St. Thomas Updates September 16, 2021

Dear Friends,   On Tuesday, September 14th, the City of Sun Valley enacted a mask mandate for all indoor public spaces:

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This ordinance comes in response to increasing COVID-19 case numbers and mounting pressure on our health-care systems. All St. Thomas gatherings and programs will adhere to this protocol and we ask your faithful cooperation. However, as the mandate allows for individuals to go without mask when 6 feet of social distancing can be maintained, worship leaders are free to forgo their masks while reading, leading prayers and preaching.    The Holy Spirit will continue to guide and inspire us as we maneuver through the months ahead. Our continuing journey is in the hands of God, and we trust that divine guidance will nurture and sustain our life together.   In Christ, Jonah+

Sunday School + Youth Group  Begins September 19! 9:30 a.m. service gather near the bell tower + Godly Play (4 years-2nd grade) + Brick by Brick (3rd-5th grade) + Youth Group (6th grade & up) Mask required. Social Distancing.  Meet indoors with doors and windows open or outdoors.  High School Youth Group  + Sept. 19 5:00 pm ~ Courtyard @ St. Thomas + Oct. 3 4:30-7:00 ~ S'more Eucharist & Potluck with Families @ the Loving's  + Oct. 31 4:00-6:00 ~ Pirate Eucharist & Trunk-or-Treat Parking Lot @ St. Thomas. 2:30 decorate cars, we'll provide the supplies!!!  We are so grateful for our Sunday School Teachers & Youth Group Mentors! Dydy Cleven, Art Dahl, Courtney Loving, Helen Morgus, Margot Shuford, Sara Pettit, Liz Hickey & Page Klune Are you interested in being a CYF volunteer? Talk to Jonah or Sara.

Emmanuel Joseph, raised in the HMP residence and now in college in the Dominican Republic.

Haiti in our hearts! Haiti in our hearts! For 11 years, St. Thomas Church has helped the Haiti Micah Project to give life to the poorest children of Mirebalais, Haiti. Your bountiful support helped grow HMP’s impact, feeding as many as 400 children a day, helping pay their school expenses, and launching a vocational education program for high school graduates. In the last two years, HMP has shown God-powered determination and resilience, continuing to serve in the midst of civic unrest, shortages, disease and natural disaster— while St. Thomas has gone quiet. We give God thanks for you, our many sponsors of Micah children, and for your recent questions and concern. Please join us this Sunday, September 19th after the 9:30 service. Our friend, Father Joseph Constant, founder of HMP, will be with us on Zoom for an update on HMP’s mighty work. Bring your cups of coffee, your questions and your generous hearts! If you have any questions, please contact DyDy Cleven: dydycleven@hotmail.com

Season of Creation 2021 During the 5 weeks of the Season of Creation, the Green Team offers you a weekly prayer devoted to the theme for each Sunday. You are encouraged to reflect on this year's focus: A Home for All? Renewing the Oikos of God. Theme: Peace making as home building Heavenly Father, our land is hurting, filled with confusion and in need of your divine healing. Strengthen and help us, that in our daily life walk with you, we may find the courage to always act as messengers of peace. Amen

Quiet Eucharists Tuesdays at 5:30pm We are currently offering a simple Eucharist in the Church each Tuesday. This quiet service is designed as a mid-week worship offering to help slow-down the hustle and bustle of life to better remember who we are and Whose we are. It will run through May 31st. The first Eucharist of the month will be a healing service, and during the seasons of Advent and Epiphany it will be Taize. We hope you will join us!

Rector's Discussion Group Returns   The Rector’s Discussion Group will resume on Wednesday, September 22 at 12pm. The topic of this next series will be the Gospel of John. Composed by writings of one of Jesus' closest followers, the Gospel of John offers insights into the ethics and theology of the early Church. Its key themes are Christ's divinity, the centrality of love and the comfort of God in Christ. This series will run weekly through Wednesday, November 10. Gatherings take place via zoom.  I hope you can you join us and please invite a friend! To register for the discussion group and receive the zoom link please contact Judi Fuller - jfuller@stthomassv.org

Course Syllabus

SUNDAY SCHEDULE - June through October                                  8:00 and 9:30        Worship in the Sanctuary*                                9:00 a.m.                Choir rehearsal                                9:30 a.m.                Children and Youth in Classrooms                               10:30 a.m.               Coffee hour on the lower courtyard                               11:00 a.m.               Adult Education in the Parish Hall *One more outdoor service on Festival Meadows are scheduled: October 3 Blessing of the Animals On this date, there will only be the 9:30 service.