The document provides information about worship services and events at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Abingdon, VA. It discusses the church's cornerstones throughout its history and what may have been included in them. It also announces the launch of a new church website and provides reflections on faith from the rector.

1. St. Thomas Times
February 2022
St. Thomas Episcopal Church—124 East Main Street—Abingdon, VA 24210 276.628.3606 saintthomas@bvu.net
Worship
Sun 8:30 am - Outdoor Holy Eucharist*
Sun 10:30 am - Choral Holy Eucharist
Tue 8:30 am - Morning Prayer Online
Wed 9:30 am - Holy Eucharist
Thu 8:30 am - Morning Prayer Online
2nd Wed 6:00 pm - Contemplative Service
*Weather Permitting
All services livestreamed and archived through Youtube.
CORNER STONE – What’s in It?
Rick Morgan
St Thomas Episcopal Church in Abingdon has had four cornerstones since 1846.
The first in 1846 when the church was built, a second when the church was re-built
in 1925, another when the Parish Hall cornerstone was laid in 1958, and the last was
laid in 1909 for the administration building.
The cornerstone from 1846 survived the fire of December 27, 1924; however, the
contents in the cornerstone were lost to time and the fire. The first stone was laid in
June 1846 by the Masons as the first rector of St Thomas was Rev James Dabney
McCabe, who was also the founder of the Mason’s Lodge on Abingdon.
Continue on Page 5.
Our New Website!
With help from the Interim Communications
Coordinator, Dave Carrol, St. Thomas has
officially launched a new website! Our
services, calendar, bulletins, newsletters and
more are all being conveniently stored in a
sleek new interface. Check it out at the same
URL as the old site: stthomasabingdon.org.
A screencap of the homepage of our new site!

2. St. Thomas Times Page 2
Thoughts for February
Tending our Spiritual Garden
From The Rev. Boyd Evans
The end of winter is a liminal time or in between time in which we await longer days, warmer tem-
peratures, and the blossoming of flowers shooting forth from the earth. We have similar seasons in
our spiritual lives. At times we may feel very close to the Lord, sensing the warmth of God’s Grace
and presence. Other times we may feel like we are in the midst of a long winter awaiting signs of
God’s guidance or longing for greater connection or closeness to the divine.
As we mature in our faith, we are better able to move through our spiritual winters by sticking to our
faith and trusting that springtime is just around the corner. During times in which we long for guid-
ance or direction, we might also look for new methods of spiritual connection, new ways in which we
ourselves can move closer to God. In his sermon at our recent diocesan convention, Bishop Mark
compared our prayer life to an old radio which at times might require adjusting the knob on the tuner
to reduce the static and bring in the station more clearly, or perhaps we might need to adjust our
spiritual antennas to try to capture the signal a bit more clearly.
Jesus gives a series of instructions
to his followers at the beginning of
Luke 17. He sternly warns them not
to hinder anyone’s relationship
with God or place stumbling blocks
or barriers between others and the
Lord. He follows this with teaching
on tremendous importance of
radical forgiveness in the lives of
Christians, even if a person asks us
for forgiveness seven times in the
same day for the same offense. The
disciples respond to these great
demands of kingdom living with
the cry, “Lord, increase our faith!”
The disciple’s plea is a recognition that faith is a dynamic process. As we grow spiritually, we
become more aware of our blessings and the Lord’s presence in our life. We become thankful that no
matter what we are experiencing in life, it is exactly what we need to become closer to God and that
the Lord will provide us the tools to meet our circumstances. As a result, we grow in our love of God
and our neighbor. As the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, they express an understanding that
faith is gift that comes from above for those who are receptive. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he
proclaims that we have been saved by grace through faith and that “this is not [our] own doing, it is
the gift of God!” (Ephesians 2:8)
We are entering a season of considering how we as a community might draw closer to the Lord. I
encourage you to participate in the Renewal Works process, the Lenten Book Study on the Universal
Christ, and in the visioning processes that we will be having in the coming year. Imagine the growth
we will have together as we let our lights shine together in our community and region! Fr. Boyd +

