St. Thomas Tidings: May 29, 2025
St. Thomas Tidings: May 29, 2025
June 1st our Priest celebrant will be The Rev Holly Cardone
Men’s Breakfast: Second Saturday of each Month. Next Men’s Breakfast June 14, 2025 Meet at the Denny’s at South and Bellflower at 8:00am for food and fellowship
St Martha’s Guild: Please join us at St. Martha’s Guild. We are a very friendly group that gathers each Tuesday morning. We crochet, knit and handcraft items. We would love to give free lessons in knitting and crocheting. This is also a great opportunity to build community and have a nice chat. We meet on Tuesdays in Larkin Hall from 9:30-11:30 am.
The collect for Sixth Sunday of Easter:
Sunday Hospitality Sign-ups
June 1 8:00 am Lainy
10:15 am Shelley
June 8 8:00 am John Hannan
10:15 am
June 15 8:00 am Hospitality Provides for Father’s Day
10:15 am Hospitality Provides for Father’s Day
June 22 8:00 am John Cordi
10:15 am
June 29 8:00 am Larry Shaw
10:15 am
May 29, 2025 (today) is the Memorial of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
he Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ[1] (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday)[2][3] commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (shared by multiple denominations) feasts of Christian churches, ranking with the feasts of the Passion and Pentecost. Following the account of Acts 1:3 that the risen Jesus appeared for 40 days prior to his Ascension, Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter according to inclusive counting, although some Christian denominations have moved the observance to the following Sunday, sometimes called Ascension Sunday. The day of observance varies by ecclesiastical province in many Christian denominations, as with Methodists and Catholics, for example.
Ascensiontide refers to the ten-day period between the Feast of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost.[4] The Sunday within that period may be referred to as the Seventh Sunday of Easter or the Sunday in Ascensiontide.[5]
A Bible Moment:
A Reading: On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16: 13-15)
Now in Jerusalem…there is a pool… In these lay many invalids – blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath. (John 5:1-9)
A Meditation on the Reading: In the Gospel reading, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, which infuriates the Pharisees. Their strict reading of the Torah/Law forbade anyone from doing work on the Sabbath. In Mark 2:27, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees who were complaining about the disciples plucking grain from a field to eat it on the Sabbath. Jesus tells them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath.”
Jesus has many arguments with the Pharisees, often about the Sabbath. I think it’s likely that he did it on purpose to provoke their response so he could use it to underscore his teaching of a different way of reading the Torah.
In the reading from Acts, Paul, once a Pharisee, sits down with Lydia, presumably a gentile, on the Sabbath – two violations (staying in a house with gentiles and discussing religion with a woman). One of Paul’s theological points was that Christians did not need to follow many Torah regulations. He understood Jesus to understand Torah in a different way.
From Here: There are many debates today, politically, religiously, philosophically that cite various verses in the Torah or the Prophets. But how do we read them? Like the Pharisees, or like Jesus, or Paul? Do Christians have to be circumcised (one of the early controversies)? Do we have to follow kosher laws? Yet, Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law, not overturn it. How, then, to read mitzvot/laws? Are we bound by them? Are we to interpret them like Jesus and Paul? Do we read the entire Torah in that way, or only portions of it? How bound are we by the “plain text” of these regulations?
What do you think?
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 May, 2025: Transitions Committee is announced.
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
June Canterbury Tales: We are in need of articles for the St. Thomas Canterbury Tales publication. Please send all article information to Bill Henderson at whender808@yahoo.com, whender808@gmail.com or Rick Fridrick at stlb47@verizon.net, or call the Church office. Articles should be submitted no later than noon on Monday, May 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.