eNews
27 July 2012

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.

Sermons


 

The Feast of St.  Mary Magdalene
The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

 

For more videos from the Parish, including all sermons dating back to March 2011, visit the Parish YouTube Homepage!

LASchola to Perform Tallis

 

On Saturday, 28 July at 5pm, the LASchola will perform at the Latin Vigil Mass. They will be accompanying the Mass with the Mass for Four Voices by English renaissance composer Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). 

 

The Parish Potluck Party will follow this Mass.

Fr. Craig Bustrin to Preach on Sunday

 

This Sunday, we welcome Fr. Craig Bustrin, Vicar of St. Mary's Church, Phoenix in the Diocese of Arizona. He will be preaching at both the Low and High Masses.

 

Fr Bustrin, a third-generation native of Phoenix, was infected with Anglicanism while spending a summer in England as a guide at Coventry Cathedral. He is a graduate of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1980. While serving parishes in Michigan and Florida, he was a college chaplain and an adjunct in medical ethics at the University of Florida Medical School.

Fr. Bustrin spent the next 22 years as a worker priest in New York City, assisting primarily at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and St. Michael's Church. For ten summers he headed the Fire Island Episcopal Chaplaincy, and during the height of Jane Austin mania, was given the title "The Vicar of The Pines". In 1997 he made his Off-Broadway debut in a production of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest"-and promptly left the theatre forever. After a series of improbable coincidences, he found himself chaplain to drag queens, club kids, the circuit crowd and other denizens of New York nightlife. For four years, he helped produce the annual memorial service in New York City for those who died in the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, 2003. In 2008 he found himself at the UN Headquarters in Geneva trying to inject some emotional content into the kind of Fifth Anniversary Remembrance only career diplomats could concoct.

After being named the 'spinster of the family,' Fr Bustrin moved back home to Scottsdale in 2007 in order to be near (but not too near) his aging parents. For three years, he was an Assisting Priest at Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix, where he was involved in ministry to young adults, the downtown arts district, and the LGBT community. He was co-founder/director of the Cathedral's weekly Compline by Candlelight, designed the Cathedral's first 'branding' efforts and their Holy Week solemn set. Armed with his trusty Dremel tool, turned a genuinely hideous, Addams Family-style, floor-standing candelabrum into a 'quite nice' Paschal Candle stand.

In the fall of 2010, the Bishop of Arizona appointed Fr Bustrin the Vicar of Saint Mary's Church, Phoenix, a small-but-growing Anglo-Catholic parish on the wrong side of the freeway-a parish the Canon to the Ordinary now calls "the most diverse parish in the Diocese of Arizona." On Easter Monday, 2012, he breathed a sigh of relief when a Ship of Fools Mystery Worshiper (the notoriously observant "Amanda B. Reckondwythe") gave StM's' [sic] Solemn Good Friday Liturgy an eight-out-of-ten, writing, "...clearly they do things right here. I'll be back on another occasion."

When not being 'churchy,' he enjoys cooking for others, tuning his harpsichord in esoteric temperaments, and embarking upon alarming DIY projects which bemuse friends and horrify unsuspecting acquaintances. His experience painting icons makes him the only person in his social circle who can wash and dry an egg yolk. 
Bl. Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901
Bp. Westcott shown in front of Durham Cathedral in a window at All Saints Church, Cambridge

After obtaining his degree at Trinity College, Cambridge, he remained in residence at Trinity obtaining a fellowship, and was ordained deacon and priest in the same year. While studying, Westcott took on pupils as well. One of his pupils, who became a lifelong friend, was E.W. Benson (future Archbishop of Canterbury). 

 

His lectures were generally on Biblical subjects. Lecturing was an intense strain to him, but his influence was immense. At the height of his popularity, he was delivering the most esoteric lectures every evening. 

 

He wrote many books. The most famous of which would arguably be The New Testament in the Original Greek also known as the "Westcott and Hort" text after its editors (F.J.A. Hort, another pupil and lifelong friend of Westcott, was the co-editor). It is a critical text, compiled from some of the oldest New Testament fragments and texts that had been discovered at the time. The two editors worked together on this book for over 28 years. 