3. St. Thomas Times Page 3
The Word of the Lord
Rhonda Kindig
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “…I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless
you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…and in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
The St Thomas Bible Study has been considering Matthew. When we read the
Beatitudes in Matthew 5:2-12, we also hear the word “blessed”. Most probably assume it is
the identical word. Translation, however, is a tricky…and subjective…thing. You may think
of blessed as the opposite of cursed—both are past tense verb forms. That is just not what we
get in the Greek New Testament.
In ancient Greek times, it was the Greek gods who were blessed and called makarioi—
after all they were beyond all cares, all labors, and even death. These blessed gods lived on Mt
Olympos, far from the problems and worries of ordinary people. Soon makarioi took on a
second meaning, as it became associated with
the dead, those who, through death, had reached
an “underworld”, far from the problems and
worries of ordinary people.
Finally, in Greek usage, makarioi came to refer
to the elite, the upper crust folks. These were
people whose wealth and power elevated them
from the everyday worries and problems of
ordinary people. These “blessed” ones were on
a higher plane than the rest of us.
When the Old Testament was translated from
Hebrew into Greek, makarioi assumed yet
another meaning. It referred to the result of
right living. If you lived right, you were blessed. That meant you received material things,
many children, abundant crops and riches, wisdom, beauty, etc. The corollary was that if you
did not have these things, you were not blessed, undoubtedly because you had sinned.
Matthew’s Jesus is using makarioi in a different way altogether. In the Beatitudes in
Matthew, it is the lowly, humble, mourning, meek, persecuted people who are called blessed.
Jesus has turned things upside-down. This turns a blessing into a paradox—contrary to the
expected outcome.
However, I think we must again consider the translation. In the Matthew verses, the
Greek text for “Blessed are the . . .”, there is NO VERB! Translators have added the word
“are” to the English. Furthermore, “blessed” itself is not a past tense verb in the Greek.
Instead, it is a nominative plural form, which means an adjective or a noun. So, the English
word “blessed” might need to be considered by an English word with the same intent, as a
NOUN: such as “blessing”. Does this change things? I think it might! Now, we realize when
we are the humble, the meek, the peacemakers, the merciful, the seekers of righteousness, the
pure in heart, then WE ARE A BLESSING TO OTHERS! That is what the covenant intended.
When we are sharing such blessing, then we are engaged in covenantal living…and that
means kingdom living. Thanks be to God!

4. St. Thomas Times Page 4
Another Joyous Christmas Season!

5. St. Thomas Times Page 5
Prev. Page 1
From Vestry minutes of 1925 noted “After the fire the debris was partly cleared away and the
cornerstone uncovered. Upon opening the contents were found to be decayed. A copper plate
over the opening was well preserved and after careful cleaning was found to read as follows:
Dep June 24 AL 5846, AD 1846 by
Abingdon Lodge No 48
Auct & Hon Soc of the Free & Accepted Masons.”
The corner stone of the new St. Thomas Church was laid on November 28th
, 1925. The local
newspaper reported “The Bishop of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia officiated, assisted
by the Rev. A.C. Tebeau, rector of Emmanuel Church, Bristol and the Rev B.M. Boyd, Rec-
tor of St. Thomas Church. The simple, yet impressive ritual of the church was used. After the
singing of a hymn, the reading of two Psalms responsively, the recitation of the Apostles
Creed, and prayers led by the Bishop.”
After the stone was moved into place by the builders, and the Bishop striking it three times
with the trowel said: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen. I lay
the Corner stone of a building to be named St. Thomas Episcopal Church and to be devoted to
the service of Almighty God in accordance with the doc-
trine, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States of America, that here true
faith with the fear of God and brotherly love may forever
flourish and abound: and that this place may be a House
of Prayer for all time to come. No other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
The rest of the story! The information regarding what was
put in the cornerstone of the second St. Thomas Episcopal
Church has eluded this researcher for several years. The
October 1925 minutes of the Parish Committee report
asked the rector, Rev Lloyd to request the Masons lay the
new cornerstone and to check with Bishop Jett. The Bish-
op objected to having the Masons lay the cornerstone and
came to Abingdon to personally handle the ceremony. The
Bishop noted that the congregation should be present for
the event. At the time I found that in these Committee
minutes there was no further information mentioning the
contents of the cornerstone.
We do not know the contents of the 1846 cornerstone and the contents of the 1925 cornerstone
were not recoded by the Vestry. What did the congregation and the rector and bishop want to
put in the second cornerstone nearly 100 years ago? What would YOU have put in the corner-
stone?
The question arises, since we just celebrated our 175 anniversary, what is our next big
celebration? Shall we honor the 100 anniversary of the laying of the 1925 cornerstone? Do
churches ever celebrate the “opening” of a cornerstone instead of sealing one? Who has
authority to decide to open one: the congregation, vestry, rector, or the Bishop? The big ques-
tions are: what would you have put in the 1925 cornerstone? And what would you put in a
new cornerstone in 2025 to be opened in 2046, the 200 anniversary of St Thomas. Let me
know. What would have been important in 1925 and what is important today that represents
St. Thomas?

