ABOUT US
THE TALE OF TWO CHURCHES
Church of the Advent, as you may have read on the left, was founded in 1957 when two groups of Episcopalians came together to form one group and continue to be part of "the body of Christ."
St. Thomas Deaf Church, as you may have read or will read on the right of this column, was founded in circa 1876 by one of the first Deaf priests, The Rev. Austin Ward Mann. St. Thomas was one of the first Deaf Churches founded in the United States.
In 2021, The Rev. Dr. Emily Hillquist Davis learned that Church of the Advent was looking for a new Rector. She was not looking for a different job, but was encouraged by a colleaque to send in a resume.
The members of Church of the Advent are always thinking about others, so when they decided to call Rev. Emily to Advent, they wondered what would happen to St. Thomas Deaf Church. They really need a person who is fluent in American Sign Language and there are not many Episcopal priests who sign and she was the only one in the area. But, Church of the Advent wondered if St. Thomas would want to follow Rev. Emily to Advent.
Rev. Emily was not sure that would work, but as it happened, a seminarian, Angela Wentz Bjornstad, had started worshiping with St. Thomas during COVID, and continued with them after COVID was completed. She was also a sign language interpreter and her dad was Deaf, so she already knew some of the members and she knew about Deaf culture. It truly was divine intervention for Church of the Advent and St. Thomas Deaf Church.
St. Thomas hired Angela as their administrator and Advent hired Rev. Emily as their new rector and the rest is history.
While the two churches worship at the same time in the same space with a sign language interpreter, it was decided that the two churches would not merge in order for the Deaf church to maintain their autonomy, which is very important in Deaf culture. They decided to be "Partners in Christ," and Angela Botz even painted a picture to commemorate the two churches coming together. The picture shows the sign of "partners" in ASL.
Our Mission Prayer
WHAT TO EXPECT
OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMS
We thank you, God, for giving us joy and energizing us by opening our lives to You, to Your Word, and to each other. Shape us to live full, gracious and unpretentious lives through our worship, our humor and our support of each other. Help us to extend what we receive here into the communities where we live and work and to invite all into the joy of this mission. Through Christ, whose Body we are.
Amen.
Whether you are here for the first time or have been in church all your life; whether you are liberal, conservative, independent or progressive; whether you are urban, suburban, rural or no place to lay your head; whether you are rich, dead broke, old, young, straight, gay, Trans, non-binary, arriving with a busload of kids, coming alone, firm in your faith or filled with doubts, God brought you here and we welcome you… just as you are!
~ Friendly clergy and parishioners -
The passing of the peace
takes a while! ~
~ Standing up (as you are able)
and sitting down will occur
several times ~
~Singing with gusto whether you
can carry a tune or not! ~
~ Prayers for healing of ourselves
and our loved ones ~
~ Coffee hour after the 10 am service! ~
~ Children are always welcome during worship and have a special play area in our sanctuary ~
Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as he loves us. Church of the Advent and St Thomas Deaf Church work together to show this love in many ways.
We participate with other churches
in the Diocese of MO
to feed the hungry at programs called PeaceMeal, Rise Against Hunger and Feed My People.
Other programs that we support
and show love to our neighbors are:
Prayer Shawl Group
Men and Women's Groups
Morning Prayer with Yoga
Blossom for Thirsty Souls
FIND YOUR FAITH
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.