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 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
St Thomas Times Page 8
St. Thomas Episcopal Church 276-628-3606 [email protected] On the Web: www.stthomasabingdon.dioswva.org
The Rev. Hilary Streever 276-451-8809 [email protected]
The Rev. Ellie Scofield 276-258-1640 [email protected]
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.
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