THE EPISTLE:

April 3, 2025

Pi Kappa Alpha Fundraiser Crawfish Boil

Pi Kappa Alpha Fundraiser

THIS Saturday, April 5 at St. Thomas

Come out to St. Thomas this Saturday, April 5, for some good food and tunes. Join us for Rajun Cajun, an exciting community event hosted by Pi Kappa Alpha, featuring an authentic Cajun crawfish boil! All proceeds will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, supporting critical diabetes research. Enjoy a day of delicious food, lively music, and fun activities for the entire family. For those on the go, we also offer a convenient drive-thru option, so you can take home fantastic Cajun cuisine. CLICK HERE or visit rajuncajunhsv.com for more info and to pre-order your meal!

Racial Healing Pilgrimage

The Scottsboro Boys

THIS Saturday, April 5,

11 AM - 2 PM

Our brothers and sisters in the southern part of our diocese invite folks to come walk the Jonathan Daniels pilgrimage in August. We would love your support and to invite folks here, to the "Northern Kingdom", to walk the way of a pilgrim, on a moral pilgrimage April 5. 

Kim Cantrell is driving the church van to Scottsboro to help shuttle volunteers and walkers. If you would like a ride to and from Scottsboro, please call the front office and reserve your spot. Please note that she will be leaving the church at 9 AM.

If you would like to join, please register HERE. Volunteers are needed for this event to be successful. Please consider ways you can help and CLICK HERE to sign-up.

Praying the Rosary TOMORROW, Friday,

April 4

We continue to Pray the Rosary in Lent every other Friday at 12:05 pm. 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.

We will pray the Rosary Good Friday, April 18, at 11 am.

Newcomer's Class with Fr. Donavan

Newcomer's Class

THIS Sunday, April 6, 9:30 AM

Conference Room 1

Are you new to St. Thomas? Newcomers to St. Thomas, please join Fr. Donavan on April 6 at 9:30 after breakfast in Conference Room 1 for a brief introduction to the Episcopal Church. Simply follow the blue signs!

Sunday "Come As You Are" Eucharist with Dinner

"Come As You Are"

5pm Holy Eucharist and Dinner THIS Sunday, April 6

This Sunday, and every Sunday, at 5pm in the Nave, you are invited to the "Come As You Are" Holy Eucharist at St. Thomas. The 5pm Holy Eucharist features joyful hymns from the Alleluia III hymnal, special gospel music chosen by our amazing pianist and organist, Sam Wright, and casual sermons preached from the floor.

Monthly Diners Wanted!

There are a great many new folks at St. Thomas, as well as folks we never had the opportunity to get to know, and longtime members we've lost touch with. We were disappointed when the Sunday Suppers ended, so this past summer we decided we would work together to try to keep the Sunday Suppers going on the first Sunday of each month. We appreciate all the folks who have volunteered to provide the delicious entrees, side dishes, and desserts. We've been fortunate to be able to say we have been able to serve some really delicious meals, and we are going to keep on doing so as long as we have folks to continue volunteer to provide some part of the meal.

What we also need is people to show up for the dinners! If you come to church at 5:00, please stay. If you are a part of our parish family, please come and join us. We know of at least one person who joins us for every Sunday Supper because she enjoys the meals and the fellowship. We hope more folks will do the same.

We look forward to seeing you this Sunday at the Sunday Supper!

Seder Supper, Tuesday, April 15

Sign-up THIS SUNDAY in Information Hall

Seder is a serious and joyful event where the Passover story from the Bible is retold. Looking to our Jewish roots, we tell the Exodus story, with its themes of power and mercy, bondage and freedom, hope and despair. This is much like the spiritual journey that we continue in our lives today. Observing the Seder reminds us, as modern-day Christians, of the story of God and His people of which we are a part. Seder is a service interspersed with a dinner (lamb, chicken, or vegetarian), which concludes as the meal ends. We follow the traditional Jewish Seder, remembering that at the Last Supper, Jesus celebrated Seder with his disciples.  

