Community Life
Community Life at St. Thomas Aquinas involves opportunities for all parishioners to come together to encourage one another and strengthen the parish community. Some of the parish groups involved with community life includes the following:
Men's Club: The Men’s Club is an organization of parish men, age 21 and older, committed to fellowship, service, spiritual growth, and support of our parish. The activities of the Men’s Club have included preparing and serving Pancake Breakfasts, annual Ecumenical Pig Roast, annual Parish Golf Tournament, Parish Cemetery cleanup, numerous parish improvement projects, and periodic meetings for fellowship and fun. The Men’s Club meets at 7:00 pm in the Activities Building on the first Thursday of the month from September through May. New members and suggestions for activities are always welcome!
Boy Scouts: St. Thomas Aquinas Parish is the sponsor for Boy Scout Troop #83 and Cub Scout Pack #83. Troop 83 holds weekly meetings in the church basement on Monday evenings. The Cub Pack holds weekly meetings in the church basement on Thursday evenings. The scouts help with Mardi Gras, host coffee and donuts and help with the Craft Fair and various other projects as needed. Our sponsorshp of these units helps them to grow in their Reverence (one of the 12 scout laws). The units welcome any member that would like to come participate in ensuring the continuation of this ministry to youth.
Annual Craft Fair: St. Thomas Aquinas sponsors an annual craft fair on the first weekend in November. Area crafters sell their items, Men’s Club staffs Café Aquinas and prepares delicious soups. Fun and community are shared by all.
Mardi Gras! St. Thomas Aquinas’ annual fundraising festival is held on the last Sunday before Lent. Food, games, raffles, bingo, silent auction, bake sale, games of chance and multiple opportunities to connect and socialize creates an incredible event that is a lot of fun and raises much needed funds!
Women’s Ministry (Called “STA Girlfriends”): Girlfriends is the fresh and innovative women’s ministry at St. Thomas Aquinas that exists to involve women of all ages—who through this ministry will then be excited about growing a relationship with God and others. As women see the amazing gatherings and events, they will also experience changed lives and new friendships with other women who like to sprinkle Jesus' love in all dimensions of ministry through grace, unconditional love, prayer, purpose, and laughter.
The key elements are:
- Befriend. Give women connections. Through welcoming get-togethers .women will immediately feel comfortable as they connect and begin new friendships. These gathering maybe call Night Outs.
- Belong. Give women community. We all long for a lace where everyone knows our name…and Girlfriends can provide just that! Women are invited to a place where friendships deepen as women enjoy a true sense of belonging. This happens when women join a small group that shares an interest such as, a book club, knitting group, etc. These groups let women bond with others, and they also give everyone the opportunity to give back to the community with regular service projects.
- Believe. Give women Jesus. Women seek to a growing friendship with Jesus. Women get to know Jesus as they worship, study, experience, and explore the Catholic faith together. Great retreats, Bible study resources, and small group topics sessions will help us all grow and share our journey with others. The chance to go deeper and understand why we all are reaching out in the first place brings us in God’s love!
- Become. Give women growth. We want and encourage dynamic leaders to emerge! We want to guide and coach women into reaching their full potential as they grow in leadership skills, service, and outreach—or simply into the women God created them to be.
Women’s Ministry - STA Girlfriends Philosophy
We BEFRIEND women and
give them a place to BELONG
so they’ll BELIEVE in Jesus and
BECOME more like Him–which means
they BEFRIEND others and
help them BELONG, too.