St. Thomas Newsletter Header
"A place to feel welcome, be loved, and grow in faith."
September 23, 2022
Live-streamed Worship
Sunday, September 25, 10:15 AM https://youtu.be/wgtueoEl8pc

  • Some folks are finding that the chat box in YouTube doesn’t open when they click the link. If that is the case, try closing and re-opening. Not sure why, but that usually seems to work.

Bulletin for Sunday [here]
Look for this box on our website to access the scripture readings for each Sunday! Click on the image here to access the page, then scroll down and click the same image to view the readings.

The link updates each Monday so revisit it during the week to get an advance look at next Sunday's readings.
The Week Ahead--(click highlights for Zoom link)

  • Sunday, September 25, 10:15 AM - Parish School Sunday Holy Eucharist
  • Livestream Link

  • Sunday, September 25, 10:15 AM - St. Thomas Book fair.
Held in Rantz Hall

  • Sunday, September 25, 11:15 AM - Coffee Hour Outside in Rantz Portico
Hosted this week by The Vestry of St. Thomas


  • Tuesday, September 27, 5:00 PM - Education Hour online Zoom Link


  • Wednesday, September 28, 4:00 PM - Feed My Sheep


Save the Date

  • Oct. 2, 10:15 a.m. - Blessing of the Animals

  • Oct. 9, 10:15 a.m. - Sarah Kemeness Installation as Head of School
Be Advised!
We have recently been informed about a phishing scam taking place with someone attempting to impersonate Father Tim. If you've received an email from pastor9106@gmail.com or any other suspicious accounts, please DO NOT engage with them or reveal any personal information.

You will only ever receive official communications from email addresses marked @stepsmia.org so if it seems suspicious, always make sure to check the sender's account and not just their name.

Our IT department is currently working on a solution, but for the time being please inform us if you receive any of these and delete/block the sender if you can.
Parish School Sunday at St. Thomas

Parish School Sunday has been a long-held tradition where the St. Thomas Church and School Community come together as one.



Please join us on Sunday, September 25th at 10:15 a.m. for chapel services, followed by a Coffee Hour in the Morrison Portico co-hosted by the Parents Association and the Church's Hospitality Committee.



The Book Fair will be open for attendees from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
St. Francis Blessing of the Animals - 10/2
The Episcopal Church believes that animals are gifts from God, and that people are responsible for being good stewards of the earth and all its inhabitants. In honor of this and St. Francis of Assisi, the Church will be hosting a Blessing of Live Animals on Sunday, October 2rd at 10:15 a.m. We hope you and your pets will join us for this joyous occasion! Below are some helpful guidelines for this service:
  • The Blessing will be outdoors in the courtyard so dress causally!
  • Any animal is welcome as long as it is under control and is safe to be around other animals and the congregation. At a minimum, on a leash, or in a crate if the animal is likely to get rambunctious. We ask that animals are kept in their proper cages. 
  • If your animal is likely to get anxious around crowds or other animals, consider bringing a photo, a favorite toy, blanket, or some other item to represent your animal sacramentally.
  • We will also be giving thanks for the lives of animals who have passed. Feel free to bring photos, collars etc. to honor them
  •  Accidents will happen, but please be prepared to clean up after your friends.
We are excited and grateful to have welcomed Ms. Sarah Kemeness as our new Head of School. We could not be more optimistic about her leadership as she has already reinvigorated the school with her energy, passion, and creativity. In just a few short months, Ms. Kemeness has shown unparalleled dedication to our mission and to our students, who clearly feel our sense of community and are working closely with our leadership team, faculty, and staff in upholding our academic excellence. 

On Sunday, October 9th, Bishop Eaton will visit St. Thomas Episcopal Church to officially install Ms. Kemeness as Head of School. The event begins at 10:15 a.m., with a reception to follow. We hope you will join us as we celebrate a new chapter in St. Thomas’ history.

Please RSVP by clicking the link below
Education Hour on Zoom
Meet the Saints, Where They Lived – Beginning in Italy
Join the Zoom series featuring famous saints next Tuesday as we recall the story of St. Augustine of Hippo when he left North Africa for the three critical years that he spent in Italy, in Rome and Milan. The painting of Augustine’s Conversion in Milan by Fra Angelico captures the emotion with which Augustine turned his life around and became one of the most influential figures in the history of western Christianity. Each session will be 30 minutes beginning at 5:00. For information and to receive a reminder email with the Zoom link, contact Ann Rose anngrose65@bellsouth.net 

Sept. 20 Saints in Rome, Ravenna, and Florence during the Roman Persecutions
Sept. 27 Augustine of Hippo (4th, 5th century) – Rome and Milan
Oct. 4 Pope Gregory the Great (6th century) – Rome
Oct. 11 Francis and Clare (13th century) – Assisi
Oct. 18 Anthony of Padua (13th century) – Padua
Oct. 25 Catherine of Siena (14th century) - Siena
Pastoral Care Ministries
Focus on Home Visits
Being homebound for any reason can be lonely. In addition to the other pieces of care that might be in place from family, doctors, nurses, and friends, a regular visit from someone in St. Thomas’s “Home Visit” ministry might be a positive addition.

