 27 this year. All skill levels are welcome. If you can count to 30, pack up beans and rice in food sacks, or work with medical people, please consider joining us. A life changing experience is guaranteed!

Thank You for Donating Blood!

• Many thanks to all who participated in the February blood drive last Sunday! 
• Thank you to all who donated, dealing so pleasantly and patiently despite long waits.
• Thank you to the people who tried to donate blood but were unable to do so this time. 
• Thank you to our friends and neighbors just passing by, who came in to donate blood. 
• St. Thomas donated 32 units of blood, an amazing gift for folks in need. 

St. Thomas, you guys rock!! Thank you again!

2024 Lenten Soup & Salad Series: Satan - The Evolution of Evil in the Bible & in the Church, continues THIS WEDNESDAY!

The season of Lent begins every year with the familiar story in Gospels of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the Wilderness. In the Episcopal Church, the Jesus we encounter in the Lenten Gospel is someone we know well, but Satan, on the other hand, is a Biblical figure who a recent Barna Research Study revealed that only 20% of Episcopalians say they believe in today.  In this 5 part Lenten Soup & Salad Series, Fr. Donavan will lead us through the evolution of Satan in the Bible, from the Old Testament, where “the accuser” appears only a handful of times in changing guises, to the New Testament, where Satan develops more thoroughly into the personification of evil, at war with God and God's angels. Come learn more about the frightening figure who will haunt Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and a thousand modern horror films.  If you’ve ever had a question about the Devil in modern Christian faith, you won't want to miss this series during Lent!

Soup and salad will be available in the Parish Hall every Wednesday, through March 20th, with Fr. Donavan will beginning the program at 6:20pm. A special craft will be available for children each and every Wednesday during the presentation in the Parlor.

Wednesdays in Lent:

Taizé Prayer at 5:30 PM

Taizé Prayer is a distinctive style of meditative prayer developed by an ecumenical community of monks in rural France. This quiet, moving reflective prayer combines elements of the Church's traditional Liturgy of the Hours with elements of contemplative meditation. A typical Taizé prayer service incorporates periods of silence with meditative readings from Scripture, prayers of praise and intercession, and the frequent repetition of simple, contemporary chants based on the Psalms or other parts of Scripture. Short songs or chants, repeated over and over, create a meditative environment and express basic realities of faith which can be easily grasped by the mind and the heart. The result is to gradually move prayer from the head to the heart.

Habitat for Humanity 24 starts on March 2nd!

Habitat for Humanity 24: We begin building our walls for new Habitat homes on March 2 at the Habitat Warehouse, 200 Pratt Avenue. We'll will start at 8 am and should be finished by 11. Our house will be on 215 Lake Drive, off Meridian Street, and our homeowner will be Courtney Davis who has 2 teen girls. They are very excited to get this house.

There will be wall studs in Information Hall until Wednesday, February 28th. Please sign a prayer or good wishes for this house. The studs will be incorporated into the house.

On March 9 we will install the walls on the foundation on Lake Drive. Please plan to give one Saturday to help erect this house.

On another note, Elouisa Stokes cannot continue as our Habitat for Humanity Coordinator from St. Thomas. If you are willing to take on this role, please call Elouisa at 256-604-8669,or contact our Senior Warden, George Harriman, or Fr. Donavan.

March 4th is the deadline to REGISTER for St. Thomas Parish Retreat, March 8-10 at Camp McDowell

Come for one night or two or just come for the day for the return of the St. Thomas Parish Retreat at Camp McDowell on the weekend of March 8 - 10th! We will offer canoeing, hiking, art, a Birds of Prey show, "Meet the Animal" farm tours and activities, and plenty of social time! There will even be a concert by Fr. Donavan on Friday night, March 8th!

The deadline to register is March 4th. You can register HERE Or use the QR Code. Please note that an active Realm account is very helpful (especially if you need to update your registration), but it is not necessary to register for Parish Retreat.

Hope you and your family will join us on March 8 - 10 at Camp McDowell!

Sunday morning Christian Formation Class for Lent continues: What does it mean to be the 'Church' today?

In the 21st Century, there are perhaps more ideas and understandings about what it means to be a "church" than any other century before. Is a church primarily a place of worship and prayer? Is a church a place for finding and growing needed fellowship and community? Should a church be a place chiefly for Christian outreach and care for the neighborhood, the city, and world? Certainly, all of these descriptions have their important place in the church of today, but is there something more that can bind all the definitions, ideas, and understandings together and keep the church focused and unified in its ultimate purpose and action?

For Lent, Fr. Donavan will be leading anyone who'd like to join him in a deeper conversation on the topic "Church." In addition to the Bible and Church tradition and teaching, Fr. Donavan will also dig into his own experience as priest, pastor, and Rector in the Episcopal Church today and share with us how his own evolving understanding of church shapes his leadership and decisions in ministry with us at St. Thomas. Come join the conversation, Sunday mornings at 9:30am in the Parish Hall.

Weekly Children and Youth Formation Sunday mornings 9:30am-10:15am 

We offer five different Sunday school classes for our children and youth!

Pre-K - 1st grade: Godly Play- Renee' Redfield - Hiers 4

2nd grade-3rd grade: Love First- Laura Beth Bestor - Hiers 2 (new room)

4th grade-5th grade: Thou Art- Kathie Clayton & Lila Powell - Hiers 6

6th grade-7th grade: My Faith, My Life- Sonya Carrier & Jane Allgood - Hiers 5

8th grade- 12th grade: Youth Room

Contact our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor, at children@stthomashuntsville.org if you have questions or would like to help out with this important aspect of our ministries.

"Come As You Are"

5 PM Holy Eucharist

St. Thomas' "Come as You Are" 5pm Sunday worship service is every Sunday. Dinner is now offered on the FIRST SUNDAY of each month. We will have dinner March 3rd, April 7th, and May 5th. Our 5pm Holy Eucharist features simple hymns from the Alleluia III hymnal, good sermons preached from the floor, and Holy Communion. Come as you are and invite a friend to join you for the 5pm Evening Holy Eucharist EVERY SUNDAY at St. Thomas.

Gently Used Laptop and Kindle Collection for The Companion Diocese Committee

The Companion Diocese Committee would like to ask people to donate gently used Laptops and Kindles to our friends in the Diocese of Honduras. All Donated devices will be refurbished and utilized by students and faculty at the Episcopal schools in Honduras. We will accept devices here at the church Feb 1-Mar 1 and at Diocesan Convention.

D.O.K. Used Shoe Drive for the

Homeless

We are currently sponsoring a Used Shoe Drive for Huntsville’s homeless population. Please go through your closets and donate those shoes you don’t wear – especially tennis shoes and boots. No high heels please. The homeless are hard on shoes, especially in winter, and there is a tremendous need now! There is a bin in Information Hall for your donations. Thank you!

New Acolyte Sign-Up Genius is now available!

Calling all youth and children 2^nd grade and older! A new St. Thomas Acolyte Sign-Up Genius is available by clicking here for 2^nd graders and older. We'd appreciate it if you could sign up to serve once a month. If your child(ren) need to be trained or refreshed, feel free to reach out to Deacon Jeannie (jrann228@gmail.com) or me and we will get something scheduled. Contact The Rev. Jeannie Randall at jrann228@gmail.com or our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor at children@stthomashuntsville.org.

At A Glance February 15 - February 21

Phone: 256.880.0247

Email: StThomas@stthomashuntsville.org