This Week...

NEW Father Joseph Contant Visit This Sunday

NEW Green Team + Highway Cleanup

Spotlight on Mission

School of Rock - Opens Next Week!

Rector's Dicussion Group

NEW Sabbatical Announcement

High School Youth Group Fall Schedule

Middle School Youth Group Fall Schedule

Prayer List

Fr. Joseph Constant Visit This Sunday

Haiti Micah Project

Join us at the 8:00 or 9:30 a.m. services this Sunday to hear a sermon from Fr. Joseph Constant. A presentation follows the 9:30 a.m. service and coffee reception. Read more below!

Green Team Announcements

Solar Panels are coming to St. Thomas!

The Green Team is very happy to announce that we have received notice that solar panels will be placed on the roof of the church this fall! The two arrays will produce enough electricity to offset 39% of our annual electricity consumption, a savings of appr. $2,730. An additional array may be possible, which would increase our energy savings to 69%!

This is fantastic news and will be a visual testament to our community of St. Thomas’ care for Creation.

The Green Team invites you to join us in our efforts to incorporate sustainable practices and materials into our programs and buildings! Please contact the chairs for more information, and come to our Green Team Coffee Hour on October 25^th.

With gratitude and delight, Laurie Ahern and Carolyn Coiner, Co-Chairs

(lahern1681@gmail.com; cbcoiner@gmail.com)

 HELP WANTED...NEEDED!!!

We need many more hands to get our section  of the highway cleaned in good order!



The date is September 26th, from 10:00 to Noon.

Please sign up in the Narthex

"Many hands make light work"!!!

Children in Worship

Continuing this Sunday, we will invite parents and children to sit together in church for the first five minutes of the service -- just for the opening hymn and opening prayers, and then come forward to be welcomed by Jonah and Kathleen and sent to Sunday School with a blessing. This is a typical practice in The Episcopal Church, so children feel comfortable in church. If they squirm and make a little noise, that is just fine. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me." That's our model. Since most of the service is over the heads of the little ones, this allows them to be in church just long enough to enjoy the experience. Please join us in welcoming children into the sanctuary each week!

Why Bring your Children to Worship?

Here's a link to a great article that describes the results of a Harvard study on the impact of children attending church services regularly.

St. Thomas Adult Education’s

Spotlight on Mission

Part of the mission of our Adult Education program is “Engaging with the World: Helping adults apply their faith to contemporary issues and social challenges.” To that end, for the next several weeks we will welcome people from our community who are leading important outreach efforts. Join us on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. to learn more about the good work taking place in the Wood River Valley and beyond, and the ways in which we can all be involved.

September 20: Father Joseph Constant, Founder of the Haiti-Micah Project

September 27: Jovita Pina, Executive Director of the Senior Connection

Watch this space for more information throughout this series.

School of Rock Tickets Now on Sale!

Rector’s Discussion Group

Mere Christianity

By C.S. Lewis

Join our Rector’s discussion group this fall! This session we’ll be reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.

Lewis, an Anglican, intended this work to describe the Christian common ground. As the New York Times Book Review declared, Lewis serves as “the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way.” Hence, Mere Christianity avoids controversies to explain fundamental teachings of Christianity, for the sake of those basically educated as well as the intellectuals of his generation, for whom the jargon of formal Christian theology did not retain its original meaning.

The Rector’s Discussion Group gathers via zoom at 12pm on Wednesdays. Please contact Stefanie Nelson in the office if you need assistance obtaining the book. All are welcome!

The schedule is as follows:

October 7th, Session 1

Preface & Book I

October 14th, Session 2

Book II

October 21st, Session 3

Book III (Chapters 1-6)

October 28th, Session 4

Book III (Chapters 7-12)

November 4th, Session 5

Book IV (Chapters 1-5)

November 11th, Session 6

Book IV (Chapters 6-11)

Sabbatical Announcement

It is the practice of The Episcopal Church to encourage parishes to provide a paid sabbatical leave to full-time clergy once every seven years. I celebrated my seventh anniversary as a priest at St. Thomas in early July, and have received approval from Jonah, our Vestry and the Bishop to take a sabbatical leave of three months next year. I will be away from February 1 until April 30. This means that the ministries I especially serve will rely even more on their lay leaders, and I have full confidence in those teams. 

I’m enormously grateful for this opportunity for rest, refreshment and study, and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of the vestry and the faithful financial support of the parish. So, thank you, one and all! 

Change, even such a short one, opens the door to new ideas and opportunities and I have no doubt that God will bring about some new things while I am away – in my life and in the life of our Village Church.

Peace, Kathleen+

Middle School Youth Group begins on Tuesday, October 7th 



All are Welcome – please invite a friend!

All middle school youth are invited to join Jonah every other Tuesday afternoon from 5:30 – 6:30 for learning, service and fun.  Each gathering will take place in the Parish Hall, and it will include dinner.  The theme for the year is “Loving Our neighbor As Ourselves”

Please email or text Jonah with questions and look for more information in the coming weeks. Jkendall@stthomassv.org, 919-608-8915.

Fall Schedule:

October 13th – Introduction of Theme and Preparing Meals for KCDC Distribution

October 27th – All Hallows Eve Party and Sharing

November 10th – Game Night

*Saturday, November 21st – 9am-12pm – Thanksgiving Community Service Project

Joint gathering with Senior High School Youth Group

Tuesday, December 8th – Preparing Meals for KCDC Distribution

Tuesday, December 15th – Christmas Community Service Project

Joint gathering with Senior High School Youth Group

Prayer List

Amanda, Loring, Tara, Bob, Tyler, Patrick, Terry, Lisa, Evelyn, Mike, Cindy, Judy, Sam, Luella, Kris, Lois, Molly, Blake, Myrna, Mary, Sally, Reuben, Rachel, Jane Alexandra, Aimee, Gunner, Anne, Jane, Anne, Barbara,Marilyn, Susan, Sarah, Lynda, River Thomas, Hollie, Margaret, Philip, Mike, Barry, Lindy, Genevieve Mae, Arthur, Page, Bill, Jane, Kathryn, Michael, Karen, Horace, Vincent, Dana, David, Richard, Marty, Becca, Ashley, Robert, Gretchen, Fan, Teresa, Carole, Janie, Elizabeth, Melinda,Benjamin, Robin, Chuck, Bob, Carol, Susan, Jill, Steve, Cece, Judy, Sunday, Charlotta, Lisa, Winston, Elizabeth, Dave, Margie, Darren, Austin, Kirky, Claudia, Kenny, Judy, John, Bill, Judy, Caitie, Patty, Bennett, Lou, Kim, Antoinette, Suzan, Peter, Jane, Tim, Cris, Leslie, Jayne, John, Joe,Steven, Pete, Charlotte, Pat, Bob, Jennifer, John, Elise, Debbie, Chris, Mike, Gary, Sandie, Rebecca, Tod, Roman, Ann, Kaye, George, Kelly, Laurie,Susan, Betsy, Ray, Michelle, Teri, Amy, Betty, Dawn, Charli, Sully, Wells, Dave, Sharon, Jamison, Chuck, Melanie, Neil, Ben, Abby, Candy, Bruce, Marcy, Helen, Leah, Steve, Spencer, Ari, Kenji, Tom and all those who have asked for our prayers but prefer not to be named.