People in the “Home Visit” ministry make monthly visits as friends to enjoy a get-together. They are good listeners as well as enjoyable visitors.


In the picture, Elena Levis is arriving for a home visit, how nice!

For information or to arrange a home visitor, contact Ann or John Rose anngrose65@bellsouth.net 
COMING SOON: Confirmation at St. Thomas 2022-23
Stayed tuned for more information in the coming weeks about confirmation classes for 2022-2023! The course is specifically for teenagers who want to make an adult affirmation of faith and further explore their journey with Christ. Classes will begin in Advent and finish by Easter. 

If you are an adult who would like to explore our Episcopal Faith in greater detail, either in preparation for Confirmation and Reception or just for your own development, contact Fr. Tim about an Enquirer's Class.
Kitchen Storage Update - September 2022
As some of you may be aware, we are relocating the kitchen storage room for the church to a larger room with outside access off the back of the kitchen. This new space, once finished, will have a sink, prep space, fridge, and plenty of storage for all the church kitchen items. Since this is a change to the original plans, it will be a couple of months before the space is completed. We are still pending the final inspection and Certificate of Occupancy (CO) from the City of Coral Gables (we are currently operating under a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy). As soon as we receive the final CO (approximately 4-6 weeks), we will begin making these updates to the storage room (we are already working on the plans and ordering the necessary items for this space to avoid any additional delays). Thank you for your patience with this process!
 
In the meantime, for Sunday morning coffee hours, we have access to a fridge in the kitchen, the icemaker, a sink, and our storage space. One item of note, given that we now have a working kitchen we are subject to health code inspections and as such, should not be leaving any food in the fridge overnight. If we have leftovers from coffee hour they can go in the teacher’s lounge for them to enjoy or can be given out to parishioners to take home. This past weekend, I moved all our coffee hour supplies (plates, napkins, plasticware, etc.) downstairs to the new storage room for ease of access on Sundays.
 
And in other good news, the church has been able to find the budget to begin supplying the paper goods for Sunday morning coffee hour. We are in the process of identifying the vendor we’ll be ordering from, but in a few weeks coffee hour volunteers will only need to supply the food! Juan or I will keep the upcoming coffee hour volunteers updated on the status of these items. Thanks to Lovell for his help with identifying a vendor.
 
We will also be scheduling some training sessions with SAGE on the use of the kitchen (for those of you that may be interested in using it as more than a prep space). We will work to schedule these sessions after church on Sunday and will publish them in InStep once scheduled. Please contact me if you would like to participate in this training.
 
If you have any questions about this process or need help locating the storage room, please let me know.
 
Blessings,
Shannon Hanson, Jr. Warden
OUTREACH
CORNER
Passing the Leadership Baton for Chapman Downtown
Thank-you to outgoing chairs Karen and Bob McCammon, who have led St. Thomas’s return after Covid restrictions to Chapman Partnership Downtown. They have been joined during the past year by an enthusiastic team of volunteers, serving dinners once a month at the Chapman facility. Now a big thank-you and welcome to our new co-chairs, Amy Hays and Kitty Espinosa, who have stepped to the plate to coordinate this ministry.

September and October Outreach Projects
The September Book Drive resulted in 1,853 books being collected by parishioners and STEPS students for low-income families.
Plans are in place for our annual Socktober collection of new, clean socks for people on the streets of Miami. Details and dates to come.

New Volunteer Opportunities with St. Andrew’s Food Pantry
In addition to our volunteers who currently help with the Thursday Food Pantry, St. Andrew’s needs two types of additional volunteers:
The Thrift Shop that operates during the Thursday Food Pantry needs volunteers every Wednesday from 9:00 to noon to sort, fold, and prepare the clothing that has come in.
Every other Tuesday night from 5:45 to 7:00 p.m., and every Saturday at 10:00 a.m., people who can help with heavy lifting are needed to unload food for the Food Pantry from delivery trucks. 

Schedule for Food Ministries
  • Feed My Sheep – 4th Wednesday of the month at 4:00 p.m. to make sandwiches. Contact Elena Levis 786-514-8266.
  • Volunteers are needed next on September 28.

  • Chapman Partnership, Homestead – 1st Monday of the month at 5:00 p.m. Contact Mike Fleming 786-512-1103.
  • Volunteers are needed next on October 3.

  • Chapman Partnership, Downtown – 1st Thursday of the month at 4:00 p.m. to carpool. Contact Amy Hays 650-766-6215, or Kitty Espinosa 305-773-3242.
  • Volunteers are needed next on October 6

  • St. Andrew’s Food Pantry – See notice above for volunteer times on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Contact Lelia Harrington 516-236-3159.

To aid our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, and other places devastated by storms and disasters, St. Thomas is making a special appeal for Episcopal Relief and Development. Find out the ways in which you can donate above or visit the giving websites below to make a contribution.
The Tiger Den
What's on the prowl at St. Thomas School
This corner is dedicated to all announcements and events from our wonderful teachers, parents, and staff at the school. Check back here each week for updates and events happening at the St. Thomas!


