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Senior Warden’s Message........... 2 Back to Church Sunday ............... 2 Tuesday Bible Study Resumes ..... 2 United Thank Oering................. 2 Endowment Fund & Legacy Soc .. 3 Member Milestones.................... 4 Church Picnic .............................. 4 • Fall Potluck 9/10 • ECW Mtg 9/14 • Church Picnic 10/22 • UTO 11/5 Most days, I go to the beach twice a day. Once in the morning and again in the early evening. The mornings are nice but busy. I take my young dog to run and play with other dogs and it requires a lot of aenon and energy. The early eve-nings, however, are less crowded, and the skies are beauful. The dog runs around, digs a lile bit and is more calm. This allows me to nd quiet me as I watch the waves roll in and enjoy the gentle breeze. As I enjoy the view of the ocean, the sky and the breeze, one word comes to mind: eternity. I meditate on the fact that the ocean has been here for millions of years with des coming in and going out. I take in the awe of God’s eternal nature. The vastness of creaon, and our lile part in it. I’m also reminded of the consecraon of water in our bapsmal rite: “We thank you, Almighty God, for the gi of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the be-ginning of creaon. Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bond-age in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the bapsm of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrecon, from the bondage of sin into everlasng life.” We have a tendency to get too caught up in what is immediately in front of us; our daily rounes and challenges. We must nd me to seek a quiet place, and ex-perience, if even for a short me, the vastness of God’s eternity. At the end of the bapsm rite, we read, “Sustain [your servants], O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gi of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.” We are part of God’s great creaon, and Jesus teaches us to live in harmony, with one another and with creaon itself. Our God desires for us to live in his company, that we may have life abundant. As summer ends, I hope you nd me to revel in God’s love for you. Sunday wor-ship is a great place to start. See you there soon. Blessings and love, DISCOVER TRUE COMMUNITY
’ As my wife Edna was preparing for her team dues for the next diocesan Cursillo in October, she ran across a program that we led in 2008 as part of our then weekly Worship on Wednesdays. It was a weekly lay-led service of "Prayer, Praise and Healing". The program had speakers from dier-ent disciplines. I spoke from a pharma-cist's perspecve, Dr Jim Guines spoke as an educator, Fr Brad Hau spoke from a clinical psychologist's view, a law enforcement representave spoke, and parents were invited to speak. Fr Alvin Robinson (now deceased) in summary captured the biblical and spirit lled atmosphere of the evening. Edna and I could not remember what led up to this extraordinary evening, so I searched Flagler County stascs and suddenly the reason leaped out; there were a signicant number of teen sui-cides! As concerned Chrisans, we oered peons to our Lord, Jesus Christ to help us beer understand the desperaon of our youth. We had a vibrant youth program and we wanted them to know how much they and their friends were loved. The Holy Spir-it was in our midst. I am reminded of the ministry of lay persons as recorded in our Book of Common Prayer on page 855. "The ministry of lay persons is to rep-resent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gis given them, to carry on Christ’s work of rec-onciliaon in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church." We lay leaders have a mission because we are Bapzed, and because Christ has commanded us to love one anoth-er. Does this remind you of Father Bob's sermon from August 27, 2023? If not, please go to our Facebook page and listen to the sermon again. We should reect Christ into the world of those in need. My October Tidings arcle will conn-ue focus. The combinaon of Fr Bob's sermon and the remembrance of the 2008 special service have conjured something in my spirit. I will end with "through whom does the church carry out it's mission"? The answer is also from our catechisms: "The Church car-ries out its