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News

A Call to Prayer for our Nation

By News

On this day of the Feast of the Epiphany, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry invites Episcopalians and people of faith to turn and pray on behalf of our nation. Today is January the 6th, 2021. It is the Feast of the Epiphany. And on this particular day at this particular moment, even as our nation’s capital is being endangered and assaulted, we pray that the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that God, in his Way of Love, might prevail in all of our hearts. The events at our Capitol today are deeply disturbing. We believe the actions of armed protesters represent a coup attempt. We are a democracy, with long-standing institutional norms that must be honored, foremost among them, following the processes laid out in the Constitution and Federal statute to facilitate the peaceful and orderly transition of power. Today’s protesters pushed through police barricades and forced their way…

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January 6, 2021

Parish Annual Meeting | Jan 17

By News, Upcoming Events

Our Parish Annual Meeting will be held via ZOOM immediately following the Sunday ZOOM service on January 17, 2021. At the meeting the annual Parish budget for 2021, as adopted by the Vestry at its December 2020 meeting will be presented. Annual reports by the Rector, Senior Warden and Junior Warden, as required by the Diocesan Canons and Parish By-laws, will also be presented. Please make plans to attend. A Meeting to elect new Vestry members was held on October 18, 2020 with Lisa Pearson, Randy Hering, and Ruth Woodward elected for three year terms.

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December 31, 2020

2020 Outreach Grants awarded

By News, Outreach

At its Monthly meeting, the Vestry of St. Thomas the Apostle approved our parish’s Outreach Grants. For several years, we have provided funds to various organizations to assist them with their programs and special projects. We had budgeted $5,000 for 2019 but no grants were awarded in that year so the amount was rolled into 2020 to accompany our budgeted $5,000 for this year. Here are this year’s recipients: Dallas Hunger Relief – a partnership through the Diocese of Dallas and the Greater Dallas Coalition. Each food truck holds 448 boxes of groceries (50 pounds each); each box contains produce, meat, and dairy and each family gets one box. Each food truck costs $600. We are paying for 5 food trucks for $3,000! Christmas Toys for Dallas Children in Need – another partnership with the Diocese of Dallas and the Greater Dallas Coalition. We are contributing $1,000. This is in…

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December 17, 2020

Christmas Message 2020

By News

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
 extends his Christmas Message for 2020 Joy to the world! The Lord is come: let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.
 Perhaps like me, you’ve sung this hymn for years – in church,  at home with your family,  gathered with friends and neighbors. Perhaps you’ve sung it to yourself  –  in your car, on a walk, or quietly in the dark of night.
 Joy to the world!
 While we may not feel joyful this year – as the pandemic of disease continues to bring sickness and death, when fear and mistrust – a darkness – threatens to overcome the light – we, as followers of Jesus Christ must bear joy to this aching world. We must shine light into the darkness.  Joy to the world!
 Like much in our lives, proclaiming joy is difficult work – also  good …

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December 10, 2020

80th General Convention postponed to July 2022

By News

Amid the continued uncertainty of an unrelenting coronavirus pandemic, the church’s presiding officers announced Nov. 20 that they had decided, with Executive Council’s unanimous backing, to postpone the 80th General Convention from July 2021 to July 2022, a move intended to ensure the large churchwide legislative gathering can be held in person in Baltimore, Maryland, as originally planned. “Like you, we have spent the last several months riding waves of pandemic news,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, said in a letter to bishops and deputies. Even with vaccines expected to be approved as soon as next month, “it is unlikely that even highly effective vaccines and robust federal intervention would permit us to gather as many as 10,000 people safely by next summer, as we had originally planned.” Instead, the 80th General Convention has been rescheduled for July 7-14,…

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November 25, 2020

Support Honduras Threads Virtually

By News

Honduras Threads has traditionally had a Pop-Up shop in the Parish Hall during St. Thomas’ Thanksgiving Potluck luncheon. This has been a perfect opportunity to do a little gift shopping while supporting a good cause. Like so many things this year, if you are interested in supporting Honduras Threads please do so virtually via their website: https://hondurasthreads.org/collections

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November 12, 2020

Cost of COVID-19 – It’s Impact on the Impoverished

By News, Upcoming Events

There is no single corner of our society that has been left untouched by the effects of COVID-19, Coronavirus. The impact is particularly significant on those who live below the poverty line. The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas (EDOD) and UNITE are hosting an on-line interactive event meant to raise our awareness of COVID’s effect on this particular group of our marginalized neighbors. Understand how COVID Impacts people in Poverty. In an interactive discussion on the elements of holistic human flourishing, our certified Facilitator shares expert explanations of the impact of COVID on people living in poverty.  Experience Their Stories.  In small discussion groups, participants experience real families’ and individuals’ stories and make complex decisions while navigating through pre-existing hardships compounded by the pandemic. Help Restore Lives. After engaging real-life stories, participants discuss how to make the most impact through new tools, existing programs, and EDOD resources. Details: Tuesday, November 17, 2020; 7 pm – 8:30 pm…

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November 12, 2020

Next in-person service will be Wed, Nov. 18

By News, Upcoming Events

On Wednesday, Nov. 18 at Noon we will offer our next in-person, indoor Eucharist following plans and precautions our Regathering Committee has studied and put into place. Service will be conducted in the Parish Hall, where all social-distancing and proper ventilation can be implemented. Please enter via the Parish Hall North Doors only. There will be a limit of 20 people. If you are going to attend this service, please email pam@thedoubter.org before Tues, Nov. 17 so that we can adequately prepare. Masks are required. The service will be a spoken (no singing) mass. There is to be no physical touching – hugs, handshakes, fist bumps, etc., during the Peace. The Peace may be exchanged verbally or with a head nod, for example. Please note, bathrooms will not be open during this time. The Sunday Zoom church offering remains our primary gathering of the community body, and we encourage everyone’s…

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November 12, 2020

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

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