St. Thomas Kids' Club goes ice skating

Yesterday the St. Thomas Kids' Club went ice skating at Bellevue Downtown Park. Despite the "pineapple express" downpour and the thermometer reading 57 degrees, the ice stayed cold enough for some good skating! A local radio station even gave us all free pizza and cupcakes.

The St. Thomas Kids' Club is a group of 3rd - 5th graders who practice the hospitality of God through fun fellowship events (like ice skating) and helpful service projects (like decorating Thanksgiving delivery boxes, giving donated money to Episcopal Relief and Development programs, and many other efforts). We meet once a month, and this year, we've averaged 17 kids per event.

From Double Bass to CEO

The Episcopal Holy Nativity Church was the place to be on Friday nights in Aina Haina, O’ahu. When the popular Ben Franklin’s Almanacs band played, high schoolers packed the church’s small gym. The double bass player, Tom Goodenow, never performed. Instead he contributed with his God given talents and promoted. Distributing flyers to all the local high schools, he brought Christians and non-believers together. With the popularity of his band, Goodenow swelled the attendance of Holy Nativity’s youth group.

“I’ve seen what an active youth organization can do, the strength it can give the church and it’s clearly a missing part of what we have right now,” Goodenow said.

Though the Ben Franklin’s Almanacs have disbanded, he’s built upon his promotional skills. As CEO of The Harbor Club, Goodenow provides a luxurious home away from home for members. His dedication to detail ensures excellent service. The breathtaking views of the Seattle skyline and surrounding area are matched by Chef David’s food. Each plate is cooked to order, ensuring the chicken is always moist and the medium rare steak is medium rare.

St. Thomas will hold two events at The Harbor Club. Don’t worry, Goodenow won’t bring his double bass. He will open The Harbor Club with warm hospitality as we build for the hospitality of God.

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.”