We mark the first Sunday in Lent this coming weekend, February 18, 2024. Please join us for Holy Eucharist, Rite II at 10:30 am. If you are unable to be with us in person, please join us for our live streaming of the service on our YouTube channel. Here is the link to our YouTube channel. The prayers and readings for this coming Sunday may be found here. Come, pray with us!
Please continue your financial support of our parish by giving online. Here is a link to the instructions on how to give online. Thank you, and God bless!
Absalom Jones was an earnest preacher. He denounced slavery and warned the oppressors to “clean their hands of slaves.” To him, God was the Father, who always acted on “behalf of the oppressed and distressed.” But it was his constant visiting and mild manner that made him beloved by his congregation and by the community. St. Thomas Church grew to over 500 members during its first year. The congregants formed a day school and were active in moral uplift, self-empowerment, and anti-slavery activities. Known as “the Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church,” Jones was an example of persistent faith in God and in the Church as God’s instrument. Jones died on February 13, 1818.
Our Lenten theme comes from the book, Feasting On the Word, by David L. Bartlett, Barbara Brown Taylor, and Kimberly Bracken Long. Lent can be a difficult discipline for many worshipers, with its intentional solemnity and encouragement toward self-denial. Others find it to be the most meaningful time of the year and the most honest time of the year, when we wrestle with the hard things of life and walk with Jesus through the darkest days of his life.