THE EPISTLE:

June 29, 2023

This Sunday we invite you to wear your uniform or ribbons in observance of July 4th. Please note the church office will be closed in observation of the July 4th Holiday.

Join us every Sunday at 5pm for a "Come as you are" Holy Eucharist!

Every Sunday this summer, St. Thomas will continue to offer a more "Laid Back" worship service at 5pm in the Nave. Come join us for simple hymns from the Alleluia III hymnal, good sermons preached from the floor, Holy Communion, and (most Sundays) a simple dinner in the Parish Hall immediately following the Eucharist! Come as you are and invite a friend to join you for the 5pm Sunday Evening Holy Eucharist at St. Thomas.

Help Needed for Sunday Morning Refreshments



We need your help to keep the refreshments coming on Sundays following the 10:30 AM service. Please sign up for a Sunday to bring homemade cookies or store-bought sweet treats so that we can spend a few minutes gathering after worship. Please sign up using the poster in Information Hall. Thank you for helping us keep this vital part of our parish thriving!

Summer Adult Classes Continue on July 9th: Fr. Donavan’s new class on Celtic Christianity begins on July 9th!

Join Fr. Donavan for a summer Sunday morning Christian Formation class on Celtic Spirituality and early Irish Christianity, beginning on July 9th at 9:30am in the Parish Hall. Donavan and his family will have just returned from a vacation with family in Ireland, and he will be ready to share with all of us his encounters with Celtic Spirituality in his past decade of time spent visiting and exploring Ireland. We will also be discussing where the Celtic branch of Christian faith began in Ireland in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries. As many of you may have seen in Fr. Donavan’s posts on social media over the last few weeks, this year he made a pilgrimage to one of the most important and inspiring sites of ancient Christianity in Ireland, the lonely island of Skellig Michael over eight miles of the south coasts of Co. Kerry. Donavan will be ready to share photos of that pilgrimage, as well as others he’s made over the year, and share with us his personal encounters with important Irish saints, like St. Patrick, St. Brigid of Kildare, St. Ciarán, and St. Brendan the Navigator. If you’re interested in Celtic Spirituality or just want to understand the history of Christianity in Ireland and the British Isles, come join Fr. Donavan for this month long class beginning on Sunday, July 9th!

COUNTDOWN TO CAMP COSMOS VBS!

Don't forget to pre-register rising pre-K through 5th graders for Camp Cosmos VBS which will be July 10-14, 9am-noon! Grandchildren, friends, and neighbors are welcome!  Register online by clicking this link. Paper registration forms are available in Information Hall.  For more information, contact our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Laura Beth Bestor, at children@stthomashuntsville.org.

BACKPACK BOOSTERS:

Support Huntsville Students!

Back to School Backpack Boosters!

Help the crew of Camp Cosmos Vacation Bible School and our Little Free Pantry provide Backpack Boosters to Huntsville City School students! Everyone is invited to help us with this service project as we collect backpacks and/or school supplies for our elementary aged friends in need. Camp Cosmos attendees and their families are invited to bring the supplies noted below. As an incentive, the class that collects the largest ratio of items per student will have a special snack on the last day of VBS. We are asking parishioners to donate backpacks to hold the supplies collected during VBS. There will be a drop-off box in Information Hall. Contact Laura Beth Bestor (children@stthomashuntsville.org) or The Rev. Ranie Neislar (associate@stthomashuntsville.org) for more information.  

Monday- Colors of the Universe: 24 pk of crayons or 12 pk of colored pencils

Tuesday- Survival Mode: pencil box or pencil pouch

Wednesday- Be Creative & Innovative: scissors or pack of glue sticks

Thursday- Oh, my! Got to Write It Down!: pack of #2 pencils or single-subject, wide-rule composition notebook

Friday- Going Above & Beyond: 3 prong folders with pockets or your choice of school supply

Habitat for Humanity Work Opportunities

We will continue Saturday at 3126 Andros Drive and 3127 Nassau Drive. These houses are back to back. We begin at 8 and work until the work for the day is done. Lunch is served. Both houses have roofs so we will work inside. For information, call Elouisa Stokes at 256-604-8669.

St. Thomas Bookclub

We will meet on July 10 to discuss Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. We meet in the Parlor at 10AM and would love to have you join us. For more information, call Elouisa Stokes at 256-604-8669.

St. Thomas Goes to the Ballgame on July 30th!

Join us as St. Thomas goes to the ballgame on Sunday, July 30! The Rocket City Trash Pandas will be playing the Tennessee Smokies at Toyota Field with the first pitch at 4:05PM. Tickets are $17.44 per person with a $2 game day credit. Tickets need to be reserved no later than Monday, July 24. We are in Section 7 behind home plate this year, so hopefully it will be cooler than last year. Let us know you are interested in going with the whole parish by clicking here (https://forms.office.com/r/78m6sTu0LG).

Jonathan Daniels Group Pilgrimage August 11 & 12

You are invited to join St. Thomas as we go down Hayneville, Alabama and participate in the Jonathan Daniels and Martyrs of Alabama Pilgrimage! Participating in this event inspires us as individuals and as a parish community to resolve, and to carry on the work of building the beloved community. If we have enough members of the parish interested in going, we will leave on the evening of Friday, August 11 and have dinner followed by a brief Eucharist to center ourselves before a full day of events on August 12. If you would like to know more please click here for more information or to register for the event. If you would like to know more about the event, have questions, or are interested in going please email Ranie at associate@stthomashuntsville.org.

The Bailey Cove Farmers Market at St. Thomas is open every Saturday!

The Bailey Cove Farmers Market at St. Thomas has kicked off and is now open from 8am to 12pm every Saturday all summer long through September 2nd!

And you can help! Sign up to volunteer for 'Set up' and 'Take down' any weekend in Information Hall.  Or, if you'd like to assist, call Kim Cantrell at (256)508-2363, and she will give you all the info.



Hope to see you at the Farmers Market THIS SATURDAY at St. Thomas!

Caregivers Support Group

If you or someone you know is or has been a caregiver for a loved one, we have a Caregivers Support Group at St. Thomas. This group wants to be a community support for caregivers and we welcome anyone who needs that resource whether or not a parishioner here. We have a volunteer licensed therapist, Jane Allgood, as group facilitator. We meet every other Wednesday from 1 until 2:30 pm in the Crossroads Room. Our next meeting is Wednesday, July 5. If you are interested just show up then. If you have any questions about the group, call or email Mona Parker: 256-599-9942, mona.s.parker@gmail.com   

St. Thomas Trash & Recycling Update

We have removed the recycling dumpster at St. Thomas. The company managing the dumpster recycles cardboard only, and charges the church an expensive penalty every time the dumpster is emptied if even one plastic bottle is in the dumpster (which invariably happens despite the sign designating “cardboard only”). The only other company in town that does commercial pickup for recycling charges an exorbitant amount to recycle what we all put in our blue bins at home. The vestry elected to do away with the recycling dumpster for these reasons. We will continue to explore other options for recycling.

AT A GLANCE: June 22-28

Congratulations Farmers Market “helpers” throughout the years! Last Saturday was the 10 year anniversary of our market! Woo Hoo! We celebrated with raffles for wonderful gifts and welcomed Rachel from American Farm Land Trucks.

Phone: 256.880.0247

Email: StThomas@stthomashuntsville.org