THE EPISTLE:

September 3, 2026

Did you know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month? St. Thomas is participating in several events this month to support one of our own who is currently a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital patient. Gideon C. was diagnosed with sarcoma earlier this year. He has been undergoing treatment at St. Jude in Memphis and at their satellite location here in Huntsville. Proceeds from these events will benefit the local chapter of St. Jude.

St. Thomas BBQ Bandits Fundraiser

Pick up Sun. Sept. 6 & Mon. Sept. 7

The BBQ Bandits are firing up the smoker for their annual Labor Day Weekend event. Due to the church schedule, pick up is on Sunday, September 6 and Monday, September 7 from noon until 2 pm. Check out what's available to purchase on the BBQ Bandits webstore. Email the BBQ Bandits here to be included on their distribution list!

Join Team Gideon in the St. Jude Walk on September 26

Support Team Gideon by walking Big Spring Park in downtown Huntsville on Saturday, September 26. The event opens at 9 am, the walk starts at 10 am, and there is a celebration at 10:30 am. Click here to join the walk in person or virtually. You can also donate to Team Gideon through the link.

St. Thomas Youth and Children's Ministries are forming a group to join Gideon's family in the walk. Contact Youth Minister, Ethan, via his email or Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth, via her email if your family would like to participate.

Notecard Fundraiser

The St. Thomas Children and Youth Ministries have designed notecards for a vestry approved fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We are offering two different packages, each with 10 notecards and envelopes (5.5 in. x 4.25 in.) for $10 per package. Previews of the Creation and Reflections packages are provided below. Pre-order your card packs by Friday, September 18 via this link or stop by Information Hall on your way to breakfast for the next two Sunday mornings. We plan to have pre-ordered card packages available for pickup starting Sunday, September 27. Contact our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth, via her email or our Youth Minister, Ethan, via his email or if your family would like to participate.

Pray the Rosary Friday at

12:05 PM



Join us to pray the Rosary tomorrow, September 4, and every other Friday at 12:05 pm in the Nave of the church. Each prayer session lasts around half an hour and includes the reading of each scripture passage for the five decades of either the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, or Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. If you’ve never prayed the Rosary before, we always have Rosary beads available and written directions to help you fully participate in this meaningful, scriptural, and contemplative prayer practice.



Adult Formation Class: ONE FAITH, MANY MEMBERS - Different Denominations & the Episcopal Church

Fr. Donavan is leading our Adult Christian Formation class on Sunday mornings in the Parish Hall. We are discussing different Christian church denominations- where each denomination comes from, how they have developed in the United States and their presence here in North Alabama, and how each one is related to and different from our Episcopal Church. Each week, Fr. Donavan, who himself grew up in Baptist & Pentecostal Churches, will invite anyone who comes from another denomination to share their own memories and to discuss what brought them to the Episcopal Church and to St. Thomas. So if you’d like to know what makes a Baptist different from a Presbyterian or a Missouri Synod Lutheran different from a ELCA Lutheran, or if you’d just like to be prepared to explain what makes the Episcopal Church different but also similar to the Disciples of Christ Church your neighbor attends, then this is a conversation you will not want to meet! Join us this Sunday and throughout the month of September at 9:35 am in the Parish Hall! 

Children and Youth Sunday School

The Children's Ministry invites you to Sunday School from 9:30 am - 10:15 am. For pre-K through 1st graders, Ms. Renee' is leading our Godly Play class in Hiers 4. Second through 5th graders participate in the Love First class led by Ms. Laura Beth in Hiers 2. We can use a few volunteers to assist or substitute throughout the year. Email our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor, here if you are interested in helping or if you have questions.



This year, we have a new Sunday School class just for our middle schoolers (6th-8th graders) titled Expanding Our Roots. It is led by Kathleen Brewer and Kathie Clayton. 9-12th graders, please join us for the senior high Sunday School titled Sharing the Fruits led by Ethan Evans. Both Youth classes will meet in the Youth Room on August 30 from 9:30 am-10:15 am for the first Sunday School class of the year. On September 6, Expanding Our Roots will be in the new Middle School classroom in Hudson Hall and Sharing the Fruits will be in the Youth Room. Email our Youth Minister, Ethan Evans, here if you have questions.

Eucharist for

New EfM Program Year

September 8 at 6:15 PM

All Education for Ministry (EfM) graduates, former EfM participants, and friends of EfM are invited to join us for a Eucharist on Tuesday, September 8 at 6:15 pm in the Nave as EfM starts our new program year.  Please join us if you are able. 

EfM’s regular group meetings resume on Tuesday, September 8 following the Eucharist.  The regular meetings will be each week on Tuesdays at 6:15 pm.

