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Greetings!
This issue of Spiritual Adventures highlights our three-week Welcome Back Kick-Off, a series of events focusing on prayer, and including worship, fellowship, food, and fun for all ages! The three-week Welcome Back Kick-Off extends from Sunday, August 14, through Sunday, August 28. Read below to find out what's in store!
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Three-Week Welcome Back Kick-Off Calendar - Final Week!
 + Sunday, August 28 - Breakfast at 8:45 a.m. in All Saints' Hall - Educational Program for all ages at 9:15 - Parish-wide Low Country Boil at 6:00 in All Saints' Hall (read more below!) |
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Parish-Wide Low Country Boil
On Sunday, August 28, a festive LOW COUNTRY BOIL will be sponsored by the Parish Life Committee and hosted by the young adults. Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. in All Saints' Hall, and the evening will end with the service of Compline. The event will end at 8:00 (since it's a school night!). This Low Country Boil will be the culmination of our three-week Welcome Back Kick-Off. Parishioners of all ages and their guests are welcome. There will be music, fun, and food for everyone, including shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and more! The cost is only $5 per person. No cost to guests. Iced tea and water will be served; any other beverages are up to you. Join us for this wonderful fellowship opportunity!
Foyers Groups Offer Additional Fellowship Opportunities
Foyers Groups are small, parish dinner clubs (8-10 people) that will gather five to six times over the next several months. These are great opportunities to get to know more people at St. Thomas! Participants are randomly grouped, giving you a great chance to meet new people. For more information or to sign up for Foyers, please contact the church office between now and mid-September: 706-324-4264 or office@stthomascolumbus.org.
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Our Focus on Prayer Continues
Our prayer theme has continued to open ways in which we can speak to God. We invite you to continue to participate this Sunday morning as we experience prayer through art, music, reading, writing, coloring mandalas, and creating labyrinths. This past Sunday, my favorite comment came from St. Thomas's own financial administrator, Patty Slembarski, when she said she felt like she was in someone's home kitchen experiencing worshipful prayer together like one big, happy family. Included here (left, and below) are several pictures from this past Sunday.
Don't forget to join us this coming Sunday as we will continue our prayer stations and conclude our theme Sunday night with a Low Country Boil and Compline.
Submitted by Erin Redden, Director of Children's Christian Education.
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Children's Choir
The Children's Choir at St. Thomas is for children four years old through elementary school age. The choir rehearses weekly throughout the school year on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and provides special music for Sunday worship and other events in the life of St. Thomas' parish. In addition to preparing special anthems, the children learn about the music of the church through the singing of hymns and liturgy. As they learn musical concepts through the music they prepare, they are also taught the Biblical concepts behind the music. Through singing, playing instruments, and movement, the children learn to give their best to God through their music.
If you have questions, please contact Erin Redden, Children's Choir Director, at episcokids@stthomascolumbus.org. |
Episcokid Pool Party a Big Hit!
The Episcokid Back-to-School Pool Party was a fun event with lots of children (pictured) and their parents. We would like to thank our gracious hostess, Janet Mapel, for opening her home and pool to all of us! She has invited us to Woodbury this fall for some hiking and fishing. We can hardly wait!
Submitted by Erin Redden, Director of Children's Christian Education.
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Valley Interfaith Promise (VIP)
St. Thomas will be hosting VIP from September 4th through September 11th. If you are able to volunteer, we will need people to serve dinner and spend the night on Monday 9/5, Wednesday 9/7, Friday 9/9, and to serve lunch on Sunday 9/11. If you are interested in volunteering or finding out more about VIP, please contact Malinda Shamburger at 706-761-5716 or mshamburger1@yahoo.com.
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A Note of Thanks from Sexton James Mills
To my Friends at St. Thomas Episcopal Church,
I'd like to say thanks from the bottom of my heart for all the phone calls, cards, monetary offerings, and visits in the hospital and at home during the time that I was out with my broken leg. I felt bad about the accident, thinking of how I could have prevented it. But you let me know that accidents do happen, and that all I needed to do was to concentrate on getting well. All these things helped me greatly toward getting me back on my feet and back to work.
Thanks so much,
James |
Thank You, Donors!
This week, we would like to acknowledge the following donors. Thank you for your generosity to St. Thomas Episcopal Church and to each other!
