St. Luke’s Episcopal Church |
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Lifelines: News and updates for you from St. Luke's |
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Two important events coming up soon:
- Candlemas Evensong is this Sunday at 4:00 p.m. - Choirs from St. Luke's and Calvary, great music, a fancy procession, and a reception following. Join us!
- St. Luke's annual meeting is next Sunday, February 12, following worship. Look for the 2022 Annual Report in a special email on Friday.
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Earlier this week, I learned that my seminary, Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley, California, had decided to shift to a fully hybrid model of education. No more full-time, in-person students; all their courses will be online with periodic in-person sessions if not fully online. With declines in enrollment for residential programs and increases in enrollment for online and hybrid programs, it’s the right way to go. I expect that this will position CDSP—alongside other seminaries making similar changes—to better meet the needs of today’s church.
And yet, for as sensible and predictable as the change is, the news hit me like a punch in the gut. I absolutely treasured my time in seminary: the community and our daily prayer together in chapel, the challenges of academics and opportunities for personal and theological growth, the experience of living in Berkeley and its particular culture and politics, and the experience of stepping out of ordinary life and into full time formation. I wouldn’t be the priest I am today without the experience of leaving everything behind to go to CDSP. Knowing that the end has come for experiences like that left me feeling uneasy and sad.
Once I’d sat with that sadness for a while, it passed on and eventually gave way to gratitude. I’m grateful for the experiences I had in seminary (most of them, anyway) and I’m grateful that the core of CDSP’s work will continue. But more than that, I’m grateful that the Holy Spirit is continuing her work in leading us to new and unexpected places.
God is has been calling us into a new way of doing things for a long, long time. When I enrolled at CDSP, nearly twenty years ago (!), it was already clear that the church was changing. And if the problems facing the church merely required more masters degrees, we would have found solutions a long time ago. What is emerging now is not just a less-good version of the past (church without seminaries). It’s something new entirely: A church that forms people for ministry in new and different ways in order to serve a church that God has been inviting for decades to step into a new and different way of being.
It still saddens me to know that the residential experience of seminary I loved so much won’t be a thing much longer. But in the end, I’m okay with it; I don’t actually want to go back there. In the same way, I grieve that the full and easy church of my childhood is passing away. But I don’t want that back either, because the church of thirty years ago isn’t a church that makes sense for the world we live in now. I’ll continue to carry that grief with me (that’s how grief tends to work, after all), but I’ll do so while looking forward to the church that is emerging, this new and renewed organization that the Holy Spirit is calling forth.
We’re building this new church together, my friends. Not an aging organization tuned to how we wish things were, but a church for the world as it is, here and now.
Yours in Christ,
Justin
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Call or text: 612-618-3826
Email: revjustinc@gmail.com
Drop in Office Hours: Wednesdays, 12:30 to 3:00.
If you'd like a visit, communion, prayer, or just time to talk, please call, text, email, or drop by office hours. I'd love to connect with you!
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Sunday Eucharist: 9:30 a.m.
Please join us for worship on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. as we celebrate Eucharist on the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. As always, please join us for coffee hour following worship.
If you can't make it in person, please tune in for the livestream on St. Luke's Facebook page. You don't need an account to watch the video; just click the link above and the livestream should be the first post on the page. Download the bulletin to follow along at home.
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Sunday Morning Faith Formation: Episcopal 101
In the Fellowship Hall during coffee hour
Our new season of Faith Formation is underway! Over the next few months we'll explore the basic practices and beliefs of the Episcopal way of being Christian. We began last week with methods for thinking and making decisions about faith and practice: Hooker's three-legged stool, the via media, and common prayer over common creed/belief.
Last week's lack of heat in the Fellowship Hall disrupted our discussion, so this week we'll continue our exploration with a second take on the Baptismal Covenant, our basis for understanding what it means to be a Christian person.
Our time together consists of a short presentation from Rev. Justin followed by lots of time for questions and conversation. We are very much exploring these ideas and figuring out the specifics of our faith together.
