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St. Thomas Times

May, 2013

St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 124 East Main St., Abingdon, VA 24210 www.stthomasabingdon.dioswva.org (276) 628-3606

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Rev Hilary and David Streever Wed in Connecticut 1

From the Desk of The Rev. Hilary Streever 2

For Your Information… 2

Math and Music Figure in Schery Collins’ Daily Life 3

Children’s Chapel Winds Down for the Summer Break 4

May Bible Study Concentrates on Gospel of Matthew 4

Internet Links Offer More Examples of Christian Art 5

Dates to Remember… 6

St. Thomas Times Rev. Hilary and David Streever

Wed in Connecticut

Gale-force winds and rain provided the backdrop for

an otherwise cheery and radiant occasion as The

Rev. Hilary Camblos and David Streever exchanged

wedding vows at Trinity Episcopal Church in New

Haven, CT on April 12. Although some activities

had to be moved indoors, Rev. Hilary proclaimed the

day to be a success.

Upon the newlyweds’ return to Abingdon, Betsy and

Ramsey White hosted a reception in their honor.

While heavy hors d’oeuvres were on the menu, the

“icing on the cake” was the gift of a painting of St.

Thomas by local artist Kyle Buckland.

The congregation and friends of St. Thomas Episcopal

Church wish for Rev. Hilary and David a long, happy,

and blessed married life.

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From the Desk of The Rev. Hilary Streever

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

The Holy Spirit is often overlooked in mainline Protestant churches, and the Episcopal

Church is no different. Though we recognize that God is a mystery, the Holy Spirit is the

particularly elusive member of the Trinity. We might even be a little afraid of the Holy

Spirit, for she is unpredictable -- you never know what she might do!

But the Holy Spirit is just as important as the other

two members of the Trinity. Represented by the

color red, she is fiery: igniting in us passion for God

and God’s vision; comforting and warming us with

God’s love; helping us leave behind our sins and

grow. The Holy Spirit dwells in us to sanctify us over

the course of our lives and into the next.

In May we will explicitly celebrate the Holy Spirit and

her role in the Church not just one Sunday but two!

On May 5, Bishop and Dorothy Powell will join us for

worship, at which time he will lay hands on candidates

for confirmation, reception and reaffirmation of

baptismal vows. Bishop Powell will pray for the Holy

Spirit to strengthen them, empower them for service,

sustain them, direct and uphold them, and lead them.

On May 19, we will celebrate Pentecost, the fiftieth day

after Easter when the Holy Spirit was given to God’s

people. Pentecost is the Church’s birthday, for it is by

the Holy Spirit that the Church is constituted, is

sustained, and grows.

These two Sundays, we will all be reminded of the

Holy Spirit and her role in our lives as followers of

Christ. I encourage you all to seek symbols of the Holy

Spirit in our church. Where do you see the color red?

Do you see doves in any of our artwork? Where do you

see flames or fire (i.e. candles)? Can you find holy

water for baptism somewhere? What do our hymns say

about the Holy Spirit?

Where do you experience the Holy Spirit yourself?

Grace and peace to you in Christ,

Hilary+

David and the Rev. Hilary Streever would like thank

the St. Thomas' family for their warmth of heart and

generosity of spirit in celebrating our marriage and

for the beautiful oil painting of St. Thomas'. We were

overwhelmed by the love and affection of all of you as

you welcomed us home to our church family. Special

thanks to those who organized and contributed to the

beautiful reception on April 20th. One thing is for

sure -- we at St. Thomas' know how to party!

The Rev. Hilary and David will be celebrating their

honeymoon

from May 21 through May 31.

For Your Information...

Where’d the Confession go? During the Easter

season (which lasts until Pentecost), it’s common

practice to omit the Confession. We were plenty

penitential in Lent and now it’s time to joyfully

celebrate Christ’s resurrection!

Bishop Neff Powell will make his visitation to St.

Thomas on May 5, at which time he will officiate at

confirmation, reaffirmation and reception of

several new members!

Those being confirmed: Becca Kelly, Karl Kindig,

Kat Latham and Joe Robinson

Those being received: Jenny Smith

Those reaffirming their baptismal vows: Ben Smith

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St. Thomas Times

Math and Music Figure in

Schery Collins’ Daily Life

By Marlene Buckles

Music and math—seemingly polar opposites—have

co-existed comfortably in the life of Schery Collins.

This summer she is retiring from her 40+ year

teaching career at Virginia Highlands Community

College, and continuing in her 40 year position as

organist at St. Thomas.

Why pursue a career in math rather than music? “I

was good at math but my first love was music,”

states Schery. ”I just didn’t want to be a starving

artist.” What is the connection between the two

disciplines? “I love structure—things like grammar

and puzzles. Music is a mathematical puzzle,” she

explains.

Schery’s love of structure led to music composition

as a complement to her music performance.

Through the years Schery has composed music,

including Virginia Highland’s Alma Mater, which

she, and husband David, wrote on a 6-hour trip

home from the beach. She also composed the

Gloria and Sanctus which we sing on Sunday

mornings.

In the past two years Schery has introduced the

computer as a tool in writing her compositions. As

she develops a piece, she says “I go to the piano,

figure out what note values I want, write those

values on musical staff paper, then I go to the

computer to refine it.” Schery adds that “It’s

rewarding to write a piece of music and then hear

the choir and congregation sing it.”

The computer has also changed how she purchases

anthems for the choir. Schery used to travel to

Charlotte and look through file cabinets full of

music to find anthems. Now she spends a lot of

time listening on-line to select her purchases.

time listening on-line to select her purchases. “The

internet is putting music clearing houses out of

business, because with the internet you can go on-

line, not only see the orchestration, but also hear

the music and have access to ratings of the pieces.”

