St. Luke’s Episcopal Church |
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Lifelines: News and updates for you from St. Luke's |
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I have a few quick bites for you this afternoon.
First of all, thank you so much for all the love and support for my family and me in the last few weeks. Thankfully, we all had pretty mild symptoms and are now officially clear of covid. It’s really good to be back at work like usual.
I was really surprised at the huge difference between my experience with covid and the list of symptoms in my head. I was expecting a miserable cough, high fever, and extreme fatigue. Instead, I coughed or sneezed occasionally, was unusually tired, had a bit of brain fog, and experienced a bit of mild GI upset. It was not at all the disease I expected. I’m embarrassed to admit that had it not been for Katie’s positive test, I probably would have written it off as allergies and a stomach bug.
I hope my experience can serve as a reminder that covid-19 has a wide range of symptoms and severity. I got lucky and had a mild case. There are people in our community who’ve had it much worse or who are at high risk for a bad illness and complications. So if you have any of these symptoms, do everyone around you a favor and test for covid. A mild sickness for you could be literally deadly to your neighbor. Testing is an excellent way to follow Jesus by loving your neighbor as yourself.
Second, this Sunday after church, please join me and other members of St. Luke’s leadership team in the fellowship hall for an update on our potential lease. Behind the scenes, we’ve been working hard to get everything in place and it’s looking really good. In order to keep such things appropriately confidential, I’m not going to write more about details here. Please come to coffee hour on Sunday to hear more. If you can’t make it on Sunday, please reach out to me or Kit Muellner, St. Luke’s Senior Warden; we would be happy to get you up to speed.
Third, (and absolutely related to what’s above), please read the Wardens’ corner below. We’ve got a bit of work to do in clearing space for a potential tenant. Cathy Botz, St. Luke’s Junior Warden, has worked hard to develop a plan for how to accomplish that and details are below. Please give it a read.
Finally, I need to tell you how excited I am about this new direction God is leading us to. There will certainly be challenges as we figure out how to use our familiar and beloved building in new ways. And, I believe, it will also be a tremendous blessing. I see this potential lease as a huge gift to our community in financial stability, in a renewed sense of permanence, and in the opportunity to a new and reinvigorated direction for our community of faith. More—much more—to come.
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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Making More Space for God's Work - by 5/1/2023
As we begin to take advantage of the gifts God’s sending our way to better use our space, we first need to clear the Sunday School wing and move things to other more limited storage areas throughout the rest of the building. Much work to clear this space has already been done by dedicated volunteers in the last year. Some things remain. We need your help in the next 6 weeks to clear out the rest.
We have a documented plan to clean out and repurpose available spaces and have identified where those spaces are that can or cannot now be utilized for storage outside the Sunday School wing. Ongoing storage space is extremely limited in the building. We have a Plan B if we can’t store it all here but it’s our desire to store in the building if possible.
- The first step in that plan is to ensure that anything you personally find necessary or precious in the current Sunday School space is labeled and/or moved out by you.
- The main rooms to clean out are the Outreach Room, Nursery, Storage Room and the old rooms that housed Head Start and now house a collection of items (some for Bridge Club). All rooms in that wing will be cleared by 5/1/2023.
- The Bridge Club will have a first priority on space they’ll need for their supplies and we will coordinate that with them. The Choir will have first priority on the large conference room in the office area.
- All available storage areas outside the Sunday School wing will cleaned, organized and will become shared spaces as we’re able to make that work.
- Nothing will be stored behind the organ areas by us during our clean-out.
If there is something you have stored in any church storage areas that you want kept, donated or you want to now remove from the church building, take it or let us know by marking it with a taped sticky note – keep, donate, toss and your name and phone # for questions.
If items aren’t marked by 4/4/2023, we’ll use our best discretion to determine if we continue storing them or whether there’s a better use for them somewhere else outside our building. We are aware of Salvation Army, Good Will, Savers, Habitat Restore, to donate goods. If you have a charity that you’d like us to consider donating items to, please email me that info. If they’re willing to pick up goods, that would be best.
These changes God is providing for us are both challenging and exciting. We appreciate your support and we will engage you, as you’re able, in the official clean out schedule in the next several weeks.
Cathy Botz
507-269-1312
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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 Fifth Sunday in Lent. 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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Wednesday Evening Lenten Worship
5:30 p.m. in the Chapel
Please join us for Evening Prayer on Wednesdays at 5:30. It's about twenty minutes of prayer, scripture, and quiet reflection--the perfect mid-week Lenten reset.
