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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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Sermons
| The First Sunday of Advent |
To see more sermons and services go to our YouTube Page!
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Mass Cancellations
Due to the Annual Diocesan Convention, there will be no Mass on
Friday or Saturday (both 10am & 5pm are cancelled).
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Advent Lessons & Carols
On Sunday, 7 December at 5pm, St. Thomas and LASchola will present Advent Lessons & Carols. As we prepare to celebrate the glorious coming of Christ, join us in our traditional celebration of Advent Lessons and Carols with the LASchola, under the direction of Gerald Craft and organist Jeffrey Parola. Let the words of the Prophets and Gospels move you. Surround yourself in the beauty of Saint Thomas' Neo-Gothic church. Let the exuberance and grace of the schola's voices open your heart. Revel in the sounds of Saint Thomas' English-Romantic organ. Don't cheat yourself from the opportunity to nourish your soul with the joys of the season. Bring your friends and neighbors! You'll be glad you did. Reception to follow.
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Choir Boutique
On Sunday, 14 December following the High Mass, the annual Choir Boutique and Christmas sing-a-long will take place in the Large Parish Hall.
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The Reason for the Season
We're directing some of our Outreach to kids in need in our immediate community by supporting the West Hollywood office of The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project saves young lives through its accredited, free and confidential phone, instant message and text crisis intervention services. A leader and innovator in suicide prevention, since 1998, The Trevor Project offers the largest safe social networking community for LGBTQ youth, best practice suicide prevention educational trainings, and resources for youth and adults. We are donating gift cards for office supplies and materials (Staples, Office Max, Amazon) so they can stretch their budget, using the money we've saved them to train more counselors and help more kids. It's a simple, but concrete, way to make a big difference in the lives of young people.
Literally Healing at Children's Hospital Los Angeles is an innovative reading program dedicated to advocating literacy and its importance to children's success. There are two arms of the program: Therapeutic Library, which tackles sensitive issues in a non-threatening manner to ease the medical and emotional anguish, and the Giving Library, which offers patients staying at the hospital (and their visiting siblings) a choice of one free, brand new book daily to keep. This year, the Parish of St. Thomas the Apostle is once again helping with Literally Healing's Book Drive! You may send books of your own choosing or send books on the hospital's wish list. CLICK HERE for the hospital's wish list and address information. Books donated MUST be brand new to control infection.
Once again, St. Thomas will have an Angel Tree to benefit Hillsides, a premier provider dedicated to improving the overall well-being and functioning of vulnerable children, youth, and their families. Their vision is to create lasting change in the lives of all at-risk children and youth that they serve by providing high quality care, advocacy, and innovative services that promote safe, permanent environments where young people can thrive.
We continue our Food Drive to benefit SOVA food pantries this holiday season. We collect food throughout the year to benefit SOVA, one of our partners in the Homeless Coalition. This year, our goal is to fill the SOVA bin (located in the foyer near the Parish Office) at least twice between now and Chrismtas! We thank Christopher Gable for his continued work with this wonderful cause.
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GoodShop / GoodSearch
We thank the following Parishioners who registered at GoodShop.com or GoodSearch.com for St. Thomas and went to GoodShop.com before shopping at online retailers and/or used GoodSearch.com as their internet search engines. Thanks to your efforts, St. Thomas received $1,545.12 this year! In total since 2009, this program has generated $3,863.39! Joan Henehan, Larry Jackson, James Kennett, Ken Koonce, James Vandernaald, Christopher Wagner, Joseph Warren. If these seven Parishioners can generate $1500, imagine what could happen if more Parishioners were involved! Register today at GoodShop.com! If you have issues setting up your free account, contact the Parish Office.
On Cyber Monday and throughout the holiday shopping season make sure to go to GoodShop.com first and see if the online retailer at which you are shopping is partnered with GoodShop.com!
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Advent Series:
Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus
This year's Advent Series will offer a meditation, study, and discussion of the traditional Advent hymn, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. The presenters will focus on various theological themes suggested by the text of this hymn. Some of these themes are highlighted below:
1. Come Thou long expected Jesus Born to set Thy people free From our fears and sins release us Let us find our rest in Thee
2. Israel's strength and consolation Hope of all the earth Thou art Dear desire of every nation Joy of every longing heart
3. Born Thy people to deliver Born a child and yet a King Born to reign in us forever Now Thy gracious kingdom bring
4. By Thine own eternal spirit Rule in all our hearts alone By Thine all sufficient merit Raise us to Thy glorious throne
Our 2014 Advent Series continues in the Parish Hall on Wednesday December 10th at 7:30 p.m. with Canon Ian Elliott Davies leading a discussion of the first stanza. The Advent Series will conclude on Wednesday December 17th, with Mother Shireen Baker leading a discussion on the final two stanzas. A soup supper will be provided at each of the sessions. All are welcome!
