Thanksgiving: even more photos

Here's a link to Tammy's entire album of photos from Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

More Thanksgiving prep photos

The energy in the St. Thomas Great Hall building is overwhelmingly joyful! And all of this is happening despite the fact that there is currently no heat in the Great Hall or the church.

We're working on the problem, and the replacement parts will arrive next week, but ... hey, here's an idea ... how about we build a new Life Center?

Snowy Thanksgiving Update

Here's the very latest news!

• If you are picking up a turkey today, Tuesday November 23rd, the Thanksgiving team will be at the church at 1:00 PM.  If you are able to pick up your turkey between 1:00 and 4:00 pm, it would be greatly appreciated because the team would like to get home before sunset if possible.

• We are on track for prep tomorrow and deliveries to families on Thanksgiving. However, we also do not want you to take safety risks with traveling over the next 48 hours. If you are signed up for anything with the Thanksgiving project (pies, roasting a turkey, volunteering) and do not feel as though you can travel, please let us know so we may make adjustments. Please contact either Bill McSherry or Tammy Waddell, or Marilyn McGrath. (Contact information is in an all-parish email you should have received.)

• Communication is a KEY POINT today. If you need to pick up your turkey later than 4:00 PM or cannot pick up your turkey today at all, please let us know as soon as possible.

A caffeinated kick

St. Thomas parishioner Ginny Schreiber forwarded this piece today. What do you think, everyone? ;) (Rats ... I thought I'd been the first to come up with "St. Arbuck's"!)

St. Thomas children try their hand at architecture

Yesterday morning, seventeen St. Thomas Sunday schoolers in grades 1-5 created and presented their ideas for our new Life Center. Here’s Life Center architect Mark Nelson consulting with some of our young contributors.

This wasn’t merely an exercise in cuteness. We want the Life Center to feel like a second home to our youngest parishioners. To that end, we do well to listen intently as they describe their ideal building. We may not be able to create the Life Center in the shape of a spaceship, or have a live tree growing through the middle of it. But a disco ball in the youth center? That we can do.

And if we listen deeply enough, delving beneath each child’s fanciful architectural drawings, we will hear the voice of a young child of God, a full member of the Church through baptism, reminding us: “I belong here. I am not the future of the Church—I am the present. You have promised to help raise me in the Christian life and faith. I am a minister too, and I will do ministry right along with you in the new Life Center at St. Thomas.”

The Handshake

My dad says you can judge a lot about a man by his handshake. Last night, I found handshakes say a lot about a church as well.

I am not a St. Thomas parishioner. In fact, I’m a Presbyterian. Until last night, I had never been to an Episcopal service. The occasion was Martha Karen Haig’s Ordination, which, if you missed it, was lovely. I don’t know Karen from childhood. I’m not part of her family or a classmate. For those who don’t know me, I am Mikaela Cowles. I work on the campaign for the new Life Center and was blessed Karen invited me.

Originally I thought the new Life Center was just an interesting idea. When I interviewed people from Alcoholics Anonymous, I really started buying in. One Monday night I stood in the old Parish Hall next to men and women battling addiction. I laughed with them as a toddler escaped from the small nursery and pushed open the kitchen door. Golden curls bouncing, he giggled and ran to his father. I was even more excited about the project when I learned how St. Thomas houses homeless men, giving them warm meals and a sense of humanity, and I was impressed when I discovered the parish feeds 800 families at Thanksgiving.

Last night I felt the church’s handshake. I felt its peace. Strangers reached across pews and looked me in the eye. “Peace,” they said, “peace be with you.” I stood, reluctant to sit, shaking hand after hand around me. Parishioners left their pews to embrace one another. I watched as they lingered, returning to their seats slowly. The new Life Center will magnify this peace, the peace of Christ.

The new Life Center is going to be beautiful – built to last. But its strength is not in bricks and mortar. It is in the parishioners. It is in the handshake which says, “No matter who you are, Christ loves you. Welcome home.”

- Mikaela Cowles

First’s Things First

If you haven’t met Mary Friedlander, you should. Known as Granny Mary to the kids, she wears her love in her smile. Her joy in Christ and for life radiates to everyone around her. Since I met her, her warmth has repeatedly struck me.