Our Seder this year is on Holy Tuesday, April 15, at 6pm in the Parish Hall. The meal will be provided for a donation of $12 per adult and $5 per child. Since we need to order meat, reservations should be made by Thursday, April 10 either online through the LINK HERE or by signing up in Information Hall.

We also need volunteers to help set up the Parish Hall, cook the meal, plate the food that is set on the table for the service, serve the meal, and clean up. Volunteer sign-up sheets are also on the Information Hall Bulletin Board. Contact Mike or Laura Beth Bestor via EMAIL HERE if you have any questions.  

Easter Sunday Brunch

Sign up THIS SUNDAY to bring your Deviled Eggs to the Easter Brunch!

Sign-up sheets will go up this weekend for help with the annual Easter brunch this Easter Sunday, April 20th! The brunch will be held between the two Easter services this year, from 9:00 - 10:15 am. Deviled eggs, sliced ham, hot cross rolls, fruit salad, hot pineapple casserole, punch, and champagne mimosas will be served.

Donations of deviled eggs and fruit salad needed!

Deviled egg trays will be handed out Sundays, April 6 and April 13, between services. We only need as many deviled eggs as we have trays – 20 dozen – and we will need 25 people to donate fruit bowls with 4-6 servings each. All other items will be provided by the church. We are excited to celebrate this joyous occasion with out church family!

Plan to join us at this festival brunch to celebrate a glorious Easter morning! Grab a bite, say Happy Easter, then make room for others to do the same!

Easter Flower Donations

Easter Flower Donations

Easter flower dedication envelopes are in the pews if you'd like to make a donation in honor, memory, or in thanksgiving of someone special. Dedications are a wonderful way to both beautify our church and honor loves ones. Please print legibly and with correct spelling. Simply place the envelope in the offertory plate or with the church office. Donations require a $50 minimum and must be received by Tuesday, April 15.

"Palms and Pizza"

Saturday, April 12

All ages are welcome to join Mtr. Katie in the Parish Hall on Saturday, April 12th at 5pm for Palms and Pizza, to enjoy a supper of pizza and make palm crosses together as we prepare to begin Holy Week!

A Choral Meditation on the Passion of Christ

Good Friday, April 18

6:00 pm

Join us for this beautiful service of lessons and music to continue the observance of Holy Week. The service was designed in 1985 by the Dean of Chapel, the Rev. Andrew Macintosh, and the Organist, George Guest, at Cambridge University. The students of Cambridge University are not present during Holy Week, so a service was designed for the St. John’s College community to reflect on the mysteries of this key part of the Christian story beforehand.

This service has been a tradition at St. Thomas which started in the 1990's as a Good Friday offering and is now returning to its Good Friday spot in our Holy Week Services.

Music will include several Christmas Carols that reference Christ’s passion, as well as other music written especially for Holy Week such as: "I Wonder as I Wander" - arr. John Rutter, "Bethlehem Down" - Peter Warlock, "That Virgin’s Child" – Thomas Tallis, "Sing Lullaby" – Basque, "Carol of the Passion" – Gerald Near, "Stabat Mater" -Giovanni Pergolesi, "Solus ad Victimam"- Kenneth Leighton

This contemplative service will also include congregational hymns and readings from the prophecies and Passion Gospels.

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 19 at 10:30 AM

Drop Candy Donations in Information Hall

Join us at 10:30 am on Saturday, April 19, for the Annual St. Thomas Easter Egg Hunt! Come take a picture with the St. Thomas Easter bunny, and stay for a hot dog lunch after filling your Easter baskets.  Let your friends and grandchildren know!

Don't forget to help out the St. Thomas Easter Bunny by bringing small treats or wrapped candy to fill Easter eggs. We would appreciate the goodies before 9:30am on Palm Sunday, April 13, so our Youth can stuff the eggs during Christian Formation hour. Contact our Children's Ministry Coordinator at children@stthomashuntsville.org if you have any questions.

