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Greetings!
St. Thomas the Apostle is an Episcopal Parish in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. We are called by God to be a holy place where love is found, where all are named and where hearts are freed to change the world.
St. Thomas has a great respect for both the rich liturgical heritage of the church and for living the message of social justice proclaimed by Jesus Christ. Whether you are young or old, gay or straight, single, married or in a relationship, female or male, poor or wealthy, you are welcome at St. Thomas just as you are...a child of God and an inheritor of God's grace. |
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The Time is Now.
The Needs are Great.
There are 3 weeks remaining in the 2011 Stewardship Campaign.
Thank you for supporting St. Thomas and for your ongoing gifts of time, talent and treasure.
The 2011 Stewardship prayer:
Lord God of Hosts, Source of all gifts we, Thy people, rejoice in the fullness of Thy generosity. We thank thee for those whose lives are visible signs of Thy love and blessing to others. Give us the courage to do the same. Make us good stewards of all we have received and will receive, generously sharing our time, talents and treasure to build thy kingdom of love and justice. We ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord, In whom we begin and end all things.
Amen.
We are most grateful to the following parishoners who have met with their Ambassador and made a financial pledge commitment for 2012. Please return pledge cards to the office by November 18.
2012 Pledging Members (03 November 2011):
Borr, Rodney
Coogan, Craig
Davies, Ian Elliott
Evans, Michael
Gable, Christopher
Gray, Clint
Hartwig, Ron
Hughes, Helen
Jensen, Patricia Neal
Keltner, James William
Kemp, Stephen
Kennedy, Taffia
Marbury A, Ted
Miller, Robert D.
Olyaie, Donesh
Roncone, Vince
Sims, John
Williams, Randy
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St. Leo the Great (Nov. 10 Feast Day)
 Pope Leo I or Pope Saint Leo the Great (ca. 400 - November 10, 461) was pope from September 29, 440 to his death.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called the title "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. He is also a Doctor of the Church.
The significance of Leo's pontificate lies in the fact of his assertion of the universal jurisdiction of the Roman bishop, which comes out in his letters, and still more in his ninety-six extant orations. This assertion is commonly referred to as the doctrine of Petrine supremacy.
According to him and several Church Fathers, the Church is built upon Peter, in pursuance of the promise of Matthew 16:16-19. Peter participates in everything which is Christ's; what the other apostles have in common with him they have through him. What is true of Peter is true also of his successors. Every other bishop is charged with the care of his own special flock, the Roman with that of the whole Church. Other bishops are only his assistants in this great task. In Leo's eyes the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon acquired their validity from his confirmation.
Leo's letters and sermons reflect the many aspects of his career and personality, including his great personal influence for good, and are invaluable historical sources. His rhythmic prose style, called cursus leonicus, influenced ecclesiastical language for centuries.
The Catholic Church and many Anglican churches mark November 10 as the feast day of Saint Leo, given in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum and the 8th-century Calendar of Saint Willibrord the date of his death and entry to heaven.
Adapted from www.wikipedia.org
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USC AIDS Lunch Program at risk
 A dedicated group of volunteers prepare lunch, monthly, for patients at the LA County-USC AIDS Outpatient Clinic.
The LA County-USC AIDS Lunch Program was begun in 1991 by a group from University Synagogue in West L.A. Their vision was to provide a healthful lunch for the many patients who had to spend most of their day at the 5P21 Outpatient Clinic, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, waiting for treatment and medication. Many of the HIV-infected outpatients who have turned to LAC-USC for aid are indigent and/or homeless. The hospital is not able to provide meals for patients at the outpatient clinic, and yet many of them must wait for hours for appointments or procedures. In addition,many of the patients come to the clinic by public transportation, and cannot easily go back and forth to their homes. The University Synagogue group solicited the assistance of other synagogues and Episcopal churches to ensure a lunch was provided, free of charge, for patients every day the clinic was open.
Since 1993, St. Tomas has been active in this program. On the fourth Monday of every month, volunteers gather in the parish hall kitchen to make sandwiches, salads and desserts, which are then delivered to the clinic and served to the waiting patients and their families. We serve between 70 to 120 lunches each visit.
