St. Thomas Tidings: June 26, 2025
St. Thomas Tidings: June 26, 2025
June 29th our Priest celebrant will be The Rev Holly Cardone
June 29, 2025 The Third Sunday After Pentecost
8:00 am Liturgy 10:15 am Liturgy
Ushers: Larry Shaw Usher: Patrick Garvin
Lectors: John Cordi Lector: Rick Fridrick, Emilee Garvin
Altar Server/LEM Camelia Jolly Altar Server/Lem: Kaylee Garvin
Closer: Bishops Committee Closer: Bishops Committee
“For Your Prayers”
Our current “For Your Prayers” page in our Sunday Bulletin has not been updated for quite a while. At the end of June all people on the list will be removed. If you would like to remain on or be added to the list, please contact Rick in the Office by June 30th. The new and continuing names will be active for the month of July. The process will repeat itself for August and each month thereafter. Note: You can have your name added to the list during the month as need arises.
To be added to the prayer list, please list the first and last name of the person being prayed for. You may (but are not required to) include why there is a need for prayer. Do indicate the category they should be listed under. (i.e. Serving in the Armed Forces, Protection and Guidance, Healing, or Homebound & Special Needs)
Contact Rick by email stlb47@verizon.net or call 562-425-4457
Men’s Breakfast: Second Saturday of each Month. Next Men’s Breakfast July 12, 2025 (this Saturday). Meet at the Denny’s at South and Bellflower at 8:00am for food and fellowship
St. Martha’s Guild is taking the summer off. If you are interested in taking responsibility for opening and closing on Tuesday moving forward, please let Rick know.
Dodger Night
The LA Episcopal Diocese is going to a Dodger Game on Friday, August 29th. Start Time 7:00pm.
The Dodgers will be playing the Diamondbacks. Tickets are $42. We can carpool from church.
Every year it is a lot of fun. If you are interested in going, please sign up in the Narthex and pay with a check to St. Thomas of Canterbury by July 13th.
Sunday Hospitality Sign-ups
June 29 8:00 am Larry Shaw
10:15 am Jane
July 6 8:00 am John H
10:15 am Jessica
July 13 8:00 am John H
10:15 Am Shelley A
July 20 8:00 am Pat
10:15 Am
July 27 8:00 am John C
10:15 Am
Collect from the Second Sunday After Pentecost: O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
June 26, 2025 (today) is the Memorial of Isabel Florence Hapgood, Ecumenist 1928.
Isabel Florence Hapgood (November 21, 1850 – June 26, 1928) was an American ecumenist, writer, and translator, especially of Russian and French texts.
Hapgood was born in Boston, to Asa Hapgood and Lydia Anna Bronson Crossley, with her twin brother Asa. Their parents later had another son, William Frank Hapgood (who became a patent lawyer). Asa Hapgood was an inventor, and his family of English and Scottish descent had lived near Worcester, Massachusetts since the 17th century.[1] Her mother's father had emigrated from England and owned a farm in Mason County, Kentucky.[2]
For 22 years, Hapgood wrote for the New York Evening Post and The Nation, as a journalist, foreign correspondent and editorial writer.[5] In 1893, Hapgood reviewed a book by Kate Marsden which described her journey across Russia to find a cure for leprosy. She picked the book to pieces and cast Marsden as "an adventuress" who was only trying to help "her lepers". The Royal Geographical Society lauded Marsden, but Hapgood discounted her efforts. Hapgood wrote to everyone from Queen Victoria down warning them about Kate Marsden. One scholar later speculated that Hapgood was jealous of Marsden writing about "her" country or because of homophobic rumours about Marsden.[6]
Many of the writers Hapgood translated were people of strong religious convictions. Hapgood herself was a lifelong and devout Episcopalian.[citation needed]
Particularly impressed by the Russian Orthodox liturgy and choral singing, Hapgood wanted to translate them for American audiences. Tikhon, then Archbishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, supported her efforts and became her friend. Hapgood helped organize the choir for his consecration of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City in 1903. Tikhon's successor after his return to Russia and promotion, Archbishop Nicholas, gave Hapgood a complete set of Church Slavonic texts. The first edition of her translation appeared in 1906. In 1916–1917, Hapgood was visiting Tikhon, who had become Patriarch of Moscow, and editing a second edition of the work during her trip to Moscow when the Russian Revolution broke out. She became one of the first to report on the execution of the Romanov family.[7] Hapgood escaped with the assistance of the American Consul and returned to the United States. Because Patriarch Tikhon was under house arrest, the second edition was not published until 1922 (by the Young Men's Christian Association), but it did contain Tikhon's endorsement dated November 3, 1921.[8] The book received favorable reviews by Orthodox and Anglican reviewers; several editions were also published by other Orthodox denominations, including the Antiochian Orthodox, after her death.[9]
Isabel F. Hapgood, from a 1906 publication
Hapgood continued to admire Eastern Orthodox church music and helped Eastern Orthodox choirs in the United States, including performances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and before President Woodrow Wilson at the White House. She also compiled a history of Russian Orthodox music, but the manuscript was never published and was lost.[10]
A Bible Moment:
A Reading:
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?...Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?...Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.” (1 Kings: 5-7)
A Meditation on the Reading:
This is one of my favorite readings in all of the Bible, because it turns the traditional representation of God on its head. God is generally portrayed as omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all seeing/knowing), stormy, and represented by lightening (like on Mount Sinai). I can visualize Charlton Heston’s hair turning white as he portrays Moses’ encounter with God in “The Ten Commandments.”