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Candlelight Procession and Choral Evensong for Candlemas
This Sunday, February 5
Worship at 4:00 p.m.
Reception following
Candlemas, or the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple, commemorates the presentation of Jesus and the purification of Mary in the Jerusalem Temple forty days after Jesus’ birth, in accordance with the requirements of Jewish law (Lv 12:2-8). We're joining together with Calvary for a Choral Evensong marking the occasion. Please plan to join us for worship and a reception following.
The service will be livestreamed on St. Luke's Facebook page. You don't need an account to watch the video; just click the link above and the livestream should be the first post on the page. Download the bulletin (part one and part two) to follow along at home.
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Make Music with Us!
Choir
We need your voice! If you'd like to sing, please meet in the worship space Sunday mornings at 8:45 to rehearse the hymns and service music. We also rehearse at 7:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month.
Handbells
The St. Luke's Handbell choir practices weekly on Wednesday night from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. We meet in at St. Luke's, downstairs in the office area. Anyone interested in having fun while making a joyful noise is welcome. For more information, contact Harold Solbrig / harold@solbrigs.us / 507-319-2628
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Ann Bailor
Ann is back in Rochester. (She suffered a stroke shortly after Christmas, while in Texas with Ron visiting family). Additional health challenges led to her to being admitted to St. Mary's on Wednesday morning. Your prayers for Ann and Ron are much appreciated.
Have news to share with the congregation? Please get in touch with Rev. Justin (612-618-3826, revjustinc@gmail.com) or Karen (507-288-2469, gouldk@stlukesepiscopal.org).
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Annual Meeting: February 12 |
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St. Luke's Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 12, in the Fellowship Hall after worship. It is primarily an in-person meeting, but we're working to allow online attendance; watch this space for more information on attending online.
In addition to our usual items (budget presentation, reports, and elections), the vestry has approved an updated version of the bylaws for your consideration. The rationale for this update is that the bylaws haven't been revised in many years, they occasionally conflict with ECMN canons, and currently require several practices that no longer align with how we run the church. You can download the proposed bylaws here.
The full annual report, including the proposed bylaws, will be out tomorrow.
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Join us as we Transform and Grow Together into 2023
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers? I will, with God’s help. Centered is a discipleship series guiding small, gathered communities to get deeply rooted in love with God and one another through fellowship, teaching, and food, so that we grow to look, act, and love more like Jesus. For more information, visit iam.ec/centered.
As a new year begins, so to do opportunities for us to transform and grow to look, act, and love more like Jesus. We ask that you respond to the call of our Episcopalian faith leaders to learn to live the life of a disciple in whatever way that might exist for us in today’s world.
As the early disciples did, we begin with connecting in small groups to make this journey together. If you are interested in exploring what it means to transform and grow your Christian life, please join us in forming an initial small group of 6-8 people.
Our journey has been mapped out for us with a process, thought provoking videos from church leaders, insightful questions to discuss and a way to make this all happen in about an hour each over the course of 9 sessions. For more information, check out this introductory video. We also will make this experience tailored to our group members’ needs today.
The first of the nine sessions will begin in late February or March. The themes of the nine sessions are:
- Meeting Jesus and Each Other
- Meeting Jesus and Sharing Life in Small Groups
- Following Jesus as a Way of Life
- Loving God Like Jesus
- Loving Neighbors & Strangers like Jesus
- Loving Other Disciples like Jesus
- Loving Ourselves like Jesus
- Creating a Sustainable Rule of Life
- Looking, Acting and Loving Like Jesus…Together
The group will collaboratively decide how to go about making these sessions happen…meeting time and frequency, at church, in homes, over Zoom, etc. An experienced guide will be provided. Childcare may be arranged as needed.
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Depolarizing: Respecting Others With Different Beliefs |
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The Episcopal Church in Minnesota, Braver Angles and the Episcopal House of Prayer invite you to a workshop designed to give congregations the tools to bring Americans together, bridge the partisan divide, and inspire the beloved community.