This program is the longest serving program of the Parish's Stewardship of Community and Outreach Committee. There is currently not a chair of this committee. The Parish's commitment to Outreach has changed. For the past several years the Rector's priority at the annual Vestry Retreat has been a commitment to liturgy. This liturgical commitment is the essential Outreach to the community where the Parish has put its energy and focus as opposed to the more traditional Outreach. As a result the AIDS/USC program and the Homeless Breakfast program draw limited Parish volunteers and dollars.
The AIDS/USC Lunch program has been funded via a bequest since 2003. In June of this year funding ran out and ongoing gifts do no cover the cost of the program.
Paul Norwood leads the program with Andrew Spaulding. He wrote to the Vestry: "We have been participating in this program for more than eighteen years now, when I got the parish involved as head of Community and Outreach. For many years, until the establishment of the Homeless Breakfast, it was the only regular outreach program at St. Thomas. Of course, in those days, we were ministering to patients who were, for the most part, very sick or dying. Most of the patients at 5P21 in those days were gay men. Today the patients to whom we serve lunch are almost exclusively black or latino, mostly unemployed and impoverished, all without health insurance. In that sense it has become very much a companion ministry to our Homeless outreach.
Over the past couple of years our biggest problem with this program has been recruiting enough volunteers. Of course, since we are a weekday rather than a weekend endeavor, we can only draw from parishioners who are either retired or unemployed or who, like me, have other than a typical 9 -5 work schedule. These days we seem to be lucky to get four or five folks to show up, and usually it is the same four or five every month, all of whom need to go down to the hospital to pull it off. And the leadership of the program continues to be entirely dependent upon myself or Andy Spaulding, which is not ideal after so many, many years.
The County-AIDS Clinic lunch program no longer seems to have the diocesan coordination that it used to have or the enthusiastic support we used to enjoy from the hospital's administrative leadership. That said, the one thing we still get is the heartfelt thanks and "God Bless You"s from the patients we feed. The program is still very viable, from their point of view. And it is the only outreach which we do in concert with other parishes and synagogues on a regular basis."
The Vestry has funded the program since mid-year and at its meeting last week authorized funding through December 2011. The Vestry is committed to the vibrancy and success of this ministry. For the Parish to continue the program in 2012 and beyond new volunteer leadership needs to be identified and secured so that the program is not dependent on one or two individuals. Ongoing funding sources are also needed. In the event that invigorated funding and leadership is not forthcoming then the program will end in December, 2011 with our gratitude and thanks to all those who have made this ministry possible.
If you are interested in helping, please contact Paul Norwood.
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2011 Children's Halloween Preparation & Party Photos
The Children's Ministry spent time on October 28 preparing the treats for Sunday October 30's Coffee Hour. Below are the photos by David Seck in the order in which the preparations happened.
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Third Sunday Before Advent
Celebrant (8am & 10:30am)
Fr. Ian Elliott Davies
Sermon
Fr. Ian Elliott Davies
Deacon
The Rev. Walter S. Johnson
Organist-in-Residence
John West |
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PRELUDE
Air
Geoarge Fredierich Handel
POSTLUDE
Sortie
Alexandre Guilmant
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LECTIONS
Amos 5:18-24
Psalm 70
1 Thessalonians 4. 13 - end
Matthew 25. 1 - 13 |
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Fall Back Nov. 06, 2011
On Sunday, November 06 at 2:00am Pacific Daylight Time ends. Prior to retiring for bed on Saturday, set your clock back 1 hour.
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Coffee Hour 11/06
The Coffee Hour on Sunday, November 06 has been donated by the family of Robert McConnell (RIP).
Robert died on May 23 and his family has just now reached out to Robert's St. Thomas family.