mission through the minis-try of all its members.” Please tune in next month and see where the Holy Spirit leads me. May the God of love be with us all, Jodie Bevel 2 Back 2 Church Sunday October 1 is Back to Church Sunday at St. Thomas. All three services return: 8 a.m. Tradional (Rite I) 9:15 a.m. Contemporary (Rite II) with Praise Band 11a.m. Tradional (Rite II) with organ and choir Tuesday Bible Study The Tuesday Jewish Chrisan Bible Study, with Fr Bob Goolsby and Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, resumes September 12 at 1 p.m. in the church. All are welcome! The United Thank Oering is a personal and family devoonal program of the Episcopal Church. It is the sum of our daily thanks for the blessings in our everyday lives. Do you have your blue UTO box or envelope? Make checks payable to St. Thomas and write UTO in the memo. Remember your blessings be-come blessings to others. Our change, changes lives. Take a few minutes to visit our website, UnitedThankOering.org, or visit our Facebook page. UTO Chairperson Dorothy A Thompson UTO November 5
3 An Endowment provides addional support for church ministries beyond what is possible in its annual operang budget. Endowment funds are intended to benet its long-term mission and ministries of the church. The success and longevity of a church is signicantly improved with gis to an Endowment from members who support the connuing life of the church. The St. Thomas Episcopal Church Endowment Fund was begun to provide mem-bers and others the opportunity to make gis to the church which become a perma-nent nancial assistance and a living memorial. The endowment fund is in its early stages of devel-opment. Accord-ingly, it does not yet produce the income required to support long-term mission and minis-tries, but it has an encouraging beginning and the signs for growth are good. The fund has approximately $200,000 on July 31, 2023. The plan is to grow the Fund to $1,000,000 to earn more income. That can only happen with members’ current and Legacy Gis. Such gis are restricted for specic purposes as designated by the do-nor and other purposes determined by the church such as, mission trips and scholarships for our youth. The in-come cannot be used for the operaon of the church. The income can also be ulized for repairs and maintenance of the building and for capital expenditures. “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” —1 Timothy 6:18 Gis to the fund can be cash and praccally any other asset such as stocks and bonds, annuies, and life insur-ance policies. St. Thomas can be the sole beneciary, or a shared beneciary as designated by the donor. Legacy gis are generally included in a will or trust. The St. Thomas Legacy Society recognizes those who have included the endowment fund in their wills, trusts, or life insur-ance policies. The Society also recog-nizes members and friends who nofy the church of their intenon to do so. Please consider including the St. Thomas Endowment Fund in your estate planning to ensure the long-term wellbeing and strength of our church and to become a Legacy Society Member. St. Thomas Legacy Society and Planned Giving contacts: Sal Brucculeri, Endowment Fund Chair: salbrucculeri@hotmail.com Ralph Yearwood, Treasurer: relyear@bellsouth.net Church Oce: 386-446-2300.
-- -- September Anniversaries 1 - James & Edith Rowe 4 - Jodie & Edna Bevel 4 - Neville & Verna Wintz 8 - Les & Jan Hylander 8 - Carl & Leona Poer 10 - Tim and Ruby Abram 16 - Daniel & Annee Bowman 16 - Randolph & Marian Clarke 23 - Gene & Cheryl McGregor 27 - Les & Lenore Elder 30 – Ronald & Erika Leal September Birthdays 1 - Gloria Lamb 2 - Cynthia Shannon 4 - Caryl Glaner 4 - Charles Kreuz 6 - Lorna Brown 6 - Tim McMullen 8 - Natalie Cato 11 - Frances Gilgeours 13 - Vernon Downes 14 - Joshua Ball 14 - Greta Hogarth 16 - Marcia McMullen 17 - Roslyn Benne 17– Kathleen Burnham 17 - Liz DeAndrea 17 - Faith Paerson 18 - Bey Lou Cranston 19 - Marie Valenne 21 - Teresa Marn 22 - Jean Cancryn 22 - Ralph Yearwood 24 - Edgar Anderson 28 - Joy Hudson 29 - Roberta Covart 29 - Brian Jones 29 - Robert Laa 30 - Gene McGregor 4 St. Thomas Tidings Above: Cynthia Simpson celebrated her 100th birthday in August. Above: Cynthia Simpson, who turned 100, and Nathan who turned one, with mom, Courtney.