St Thomas Times Page

September, 2013

St. Thomas Times St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 124 East Main St., Abingdon, VA 24210 www.stthomasabingdon.dioswva.org (276) 628-3606

Children’s Chapel Resumes by Zoe Jackson

Dinner, fun, and t-shirts! Children’s Chapel

had a wonderful reunion/kickoff party on

Sunday August 18th. The children painted

s h o e b o x e s

(thanks to South-

ern Shoe Con-

nection), which ill

become prayer

boxes. The t-

s h i r t s w e r e

screen printed

with “St. Thomas

Episcopal Youth”

for participants, including the Rev. Hilary.

Zoe Jackson stated that she was “...excited

about this, as it gives the children a feeling

of belonging to a group (as well as advertise-

ment.)”

The first unit will be “Together—Our Church

Group: Praying with Ease for Ourselves and

Others.” Please come join us! Young chil-

dren’s education will continue to be held

during the sermon time, as opposed to be-

fore or after church. The year will be divided

into units, which were offered to the parents

should any of them wish to teach. Brian

Johns, along with Christy Fleet and Zoe Jack-

son have offered to teach units.

The Children’s Chapel program will begin

Sunday, September 1.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Children’s Chapel Resumes 1

Thoughts for September 2

A Note from Nancy Bates 2

Worship, Food, Fellowship Highlight Church Picnic 3

Dick Austin to Lead Adult Forum Series 4

Adult Christian Education Opportunities Abound 4

WE CARE Outreach Program Needs Shoppers, Planners 5

Vestry Focuses on Stewardship Activities and Calendar 5

Kid’s Page 6

For Your Information. . . 7

A Sincere Thank You 8

St Thomas Times Page 2

Thoughts for September

From The Rev. Hilary Streever, Priest-in-Charge

Make Counting Blessings a Continual Activity

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

“I count my blessings, not sheep.” So goes one

assertion of bedtime preparation that came to

me a few years ago. Since then, I’ve thought a

lot about the deep wisdom that this brief

teaching imparts.

It can be so easy to focus on the negatives and

problems in our day-to-day living, to the point

where that’s all that we see. At the end of the

day, our minds sometimes fill with questions

or thoughts or worries, and these things

bounce around in our heads like restless

sheep. All that leaping around in our minds

can be overwhelming, and certainly unproduc-

tive.

Counting our blessings actively reorients us. It

slows racing minds and allows us to appreciate

with joy and thanksgiving the gifts God has

given us. It releases our hearts to be open to

and immersed in God’s greatest gift: his love.

Feeling that, we no longer simply are recipients

of God’s blessings but become a blessing to

others as well.

Clearly, this practice is not only applicable as

we wind down for the day, but at all times in

our lives. Not that we want to be naive about

the problems in this world; we simply don’t see

them as the be-all-and-end-all. As Christians,

we are standing in this current world, yet with

our eyes directed towards God’s light, so our

whole lives are oriented toward God’s light in

hope and faith.

As our stewardship season approaches this

year, count your blessings. Reflect on how

God has blessed you or been with you this

past year. How has God been with our parish?

Have you experienced God in any of our min-

istries? And how can you be a blessing to

those around you and to our parish life?

In all things, let our hearts and minds and

hands be guided by the knowledge and love

of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Grace and peace to you,

Hilary+

A Note from Nancy Bates:

I recently attend the East Carolina Diocese

Music Conference at Salter Path, NC. The Di-

rector and Clinician was Dr. David Flood, Or-

ganist and Choirmaster at Christ Church, Can-

terbury Cathedral, UK. There were about 170

adult and 25 children musicians. The music

was magnificent and I thought St. Thomas

members might like to hear the performance

from Sunday, August 18 at St. Francis by the

Sea Episcopal Church. It includes the entire

service - the Bishop's sermon lasted about 25

-30 minutes but can be skipped to hear later.

The web site indicates, to get the full beauty

of the music, headsets are needed. Link onto

http://vimeo.com/72706373 to hear podcast .

St Thomas Times Page 3

Worship, Food, and Fellowship Highlight Church Picnic

Schery Collins, Gill Braswell, Teresa

Spangler, and Carolyn Haynes pro-

vided musical accompaniment for

the worship service.

Food selections focused on

local foods, as part of the

“100 Mile Meal” program

which is based on the origi-

nal harvest celebration that

we generally call the first

Thanksgiving feast.

