Parish Email for Friday, 12 June 2020 | St Thomas' Episcopal Church

Dear St. Thomas’,

The St. Thomas’ Stay Safe Committee has begun its work together! We are developing a plan for how St. Thomas’ will begin to gather on our campus once more.

The very first step of the committee’s work is to gather a representative sample of your opinions about what it might look like for us to safely gather again. You may receive a call this weekend asking questions about that. Your answers will help shape our next steps toward opening our campus again.

I want to be very clear: this will not be a fast process. It requires we develop a plan ahead of time and gain approval for that plan from the Bishop’s office. Our prayer is that it will be a safe process as we respect the life (and health!) of every human being.

Faithfully,

Todd+

Kitchen of Hope’s mission of combating food insecurity is more important than ever during this time of mass unemployment. Therefore we will be offering food distributions on two different Saturdays in June: the second and the fourth (13 June and 27 June). Volunteers are needed but you must sign up with Vivian H. and come only during your assigned shift so that we may continue to comply with state and Diocesan guidelines on social distancing!

Vestry meets this Thursday, 18 June, at 7.30pm.

If you’re wondering whether the Parish Cookbook is still happening, it is! Keep sending in your recipes! We want to see them! Send in as many as you like, there is no limit. Email them to Sarah T. or mail them to the church and we will get them to her!

We would like to send our heartfelt thanks for your cards, phone calls, and emails during Tom’s mom’s illness and passing. They helped sustain us during this most difficult time. In a time when “keeping your distance” prevented us from making traditional funeral arrangements, it was so nice to feel the love of our St. Thomas family. – Tom, Gretchen, Tommy, Daniel. Rachael, & Matthew Owen

I would like to thank everyone for the prayers I have received. They are greatly appreciated. Also I have become a great grandmother for the 13th time. My son Stevens daughter made him a grandpop for the first time. The baby’s name is Stella Rose. Thank you all, Dot Bohl

Announcements for the bulletin or parish email are due into the office by noon on Wednesday of each week. You can email them to office@stthomasglassboro.org or call the office at 856-881-9144. Announcements are subject to editing due to limited space.

Lectionary readings for this week: Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7), Psalm 116:1, 10-17, Romans 5:1-8, Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)

Lectionary readings for next week: Genesis 21:8-21, Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17, Romans 6:1b-11, Matthew 10:24-39

Please continue in your daily prayers for: Dennis, Marge, Don, Brad, Joann, Ruth, Chuck, Jim, Medical Personnel threatened, sickened, and dying from their service to patients with Covid-19, Roy, Bryan, Tracy, Sandy, Catherine, Michelle, Kris, Owen Family, Tom, Gwendolyn, Simkins Family, Family of Dorothy Johnson, Tracy, Karen, Dave, Eunice, Darrell, Janet, Jade, Chris, Jimmy, Andrea, Leann, Family of Adriel, Jimmy, Debbie, Mike, Kim, Joan, Charles, Stormy, Tommy, Riley, Sandy, Steven

This Weekend Online

Saturday, 5.30pm: Evening Prayer
With Sunday lessons & homily.
Sunday, 9.00am: Sunday School for Children
Sunday, 10.00am: Coffee Hour
We’ll leave Zoom running in case you want to visit for a little while.
Sunday, 11.15am: Holy Eucharist with Spiritual Communion
at the Washington National Cathedral

Weekdays Online

Daily Morning Prayer (Monday through Saturday)
Podcasts (currently: Sheer Christianity)
Nightly Compline with our neighbors at St. Stephen’s, Mullica Hill
(Monday through Friday)
Monday, 4pm: Centering Prayer
Tuesday, Noon: Coffee Hour
Wednesday, 6.30pm: Prayer in the Evening
Check-in and a brief (5-minute) service of prayer.
Wednesday, 7.00pm: Bible Study with Bishop Stokes

Events hosted by St. Thomas’ are accessed via Zoom: instructions here.

Hospitality Table Many thanks to Vivian Hanson, Sarah Ternay, Elaine Lucius, and many others who helped St. Thomas’ show hospitality to the protestors who gathered across the street last Sunday to begin their 9 mile march to Deptford. Several from St. Thomas’ participated in the peaceful protest, advocating for justice and equity for every human being, thinking especially in this season of black lives.

NOTE: The flyer below is for an event that is not sponsored by St. Thomas’. You are urged to consider carefully your own motivations, boundaries, and responsibilities for the health of yourself and others. Protests are a time-honored tradition for societal renewal and reform; but they are extra dangerous in the era of Covid-19. Please use extreme caution in deciding whether this is something in which you are called to participate. For more details, see the event information on Instagram.

Are you looking for ways to get involved from the safety of your home? Fear not! The Episcopal Church has tons of ideas you can act on to make a positive response against racist violence!

Are you curious what the Episcopal Church has to say about racism? See motions from General Convention about the topics:

And a special page, chock-full of resources: Responding to Racist Violence or highlights suitable for printing.

Essay and resources from Kids4Peace (an international organization led by an Episcopal priest)

A resource list from Holy Trinity, Wenonah.

There are many, many more possibilties out there. Take a look!

The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey Anti-Racism Ministry invites you to take advantage of these sequestered and less scheduled days to enroll in 20 hours of virtual Anti-Racism Training streamed to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. The training takes a historical approach to help participants understand systemic racism and empower them to confront and organize against racism, inequality, and injustice. Lecture and discussion topics include “What is Race?”, “Systemic Racism and White Privilege,” “Internalized Racism,” “The Role of the Church,” “Settler Colonialism,” “Racism in Immigration and Naturalization Legislation,” and “The Prison Industrial Complex.”

The training begins on July 10 with a Zoom videoconference plenary group session to introduce participants and instructors, schedule and program layout, requirements to receive a certificate at the end of the course, and opening exercises. Each subsequent day through July 31, participants will be presented with recorded lessons, lectures, and live interactive discussions via Zoom and Moodle, an online training platform.

Participation is required in four Friday Zoom group meetings:

July 10, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
July 17 7:00 to 9:00 PM
July 24, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
July 31, 7:00 to 9:00 PM

Contact Father Todd if you would like scholarship help! This is an excellent resource!

We celebrate the saints:

Evelyn Underhill
Mystic & Writer, 1941

This Week at St. Thomas’

SINCE FRIDAY, MARCH 13 BUILDINGS CLOSED – NO EVENTS ON CAMPUS
MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY DAILY OFFICE The Daily Office is the cycle of prayers traditional to Christians (and Jews before us!) that we see hinted at in the Psalms and elsewhere. Join St. Thomas’ as we pray, Monday through Saturday. Morning Prayer is posted online each morning at 5am. You can listen to it at whatever time suits you. Compline (bed-time prayers) meets live online at 9pm.

See a list of upcoming events or check them out on a calendar.