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Holy Week at St. Luke's
Palm Sunday, April 2, 9:30 a.m.
Liturgy of the Palms, Eucharist, Passion Gospel
Wednesday in Holy Week, April 5, 5:30 p.m.
Evening Prayer
Wednesday Bonus:
Tenebrae, April 5, 7:00 p.m. at Calvary
Rev. Beth and Rev. Justin are co-officiating
Maundy Thursday - 7:00 p.m.
Eucharist, Stripping the Altar
Good Friday - Noon & 7:00 p.m.
Easter Sunday - 9:30 a.m.
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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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Decorate the Altar for Easter |
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Easter Lilies for the Altar!
Decorate the Altar this Easter Season with Easter Lilies. Give them in memory of or in thanksgiving for.
Envelopes for giving are on the table in the Narthex. Return by Friday, March 31st for your dedication to be included in the Easter Service Leaflet.
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Where do you see God in the world around you?
Everyone sees God differently, and we would like to know where you do.
Please take a little time and that phone I know you have and take some pictures to share with everyone. Email them to Jeff Decker at jadecker@ptd.net or text them to Jeff at 908-892-1220. [Call Jeff if you need any technical help]
We will use all the pictures to make a St. Luke’s Collage.
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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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St. Luke's - Calvary Collaboration Corner
Episcopalians Working Together
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Just a reminder...there's still time to do it this school year!
St Luke's and Calvary members are volunteering in the Reading Room with young learners at Sunset Terrace. Why not join us for an hour once, or once/week? It is easy and rewarding, and these kids LOVE to read out loud, one-on-one to an adult.
Here are the steps:
- Go to the Rochester Public Schools web page and scroll down to “volunteers in education”.
- Fill out the on-line form (answer to ‘affiliation”= community member; answer to “function” = mentor; answer to “building” = Sunset Terrace).
- Contact Sunset Terrace’s Reading Teacher, Lisa Levi lilevi@rochesterschools.org to tell her when you are available and that you are from one of the Episcopal Churches. She will coordinate your times.
- Tell Amy Caucutt (amycaucutt@gmail.com) you are joining in.
There…..doesn’t that feel fulfilling?
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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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Service of Apology for Slavery
Saturday, March 25, 11am Central
The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York | Livestreamed
The Bishop of the Diocese of New York invites all Minnesota Episcopalian to participate in a solemn Service of Apology for the participation and complicity of the diocese (and others) in the transatlantic slave trade and in that trade's continuing aftermath and consequences. This service will include a video address by the Presiding Bishop.
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Joint Religious Legislative Coalition Day on the Hill:
Two Opportunities to Participate
Day on the Hill - Virtual
March 29, 6:30-8:45pm | Zoom
Our program for the evening will feature:
- Dr. Naheed Murad, founder of ZACAH, a non-profit working to house the unhoused in the twin cities. Dr. Murad will speak on her research about the status of homelessness in Minnesota, and the work ZACAH is doing to get unhoused people into housing.
- Meredith Campbell, Leader of Mission at Settled, a non-profit that assists faith communities in housing chronically homeless people on faith community land in Sacred Settlements. She also serves the Sacred Settlement at Mosaic Church in Saint Paul. Meredith will speak about establishing the settlement at Mosaic, and how this community-first form of housing provides stability and community to unhoused people.
Faith Leader Summit - Virtual AND in-person
March 30, 8am-11am | Minnesota State Capitol & Zoom
Program:
- Morning session on legislative topics and status of bills & session, prayer in rotunda, and folks can meet with Legislators after prayer.
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To set-up Legislator meetings, Find Your Representatives, then call their offices. These meetings can be in-person or virtual and do not need to be on March 30th if you are unable to attend the Summit.
- Legislative Agenda
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Lay Formation Opportunity: The Art of Gathering
Saturday, April 1, 9-11am | Zoom
For Priya Parker, all gatherings start with one question: “Why do this?”
When we are clear on our why, we make gatherings worthy of those who show up and worthy of God’s dream for the world. When we lack clarity on why we gather, our liturgy turns from joyful and intentional to boring and rote. Parker’s book, The Art of Gathering, is a handbook for bringing people together for creative, purposeful, and transformative events.