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Christmas & Epiphany Schedule
WEDNESDAY, 24 DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS EVE
5:00pm - Family Mass with Sermon & Hymns
11:00pm - Midnight Mass with
Sermon & Choir
THURSDAY, 25 DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS DAY
10:30am - High Mass with Sermon & Choir
FRIDAY, 26 DECEMBER
ST. STEPHEN'S DAY
5:00pm - Boxing Day Party in the Rectory
7:00pm - Low Mass
SUNDAY, 28 DECEMBER
THE HOLY INNOCENTS
8:00am - Low Mass with Sermon
10:30am - High Mass with Sermon & Choir
WEDNESDAY, 31 DECEMBER
NEW YEAR'S EVE
10:30pm - Low Mass followed by alcohol-free
New Year's Eve Potluck Party
SUNDAY, 4 JANUARY 2015
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS
8:00am - Low Mass with Sermon
10:30am - High Mass with Sermon & Choir
TUESDAY, 6 JANUARY 2015
THE EPIPHANY
7:30pm - High Mass with Sermon & Choir
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The Second Sunday of Advent
Lections
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:8-end
II Peter 3:8-15a
St. Mark 1:1-8
Celebrant
Preacher & Deacon
Canon Ian Elliott Davies
Organist/Choir Mstr
Mr. Jeffrey Parola
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Sunday's Music
Prelude
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
by Max Reger
(1873-1916)
Offertory
Joseph Gazes
by Jeffrey Parola
(b. 1979)
Postlude
Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712)
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2015 Sign-Up Sheets
2015 sign-up sheets for Coffee Hour, Altar Flowers, St. Damien Orchid, and Lamps are now available in the Large Parish Hall. This is a great way to honor a birthday, anniversary, or remember a loved one.
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Your Prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem
The Western Wall Jerusalem's holiest site is a place a prayer for everyone. King Solomon, at his dedication of the Temple, asked G-d to accept the prayers of all who came to worship in this place. (1 Kings 8:41-43) Isaiah, the prophet, called it "a house of prayer for all nations."
Today, all that remains of the Temple is the Western Wall. But to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem remains a unique opportunity to have a direct line to Heaven, since Jewish sources teach that all prayers said all over the world ascend on High from this place.
Over the centuries, the custom developed to insert small pieces of paper, inscribed with the supplicants' prayers, in the cracks between the stones of the Wall.
Saint Thomas the Apostle parishoner and senior vestrymen, David Silvas, will be will be representing our parish along with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles Program on Youth Ministry on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land on December 20, 2014. In thanksgiving for the clergy, staff, and parishioners of Saint Thomas, Mr. Silvas will be placing handwritten prayers in the Western Wall in Jerusalem. For those who wish to have prayers placed in the wall, you may e-mail him by CLICKING HERE.
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Seasonal Cleaning of Church
On Saturday, 20 December following the 10am Low Mass, Parishioners are encouraged to attend the Semi-Annual Cleaning of the Parish Church. Supplies and lunch will be provided. While this is an all-day affair, any amount of time contributed will be appreciated.
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Annual Parish Meeting
The Annual Parish Meeting will take place in the Large Parish Hall following the High Mass on Sunday, 18 January 2015. At this meeting, the Congregation will elect four new Vestry persons to serve a three-year term, and four delegates & two alternate delegates to represent St. Thomas at the Annual Diocesan Convention. Those interested in standing for the Vestry or representing the Parish at the Diocesan Convention must request a nomination form from and submit paperwork to the Parish Office on or before Thursday, 8 January in order to be nominated. Those seeking the Vestry need to meet with Fr. Davies prior to the Annual meeting in order to understand the specifics of the ministry.
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On This Day in
Christian History
On this day in 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull giving two German inquisitors jurisdiction over witchcraft. The Pope probably didn't mean for it to be a major change of policy, but the Germans used it to promote their book, Hammer of Witches. Even though the Roman Catholic Church condemned the book in 1490, its publication led to witch-hunting from the 1500s onward.
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Please join us for many Parish activities. Here's a sampling of upcoming events - a full list is available online
13 December @ 7:30am
Homeless Feeding & Outreach
16 December @ 7:30pm
Vestry Meeting
22 December @ 10:00am
County-USC AIDS Clinic Feeding Program
25 December - 2 January
27 December @ 7:30am
Homeless Feeding & Outreach
17 January @ 10:30am
Newcomer Orientation Series
24 January @ 5:00pm
LASchola sings Latin Vigil Mass
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Parking at St. Thomas
Regardless of what the signs read, parking on Gardner Street is now allowed on Sundays unrestricted between 7am and 1pm. There is no two-hour time limit!
If you receive a ticket, contest the ticket by filling out the form found CLICKING HERE! Contact the Office if you have any issues.
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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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