- Americans no longer see their political opponents as simply wrong or misguided, but as enemies who must be defeated at all costs. We do not accept this.
- Our mission is to strengthen our democratic republic by treating people who disagree with us with honesty and respect.
- We believe the contemplative approach can equip us to hold opposites in tension.
Join us at the ECMN offices at 1101 West Broadway Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55411 or via Zoom on Saturday, February 25, 2023 from 9:00am to 3:30pm. There is no charge to attend and lunch will be provided if you let us know you are coming at: ECMNBraverAngelsEHOP@gmail.com. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email us at ECMNBraverAngelsEHOP@gmail.com and we will send the Zoom link prior to the workshop.
Peace,
Christine Luna Munger
Depolarizing: Respecting Others with Different Beliefs
Saturday, February 25, 8:30am to 3:30pm
ECMN Office, 1101 West Broadway, Minneapolis, MN 55411
No charge, lunch provided if registered
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Rides to Services at St. Luke's |
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If you would be willing to give someone who no longer drives a ride to the 9:30 a.m. Sunday service,
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If you wish you could attend but no longer drive, please contact Karen at the church office. We will try to match drivers with people needing rides and we are hoping many drivers will volunteer.
We would pick you up so that you could be at church about 10 minutes before services and for Sunday Services, you would be taken home after the Coffee Fellowship time, around 11 a.m.
Thank you to everyone who volunteers to help make Sunday in-person worship services much more meaningful.
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Calvary - St. Luke's Collaboration Corner
Episcopalians Working Together
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- Join us on February 5th, at 4 PM to hear the massed choirs of Calvary and St Luke's sing a Candelmas Service in the sanctuary at St Luke's. If volunteers come forward (call St Luke's 288-2469), to plan and serve, there may be refreshments following the service….the music alone will be stupendous!
- Rochester Public Schools needs volunteers to help our youngest learners, many of whom fell behind during the pandemic, improve their reading. St Luke's has had a long relationship with its neighborhood school, Sunset Terrace, and is helping recruit volunteers to listen to children read in the reading room. Lisa Levi, the reading specialist, can use our help for as little as 20 minutes, and as much as a full school day, 9:30-3:30. You choose the day, the time, and the recurrence (if you can come weekly, for instance). If you have to miss due to a vacation, that is just fine. The teachers and the little readers are so appreciative (and fun) 😊
- 1st step is to have a background check from the school district. On the webpage of Rochester Public Schools, scroll to the bottom, and click on ‘volunteers in education”. Fill out your name and address etc; answer “community member” on question about affiliation; answer “mentor” on question about function: and answer ‘Sunset Terrace” on question about building. In a few days you will be good to go.
- 2nd step is to contact the reading teacher with your preferred schedule at lilevi@rochesterschools.org and let her know you are from one of the Episcopal Churches.
- 3rd step is to please let Amy Caucutt know you plan to volunteer, so she can keep track of the numbers. 9 have already indicated an interest, and several have started from St Luke's.
- Remember, bring your collaboration ideas to Amy Crockett at Calvary (crockettsae@hotmail.com) or Amy Caucutt at St Luke's (amycaucutt@gmail.com). Got an idea? Let’s do it together!
Please check out Calvary's weekly newsletter, The Visitor, published on Wednesdays. Current and archived editions are available here. In addition to a variety of worship services, Calvary regularly has other public events that are sure to be of interest to folks like us. |
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The Rev. Beth Royalty on MPR
Rev. Beth Royalty, Calvary's Rector, was invited by Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Crann to be a part of an ongoing series, "The Future of Us". The series explores the changes made in various institutions post-Covid. The series has looked at the institutions of Downtowns, Philanthropy, the Arts and Worship. The piece aired on MPR on January 9. Click here to read or listen.
Photo: Ken Klotzbach for MPR News
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Sunset Terrace Elementary School has sent a huge “Thank You” to the parishioners of St. Luke’s for the donations we have made to the Operation Backpack program over this past year. So far our gifts have fed, warmed, and nurtured more than 100 kids and supported several families who were in great need. Thank you again for your generosity.