 

In 1890, he was consecrated Bishop of Durham. The change of work and surroundings could hardly have been greater, but the sudden immersion in the practical administration of a northern diocese gave him new strength. He surprised the world, which had supposed him to be a recluse and a mystic, by the practical interest he took in the mining population of Durham and in the great shipping and artisan industries. Upon one famous occasion, he succeeded in bringing to a peaceful solution a long and bitter strike which had divided the masters and men in the Durham collieries, and his success was due to the confidence which he inspired by the extraordinary moral energy of his strangely "prophetic" personality, at once thoughtful, vehement, and affectionate. His constant endeavor to call the attention of the Church to the religious aspect of social questions was a special note in his public utterances. 

 

His energy was remarkable to the very end, but during the last two to three years of his life, he aged considerably. His wife, who had been for some years invalid, died rather suddenly on 28 May 1901, and he dedicated to her memory his last book, Lessons from Work. He preached a farewell sermon to the miners in Durham Cathedral at their annual festival on 20 July. Then came a short, sudden and fatal illness.

 

Today we commemorate the learned Bishop and Scholar.

In This Issue
Sermons
LASchola
Guest Preacher for Sunday
Treasurer's Report
Parish Potluck Party
Blessed Brat Feast
New Catechism Class Forming
Carpooling to Church
Coming Soon...
The Eighth Sunday 
After Trinity

 

Lections

II Samuel 11:1-15
Psalm 14
Ephesians 3:14-end
St. John 6:1-21

Celebrant

Fr. Ian Elliott Davies

 

Preacher

Fr. Craig Bustrin

  

Deacon

Dea. Walter S. Johnson


Choir Master
Mr. James Keltner

Organist
Mr. Jeffrey Parola
Treasurer's Report

 

As of 30 June 2012

 

Gifts Received : $155,892.87

Ministries Funded : $158,378.93

 

Balance: ($2,486.06)

 

Approved minutes from the June Vestry meeting may be found on our website, or by  CLICKING HERE!

Parish Potluck Party

 

On Saturday, 28 July following the 5pm Vigil Mass, which will be accompanied by LASchola, join us for a potluck garden party! This is a wonderful opportunity to meet with the Clergy, Parishioners, the LASchola singers, and new faces! Please tell your friends and family. For more info, contact David Silvas at (626) 818-5218 or [email protected]

Blessed Brat Feast!

 

The Parish Cell of Our Lady of Walsingham will be hosting "The Blessed Brat Feast Day" immediately following the High Mass. They'll be serving brats with all the fixin's! 

New Catechism Class Forming

 

On Saturday, 8 Sept. the new Catechism Class will begin.  The class is the cornerstone of our Stewardship of Faith and Knowledge program. Anybody interested in being Baptized, Confirmed, Received into the Episcopal Church or Parishioners wishing to renew their vows, please contact the Parish Office to schedule an appointment. The course commitment is a weekly class each Saturday morning starting with a 10am Mass; the process leads up to a retreat and culminates at the Great Vigil of Easter with the Bishop. Graduates have a deeper understanding of themselves, their relationship with God and with the Parish community. Space is limited.

Need Help Getting to Mass? Willing to Help Others?

 

The Parish is organizing carpooling services! If you need a ride or are willing to drive, please enter your name on the correct sheet on the bulletin board of the Large Parish Hall. 

 

Other options include Metro (323) 466-3876 andDial-A-Ride (800) 827-0829, which provides curb-to-curb, on-demand transportation (mostly for the elderly and disabled; somewhat for the general public).

On This Day 
in Christian History 

 

On this day in 1681, during a bitter battle between Scottish Episcopalians and Presbyterians, five Presbyterian preachers were martyred in Edinburgh. The Church of Scotland became Presbyterian permanently in 1690.

Coming Soon...

 

Please join us for many Parish activities.  Here's a sampling of upcoming events - a full list is available online 

 

28 July @ 7:30am

Homeless Feeding & Outreach

 

28 July @ 5:00pm

LASchola sings the Mass

 

11 August @ 7:30am

Homeless Feeding & Outreach


15 August @ 7:30pm

Vestry Meeting
 

18 August @ 10:30am 

Newcomer Orientation Series

 

27 August @ 9:30am

County-USC AIDS Clinic Feeding Program

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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