UPCOMING

Make plans to join us on

September 12

Make plans to join us on Saturday, September 12 from 9 am to 1 pm. "An Introduction to Centering Prayer" will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 12200 Bailey Cove Road, Huntsville, AL. Members of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Homewood, Alabama will be conducting this free program collaborating with Church of the Nativity, St. Thomas, and Contemplative Outreach Ltd. 

Next Book Club

September 14 at 10 AM

The Monthly Book Club is looking forward to This Is Happiness by Niall Williams. We will discuss that on September 14 in the Parlor at St. Thomas at 10 am. We are glad to have folks from outside St. Thomas so if you know someone who would like to join us, please invite them. Some of us go to lunch afterward. Come meet fellow book lovers!

Next Showtime: September 17,

1 PM

As a thank you to Dolly Parton and all that she gave us throughout her life, the Silver Saints wish to nostalgically run the epic movie, Nine-to-Five, which offers a cute, fun, and delightful Dolly-type story. This movie, starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Dabney Coleman, and others offers a satire about three female secretaries and a bad boss who ”must go down.” You remember it being funny. Come laugh again and join us in the St. Thomas Parish Hall at 1:00 pm on Thursday, September 17, 2026.

As always, the Silver Saints Movie Matinee offers fun and fellowship with our parishioners and visitors much like going to a theater, but free. We offer snacks and beverages, and we will even pick you up and return you home if you wish. We offer comfortable seating and a time-out break half way through the movie. Friends and neighbors are welcome to attend. Call the church office at least 24 hours in advance if you need a ride.



Save the Date- September 26

St. Thomas Presents pianist Jackson Love in concert on Saturday, September 26 at 4 pm. Make plans to join us!



Sign up for this year's Adult Confirmation Class, beginning this October

Adults who are interested in Confirmation or Reception into the Episcopal Church, as well as any St. Thomas parishioner wishing to Reaffirm their faith, are invited to sign up NOW for classes beginning later in the Fall. 

This year, Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation will be offered in a very special worship service on Lobsterfest Sunday, November 15th. This will be the first visit of our new Bishop Richard Lawson to St. Thomas. Fr. Donavan and Deacon Dave will offer an Adult Confirmation class with a light luncheon each Sunday, beginning October 18th, immediately following the 10:30 am Holy Eucharist. The class will run from October 18th through November 8th this year.

To get on the list this year, please send an email to Kathie in the church office by clicking here. And if you have questions about confirmation, reception, or reaffirmation, email Fr. Donavan here or simply catch him or Deacon Dave any Sunday before or after the church services.

If you have a youth who wants to be confirmed, please contact either Ethan Evans here or Laura Beth Bestor here.



First Stop Explained

By Tim Davis, Board of Directors, First Stop



We continue to learn how First Stop Encounters, Connects, and Empowers Huntsville's homeless to Independent Sustainable Living. This week, we focus on Encounter.

First Stop encounters people on the streets and in camps for two purposes. The first purpose is to assist people with urgent needs. Year-round that means food for the day (our well-known “snack packs”), water, hygiene materials, replacement tents, and sleeping bags. And, when Huntsville Hospital is available, medical aid and referrals are provided. Likewise, when Wellstone is available, mental health aid, referrals and prescription medicines are provided.

During the summer months, we focus on hydration drinks, suntan lotion, insect repellent and other warm season supplies. During the winter, coats and jackets, hats, gloves, and socks, ChapStick, and hands/toes warmers are made immediately available. Especially in the winter, we replace lost or damaged tents and sleeping bags as quickly as possible.

This first purpose leads directly to our second purpose: establish trust and rapport to encourage these homeless people to come to the Day Center, where we can begin to connect them to important services. Always --- a step towards Independent Sustainable Living.

This Afternoon, Thursday, September 3

4 pm- Centering Prayer, Crossroads Room

Friday, September 4

10:47am- Bible Study, Conference Room

12:05pm- Pray the Rosary, Nave

Sunday, September 6

8 am- Holy Eucharist Rite II, Nave

9:30 am- Christian Formation for Adults, Youth, & Children (Parish Hall, Youth Room, Hiers Hall)

10:30 am- Holy Eucharist Rite II with Children's Moment & Children's Chapel, Nave

5 pm- "Come As You Are" Holy Eucharist, Nave

Monday, September 7

8 pm- Compline (Book of Common Prayer, page 127) with Rev. Jeannie on Facebook page link here

Wednesday, September 9

9:30 am- Bible Study with Fr. Donavan - The Gospel of John, Conference Room

5 pm- Bible Study with Fr. Donavan - Lectionary, Library

Thursday, September 10

7 am- Morning Prayer, St. Anne's Chapel in Hiers Hall

4 pm- Centering Prayer, Crossroads Room

Phone: 256.880.0247

Email: StThomas@stthomashuntsville.org