During the month of February, we are focusing on John Marshall High School needs:
1. Warm waterproof gloves/mittens for teens
2. Shampoo and Conditioner
3. Tooth brushes/Toothpaste/Floss
These supplies can be dropped off at St. Luke’s, Monday through /Friday, 8-5, and, of course, on Sunday. Drop in the bins that are located in the downstairs foyer.
Thank you so very much!
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Sunset Terrace sent these pictures showing kids using our surplus Sunday school supplies.
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Pill Bottle Donation Program Ends |
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Unfortunately, Mayo is not taking pill bottles any longer. So, after all these years, our collections efforts are at an end.
Thanks to everyone who collected and donated bottles over the years!
Note: If your pill bottles have plastic #5 on them, they are recyclable.
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There have surplus desks in our Sunday School (and in our church office area). If you are interested, you may have for a contribution to St. Luke's and ability to haul them.
2 wrap around desks
2 solid oak wooden desks 6 ft. x 3 ft.
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If you have donations of new or gently used household items, including couches, tables with chairs, beds, bedding, towels, dishes, etc, here are many wonderful options.
Catholic Charities at 507-287-2047 will arrange pickup from your house and accepts all the above. Donations are used for refugee families.
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Resource Room at 507-288-7313 works with St. Vincent De Paul for helping Rochester homeless families and adults or for families in crisis with relocation needs to start their new apartments. They accept non-furniture items. They will arrange a time when you can drop off your items.
St. Vincent De Paul (507-250-5715) directly accepts beds, tables, dressers and household items, (not couches), but will usually ask you to hold onto the items until move in day, as they do not have a storage place. They appreciate a drop off, but will pick up if needed.
The Landing (507-884-0423) and The Warming Shelter (507-458-1223) accept new or gently used adult socks and jeans, which are given to homeless adults. Feel free to drop these off at St. Luke’s and we’ll get them delivered.
If you have any questions about any of these ministries or would like to help volunteer, please email dianeomara@charter.net.
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Role of the Episcopal Church in
the Minnesota Dakota and Ojibwe Removal
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Role of the Episcopal Church in the Minnesota Dakota and Ojibwe Removal
Monday, February 6
6:30-8:00pm (Central Time)
on Zoom
$10 prepaid/pre-registered. Pre-registration is required.
This is the story of Bishop Henry B. Whipple’s ministry at the time of the genocide of the Dakota and Ojibwe during his episcopacy. Bishop Whipple gained a reputation as a humanitarian and advocate of the Native Americans. He championed their cause because of what he saw as abusive and corrupt policy against the Native Americans. He was referred to as “straight tongue” by the Dakota due to his honesty in dealing with them. Bishop Whipple is best known for his clemency pleas in favor of the Dakota Sioux who fought against the U.S. Government in the U.S./Dakota War of 1862.
Father Ben Scott is an Episcopal priest whose family homesteaded land near Rock Dell, with land patents issued in 1861 under Abraham Lincoln. Immediately, the Dakota were removed from their tribal lands. He, his wife, and their family, live on that land now.
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Bible Study: Luke
We've got one more week reading Luke's gospel. (Technical difficulties pre-empted us from completing it this week.) When we finish with Luke, we'll be moving on to the gospel according to John.
Join us on Wednesdays from 10:30 till noon.
Meeting ID: 827 6194 5638
Passcode: 1884
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Book Group
Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing by Lauren Hough (non-fiction)
Tuesday, February 28th, 6:30 pm
Discussion through Zoom.
Enjoy the book; then join us for a discussion led by Shanna Altrichter.
Watch for a St. Luke's Book Group notice to join the meeting by computer or phone.
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If you've got something to include in next week's Lifelines, get in touch with Karen (507-288-2469, gouldk@stlukesepiscopal.org). The deadline is Wednesday at noon. |
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St. Luke’s is...
Joyful community
Faithful service
Transformational worship
Growing in relationship with God in Christ.
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