THE EPISTLE:

February 8, 2024

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER! BBQ Bandits Super Bowl Drive benefiting First Stop

The BBQ Bandits are about to fire up the smoker TODAY for the annual Super Bowl BBQ event benefiting First Stop. This year’s event is THIS WEEKEND (Feb 10-11), and your LAST CHANCE to check out Charlie’s menu items and pick up information is TODAY & TOMORROW! The website is still available for online orders at https://st-thomas-bbq-bandits.square.site. If you are not on our distribution list, please email us at stthomasbbq@gmail.com.

LENT BEGINS NEXT WEEK:

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

February 13th & 14th

SHROVE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13: Join us for our Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras dinner, from 5:30pm-7pm. We will be serving our traditional pancakes and Louisiana gumbo! There will be a special craft activity for the children, and we will watch the "Kiddie Krewe" parade as we head outside for the burning of the palms that will be used for Ash Wednesday and the burying of the "Alleluia Banner". Donations accepted.

YOUTH COOKING & CLEANING KREWE HELP

Youth in grades 6-12 are needed for Feb 13, 4-8 pm. RSVP to Jeannie at jrann228@gmail.com.

MARDI GRAS KIDDIE KREWE PARADE

Starting at 6:15pm, the Kiddie Krewe will be donning their crafty creations and leading the parade out to Lobster Alley for Burying the Alleluia and Burning of the Palms.

ASH WEDNESDAY HOLY EUCHARIST WITH IMPOSITION OF ASHES, FEBRUARY 14, 7am, 12pm, & 6pm: St. Thomas will enter into the Lenten Season again this year with three Ash Wednesday services inside the church on February 14th. The Ash Wednesday liturgy will include the Imposition of Ashes & Holy Communion and will be offered at 7am, Noon, and 6pm. The 6pm Ash Wednesday liturgy will include special music by the St. Thomas Choir. Come begin your Holy Lent on Ash Wednesday here at St. Thomas.

Realm 101 Class THIS SUNDAY: Come Help St. Thomas reach our Lenten Goal to get EVERYONE on Realm in 40 Days!

This Sunday morning during the regular Adult Christian Formation hour in the Parish Hall, starting at 9:30am, join Fr. Donavan and members of the IWC (Invite, Welcome, Connect) Committee for a special "Realm 101" instructional class! Realm is our Church's central computer software which handles everything from membership to financial giving to groups and ministries. St. Thomas has just made Realm easily accessible to our entire parish through the church website, and once everyone signs on, you will have the opportunity to view an online and updated pictorial directory for all of St. Thomas! You will also be able to keep up with giving and get registered directly for any St. Thomas events or programs.

And we believe in our Realm system so much that we want to use the 40 days of Lent to help EVERYONE get onboard. Our kick off to this goal will be this Sunday's "Realm 101" class, in which Fr. Donavan will walk everyone through the website and how to set up your Realm account. Once that's accomplished, there will be sign up sheets on your table or in Information Hall for ANYONE WHO NEEDS ADDITIONAL HELP to get online and set up with Realm. We will also have volunteers ready each Sunday in Lent to take photos for the online directory!

Don't miss this first opportunity to check out Realm online and learn how to set it up and start connecting to your church family better here at St. Thomas!

New Christian Formation Class for Lent begins February 18th: What does it mean to be the 'Church' today?

In the 21st Century, there are perhaps more ideas and understandings about what it means to be a "church" than any other century before. Is a church primarily a place of worship and prayer? Is a church a place for finding and growing needed fellowship and community? Should a church be a place chiefly for Christian outreach and care for the neighborhood, the city, and world? Certainly, all of these descriptions have their important place in the church of today, but is there something more that can bind all the definitions, ideas, and understandings together and keep the church focused and unified in its ultimate purpose and action?

For Lent, Fr. Donavan will be leading anyone who'd like to join him in a deeper conversation on the topic "Church." In addition to the Bible and Church tradition and teaching, Fr. Donavan will also dig into his own experience as priest, pastor, and Rector in the Episcopal Church today and share with us how his own evolving understanding of church shapes his leadership and decisions in ministry with us at St. Thomas.

Save the date NOW and REGISTER for St. Thomas Parish Retreat, March 8-10 at Camp McDowell

Come for one night or two or just come for the day for the return of the St. Thomas Parish Retreat at Camp McDowell on the weekend of March 8 - 10th! We will offer canoeing, hiking, art, a Birds of Prey show, "Meet the Animal" farm tours and activities, and plenty of social time! There will even be a concert by Fr. Donavan on Friday night, March 8th!

You can register HERE Or use the QR Code. Please note that an active Realm account is very helpful (especially if you need to update your registration), but it is not necessary to register for Parish Retreat.

Hope you and your family will join us on March 8 - 10 at Camp McDowell!

St. Thomas Book Club

The Secret Place

Monday, Feb. 12 at 10am

St. Thomas Book Club meets on February 12 at 10am in the Parlor. We are reading The Secret Place by Tana French. Everyone is invited to join us even if you haven't read the book. For more information call Elouisa Stokes at 256-604-8669.

Silver Saints Matinee

80 for Brady

Feb. 15 at 1:00 pm

Come join us for February’s Silver Saints Matinee Movie on Thursday, February 15 at 1:00 PM. We have a really funny and quite recent movie for you this month. Come watch 80 for Brady, with Sally Field, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Tom Brady, as thy chase after Tom Brady at the Superbowl. A fun movie about friendships in an adventure of a lifetime. Senior ladies ROCK!! This is a MUST-SEE.

