THE EPISTLE:

September 24, 2026

Plenty Good Room

Fall is coming and at St. Thomas that means both Lobsterfest and our annual Stewardship campaign are not far behind! Our 2026 “Plenty Good Room” Stewardship campaign will kick off Sunday, October 4th with an introduction by our Stewardship Chair, Bryan Dodson, at all three services. Shortly after, keep an eye on your mailbox for a letter from your Rector and Senior Warden along with your 2027 pledge card. Throughout October there will be brief stewardship remarks at all three services by your fellow parishioners. Our campaign will conclude on All Saints Day, November 1, 2026, with the Ingathering and Blessing of our Pledge cards. Please begin prayerfully considering your response to our 2027 Plenty Good Room pledge campaign.



Pub Theology is

TONIGHT, September 24, at 6 PM



Make plans to join us tonight at PaPPo's Pizzeria (7540 Memorial Parkway SW, Huntsville 35802) for our monthly Everybody's Pub Theology. TONIGHT'S THEME WILL BE AN OLD FASHIONED 'STUMP THE PRIEST' COMPETITION! Bring your toughest church, Bible, saints, theology, Episcopal questions and see if you can stump Fr. Donavan and Rev'd Jeannie!



Join us at 6:00 pm for great fellowship, good food, good drinks, and hearty discussion TONIGHT! 

Next Pop-Up Market & Blood Drive:

THIS SATURDAY, September 26!

The Bailey Cove Farmers' Market will have their first fall pop-up market on Saturday, September 26 from 8 am until 12 pm. The LifeSouth Bloodmobile will be here during that time as well. Start of your weekend by buying local and helping to save a life! Save the dates of October 24 and November 21 for the remaining Bailey Cove Farmers' Market Fall Pop-ups.

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

One of our own is currently a patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and St. Thomas is continuing its efforts in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Support Gideon C. and his family by joining Team Gideon to walk 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 members are joining Gideon's family in the walk. We are meeting at the corner of Church Street and the Big Spring Park Walking Trail (in front of the Cozy Cow). Contact Youth Minister, Ethan, via his email or Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth, via her email if your family would like to participate.

House Dedication This Saturday

The beautiful Habitat for Humanity house at 206 Lake Drive will be dedicated to God, and the keys will be given to its owner Katrina on Saturday, September 26 at 9 am. Everyone is invited to this house dedication, which marks the third house St. Thomas has helped build on Lake Drive. For more information, call Elouisa Stokes at 256-604-8669.

Join us on September 26

St. Thomas Presents pianist Jackson Love in concert on Saturday, September 26 at 4 pm. Make plans to join us in the Nave as he entertains us with pieces from classical to Broadway.

Jackson is a pianist, composer, and proud native Huntsvillian! He earned his BM from the University of Alabama-Huntsville and his MM in Theory and Composition from Southern Illinois University- Carbondale. He collaborates frequently with the Huntsville Ballet Company as composer and company pianist. He has written three ballets for the company, including two which will be performed at the beginning of the Fall '26 season. He is the staff pianist at First Christian Church.

YP & EYC Both Meet

on September 27

St. Thomas Youth, save the date- September 27- for special opportunities for fellowship.

Grab a hammer and some nails because it's time to kick off our new 6th-8th grade YP group and build some birdhouses! In preparation for the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, we will be constructing houses for blue birds from 12-2pm on September 27! Youth will learn about blue birds as well as how to handle some basic tools! Lunch and building materials will be provided. Join us in the Youth Room!

Ninth-12th graders, prepare for the return of the fan favorite EYC activity: Grog. This game combines freeze tag, hide and seek, and a scavenger hunt, all in the dark! To allow for the smallest amount of light for the game, we will have EYC from 6-8pm on September 27. We will meet in the Youth Room for dinner.

Next Gathering on

September 28 at 7 pm

The Esau Society invites you to their next gathering on Monday, September 28 at 7 pm in the Parish Hall. They meet on the second and fourth Mondays of each month in the Parish Hall for poker and fellowship. Each player donates $40 for the season. The winner of the season decides where we donate the money.

Graham Arnold won the summer session (his first win!) and donated the proceeds to the Stewardship of Creation account to further the Aldridge Creek Greenway project under the Creation Care Committee. We enjoyed our first night of the fall season this past Monday with good fellowship and games.

Soups & Savories Is Calling All Chefs!

Calling all chefs! Want to help out Lobsterfest but can't handle the crowds? Soups and Savories (S&S) is your best bet! Every year volunteer chefs prepare and freeze one or more very special and delicious dishes (four to choose from). These dishes are pre-sold on the Lobsterfest webstore. As an S&S Chef, you need to SIGN UP (clipboards and materials in Information Hall) for a specific dish or dishes, then take home the recipes, labels and containers. Prepare, label and freeze your dishes, then stash them in the Walk-In Freezer at church between Sunday, October 18 and Sunday, November 8. This year, I am ably assisted by Gwen Munroe (256-479-5362) or Sonya Carrier (601-917-9039) in October while I'm away. Please contact one of these fine ladies if you have questions in October. I'm back on board November 4th to see us through the season of Lobsterfest.