Schery says that one benefit of having access to on-

line providers comes from the fact that choir

members can also use the computer to preview and

practice new anthems. “I never want to settle for

just what we have in our music library.” She

explains that using fresh musical compositions, like

the offertory anthem on Easter Sunday, are exciting

for the choir to practice and perform and for the

congregation to hear.

Schery admits she hasn’t had time to worry about

retirement from VHCC. She and David plan to build

a barn-like structure which will include a studio for

writing and for storing her music. She will continue

playing her flute, which she has done since 4th

grade, because it gives her peace of mind. “I prefer

to participate rather than watch or listen to music,”

she explains. She does want to write more music

for church, and might take some organ lessons.

And Schery plans to continue playing in the

Symphony of the Mountains and the Johnson City

Symphony as well.

Schery Collins plays the organ during the Sunday worship service.

Please see Math and Music on page 4

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Children’s Chapel Winds Down for the Summer Break By Zoe Jackson

The Children's Chapel is finishing its last chapter

before the end of our learning year and the

beginning of summer!

The children have studied: Bible stories,

Christmas, seasons of the church year, Holy Week

and Easter, The Lord's Prayer, The Nicene Creed,

symbols of the Episcopal Church, and more.

Certificates will be awarded during church May

19th to children who have participated for five or

more Sundays.

We thank all those who have participated, helped,

or supported the Children's Chapel effort,

including Rev. Hilary, Jennifer Cling, Mary Tackney,

and the parents of the children.

Children work diligently during the sermon each Sunday.

The children proudly display the results of their horticultural

skills during the Easter Season.

Math and Music from page 3

Symphony of the Mountains and the Johnson City

Symphony as well.

She and David also play short programs for

receptions, weddings, etc., and she has also begun

playing the bass—and carrying it in her Honda Civic

“just for fun,” she says. Again mathematics and

music meet in Schery’s life!

May Bible Study Concentrates on

the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew tells us Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Ashley

Stephenson, who will guide participants during this Bible Study, says that “we will study Matthew's Gospel,

chapter by chapter, seeking to understand what Matthew is saying about Jesus, looking at various political

and historical issues, translating certain words that might have multiple meanings, and examining, in detail,

the discourses and stories which Matthew presents. We will also follow the events that led to Jesus'

crucifixion and resurrection.

“We will also discuss what Jesus is telling us about sin, prayer, love, the end time, our relationship with God

and our duty as followers of Christ. In short we are going to academically study the Gospel of Matthew from a

faith perspective.”

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St. Thomas Times

St. Thomas Episcopal Church

276-628-3606

SaintThomas@eva.org

On the Web:

www.stthomasabingdon.dioswva.org

The Rev. Hilary Streever

276-451-8809

therevhilarycamblos@gmail.com

The Rev. Ellie Scofield

276-258-1640

novak-scofieldep@msha.com

Office Hours:

Tuesday 9am – 3pm

Wednesday 9am – 3pm

Thursday 10am – 12pm

Sunday Worship: 9:30 am

Children’s Chapel offered

Wednesday Eucharist & Healing Service:

9:30 am

Wednesday Bible Study:

10:15 am

Internet Links Offer More Examples of Christian Art

By Rhonda Kindig

Now that the Wednesday morning Bible study

series, “The Painted Word”, has concluded, those

of you with newly refreshed interest in great

Christian art through the centuries might wish to

take a virtual museum tour! Here are some great

web-sites:

For a 360-degree viewing of the world’s most

famous chapel, the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, try

the following address. Your cursor will allow you

to look in every direction. It will take some time

for your computer to download the images, but

you will be serenaded with lovely music during

your wait!

www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.

html

There is a virtual tour of the National Gallery in

London:

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtualtour/#/

central-hall/

A useful web-site with links to other virtual

museum tours, including the Louvre:

www.makeuseof.com/tag/visit-5-virtual-

museums-leaving-home/

It is also possible to view any painting (searchable

by artist’s name) in these two collections:

National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC:

www.nga.gov/collection/index.shtm

National Gallery London:

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists

For those who were unable to attend the

Wednesday morning series, you may speak with

The Rev. Hilary about a possible evening

scheduling of the class.

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St. Thomas Episcopal Church

124 East Main Street

Abingdon, VA 24210

Dates to Remember...

It is the responsibility of St. Thomas to provide

volunteers to staff the food pantry the week of May

5. If you have not yet spent time with this

worthwhile ministry, you can find out more about

the needs by speaking with Temple Goodman or

Mary Ann Pickels.

May 13, Ecumenical Faith in Action will be holding

gardening classes at their site behind St. John

Lutheran church. Volunteer gardeners are being

sought to assist with this. If interested, please

contact Kat Latham for more information

(klatham@live.com). Gardeners of all levels are also

invited to help out in the EFIA community garden

on May 18 from 10 am until 2 pm (at the latest).

We'll weed, plant, water -- whatever the garden

needs! This food will go to support local families

through EFIA and Appalachian Sustainable

Development

Development. Contact Kat Latham for more

information.

May 19, Pentecost Sunday, will be our congregation

pot-luck luncheon following the worship service.

Soon you will find a sign-up posted in the parish

hall. Don’t forget to wear RED this holy day!

Joyce Bassham has returned to work at the Wesley

Clinic in Abingdon and is organizing a luncheon for

the clinic workers on June 7. She will be posting a

sign-up sheet in the parish hall for those able to

help with this ministry. A letter of explanation from

her is also posted.

Quite a few people were interested in hiking to the

Channels after the Rev. Hilary mentioned them in a

sermon last summer. Well, strap your boots on,

because Claiborne Woodall will be leading another

hike to the Channels for us on June 8! More details

to follow.