Thank you for all that every single one of you has done throughout this last year. Wishing you all peace, joy and love this Christmas, and the happiest and healthiest of new years.
– From the clergy team at St. Thomas
Tag: our church
Today is the Festival of Thomas the Apostle, and Revd. Cat has written a letter to our Church family to mark the occasion. You can read it below!
Rev. Jutta is being licensed as an Honorary Canon!
Rev. Jutta will be licensed as a Canon in a livestreamed service at 3.30pm on Sunday 15th November at St. Edmundsbury Cathedral. Everyone is invited to join the service online by watching the livestream on the Cathedral facebook page. The link is below.
Cathedral Canons are traditionally assigned a stall where they sit, and Jutta is being given St Benedict’s stall, which is very fitting due to her work with the Pilgrim Community and creating the Benedictine course.
Congratulations to Rev. Jutta!
Newsletter
We have a new newsletter out. If you’ve not yet had a copy, you can download it here: St Thomas Newsletter 11
Fundraising Update
A huge thank you to everyone who supported our Gift Appeal: we have raised an extra £5725 in October, which will be a huge help given we are losing £13,000 because of COVID. We are VERY grateful for your generosity! Please, continue to say the Bishops’ prayer (in red text under the photo of our lovely star) every day! Another huge THANK YOU: Canon Chris raised £287.50 for church funds through the sale of Christmas cards! Thanks all who bought cards from him.
Hymnathon and Carolathon!
On Sunday 6th December at 11am, our Director of Music, Simon, is going to perform a 2 hour marathon of hymns and carols as a fundraiser! Please sponsor this amazing event, which will be livestreamed on our facebook page, and do spread the word to get your friends and family to sponsor Simon!
Christmas Mini Market – Mail Order
Our mini market would’ve been happening this week on the 18th, but lockdown put a stop to the in-person aspect. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we’ve decided to make it a mail order market! So you can still get your hands on yummy homemade jams, beautiful handmade cushions and Christmas decorations, and (the highly sought-after!) wooden bowls turned by Bishop Martin! Plus, we’ll be raffling off some lovely food hampers.
Details will be forthcoming with images of what’s available and how things will work, so stay tuned. (And don’t worry if you’re housebound – we can deliver your items to you.)
Loving God,
you are always with us,
and give us all we need to be your church
in Suffolk.
Help us, we pray, to give as we have received:
abundantly, generously, and joyfully,
that our worship and our service
may bear witness to your Kingdom of
unfailing love.
In the name of your Son
who gave himself for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lockdown #2…
As of Thursday 5th November 2020, the Government has placed England into lockdown to try and prevent the spread of Covid-19.
For us as a Church, this has meant an end to our in-person services on Wednesdays and Sundays until lockdown is lifted.
We are still opening the Church for individual prayer on Mondays and Thursdays between 11.30am and 1.30pm, and you are more than welcome to come and spend some time in the Church during those periods. Please follow the advice to wear a mask, sanitise your hands and maintain space of 2 metres from others at all times.
The lockdown also sadly means that we are cancelling our planned Outdoor Christmas Mini Market. We were relying on this to raise much needed funds for the Church. Our team are trying to find new ways to fundraise safely, including a way to have the market online, so please watch this space! And if you would like to donate in the meantime, we would be so grateful for your support!
A Message from Rev. Jutta
Prayer For The Nation
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and senior church leaders have called a month of Prayer for the Nation during the second lockdown. The suggestion is that as many of us as possible unite to do this at 6pm each day. These prayers and themes are offered as tools to enable all to participate and are intended simply as suggestions.
This link takes you to a website with daily prayer resources:
Or you can use this booklet:
With love and prayers at this challenging time,
Jutta