Eulogies and remembrances will be available of Robert at the Coffee Hour along with an arrangement of snacks and sandwiches. |
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Sermon Available
 | | 111030 All Saints Sunday Sermon.mov |
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Howard Gaass Update
Howard Gaass, longtime Parishioner, current Vestryman and People's Warden had a serious accident on Saturday October 22 at the Church. While on a ladder outside, Howard fell. He spent 2 days in the ICU and the rest of the week in a regular hospital room. He broke both wrists and had major reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. He shoulder was cracked and he received stitches on his face from where his glasses broke. He suffered a mild concussion. The fall did fracture his skull and on Thursday evening he underwent surgery to repair that.
Howard was released last Saturday and is now at home. He is in excellent spirits and is recovering. He is grateful for the loving kindness, prayers and generosity of the People of St. Thomas. He thanks all those who have sent good wishes, and visited. He is especially moved by the commitment of Deacon Johnson and the support of Fr. Davies.
He continues to need assistance during the 6 to 8 week recovery period at home. He currently has no use of his hands and needs help in all of the daily tasks. Please contact the office by email if you are interested in joining a volunteer corps to help Howard in his home in Sherman Oaks. We are setting up a rotation to make sure that Howard is taken care of. |
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Mother Knows Best
On November 3 in 1534, British Parliament passed the Supremacy Act, whereby Henry VIII and his successors to the English throne were declared "the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England." |
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Episcopal News - Fall Edition is now online
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Please join us for many Parish activities. Here's a sampling of upcoming events - a full list is available online
November 11
Office Closed
November 12 @ 7:00am
Homeless Feeding & Outreach
November 19 @ 10:45am
Newcomer Orientation November 19 @ 5:00pm Final LASchola for 2011 November 23 @ 7:30pm Thanksgiving Eve Mass November 24 & 25 Office Closed November 26 @ 7:00am Homeless Feeding & Outreach November 28 @ 9:30am
AIDS/USC Feeding
December 10 @ 7:00am
Homeless Feeding & Outreach
December 11 @ 12:00pm Choir Boutique / Sing-along December 17 @ 10:30am
Semi-Annual Cleaning of Church (lunch provided)
December 18 @ 12:00pm
Our Lady of Walsingham Bake Sale
December 18 @ 4:30pm
Advent Lessons & Carols
December 23 until January 5
Office Closed
December 23 @ 10:30am
Decorating the Church
December 24 @ 7:30am
Homeless Feeding & Outreach
December 24
Christmas Eve Services
5:00pm Family Mass 11:00pm Midnight Mass
December 25
Christmas Day
8:00am Low Mass 10:30am Choral High Mass
December 26 @ 5pm
Boxing Day Party at Rectory
December 31 @ 10:30pm
New Year's Eve Mass
January 6 @ 7:30pm
Epiphany High Mass
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Religion Inside Out November 6
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Religion Inside Out. The Kabbalah has been doing just that for hundreds of years
The Kabbalah is rooted in a mystical literature that claims to know the inner life of the Divine and how that interfaces with humanity.
Rabbi Mordecai Finley will offer an overview of that map and how Kabbalah can shape spiritual formation and moral psychology.
Finley is the spiritual leader of Ohr HaTorah Synangogue. He as been teaching Jewish spirituality, mysticism and related fields of stdy for more tan 25 years.
Please join us on Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. for
Kabbalah: The Journey Into the Cosmic Soul |
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St. John's Cathedral
514 West Adams Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
Reception immediately following the program - Please RSVP at www.theguibordcenter.org
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ePrayer
Prayer is at the center of our worship and binds us together as a community of faith. This week we commenced our electronic prayer chain email. A list of persons on the prayer list is sent weekly.
The prayer chain email is an opt-in list only - it will not be sent unless you sign up for it. If you'd like to be on this distribution list, please update your profile (please use link at the bottom of the email, customized with your email) or contact the office.
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History online
Articles and photos from the early years of St. Thomas the Apostle are now available on our website!
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Video Introductions
A brief introduction to the liturgy at St. Thomas:
 | | St Thomas Liturgy Sampler.mov |
A brief introduction to St. Thomas, its history, its place in Hollywood, the Damien Chapel and the organ.
 | | Introduction to St. Thomas |
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