But, here, God is specifically NOT in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. He is not the Zeus-like character often ascribed to him (noting that it is from Greek philosophy that the omniscient, omnipotent characteristics really have their source). God, instead, is represented by “a sound of sheer silence” This understanding profoundly contrasts with the other “all powerful” view of God. It makes me question the validity of that view (or at least question that it is the entire truth about God. IS God all knowing? The platonic view is that a “perfect” God must be. Yet, if God was omniscient, He would know every choice that every human was going to make from the beginning of the universe until its end. But if that is true, then what happens to free will? Am I really making my own choices, if God knows what I am going to decide? If he knew what my decision was going to be billions of years before I even existed?
From Here:
As for how the passage makes me think about daily life, it helps me to understand that my prayer life doesn’t need to include words. God communicated with Elijah through silence. Some of the best prayer is just “being” in the presence of the Lord. Words are optional, and can even get in the way.
Second, Elijah is asked twice, “What are you doing here?” After communion with the Lord, then what? Stay hiding in my cave, or getting back on the road to do the Lord’s work?
What does this mean for you today?
From the Diocese
Camp Stevens summer camp registration open
Registration is now open for summer sessions for children at Camp Stevens, the diocesan facility in Julian, California. Camp sessions will be held as follows:
Session 1: June 22 – June 27, ages 8-15
Session 2: July 6 – July 11, ages 8-15
Session 3: July 20 – July 25, ages 8-15
Session 4 (International Odyssey): August 3 – August 9, ages 12-17
“At Camp Stevens, summer campers experience the best of childhood and young adulthood; they find wonder in the natural world, build meaningful connections with peers, gain confidence from trying new things, and strengthen their own values with the support of caring counselors and staff,” the Camp Stevens website says.
Tiered pricing is available, for families to pick the price that best matches their ability to pay. For those in need of additional financial assistance for camp fees, applications for “camperships,” offering additional financial support, are available.
Learn more and register here.
https://campstevens.org/summer/#programs_summercamp
Bishop Search Committee offers updated timeline
The Bishop Search Committee has released an updated version of the Bishop Search timeline. The estimated dates for milestones in the Bishop Search are below:
Early June, 2025: The diocesan profile is published, and the call for nominations is announced.
June 27, 2025: Nominating period closes.
July-August, 2025: The Search Committee reviews candidate files, conducts Zoom interviews and reference and background checks, and invites finalists to a discernment retreat.
Early September, 2025: The slate of candidates is announced, and the nominating period for petition candidates opens.
October 20-25, 2025: "Meet-and-Greets" are held across the diocese to introduce all candidates to the members of the diocese and the diocese to the candidates.
November 7-8, 2025: The election of the bishop takes place during the annual diocesan convention in Riverside.
May 2026: The bishop-elect begins work in the diocese.
July 11, 2026: Consecration and ordination of the new bishop.
July-September, 2026: Bishop Taylor remains as a consultant, providing support during the transition.
October, 2026: Bishop Taylor retires.
St. Thomas Post Scripts
July Canterbury Tales: We are in need of articles for the St. Thomas Canterbury Tales publication. Please send all article information to Shelley Arnold at shelleyarnold1@aol.com or Rick Fridrick at stlb47@verizon.net, or call the Church office. Articles should be submitted no later than noon on Monday, June 26, 2025.
St. Thomas Tiding: If you have any article/announcement for the tiding please send to Rick Fridrick at stlb47@verizon.net or call the Church office.
Service Reminder: All our services stay on our Facebook page so you can view them whenever it’s convenient for you. It’s always better to view a service later in the day than not at all! The link to the page for all our services is here: https://www.facebook.com/Saint-Thomas-of-Canterbury-Episcopal-Church-of-Long-Beach-CA-124554214274325
Share Our Services: Please feel free to share our Sunday services. The more people we reach, the better we do at evangelism. People are hungry for what we have to offer, and I encourage you to do your part to share our services with your friends and neighbors. Send them the link when you email them, invite them to join you on Facebook or in person… whatever way works best for you to share what we have to offer.
Reminder the Church office is open Monday-Friday: If you have any need, Rick Fridrick is in the Church office Monday-Thursday from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm and Friday from 9:00 am – Noon. 562-425-4457
Pastoral Care: If you have normal “every day” pastoral concerns, contact Rick in the office at 562-425-4457, or Allen at (714) 381-5910. We hope to have a more detailed pastoral care plan soon.