+ Joan Swift Redmond, for African Missions;
+ Jan Pittman, for Music, in memory of Tom Morgan, Sr., father of Janet Mapel;
+ Deanna Grube and Family, for the Columbarium, in memory of Rick Sendelbach;
+ Bill & Cindy Godwin, for Children's Education and for Music, in honor of Erin and Rick, and all they do to help us grow;
+ Paul & Jo Cates, for CVEM, in memory of Rick Sendelbach.
Submitted by Financial Administration.
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Confirmation Classes Offered at St. Thomas Beginning September 6
Confirmation classes will begin on Tuesday, September 6, at 6:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Classes will continue each Tuesday at this time through Tuesday, October 11. Dinner will be provided at each class session. Confirmation will be celebrated on Sunday, October 9, Bishop Keith Whitmore presiding. The final class on Tuesday, October 11, will be a follow-up session. Adults and older teens who have not been Confirmed are encouraged to attend. For more information or to RSVP to the classes, please contact the church office at 706-324-4264 or office@stthomascolumbus.org. |
Wynnton Neighborhood Network Monthly Report
Please find below the following results of our volunteer efforts during the past month (July 2011). We are in need of your continuing support. Thank you for all of your support in helping the Wynnton Neighborhood Network accomplish its mission!
+ Total families assisted with food: 302
+ Total individuals within those families: 679
+ Total children within those families: 288
+ Total bags of food distributed: 1,093
+ In addition, $2,855.20 was provided to assist 74 families with utilities. |
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Music Notes
You are in for a musical treat this Sunday morning! Coraine Tate (pictured, left) will be singing. Coraine began singing with the choir in her Senior year of high school and in her first year at CSU when she was Confirmed. She is now a Junior at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Coraine is certainly one of the best singers ever to come out of Columbus, GA. She will sing at the prelude - a setting of the Benedictus - and a spiritual at Communion. Coraine, we are glad to have you "back home" and are so proud of you!
Also, we have a new children's altar in the Chapel made by Jack Ceccato from a prayer desk from the original church (pictured, below). Thank you, Jack, for sharing your artistry!
Submitted by Rick McKnight, Organist and Choirmaster.
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St. Thomas, Temple Israel, Muslim Communities, and One Columbus to Join Hands in 9/11 Commemorative Service Hosted by Temple Israel
Temple Israel will host "The Children of Abraham Remember," an interfaith commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on Sunday evening, September 11, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. The commemoration will include representation and spiritual offerings from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities of the greater Columbus area. The conveners are Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, spiritual leader of Temple Israel; Rabbi Brian Glusman of Shearith Israel Synagogue; Reverend Douglas Hahn of St. Thomas Episcopal Church; Farhad AliFarhani and Imam Yahya Islam, representing the Muslim community of Masjid AnNur; and OneColumbus, under the leadership of Ken Crooks. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, the spiritual leader of Temple Israel, remarked: "As we mark the tenth anniversary of these tumultuous events in the life of America, we re-dedicate ourselves to the promise of America and her security and integrity. So, too, we remain painfully aware of the threat of Islamophobia, and with this service we affirm our intent to keep the lines of communication and dialogue open. We are all Americans, and together we remain wounded by the events of 9/11." Fr. Hahn reminds us that this is also a remembrance of the partnership that our communities forged in the months following 9/11. This partnership resulted in a joint Habitat for Humanity Project.
Temple Israel is located at 1617 Wildwood Avenue, Columbus. For further information, please contact Temple Israel at 706-323-1617. |
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St. Thomas Readers Book Discussion Group
The St. Thomas Readers Book Group will begin its seventh season on Thursday, September 8, at 6:00 p.m. in the St. Thomas Parlor. We will be discussing Dancing in Cadillac Light and Part of Me, both by Kimberly Willis Holt. Considered an outstanding author of books for children and young adults, her works are often found on school reading lists. Both of these books celebrate the joys of family, reading, faith, and the triumph of the human spirit. They are not available at the Columbus Public Library, but they may be purchased online and in local book stores. The convener of the group also has several copies that she purchased from Amazon.com. Anyone wishing to purchase one of these copies may contact Sonya Boyd at 706-563-6161 or janjulau@aol.com. The funds will be donated to the St. Thomas Youth.
There will be no meeting of the Readers Group in October so that everyone may participate in the Columbus Public Library's The Big Read, celebrating the works of Edgar Allen Poe. A variety of activities are planned for the month and we hope that all will support The Big Read. Contact the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library for further information on The Big Read.
Announcements about the November meeting of the St. Thomas Readers will be forthcoming.
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