6. St. Thomas Times Page 6
Discover Resources for
Racial Reconciliation
Black History Month is a time for many
things: celebration, remembrance,
education, and raisings awareness of
Black history. If you visit the Diocese of
Southwestern Virginia’s website, you
will find a tab with a multitude of
resources for racial reconciliation. The
Diocese states, we are “dedicated to con-
fronting the sin of racism, understanding
the nature of systemic racism, and work-
ing toward racial justice and healing in
the name of Christ.”
On the webpage, you will even find a
blog post written by our own Rev. Boyd
and Dick Austin entitled “Say Their
Names,” an article that addresses “racial
violence and police brutality in the wake
of a pandemic.” Many members of our
community are effected by such injustic-
es every day, and it is incredibly im-
portant to support our neighbors and to
keep our hearts open to those who are
suffering. Education can be the first step
to bridging the gap that has been forged
by violence. With these resources from
the Diocese, we can continue the work
towards reconciliation.
Visit the Diocese website at
dioswva.org
Ash Wednesday Services
Ash Wednesday Services will be held at
9:30am and 6pm on Wednesday, March
2nd. See page 7 for more information on
Noontime Lenten Services for this year.
Are you receiving our
online updates?
The church office at St Thomas sends
out several email correspondences each
week with important information, week-
ly updates, and calls for service. If you
aren’t receiving these emails, please be
sure to notify the office to make sure
your contact information is up to date!
Call for March Newsletter
Submissions
Would you like to see your photos or writ-
ing in next month’s newsletter? Contact
Cassandra in the parish office for more
information. We would love to see what
creativity our neighbors have!

7. St. Thomas Times Page 7
Why is the Spiritual Life Inventory Important?
The Vestry and Fr. Evans believe that this is an important time in the life of St. Thomas for us to partic-
ipate in the Renewal Works program. In normal times, running our ministries, rolling out the welcome
mat, and keeping the lights on require full time work and commitment. The past two years with COVID
have added extra burdens and worries about online services, technology, and adapting our ministries.
With these new challenges, sometimes it feels that there is little space left for God. The Renewal
Works Program is oriented toward deepening our love of God and our love of neighbor. Nurturing spir-
itual growth in each member of the parish
and in St. Thomas as a whole is the cor-
nerstone of the Renewal Works program.
We go to our doctor for checkups to evalu-
ate our physical, bodily health. The Spir-
itual Life Inventory invites us to check in
with our spiritual health as individuals and
as a parish. The Renewal Works program
is based on the principle that spiritual vi-
tality is essential for the health and growth
of a parish. We can tack on new ministries
and programs in an attempt to grow, but if
we are spiritually dry, our efforts will not
succeed. Prayer and other spiritual practic-
es deepen our love for God and for our
neighbors. The Spiritual Life Inventory
will give us a picture of how well St. Thomas supports the spiritual growth of our parish and may show
us areas that we can strengthen and improve. In turn, the information that we learn from the inventory
will help the Vestry and Fr. Evans set near-term and long-term goals. Thank you again to each of you
who have taken the time to complete the inventory. For those of you who haven't had an opportunity to
take it, there's still time!
The deadline to take the survey is Sunday, February 13th. See any recent
email from the church for the link!
Date Host Parish Topic Leader
3/2/22 Sinking Spring* Simon of Cyrene Boyd Evans
3/9/22 Abingdon Baptist Mary, Mother of Je-
sus
Kevin Campbell
3/16/22 Abingdon UMC John the Disciple Francis Musolooza
3/23/22 St. John’s Centurion Glenn Patterson
3/30/22 Christ the King Joseph of Arimathea Bill Bryan
4/6/22 St. Thomas* Mary Magdalene Paul Seay
2022 Main Street Noontime Lenten Services
*Indicates that masks are required for all attendees.