Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, and spirit. We pray for the peace of the world, for the welfare of the Holy Church of God, and for the unity of all peoples. We pray for those who have asked for our prayers, especially:
Alice Elizabeth, Ricky, Danny, Rachel, Hannah, Bruce, Linda, Judy, John G., Karim, Daniel, Fred, Seana, Pat, Antonia, John, Paula, Hildegard, The Herbert Family, Rick
1)Monetary donations and Shoprite gift cards using the food pantry’s website: https://www.opencupboardfoodpantry.org/how-to-donate/
2)Donate on this page by clicking on the button below and your donation will be forwarded to the Open Cupboard.
FELLOWSHIP OKTOBERFEST THIS SATURDAY!!! Saturday, October 4th, 2025
Quakertown Fire Company, Quakertown, NJ. We will meet at QFC from 5 pm (event is 3-9 pm)
Rain or Shine. Live music Food and drinks available for purchase. No cover charge. Great local event raising money for the firehouse. Please RSVP on or before October 3rd to Donna Kapples at 908.328.5684 or dkapples@gmail.com
SILENT AUCTION TO BENEFIT MOTHERS & CHILDREN IN NEED The St. Thomas Outreach Committee is offering two items for auction to benefit Harbor of Hope in Flemington and Life Choices in Phillipsburg. The auction will be ongoing until October 18. Bids can be made to dsj.thomasvestry@gmail.com. Winners will be announced on Sunday, October 19.
Both items have a starting bid of $75 with incremental increases of $20. Highest bids will be updated with weekly announcements.
Item #1 Candy Lane on Main Gift Certificate This delightful little shop off Main Street in Clinton has a grand variety of nostalgic and contemporary candy as well as luscious chocolates made by a multi-generational New Jersey chocolatier. The Golden Ticket is good for the rental of their party room which costs $299. Need a place to hold a memorable party? This is the place for you!
Item #2 Birds of a Feather Quilt This bright gender neutral quilt is between the size of a crib quilt and throw (51” x 66”). It can be used for snuggling or as a wall hanging.
2025 INTERFAITH VIGIL FOR PEACE Our Interfaith Vigil for Peace on October 19 is quickly approaching. We now have 20 clergy and faith leaders joining us. Richard will be doing the music. We will have a Vigil choir with members from several different church choirs singing with St. Thomas’ choir.
There is a sign-up sheet on the freezer door for volunteers. We will need ushers, folks to set up and clean up the reception, and someone to pick up the programs in the sanctuary after the service. PLEASE SIGN UP!
We anticipate around 200 attending. We are going to need LOTS of food – nothing fancy, just some savory and sweet finger food. We also are going to need paper products – small plates, napkins and cups. Please see Rosetta if you have any questions or ideas. THANK YOU!!
COFFEE HOUR October Babies will host coffee hour on Sunday, October 19th.
FAMILY PROMISE St. Thomas will be partnering with Calvary to provide meals for Family Promise families staying at the Promise Center in Flemington during the week of October 12-18 (Sunday through Saturday). Volunteers will be needed to prepare and deliver dinners, and possibly do some grocery shopping for breakfast and lunch items. More details to follow.
SPECIAL COLLECTION OCTOBER 12 Help Retire Medical Debt, sponsored by the Watchung Convocation: One of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical debt. Existing medical debt also prevents people from seeking the help they need to stay healthy. Our Convocation (Episcopal churches in our region) has taken on the challenge to help retire medical debt. In NJ, the state has used leftover federal Covid relief funds to work with Undue Medical Debt to retire the debt of NJ residents. Looking to another state in need, we will pool our resources to buy medical debt for pennies on the dollar to give relief to people in West Virginia, where 24% of adults have medical debt in collection, and 71% of medical bankruptcies are experienced by people who earn less than $50,000/year. A donation of $1 retires $100 of medical debt. (Debt is bundled and there are income restrictions.) We hope you can contribute to St. Thomas' effort on October 12 to raise funds to help reach our Watchung Convocation's $10,000 goal. Perhaps you can give one dollar for each year of your life; give ten dollars (or some other amount) for each child in your family; or just choose an amount that seems right to you. Once we have pooled our resources, we will challenge other Convocations in the Diocese of NJ to match what we have done. Let’s see how many people we can free from medical debt. On October 12th, you can make checks to St. Thomas and designate “Retire Medical Debt” on the memo line or place cash in the labeled envelopes. Learn more at https://unduemedicaldebt.org.
BIBLE STUDY WITH FR. KYLE Study begins Tuesday, October 14 and will run for 8 weeks. The class will be held on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at St. Thomas and Wednesdays at 11 a.m. at Calvary. NOTE: As part of the readings for this course, please purchase the book Angels of the Bible: Finding Grace, Beauty, and Meaning by Kate Moorehead. It can be found on Amazon for $18.50. If you have a financial hardship that prevents you from purchasing this book, please speak to Fr. Kyle. A sign-up sheet will be posted in the gallery.
STEWARDSHIP 2025 Our stewardship campaign has officially begun and this year, unlike years past, we are giving ALL parishioners an opportunity to TELL OUT YOUR SOUL. Take a look at the new bulletin board in the parish hall...and drop a note - sharing a note about your gifts, talents, gratitude and how you share that with the community. And if you'd like to drop a note, but can't make it to church, simply send our fabulous church secretary, Cindy a note and she'll be sure it makes it to the board. Her email address is secretary@stthomasepc.org.
CHANGING THE DAY OF ANNUAL MEETING St. Thomas will be making a change to our articles of incorporation in order to officially move our date of the annual meeting to the fourth Sunday in January. We will be doing this using the process outlined in New Jersey state statute. The three step process includes:
o Having Vestry vote on the change of day.
o Holding a special meeting of the congregation to vote (by ballot) on the proposed change, and
o Submitting a certificate of change to the county clerk.
In September, our Vestry will be holding a vote to change our articles. On October 26 after worship, we will be having a special meeting of the congregation to vote, by ballot, for the change. This change to the fourth Sunday of January will allow us to follow Fr. Kyle's monthly rotation schedule. If you have any questions about this process, please speak to Fr. Kyle.
FAMILY PROMISE Items can be placed in the white hamper at the front entrance near the coat closet:
· Supply Closet needs: Tissues, 13-gallon garbage bags, Q-tips, and over the counter medicine
· Hope Restored/Outreach and Engagement Team: Bottled water, hygiene items such as pads/tampons, toothpaste, floss, and mini lotion bottles.
· The Promise Center is in need of twin blankets, sheets, and household cleaning products (for this request, please email outreach@familypromisehc.org for more specific details on what is needed)
· Let’s not forget Quarters which can be placed in the “Quarter Tube” in the church hall. The quarters will be distributed to their unhoused clients for use at local laundromats.