Respectfully submitted by Paul McCright, Clerk
St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church
Stephen Waller Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Psalm 22:22-30 Romans 4:13_25 Mark 8: 32-38 “He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” I possess no less than 50 crosses at last count. Most of them are on my bedroom wall. Some hang in windows. A couple stand on my mantel and my bathtub counter. One hangs over the kneeler which my Dad made for me when I was ordained….it is a cross which I have owned since I was a teen. One, I bought while on sabbatical in Iona…a cross made from what appears to be slate carved in a Celtic motif. Some of you have given me one or more of these crosses. Members of St. Alban’s Monroe, Louisiana gave me several. …
February 25, 2021 500,000 – Half of 1 Million – 500,000 However you choose to look at it, 500,000 is a staggering number. It represents more life lost than was lost in four major wars. It is a number that we simply should not, must not, and cannot race by in our attempt to avoid the grim reality of what that number represents. This week, our nation passed this milestone – the sheer number of lives lost to the COVID-19 virus, this “Corona-tide” that we have been mired in for now nearly one whole year. We are only two weeks shy, the third Sunday of Lent, March 15, 2020, of the Sunday we conducted our first virtual service, on-line, thinking we would be back in our beloved worship space in two short weeks! Signs are still posted that say, “Closed until March 27, 2020!” We promised ourselves surely we would…
Christopher Thomas Sermon for the First Sunday of Lent, Year B – 2/21/21 Genesis 9:8-17 Psalm 25:1-9 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the very first day.” – Genesis 1:1-5 You know how this story goes. You’ve heard it, we just read this passage, a few weeks ago, back on the first Sunday after Epiphany. I’d be willing to make wager that, like the 23rd Psalm, you can…
February 19, 2021 Dear Doubters of Great Faith, As we begin to unwind and thaw from the Great Freeze, “Sn-ovid” 2021, I hope and pray that you are safe and warm and have your utilities restored, and that your property has emerged unharmed. If any of that is not the case, I hope you will let me or one of the clergy know how we can be of service to engage the love, care, and support of the St. Thomas the Apostle family at this most precarious time. Please be prayerful for our sisters and brothers around the city and state who are not so fortunate. Many have been left without food, water, and other resources, or homeless. I urge you to look for ways that you can share from what you have, most especially through generosity to organizations such as Episcopal Relief and Development (https://support.episcopalrelief.org/) and the North Texas…
Christopher Thomas Sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year B – 2/14/21 2 Kings 2:1-12 Psalm 50:1-6 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Mark 9:2-9 “Trans-“ “Trans-“ From the Latin: Across, over, beyond. Implications of a journey. A trip. A path. A course. To destinations, as of yet, previously unseen, unheard, unknown. At the very least, to me… Trans-formation Trans-substantiation Trans-literation Trans-plantation Trans-gender-ation (I just made that up to see if you were paying attention.) Trans…journies…trips…paths…courses…curiosities Today’s journey is the mountaintop experience that Jesus takes Peter, and James, and John (and you and I) upon, as we trek up Mount Tabor once again. But why? Why this Epiphany, this theophany, why now? We know, don’t we, that God is among us, Immanuel. The star landed over Bethlehem, pointing the way. He’s right over there, multiplying fish, feeding masses, curing and healing the sick, giving sight to blind folks, why even…
February 11, 2021 My dear Doubters of Great Faith, We are fast approaching the final Sunday of Epiphany, the day we mark Jesus’ “transfiguration” to three of his disciples, the day God reiterates, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” It is a high point in the incarnational process, God’s great journey together with humanity, as God asserts God’s identity in this at once human, and yet most divine gift, Jesus Christ. “This IS my Son, the Beloved; LISTEN to him!” We spend Epiphany basking in revelations of the great gift of Christmas, dazzling and resplendent, emerging through waters of baptism, ascending majestic mountain heights. Can we yet fully appreciate the gift that Christmas delivers? Is that possible? What has God done, coming among us, in this most radical of ways? Deciding what to do with this gift is intimately bound to our thoughts and beliefs about our…
The Rev’d Virginia Holleman The Collect for the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany Year B, Epiphany 5 St. Thomas the Apostle February 7, 2021 Isaiah 40: 21 – 31 Psalm 147: 1 – 12, 21c 1 Corinthians 9: 16 – 23 Mark 1: 29 – 39 In the Name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN. From our Collect for this morning: “Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made know to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ . . .” Suicide is a double tragedy. Not only is the person who takes his or her life consumed by their own sense of worthlessness, hopelessness and sinfulness, but the friends and loved ones left behind are consumed by what I call the “if-only’s” – if only I had realized how…
Dear Doubters of Great Faith, Welcome to year two of our great romance, this epic novel that you and I, the good people of the Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, all of us Doubters, are forging together. It is hard to imagine that it has been A year, and yet, in COVID time, ONLY a year. 2020 may go down as the year that an instant and an eternity intersected in the most unusual of ways! Our first year together has been about listening – listening to each other, listening to the community and the world around us, and listening for God’s calling to us and for us. Listening can seem passive, and yet, as we have seen, it is anything but. We have actively, intentionally listened, through worship, and sermons, through book studies, and education, and forums. In all of the many ways we have spent time…
Our observance of the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday will take place on Wednesday, February 17 at 6 pm in the Zoom realm. The link will go out with our normal Thursday e-blast, and will be the same link we use for our Sunday worship service. There will be an opportunity during the liturgy for a “self-imposition” of ashes to mark the solemnity of the season. Ashes typically come from palm fronds that have been burned from the prior year(s). If you have your own, you may use those. For those who do not, we will have ashes available for pick-up from the table outside the office door from Friday, February 12 through Ash Wednesday.
