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St Thomas

Holding on to Hope

By News, Upcoming Events

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will lead a live-streamed prayer service from Washington National Cathedral, Holding on to Hope: A National Service for Healing and Wholeness, on All Saints Sunday, November 1, at 4:00-5:30 p.m. EST. In the midst of a pandemic, racial reckoning, and a historic election, the live-streamed service will gather Americans for prayer, song, lament, hope, and a call to love God and neighbor. The event will be simulcast in English and Spanish. In addition to Bishop Curry’s sermon, the service will include reflections from Father James Martin, a noted Roman Catholic commentator on American life and values, and Valarie Kaur, an inspiring Sikh author, filmmaker, and civil rights attorney. The gathering will be officiated by Washington’s Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, Cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith, and Reverend Stephanie Spellers, Canon to the Presiding Bishop. Prayers for the nation will come from leaders like Eboo Patel, founder and president…

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October 29, 2020

Mindful Raking

By Christian Formation

A story is told about a Buddhist monk who was asked what he did before he attained enlightenment. He responded, “I chopped wood and carried water.” He was then asked what he did after achieving the highest state of enlightenment. “I continued to chop wood and carry water.” The point is that living a mindful, spiritual life does not always lead to dramatic changes in our or behaviors, although it indeed may. Living a mindful, spiritual life changes us on the inside; it changes our perspective on life. What we do may not change, but our mindset while doing it will likely shift. All that I just shared with you came to my mind early this week when I was raking leaves. If you were to walk by my house while I was raking, you might think to yourself, “There’s a guy raking his lawn.” This would be true, but…

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October 27, 2020

Sermon for Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

By Sermons

October 25, 2020, Year A: Proper 25 The Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle Dallas, Texas Allen M. Junek, Seminarian-in-Residence + In the name of the one holy and undivided Trinity. Amen. So, here he is: Jesus as he’s so often portrayed. A wise sage on the mountain top, telling each of us to be nice to each other. You know this is one of the downfalls of the lectionary, the table by which we choose the readings for each Sunday of the year: we don’t always get the whole story, just a piece of it. Prior to this exchange, Jesus had just entered Jerusalem. It was the Tuesday, of what we would call Holy Week. The crowds that shouted “Hosanna” on Sunday, would be shouting “Crucify” by Friday. He had just purged the Temple with a whip made of his own hands, and was now being quizzed about…

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October 25, 2020

The Rev. Raymond Carl Ball

By News, Rector's Corner

My Dear Doubters of Great Faith, It is with great sadness that I must announce the passing into the company of the angels and saints my fellow priest and our beloved brother Doubter on the journey here at St. Thomas the Apostle, the Rev. Raymond Carl Ball. In a year already full of sorrow and loss, the swiftness of Fr. Ray’s transition into God’s greater glory seems to sting even more. The outpouring of love in the form of tributes of fellow clergy, parishioners, and folks from across the Diocese of Dallas and beyond, in the form of e-mails, cards, notes, and Facebook posts, attest to the impact that Fr. Ray has had (and will continue to have) on countless numbers of lives, within our Church family, and far beyond. I did not have the privilege of knowing Fr. Ray until I showed up at St. Thomas in February of…

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October 22, 2020

God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath

By Christian Formation

Doubters Book Picks: N.T. Wright, God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath (Zondervan Reflective, 2020). ISBN-13: 978-0310120803. “What should the Christian response be to the novel coronavirus pandemic?” “How are we to think about God in the midst of a plague?” “How do we live in the present moment during this lengthening crisis?” “What can the Holy Spirit teach us about ourselves as COVID-19 confronts us?” “How will we recover personally and collectively?” N.T. Wright, Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews (UK), and former Anglican bishop of Durham, tackles these questions and more in his newest book. Renowned for authoring over eighty previous books, Wright demonstrates why his readers are so loyal to him. God and the Pandemic is written clearly and is chocked full of nuggets of insight into how the resurrection of Jesus from…

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October 22, 2020

A Closer Listen

By Christian Formation

In the middle of a Zoom call that my wife and I recently had with some friends, I had a genuine aha moment, one that reminded me of an important lesson I had learned years ago. Knowing that my wife is an avid reader, my friends asked her what she was currently reading. She explained that she has just finished an excellent book entitled, The Housekeeper and the Professor, written by Yoko Ogawa. Our friends were curious to hear more, and so they asked her lots of follow up questions. The more questions they asked, the more details she shared. And that is when I had my aha moment. After we ended our call, I shared my insight with my wife. I explained that I had, of course, noticed her reading the book about which she had just been talking. Until the Zoom call with our friends, though, I hadn’t…

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October 20, 2020

Sermon for Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

By Rector's Corner, Sermons

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Year A – 10/18/20 Grandparents are an amazing, unequaled gift of God’s divine presence to, in, and of the world. They really are. I had the great good fortune to know, have relationship with, and be deeply impacted by the two best grandmothers that I believe God ever produced. I like to say that if there’s something you like about me, you can probably trace it back to one of them. If there’s something you don’t like about me, you can probably trace it back to one of them. For the purposes of today’s message, I’m going to focus on one Johny Frank Thomas. Now, you might think that was a man, but that in fact was my father’s mother (named after her two grandfathers). I haven’t spent much time sermonizing about Johny Frank in my short time as priest, because, as…

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October 18, 2020

All Saints/All Souls Days

By Upcoming Events

If you would like for your loved ones to be honored in the Nov. 1 Doubter for All Saints/All Souls Days, please email the names to pam@thedoubter.org by Noon on Wednesday, October 28. If you would like to make a memorial donation, please note on the memo line of your check “All Saints” and mail to: St. Thomas Episcopal Church 6525 Inwood Rd. Dallas, TX 75209

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October 15, 2020

O magnum mysterium

By Rector's Corner

My Dear Doubters of Great Faith, This week I had conversation with a friend about what Episcopalians believe (scary thought!) regarding the presence of Jesus Christ in communion. Of course, we believe in Christ’s “real presence” in the elements, bread and wine, but what does that really mean? Are these things transformed, in some way, because of the words that a priest breathes over them? Our Articles of Religion, the basic footprint of Anglicanism, while not clear what “real presence” is, is definitive about what it is not – transubstantiation. The beauty is in the mystery! O magnum mysterium. She knows that Christ is there; she can feel his imprint. This outward, visible sign of an inward, spiritual grace. If Christ falls to the floor in distribution, she quickly bends to pick him up, and consumes. Christ IS there. Presence, real presence is this glorious mystery of words and Word…

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October 15, 2020

Sermon for Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

By Sermons

October 11, 2020 The Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle Dallas, Texas The Reverend Stephen J. Waller In the Name of the One God: As usual, friends, I will begin my homily today with something very personal, but also very much a part of the Parish we all love… On the 11th of October in the Year of Our Lord 1989, I was installed as the Third Rector of St. Thomas the Apostle…having been the Rector since my arrival in Dallas on September 1st. Bishop Patterson had selected the day… I doubt that the good Bishop knew that October 11th is National Coming Out Day. The Interim priest, Ernie Bell, was the preacher. Ernie and I had both served in the Diocese of Louisiana before and sort of knew one another…still, that he preached at that service means I had not yet made him mad enough to send me…

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October 11, 2020