UPCOMING

Spring Cleanup Day set for April 12th

Spring Cleanup Day

Saturday, April 12 at 8 AM

Everyone is invited to help with Spring Cleanup! This is the time of year we do a little spring maintenance and clean the grounds in preparation for Easter. We will meet at 8:00 AM in the Parish Hall. A light breakfast will be provided. Bring your favorite pair of work gloves and gardening tools, and let’s make St. Thomas beautiful for Easter!

Book Club

April 14 at 10 AM in the Parlor

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

The St. Thomas Book Club will meet on April 14 at 10 am in the Parlor. We are reading Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig, which is a novel based on the story about a group of women from Smith College who risked their lives in France during WWII. Everyone is invited to join us. For information call 256-604-8669.

Patterson Place Fundraiser

Dine with a Purpose

Thursday, May 1

Come support the Citizens of Patterson Place at their Dine with a Purpose fundraiser May 1st at The Jackson Center. There will be live music, fellowship, testimonies and celebrations. You can purchase your tickets on the website before April 25th. Visit pattersonplaceal.org for more information. You can also email eclark@pattersonplaceal.org for questions. 

Invite, Welcome, Connect Ministry

Newcomer Social

Friday, May 2

Calling all Newcomers to St. Thomas! If you've joined the church in the last year, the Invite, Welcome, and Connect Ministry invites you to a Newcomer's Social. Please join us Friday, May 2 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in the Narthex for heavy hors d'oeuvres, desserts, beer, wine, and soft drinks. Come mingle with other Newcomers, meet members of the IWC and the clergy, and have a great time!

Explore Greek Orthodoxy and Episcopalian Faith Together Featuring Special Guest

Mtr. Katie’s parish hall class on ecumenism and Greek Orthodoxy continues with a SPECIAL GUEST this Sunday, Charles Kirk-Costas (Mr. Mtr. Katie)! In class you’ll have the opportunity to write down questions for Q&A, and you can also submit them in advance to associate@stthomashuntsville.org. If we do not receive enough (POLITE) questions, our guest has promised un-skippable dialogue about Byzantine Chant Facts.

Lenten Series on The Great Divorce

We'll finish our Lenten Series next Wednesday in Lent at 6:15 PM in the Parish Hall with a deep dive into C.S. Lewis' classic, The Great Divorce. This short novel follows the tale of an observer who steps onto a bus in the "Gray Town" of Hell to travel with troubled souls to the possibility of entrance into Heaven! In the masterful way for which C.S. Lewis is known, Lewis opens up the struggles all of us have with sin and faith; he completely turns the traditional Christian ideas of Heaven and hell on their head without ever turning away from the Bible and the church's teachings. A special Taize Worship Service will begin each Wednesday program at 5:30 PM in the Nave, and a Lenten supper of homemade soup and salad will begin being served in the Parish Hall this year at 5:45 PM. There will be a concurrent Children's Lent program on the Parables that will meet in the Parlor.

Please read chapters 10-14 for next week's final Lenten series discussion.

Taizé Prayer

Wednesdays in Lent 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 fundamental realities of faith that the mind and the heart can easily grasp. The result is to move prayer from the head to the heart gradually.

Children's Chapel and Christian Formation

Children and Youth Christian Formation

See the regularly scheduled Children and Youth Sunday School offerings by simply clicking the link below. You can also find both Adult and Treble Choir rehearsal times and times for Bell Choir rehearsals with just a simple click of the button below!

Habitat for Humanity House

Calling all volunteers! Volunteers are needed for construction of this year’s Habitat house. The address is 4305 Blue Spring Rd NW. Please join in if you are able. Please contact George Harriman at 256-509-6666. We are also looking for a new lead contact person for Habitat for Humanity at St. Thomas, as our dedicated past leader, Elouisa Stokes, has stepped down after many years in that role.

Phone: 256.880.0247

Email: StThomas@stthomashuntsville.org