Read the book, and then join Steve Mullaney, Director of the University Episcopal Community, to reflect on how Parker’s principles can be brought to our faith community gatherings. The Art of Gathering will inspire you to fine-tune everything from coffee hour to liturgy to vestry meetings to make all your gatherings truly count.
Follow-up coaching on these skills is available after the event!
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Taking Heart Iftars
Ramadan (March 25-April 15) | Locations Throughout Minnesota
Rochester event at Rochester Muslim Community Circle, Two Discovery Square
Saturday, April 15, 7:30pm;
Taking Heart is a long-running program coordinated by the Minnesota Council of Churches and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS-MN) to bring Christians and members of other faith communities together with Muslims for food and conversation during Ramadan.
Ramadan is a blessed month of the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the “five pillars” of Islam and is performed to learn piety, self-restraint, compassion, and generosity. All are welcome!
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ECMN Summer Camp!
Come experience God in new and powerful ways, outdoors in God's creation. Our time together will be filled with discipleship, play, prayerful wondering, and spiritual growth! No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
Youth Camp: June 11-15 | St. Andrew Bible Camp, New London
Family Camp: July 30 - August 4 | St. Andrew Bible Camp, New London
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We are so grateful to our St. Luke’s members for their ongoing donations to the Operation Backpack program over this school year. Both Sunset Terrace Elementary School and John Marshall High School students have received needed supplies from our St. Luke’s members who are supporting this program. Thank you!
Once again we are shifting our focus on Sunset Terrace Elementary School. During the month of March, the greatest needs that have been identified for Sunset Terrace are:
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Warm waterproof gloves/mittens for elementary school sized hands
- Snow pants size 6-16--- can be gently used in good condition
- Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash
- Tooth Brushes, Toothpaste, and Floss
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Healthy Snacks that do not contain peanuts and do not need to be refrigerated. Some examples: raisins, unsweetened apple sauce, Keebler or Club crackers, Nutra-grain Bars, Quaker Oats Chewy Bars, natural fruit roll-ups, fruit leather, apple and banana chips, Goldfish crackers, pretzel and cheese packs, and popcorn
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Gift cards for Walmart, HyVee or Target in $10 increments so teachers can buy emergency supplies for students or for parents in a difficult situation to buy paper products.
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Kwik Trip (gas only)--- these are for families in a difficult situation who need gas to get kids to school.
These supplies can be dropped off at St. Luke’s on Monday through Friday, 8-5 and, of course, on Sunday morning. Gift cards should be given directly to our Parish Administrator, Karen Gould (in the church office). Other supplies can be placed in the drop bins are located in the downstairs foyer.
Thank you for your ongoing generosity and continuing to think of the needs of these students.
Thanks so much!
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Please mark your calendar to attend the ‘Caring for Minnesota’ event in Rochester on Saturday, April 29, (location TBD)with our legislators, hosted by ISAIAH and supported by Rochester faith communities and people with shared values. We are hoping the Episcopal congregations of St. Luke’s and Calvary will show up in large numbers, to show our support for Paid Child Care and Paid Family Leave and the Buy In for Minnesota Care. Our support is crucial as these important issues will be decided in the coming weeks.
Other important dates to mark on your calendar. Just showing up to show your support is so important.
An exciting bill passed in both the House and Senate this week and will be signed into law by Gov. Walz. All Minnesota children will now be eligible to receive free breakfast and free lunch every school day. No more stigma against certain children and no more district paperwork.
Paid Family Leave and Paid Child Care have passed the House and are working their way through the various Senate committees. Any bills not passed by end of session might end up in some form in the Omnibus bill.
ISAIAH is also supporting more people being able to get MinnesotaCare. Currently MinnesotaCare is only available to U.S. citizens who live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level of less than or equal to $27,000 year. The bill would allow premiums on a sliding scale for people above that cap. About 200,000 Minnesotans do not have health insurance and racial disparities have widened. Many people simply can’t afford the steep premiums. Follow this link to contact your legislators to let them know you support MNCARE Buyin.
Rep Luke Frederick told us that phone calls and emails coming in have increased in hate and aggression, and that meeting with ISAIAH volunteers and supporters who say, “How Can We Help?” is like coming to a place of warm friendship and sunshine. He stated one of the ways we can all help is to call or email your legislators with a simple, “Hi, my name is xxx and I live in Rochester, MN. I’m calling to say thank you for your work!”. He said an email like this gets printed out and put on their doors, so that they can look at it after a hateful phone call or letter and it uplifts them. This link will help you to know who represents you and give you their phone number voice mail. So please call them and tell them how much you appreciate their work and that you support the above bills. It makes their day and is such a simple act of kindness.