The Silver Saints Matinee Movie offers you fun and fellowship with snacks and beverages, and we will even transport you if you wish. Comfortable seating and a mid-movie break make it comfortable. Please bring your friends and ask people from our neighborhood. Call Jack or Becky Stokes at 256-881-4748 or the church office with questions or requests. Please call 24 hours ahead if you will need a ride.

Pray the Rosary with Fr. Donavan, Friday, February 16th

With the great turn out and interest in praying the traditional Rosary during the season of Advent last year, Fr. Donavan is offering a new, twice monthly, Rosary prayer group, which will meets again on Friday, February 16th, at 12 noon in the Nave.

If you'd like to pray the Rosary, join Fr. Donavan again on the first Friday in Lent on February 16th, at 12 noon in the church.

St. Thomas Blood Drive

Sunday, Feb. 18

7:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Looking for something to give up for Lent? How about saving someone’s life! All donors will receive a $25 gift card.

Sign up in Information Hall or Click HERE to sign up online.

Wednesdays in Lent

Taizé Service beginning Feb. 21st at 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 basic realities of faith which can be easily grasped by the mind and the heart. The result is to gradually move prayer from the head to the heart.

2024 Lenten Soup & Salad Series: Satan - The Evolution of Evil in the Bible & in the Church, beginning February 21 at 6pm!

The season of Lent begins every year with the familiar story in Gospels of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the Wilderness.  In the Episcopal Church, the Jesus we encounter in the Lenten Gospel is someone we know well, but Satan, on the other hand, is a Biblical figure who a recent Barna Research Study revealed that only 20% of Episcopalians say they believe in today.  In this 5 part Lenten Soup & Salad Series, Fr. Donavan will lead us through the evolution of Satan in the Bible, from the Old Testament, where “the accuser” appears only a handful of times in changing guises, to the New Testament, where Satan develops more thoroughly into the personification of evil, at war with God and God's angels.  Come learn more about the frightening figure who will haunt Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and a thousand modern horror films.  If you’ve ever had a question about the Devil in modern Christian faith, you won't want to miss this series during Lent!

Soup and salad will be available in the Parish Hall every Wednesday, beginning on February 21st, and Fr. Donavan will begin the program at 6:20pm. A special craft will be available for children each and every Wednesday during the presentation in the Parlor.

Wednesday Lenten Suppers Soup and Salad Sign-up

Looking to take on something for Lent this year?

A soup and salad supper will be served each Wednesday evening during Lent prior to the program “Satan & the Evolution of Evil in the Bible & the Church.” By popular demand, we are bringing back the “team” soup and salad meal prep 2.0.

Here is how it works. Sign-up sheets are available in Information Hall. Each Wednesday during Lent we need six to eight volunteers and one team leader. The entire team will gather in our kitchen and make supper together. The team will prepare a soup du jour, salad, and breads/crackers to serve everyone; then clean up the kitchen after supper is over. The team leader decides and shops for the menu. There will also be a “kitchen coordinator” assigned each week to assist with the process and answer questions

Thank you for Pi Kappa Alpha Dinner

The Lobsterfest Steering committee would like to thank the Daughter’s of the King and all the parishioners that contributed food for the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity dinner on Saturday, February 3rd. Also, we wanted to thank all those that supported the serving of the dinner.

The dinner fed around 30 fraternity guys and their girlfriends. Leftovers were sent home with the guys to feed others that could not make the dinner.

Gently Used Laptop and Kindle Collection for The Companion Diocese Committee

The Companion Diocese Committee would like to ask people to donate gently used Laptops and Kindles to our friends in the Diocese of Honduras. All Donated devices will be refurbished and utilized by students and faculty at the Episcopal schools in Honduras. We will accept devices here at the church Feb 1-Mar 1 and at Diocesan Convention.

"Come As You Are"

5 PM Holy Eucharist

St. Thomas' "Come as You Are" 5pm Sunday worship service is every Sunday. Dinner is now offered on the FIRST SUNDAY of each month. We will have dinner March 3rd, April 7th, and May 5th. Our 5pm Holy Eucharist features simple hymns from the Alleluia III hymnal, good sermons preached from the floor, and Holy Communion. Come as you are and invite a friend to join you for the 5pm Evening Holy Eucharist EVERY SUNDAY at St. Thomas.

Weekly Children and Youth Formation Sunday mornings 9:30am-10:15am 

We offer five different Sunday school classes for our children and youth!

Pre-K - 1st grade: Godly Play- Renee' Redfield - Hiers 4

2nd grade-3rd grade: Love First- Laura Beth Bestor - Hiers 2 (new room)

4th grade-5th grade: Thou Art- Kathie Clayton & Lila Powell - Hiers 6

6th grade-7th grade: My Faith, My Life- Sonya Carrier & Jane Allgood - Hiers 5

8th grade- 12th grade: Youth Room

Contact our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor, at children@stthomashuntsville.org if you have questions or would like to help out with this important aspect of our ministries.

D.O.K. Used Shoe Drive for the

Homeless

We are currently sponsoring a Used Shoe Drive for Huntsville’s homeless population. Please go through your closets and donate those shoes you don’t wear – especially tennis shoes and boots. No high heels please. The homeless are hard on shoes, especially in winter, and there is a tremendous need now! There is a bin in Information Hall for your donations. Thank you!

New Acolyte Sign-Up Genius is now available!

Calling all youth and children 2^nd grade and older! The new Acolyte Schedule Sign-Up Genius, which starts February 11, is now active and can be accessed by clicking here. Please consider serving our Church by signing up once a month. Contact The Rev. Jeannie Randall at jrann228@gmail.com or our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor at children@stthomashuntsville.org.

At A Glance January 25 - January 31

Phone: 256.880.0247

Email: StThomas@stthomashuntsville.org