In a “100 Mile Meal”, every-

one tries to bring a dish with

the main ingredient(s) grown

from within a 100-mile radi-

us of where you live.

St Thomas Times Page 4

Dick Austin to Lead Adult Forum Series on “Jesus’ Galilean Ministry”

By Dick Austin

Beginning Sunday September 8, and continuing

until November 24, Dick Austin will lead a series

on “Jesus’ Galilean Ministry” which will explore

Jesus’ proclamation of “the Kingdom of God” in

the context of severe Roman

oppression.

During this summer, scholarly

debate about Jesus’ ministry

has erupted into the popular

press and television. This is in

part due to a study by the

American Muslim Reza Aslan

which suggests that Jesus was

a revolutionary in the Zealot

tradition. Also on our local library’s new

book shelf is Liar’s Gospel, an engaging

novel by Jewish writer Naomi Alderman,

set in the same period, which sharply dis-

tinguished Jesus’ quietism from Barabas’

zealotry. There are many other well-informed but

divergent opinions.

Dr. Austin, a Presbyterian theologian and regular

participant at St. Thomas, will lead the Forum in

an exploration of Jesus’ words and deeds in Gali-

lee, before he “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” In

Jerusalem, Jesus’ death and resurrection would

define the Christian faith of those who, a genera-

tion later, wrote the Gospels that include what we

know about Jesus’ Galilean experience. In these

classes we will attempt an imaginative return to

those Galilean days, seeking to

grasp what Jesus’ words and

deeds may have meant to those

who heard him there, and to

those who followed him.

In our exploration we will make

use of Gospel Parallels, a book

that places the texts of Mat-

thew, Mark, and Luke side-by-

side whenever they relate the

same story. Dr. Austin will also draw upon two

other books. The Politics of Jesus by John How-

ard Yoder, a Mennonite theologian, clarifies

Jesus’ unusual approach to the social/political

crisis of his day. In Jesus and the Powers, rec-

ommended by Pastor Hilary, Prof. Richard

Horsley probes the physical and psychological im-

pact of Roman oppression and suggests how Jesus

message was a liberating response. Some partici-

pants may wish to acquire one or more of these

books. Each will also be available in the church

library.

Adult Christian Education Opportunities Abound By Rhonda Kindig

In addition to Adult Forum, other religious educa-

tion opportunities are available through not only

the church, but also through Southwest Virginia

Higher Education Center’s College for Older Adults

(COA).

During the fall semester at the College for Older

Adults Rhonda Kindig will be offering her course in

the great church art of the Renaissance. The class

will be held on Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m., beginning

September 10, and will run for four weeks. Folks

Interested in registering should speak to Rhonda or

Ramsey White, or go to the Southwest Virginia

Higher Ed Center's website www.swcenter.edu/

pages/coa.aspx for further information.

At St Thomas, the Wednesday Morning Bible Study

will finish its study of the gospel of Matthew, led

by Ashley Stephenson, during the month of Sep-

tember.

During December, the Rev. Hilary and Rhonda Kin-

dig will lead a survey of the Sacraments, and in

January or February Deacon Ellie will lead four ses-

sions on death and dying for the Adult Forum.

St Thomas Times Page 5

WE CARE Outreach Program

Needs Shoppers, Planners

The Outreach Committee has received a request

for shoppers and planners to help with the WE

CARE dinners. If anyone would like to help with

this monthly community ministry please contact

Alison Bundy (451-0283) or Mary Tackney (206-

8203).

Additionally, anyone feeling the desire to chop,

stir, mix, etc., preparation begins around 1:00

and helping hands would be greatly welcomed.

Not enough can be said about those who show up

to help clean and put away--except that they

could certainly use extra hands. If any of these

ministry opportunities appeal to your spirit,

COME! You will be welcomed with smiles and

WE CARE dinner participants enjoy a well-balanced meal.

open arms and leave with a satisfied heart!

WE CARE dinners will be held on the following dates

for the remainder of this calendar year: September

26, October 31, November 21, and December 19.

Vestry Focuses on Stewardship Activities and Calendar By Marlene Buckles

With the end of the calendar year fast approach-

ing, the Vestry is thinking ahead to 2014, and

planning for the programs and activities of St.

Thomas. The annual stewardship campaign will be

the culmination of several months of thoughtful

deliberation, goal setting, and documentation of

needs. The July Vestry meeting began that process

with the charge of “…focus[ing] on what we have

done well and what we would like to do.” Part of

that focus will include getting information from

the existing ministries as to their realistic needs.

