Calendar & Events
Monthly Newsletter: The Canterbury Cross
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Parish Calendar
Our Christmas Eve celebration will happen at 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Our 5:00 pm Children’s Eucharist will involve our kids telling the wondrous story of Jesus’ birth in costume. Our 10:00 pm Eucharist will offer a more traditional experience of worship. Both will feature our favorite carols.
On Christmas Day, we will share Eucharist at 10:00 am, a more low-key, uncrowded way of welcoming our Savior into the world.
On the Sunday after Christmas, December 28th, we will enjoy a Communion complete with Lessons & Carols for both our 8:00 am and 10:30 am Eucharist.
Another year of Thanksgiving baskets in the books! Thank you to everyone who donated and volunteered! 🍁🦃
Linda Durfee, Fr. Michael Delk, Dn. Al Prichard, Hap Rudolph, Mary Lou Rudolph, and Cheryl Prichard at Diocesan Convention.
Congratulations to Andrew Nicely, who recently completed a nine-month internship with us to help discern a calling to the Sacred Order of Deacons. He will be ordained a deacon on Sunday, November 16th, and there are plans for Andrew to return to us, after a brief pause, on a monthly basis to serve in this new role in some capacity.
Thanks to everyone who chipped in to offer Andrew some lovely gifts, necessary to the ministry of a Deacon: a home communion kit, so that the Blessed Sacrament can be taken anywhere--hospital room, rehab facility, home--for those unable to attend worship; a combination Book of Common Prayer & Hymnal 1982, indispensable for leading worship, and some cash left over for whatever other needs might not be met through ordination gifts, etc.
We also thank those who made the reception so special with a variety of lovely soups, salads, and breads. It was almost a loaves and fishes situation, with such a great turnout, so thanks for staying to celebrate, even if there weren't enough chairs to go around, something we're working on for the future. Thanks are also due to the Lay Advisory Team for meeting regularly with Andrew to reflect on sermons and all the many aspects of his ministry. They were a great aid in this final stage of discernment. Finally, we give thanks to God, who has seen it fit to summon Andrew to a new ministry as a Deacon in our Church. May God bless us all richly through the mercies of His grace.
November is traditionally a time to celebrate the year’s good harvest and to share from our bounty with neighbors in need. As we prepare to celebrate, we are also called to respond to folks in our community whose ability to partake in the plentiful harvest is especially limited.
The federally-funded, state- and locally-administered Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps people who are living with limited means to avoid having to choose between food and other life necessities. SNAP benefits were suspended November 1 on account of the government shutdown. It appears that benefits may resume from reserve funds, but at less than the full amount. Additionally, more stringent SNAP eligibility requirements have come into effect, and some folks will be losing benefits altogether. There are even more folks than usual among us who are struggling to feed their families.
We as members of St. Thomas à Becket Church can help, beginning with being as generous as we have been in the past in donating to the Thanksgiving Baskets. Our church will also continue to collect non-perishable food for clients of the Scotts Run Settlement House and, on third Sundays, tomato and chicken noodle soup for the Rock Forge Food Pantry.
Additionally, for the duration of the shutdown, local churches are joining in a community-wide food collection to benefit several small food pantries and Pantry Plus More. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please see the list of needed items and four collection sites and times.
Wine & Swine 🍷🐖 was a great event, even with the uninvited guest of the rain. Guests transitioned into the parish hall graciously to enjoy fellowship in small groups while enjoying the pig roast menu. We had the opportunity to visit with many of our friends and former parishioners. We received a great variety of donations for the auctions. Volunteers filled seventy-eight shifts, some for the first time. The committee expresses its special appreciation to Mike & Nancy Mosser for hosting the event, as well as to everyone who attended, volunteered, or donated!
📸 Photos by Aurie Acciavatti, Stephanie Beddow, and Linda Durfee.