-- Frances Steel, Soups & Savories Chair; (256) 508-0133. 

Lobsterfest 5K

Don't forget to register to run or walk in the Lobsterfest 5K at 8 am on Saturday, November 7! Go to this link on RunSignUp to register or use the QR code below.

Interested in becoming a Lobsterfest 5K Sponsor? Check out this year's sponsorship levels in the graphic below and then scan the QR code or click here to donate.

St. Thomas Creates at the Lobsterfest Artisan Fair welcomes your creations!

Do you realize that Lobsterfest is only two months away? Last year, the St. Thomas Creates booth at the Artisan Fair was a resounding success. We will once again be looking for hand-made creations from our talented congregation. Perhaps you would like to donate something you've created to Lobsterfest. This is just a little reminder to start thinking about what you might like to create this year, so you can plan ahead and get to work before November 14 arrives . Contact Donna Clark via her email with any questions.

Lobsterfest Merch Is Here!

Stop by to see King Zach and Queen Lila to purchase this year’s official Lobsterfest gear between the 8:00 am and 10:30 am Sunday services (with 5:00 pm service dates coming soon). We’ll have fresh T-shirts, koozies, and stickers ready for you. While we have plenty of shirts, our stock of koozies and stickers is limited—so be sure to grab yours early before they're gone! We gladly accept cash, check, or card.

We’ll be sharing fresh updates in the Epistle as we count down to the big day-- November 14!

UPCOMING

Save the Date

October 4 at 3 PM

This year, St. Thomas will celebrate the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, by hosting a Blessing of the Animals and Trees. Make plans for you and your pets to join us at 3 pm on Sunday, October 4 under the trees on the north side of the property. We'll bless animals of all kinds-- the 4-legged kind, the swimmers, the crawlers and the hoppers. We'll then move to the trees planted along the Aldridge Creek Greenway in a project involving our Creation Care Committee and bless them and

Youth Dog Wash

October 4 from 1:30 PM - 2:40 PM

Is your dog in need of a bath? Do you want them to look clean as a whistle for the Blessing of the Animals? Then bring them on down to Saint Thomas for a bath! The Youth will be taking donations for the Greater Huntsville Humane Society in exchange for washing your canine family member on October 4 from 1:30-2:40 pm. Suggested donations for the wash are $5 for small dogs and $10 for large dogs. Washes will be first come, first serve. The wash will end at 2:40 pm. Blessing of the Animals follows the Dog Wash at 3:00 pm. While we would love to see your cats and exotic pets at the Blessing of the Animals, we will not be washing them before the service.

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.



Next Book Club

October 12 at 10 AM

The Monthly Book Club is reading In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende for their October 12 meeting at 10 am in the Parlor. 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!

Youth Christmas Conference (Dec. 28-30)

Registration Open

All 10-12th grade Youth are invited to Christmas Conference at Camp McDowell on December 28-30th at Camp McDowell! This year’s program is “Unwrapping Your Faith,” which will be led by Bishop Richard Lawson. Registration and more information can be found in this link. Contact Grace Turner at alabamayouth@gmail.com with questions or for more information.

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. Email our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor, here for more information.



Middle Schoolers are encouraged to join our new Sunday School class just for them (6th-8th graders)! Titled Expanding Our Roots, and led by Kathleen Brewer and Kathie Clayton, we will meet in the new Middle School classroom in Hudson Hall.

Ninth-12th graders, please join us in the Youth Room for the senior high Sunday School titled Sharing the Fruits led by Ethan Evans. Contact Ethan Evans here if you have questions.

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 learn how the connect process begins when someone goes to the First Stop Day Center.

Once a homeless person goes to the First Stop Day Center on Stokes Street, our connect process begins. We entice the new client to continue visiting the Day Center by offering free meals 5 days a week, a shower, clean and secure restrooms, phone chargers, visits by medical and mental health providers, vital records, fulfillment of prescriptions, and more.

Some enticements (vital records, prescriptions, etc.) require meeting a Case Manager, providing a deeper connect point. The Case Manager begins a series of interviews, opens a Charity Tracker record, and continues to build trust and rapport. We hope that building the relationship between the client and First Stop leads to the client subscribing to an informed service plan that can overcome barriers to becoming housed, thereby empowering them to reach independent, sustainable living.

Connecting with purpose-- continuing to build trust, demonstrating concern-- open a path to Independent Sustainable Living.

This Afternoon, Thursday, September 24

4 pm- Centering Prayer, Crossroads Room

Friday, September 25

10:47 am- Bible Study, Conference Room

Sunday, September 27

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 28

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

Wednesday, September 30

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

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

Thursday, October 1

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