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St Thomas

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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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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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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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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Liturgy isn’t liturgy, without each and every one of us!

By Rector's Corner

Dear Doubters of Great Faith, On Wednesday of this week, Fr. Stephen Waller and I were honored to be guest lecturers in Dr. Stephen Sprinkle’s Doctor of Ministry class at Brite Divinity School, “The Ministerial Leader as Practical Theologian.” Steve specifically tasked us with leading a conversation around the practical implications of liturgy. What does our liturgical life as Episcopalians have to say about or to do with our lives lived out in the world? In short, so what? It was a fascinating, humbling time together, as we found ourselves surrounded by those who were every bit as schooled in their own liturgical practice, of so many different varieties, shapes and sizes. I started my part of the discussion by waging what we subscribers to Anglican theology uphold in our liturgical practice, the three-legged stool of “scripture, tradition, reason,” and what that looks like when praying really does shape our…

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Sermon for Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

By Rector's Corner, Sermons

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A – 10/4/20 Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46 Breathe… Breathe…in Breathe…out Breathe… Breath. It is the universal symbol of presence. Neither you, nor I can be present, without breath. If we are present, breath is ever present. We can only go, maybe seconds, without, breath. In our finiteness, it is, in fact, the alpha, and the omega, the beginning, and the end. Light and dark, day and night, good and evil, right and wrong, up and down, everything that we consider, it seems, is rooted in breath. Even God. Even as we consider God, God, Godself seems rooted in-spiration. Inspiration! Then God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…” God’s presence in breath begins the holy covenant of…

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Choosing to Be Response-able

By Christian Formation

There have been occasions during this pandemic when I have been less response-able than I wish I had been. Note that I wrote response-able, not responsible. It’s the former, not the latter, that I have struggled with on occasion. I define response-able as the capacity to respond calmly and thoughtfully to others even when under pressure, rather than mindlessly reacting, in a way that is rarely helpful. Stress significantly increases the chances of our being reactive, and there has been no shortage of pressure in most of our lives and our world lately. There is a significant difference between reacting and responding to stress. When we are reactive, we often feel out of control and then typically blame someone else, or something other than ourselves, for our reactivity. “If you hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t have reacted that way,” is a common excuse—certainly one I have used myself at times….

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We too are called into that holy work

By Rector's Corner

Dear Doubters of Great Faith, There were several identifiable steps along my journey to this passion I now own and possess for social justice ministry particularly in the area of racial reconciliation, healing, and privilege. While I was still a Church Business Administrator, I attended several gatherings of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP), and heard a presentation by the Rev. Mike Kinman, sometime Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, MO, and now Rector of the famed social justice parish All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, CA. The year was 2014, and St. Louis had been for many months in the throes of protests over the killing in Ferguson of Michael Brown. The scene was not unlike what we witnessed in Dallas following the death of George Floyd. Downtown St. Louis was awash in daily marches of protesters decrying an end to senseless police violence. Fr. Mike told us…

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Parish Elections | Oct 18

By News

A Special Meeting to vote on three Vestry positions, three Endowment Fund Committee positions, and an Alternate Delegate to the Diocesan Convention will be held via ZOOM following the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday, October 18th. Voting will actually be done by mail, but in order to receive a ballot, one must “attend” the Special Meeting. Roll will be taken at the meeting. If you attend the ZOOM service and stay connected for the meeting, you will be easily identified and will be mailed a ballot later in that week. If you do not normally attend the ZOOM service, but want to be able to be identified as present at the Special Meeting so that you may receive a ballot, you may do one of three things: Join the Sunday ZOOM service by clicking on the link provided via the Doubter email at some point prior to 11:00 a.m. on…

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Sermon for Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

By Rector's Corner, Sermons

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A – 9/27/20 Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32 “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” – Philippians 2:1-2, NRSV Joy seems such an elusive thing these days, a commodity in short supply. It’s a subject that is in the forefront of my conscious mind, and weighs heavily on my heart, each and every morning, as I go to God in my personal, most private prayer time. I pray, this fervent prayer, each and every morning, before my feet ever touch the floor, “God, please let me feel your joyful presence within me today, so that I may be your joyful presence in…

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