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Facing the Fentanyl Crisis |
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Facing the Fentanyl Crisis through Recovery and Restoration in Rochester
Thursday, April 13th 2023, 3pm-7pm
Christ United Methodist Church
400 5th Ave SW Rochester
Please join us coming together to learn about the challenges within our community impacting those struggling with addiction
Hear from leaders within the community on how we can support each other's strengths while focusing on SOLUTIONS as we face the fentanyl crisis TOGETHER!
Panel Discussion, Resource Fair, and Narcan training with FREE distribution on site.
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Concert at B'Nai Israel Synagogue |
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The Mind and Music of George Gershwin
A Performance by Richard Kogan, MD, Psychiatrist, Musician, and Storyteller
Those of you who saw Dr. Kogan perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra this season will know that we’re in for a treat to hear this wonderful pianist again.
The brochure with information is posted both upstairs on the bulletin board as well as downstairs near the entrance, and here.
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A few years ago, I shared information about a film in production documenting the first women ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church. That film, The Philadelphia Eleven, is nearing completion. The producers are hoping to release it this fall and are raising the last bit of money to get the project over the finish line.
I have personally supported this project and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished film. I hope we'll be able to arrange a screening at St. Luke's.
You can see a trailer here. For more information and to donate, click here.
--Rev. Justin
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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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Bible Study: John
Join us on Zoom for a wide ranging conversation about the Bible, God's action in our lives, and the interesting (and sometimes esoteric) scholarship that informs our readings of John's gospel.
Meeting ID: 827 6194 5638
Passcode: 1884
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Book Group
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (fiction)
Tuesday, March 28th, 6:30 pm
Discussion through Zoom.
Enjoy the book; then join us for a discussion led by Tami Walker.
Watch for a St. Luke's Book Group notice to join the meeting by computer or phone.
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We are thankful and blessed to now have enough individuals who have agreed to join our first small group! Our goal with these groups is to explore together a life centered on Jesus; centered together. This is a discipleship series of a guided small, gathered community exploring how to become more deeply rooted in love with God and connected with one another, so that we grow to look, act, and love more like Jesus. We are currently working with our first group to find a time for our first and ongoing gatherings. Look for periodic updates from our first small group as we engage in this important work of discipleship together.
For those who would like to participate in a future small group, please reach out to Diane O’Mara ( dianeomara@charter.net, 507-261-3773) to express your interest. As enough individuals agree to participate to form more groups, we will kick them off. |
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St. Luke's Facebook and Website Pictures |
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Pictures, pictures and more pictures!
Diane O’Mara is requesting your help, so she can more easily update St. Luke’s Website and post to St. Luke’s Facebook page. If you took any pictures of the Candlemas Service or reception, could you please send them to Diane. If you have pictures of any other St. Luke’s events, such as blessing of the animals, Doug’s wiener roast during the Bishop’s visit, or any events at all, please send pictures via email to dianeomara@charter.net. Just label the subject line St. Luke's – event and replace the word event with whatever the event was. Most importantly , let’s all start taking pictures, since many of us carry our phones everywhere, so that our Website and Facebook page starts reflecting all the beautiful and caring activities St. Luke’s congregation is involved in, outside of St. Luke’s and inside of St. Luke’s. This type of activity will cause people to Like and Share, which will spread the word that St. Luke’s Episcopal is out in the community!
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Recognizing Volunteerism Through Pictures and Facebook Posts |
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Almost all of us volunteer in the Rochester community. The parting words of each service tell us to make a difference in our community and in our world. We want to show the Rochester community that people from St. Luke’s Episcopal use their hearts and hands for sharing and caring and helping, not just on Sunday, but every day of the week.
When you are volunteering, let us know what organization you are involved in. Have someone snap a picture so that it can be shared on our Facebook page. From Mayo Clinic, “Research also has shown that volunteering leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety. . . Volunteering reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine.” This publicity will also help spark new volunteers for your favorite organization as St. Luke’s Facebook posts are liked and shared. In each post we can mention the organization you are volunteering for and link to their website. Imagine the possibilities through sharing your volunteer activities!
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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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