In this week’s Tiger News, we are excited to announce that we will be kicking off our Book Fair immediately following Parish School School on September 25th. 






Children’s Author JJ Howard (celebrated for her series on pugs like “Pugs & Kisses”) will be doing a live reading and book signing. 
The Gift of Altar Flowers
On Sundays throughout the year (except during Lent) altar arrangements may be given in memory of a loved one, in celebration of a birth, birthday, baptism, engagement, wedding, anniversary, or in thanksgiving for God’s many blessings.

Altar flowers this Sunday are given to celebrate the fellowship of St. Thomas, united together as one loving Parish.

Flowers courtesy of Hirni's Wayside Florist.
Order an arrangement by contacting Jaisa HERE
Only through your generous donations are these beautiful arrangements possible. If you would like to contribute monthly to the Altar Flower fund, any amount would be helpful to keep our Altar looking beautiful on Sundays. Please email Jaisa Paz for more details. Thank you.
Giving back when you buy
Help support St. Thomas at no additional cost to you by shopping through Amazon Smile! Click on the link above and search for "St. Thomas Episcopal Church Coral Gables" to select it as your charity of choice. So far Amazon has donated over $1000 to the church through the smile program!

Opportunities to Continue Giving
Text Giving-Text amount to 786-686-2130
GivePlus App: Donate and Track
Venmo: @stepsmiachurch
Don't want to be bothered with writing checks and remembering to pay your pledge? You can set up an automatic pay with your credit card or one-time payment.

Please contact Jaisa Paz at Jpaz@stepsmia.org or call 305-661-3436. Thanks!
Lord, hear us as we pray...
Please Help Us Keep the List of Prayers for Healing to Date
Starting in September, when you add someone to the prayer list, the name will be on for four weeks, and you may always extend that time by contacting the Church Office. Thank you for helping keep the list current.
PARISH CYCLE OF PRAYER: 

BIRTHDAYS: Maya Quintero, Douglas Rice, Jim Karousatos, Mari Wells, Matthew Enriquez, Debbie Waddell, Nanci Mitchell, Maria Beguiristain, Gabriella Prado-Lang, Nicole Healy, John Rose, Meg Harris, Josh Woods, Courtney Sell, Logan Salazar


ANNIVERSARIES: David & Anne Beaumont Neithardt, Dennis & Michele Watson


DEPARTED: Marshall Smith


IN NEED OF HEALING: We hold up to God's healing touch and love the following individuals: 
Bradley Wagshul, Doug Rice, Evans Crews, Joseph Ramirez, Flo Garcia, Susana Moro-Quimby, Margaret Kalbac, J.J. Harding, Steve Coldren, Nick Arroyo, Dan Bartholomew, Bob Freyer, Ron Thompson, Charles Knight, Brendan Daria, Valerie Watt, Sarah Gable, Mary Ann Brooks, Betty Phillips, Devin Bennar, Shelley Weymouth, Margret Palm, Heather Nagel, Mary Lou Shad, Gwynn Elias, Reuben Trane, Zach Caron, Allison Langer, Eloine Villarinoi, Kerry Corlett, Carol Catalano, Bryce Laury, Patricia, Ani Cata Taylor, Virginia Elias, Clara Montoya, Karen Payne, Jim Karasoutos, Camila Velez, Jane Ann Wise, Fr., David Adams, Ralph, Jonathan Allison, Matteo DeSola, Bob McCammon, Jason Lippe, John Malloy, Isabel Malloy, Ed Hammatt, Francisco Rodriguez, Kelly McCammon, Betty Curran, Jennie Lou Reid, Debbie Corbishley, Monica Oritz

SERVING IN THE MILITARY:
Edel Sanchez, Elizabeth Fleming, Aurora Fleming, Michael Berger, Lyn Juarez, Alexander Barry, Mario Milian, Juan Garcia, Yunior Santana, Robert Lawton, Robert Nottingham, Lillian Marie McBee, Maile Torres, James Pyles, Kirby Elizabeth Battle

Spread the Word
Have an announcement you'd like to share with the parish? Send it electronically and see it posted on the next InSTEP! All new submissions are subject to approval and edit, and must be sent by 5pm the Wednesday before each publication for it to be posted that week.

Get in touch with the Vestry at St. Thomas
Sr. Warden: Wendy Coles
Chancellor: Suzan Ponzoli

Treasurer: Peter Zubizarreta

Lawrence Brown

Vivian Cortinas

Kevin Orgill

Deborah Klem-Pergakis

Dr. Charlie Mitchell
Jr. Warden: Shannon Hanson

Clerk: Mary Lou Shad

Tina Lane

Michael Maguire

Colin Ramsay

Juan E. Rodríguez de Hostos

Ashley Cusack
Church Staff
Rector: Reverend Timothy Fleck

Music Director: Dr. Eugene Greco
Financial Secretary: Jaisa Paz

CFO: Amanda Thompson
Church Administrator: Lovell Rose