On All Saints’ Sunday, November 4, we hope to begin a new tradition here at Saint Thomas.
This new tradition I speak of is rooted in our motto “Helping Hands, Healing Hearts, Welcome All”.
As baptized Christians, our role is to serve as Christ’s healing hearts in this community. By “healing hearts”, we live out our mission as Christ’s Church “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” As we pursue this mission, we pray and worship, proclaim the Gospel, and promote “justice, peace and love”. (BCP 855)
You know of our efforts including our support of such ministry partners as The Gathering and Austin Street Center, our support of the LGBTQ community through efforts such as Lifewalk, as well as the welcoming of visitors to our Sunday worship services.
But there is another way we can serve as Christ’s healing hearts: we can help restore people’s spiritual lives by inviting them to experience the life of Christ. We do this through the sacrament of baptism.
This leads us to All Saints’ Sunday and what we’ll call “Baptism Sundays”. Baptism Sundays refer to those days considered ideal for baptisms by our Book of Common Prayer. (BCP 312) Our first Baptism Sunday will take place on All Saints’ Sunday, November 4, 2018.
By inviting family members or those in the community to take their first step in their walk with Christ, we carry out Christ’s work of reconciliation, while welcoming newcomers to our Saint Thomas community.
For those interested in baptism, we will have a one-hour Introductory class on baptism following the 10am service on October 28. Participants and parents, please sign-up with the office before or by Friday, October 21.
Let’s remember our own Baptismal Covenant as we do what we can to strengthen and nurture the lives of others. We are, after all, Christ’s healing hearts in this world.