According to the July Vestry minutes, in August

and early September the Financial Advisory Com-

mittee will use the information they have from

parish activity requests, fixed cost projections,

and estimates of potential pledges to develop a

tentative stewardship goal. During September a

stewardship letter, including pictures of past out-

reach and ministries will be sent to the congrega-

tion in preparation for families to develop their

pledges. In addition there will be three weeks of

“Temple Talks” as a means of helping parishion-

ers focus on their commitment to the church’s

programs and needs.

Following receipt of 2014 pledges, “the Financial

Advisory Committee will build a budget based on

the pledges received and the Vestry ill vote on the

budget at its November meeting. The Annual Par-

ish Meeting will take place in December or January

at which time the new budget will be distributed.”

According to Vestry minutes.

In addition to stewardship and budget discus-

sions, the vestry also, among other things:

Please see Vestry on page 7

St Thomas Times Page 6

Help the good shepherd find his sheep some water.

St Thomas Times Page 7

Vestry continued from page 5

approved the annual report for the fiscal year

2012,

authorized the payment of $480 to Bowman

Heating and Cooling Inc. to bring the church’s

air conditioning units up to date, and

designated that the plate offering on August

25 be given to Healthy Families Family Farms

Also discussed was St. Thomas’ wedding policy. It

was the feeling of the Vestry that weddings taking

place in the church should “...be for people who

have a relationship to St. Thomas whether parish-

ioner, regular attendee, or family member of pa-

rishioners past or present.

As a final note, Jack Barrow announced that he will

retire from the diocesan Standing Committee. The

Vestry thanked Jack for the time, talent, and ener-

gy he has given to the Standing Committee.

Soon the locust will sing and the grass will turn dry.

A different feel in the air and look in the sky.

Yet flowers will bloom in bright colorful array

and sunsets 'explode' at the end of each day.

And I will know that God is the reason

That we have the beauty of every season.

And He will stay with me and never depart,

Lovingly tending the seasons of my heart.

From The Season Of Summer

By Bonnie David

For Your Information…

Upcoming Dates for the Stewardship Campaign:

September 15 -- Stewardship Kick-Off Sun-

day!

October 13 -- Stewardship Ingathering Sun-

day! (Pledges all in!)

Other Upcoming Dates:

Sunday, October 13 -- 3:00 Blessing of the

Animals: Ecumenical Celebration of the Day of

St. Francis. St. Thomas' Episcopal Church and

St. John's Lutheran Church will worship to-

gether on the front lawn of St. Thomas.

Sunday, October 6 -- 2:30-4:30 p.m. Abing-

don Convocation Fall Meeting, at St. Thomas'

Episcopal Church

Dates for upcoming WE CARE dinners for the re-

mainder of the calendar year are as follows:

August 29

September 26

October 31

November 21

December 19

Now that the newsletter is on-line through the church web-

site, if anyone does not want his picture and/or name identi-

fied in this publication, please contact Marlene Buckles at

mmbuckles@msn.com

St Thomas Times Page 8

St. Thomas Episcopal Church 276-628-3606 SaintThomas@eva.org On the Web: www.stthomasabingdon.dioswva.org

The Rev. Hilary Streever 276-451-8809 therevhilarycamblos@gmail.com

The Rev. Ellie Scofield 276-258-1640 novak-scofieldep@msha.com

Office Hours: Tuesday 9am – 3pm Wednesday 9am – 3pm

Sunday Worship: 9:30 am Children’s Chapel offered Sept-May Nursery available all year Adult Forum follows worship Sept-May

Wednesday Eucharist & Healing Service: 9:30 am

Wednesday Bible Study: 10:15 am

Marlene Buckles, St. Thomas Times editor

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St. Thomas Episcopal Church

124 East Main Street

Abingdon, VA 24210

A sincere Thank You to everyone at

St. Thomas! We enjoyed being with

your community for the beautiful

outdoor Sunday service, the wonder-

ful Bluegrass music, and the creative

and delicious “100 Mile Dinner.” Your

generous support of the Healthy

Families-Family Farms Program is

greatly appreciated by everyone con-

nected with the program- local

farmers, the Food Bank, and local

food pantries. Your care and support

are a special source of encourage-

ment to our work for the community.

From Marty Huber and Jo Ann Detta.