On behalf of all of the wonderful Christians who are part of our faith community,thank you so much for visiting our Internet home! We encourage you to visit the various areas of the site to learn more about what we have to offer.
At St. Thomas, we do our utmost to provide gracious hospitality to all we encounter, both within the doors of our lovely church and outside in the world at large. Our aim at St. Thomas is stated clearly in our Vision Statement, and we urge you to click on the appropriate link here to learn what we strive to be about.
Our charming parish church has been serving Berea and the Southwest portion of Cuyahoga County, Ohio (the Cleveland area) since 1893 in this location, and for many years before that in others. We are nestled in the midst of the beautiful Baldwin-Wallace college campus and just one block from the quaint downtown historic district of Berea.
We cordially invite you to come and worship with us next time you are in the area! We very much look forward to personally greeting you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and introducing you to our active and growing community of believers at St. Thomas Episcopal Church!
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Gayle Catinella Rector
Thursday Service:
10:00 am - Mid-week Eucharist
Saturday Service:
05:30 pm - Contemporary Eucharist
Sunday Services:
08:00 am - Holy Eucharist Rite I
09:30 am - Family Friendly Service
10:30 am - Holy Eucharist Rite II
Message from Gayle
Thursday May 16, 2013
Greetings!
I have been conjuring fire images this week as I contemplate the Holy Spirit. The idea of being set on fire by the Spirit is much more enticing than imagining what that might look like. I have always been deeply paranoid about fire. My Dad was a fireman who worked out of Midway Airport. He not only saw all of the airplane disasters, but in his day the chief of the fire station was the first responder and my Dad drove the chief. He saw a lot of really nasty things that would then play itself out in our house the next day--toasters would disappear, matches and other fire-starting implements would be regrouped in an even less accessible place, and his pretty vigilant eye on us as we played would get almost oppressive.
So a literal "catching on fire" scares me. However, a "burning within" is worth thinking about. I have a sense of a source of energy, an electricity, a stoking of fuel that keeps me on God's track. The Holy Spirit on fire within us gives us the buzz we need to do the work we have been given to do, to pay attention and respond to the needs of the world, to be present in the place we are to how God might be calling us to help. I think the sense of Holy Spirit as Holy Energizer might just do the trick for me this Pentecost weekend.