She and I sat and had a chat the other day. We didn’t start where I intended, with the new Life Center. We began with what she calls, “The first thing first.” We began with us as, “A community formed in the name of Jesus Christ and our desire to follow Him. To learn from Him.”

Putting Christ first is why she sees Father Lex as such a vital addition to St. Thomas. She says his, “Good old Southern religion is a strong faith we haven’t had before. He encourages us to feel strong about our faith. There is no question he’s a Christian and he wants us to be Christians. It’s a very warm back and forth feeling that we all love the same Lord.”

As an ardent student of the Bible, she studies not just the words, but their contextual meaning. Through reading scripture and discussing it in fellowship with others, she continues to blossom as a person. As a member of the St. Thomas bible study, she joins the group of 25 who squeeze into the parish’s conference room each Tuesday. In the communal exploration of Christ’s words, she has seen members work through challenging questions, celebrate each other’s joys, and support one another through hard times.

However the space is limiting and clearly space is what the parish needs. Space for fellowship – for people to gather, learn and grow through Christ. “Space,” Mrs. Friedlander says, “where everyone can feel comfortable and safe.”

Building for the hospitality of God means we are, “Putting the first thing first.” It means we are making space for fellowship with each other and Christ.

A Letter from Sunni Bannon

Hello Lex, Karen and Charles,

I have very much enjoyed the 5:15 contemplative Eucharist service -- thank you all so much for making it happen. I wanted to share what I’ve enjoyed most and found particularly meaningful:

• Having nothing to hold - I like not having an order of worship or program in my hand. It allows me to be in the moment and not be distracted by what is coming up. Also, I am free to sing or chant or respond as I am moved to instead of following along on paper.
• The beautiful, simple chants and songs - I have been to 4 or 5 of evening services in the last two months and I'm surprised at how often the sweet words and tunes of the songs have come to mind and offered me comfort, strength or encouragement in the days following.
• The moments of quiet and meditation - In my spiritual life, nothing has been as profound as quiet moments when I am able to directly connect with God. Lex and Karen have offered thoughts to ponder, but at this service, the brevity of the sermons has allowed for extended reflective time that is not available in a more traditional service.
• Refreshing the day's gospel reading - I've heard mention of attending the 5:15 service when one doesn't attend a morning service, but I have really enjoyed re-hearing the gospel reading and having a contemplative experience with it in addition to the morning reading and sermon. I've noticed that sometimes the translation at the 5:15 service varies from the morning service and I've liked the way that little change helps me hear the passage in a fresh way.
• The intimate setting created by the simple table and candle. I also love the closeness I feel during the communion service. The incense is new for me, but it is growing on me.

The contemplative service is a jewel and I look forward to more people learning about it -- St. Thomas members/attendees as well as people who have not ever visited St. Thomas. My background, although Protestant, is not Episcopalian and my first experience with the Episcopal church (outside of a book) was attending the Compline service at St. Marks. I remember how welcome I felt and even though it was new to me, I loved soaking in the liturgy. I know the Contemplative service at St. Thomas is not quite the same, but it will be a balm for many people once they know about it. It has already been a great blessing to me and I appreciate each one of you and your vision and contribution.

Warm regards,

Sunni

All Hallows' Eve @ st. thomas

We've been so busy at St. Thomas that there's hardly been time to breathe. But we still took time to celebrate All Hallows' Eve with a family party in the Great Hall that featured games, music, a costume contest, and another fabulous haunted house created by the youth group.

Along with all this, we spread out butcher paper and invited our participants of all ages to write their "Bucket List." What do you want to do before you die? Here's the full list:

• Bungee jumping
• See the great pyramids
• Drive I-90 all the way
• Go to space
• Be on the radio
• Ride the Oriental Express - the whole way!
• Go to Japan, Australia and Europe
• Skydiving
• Meet “Buried Life” cast
• HUGE family reunion
• Learn Aikido and see a dragon and invent a time machine and invent a computer game and write a book and become famous and go to the Empire State Building
• Live in another country
• Visit Buenos Aires
• Get into an awesome college! (Gonzaga)
• Meet J.K. Rowling
• See the Great Wall of China
• Become a professional fencer
• Learn three more languages and live in 10 different countries
• Play organ
• Go to Europe, Australia and New Zealand
• Survive the rest of high school!