St. Luke’s Episcopal Church |
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Lifelines: News and updates for you from St. Luke's |
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This weekend marks the end of the season after the Epiphany. Lent begins next week with Ash Wednesday on February 22. We'll gather for the Ash Wednesday liturgy and Eucharist at 5:30 p.m.
Also, please note that St. Luke's office will be closed on Monday, February 20, in observance of Presidents Day.
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Kit and I are thankful to be asked to serve St. Luke’s as Senior and Junior Wardens for 2023. We will continue to keep you in the loop as to what we’re doing weekly in Lifelines. The spirit is leading us to get organized and active quickly. Here’s what’s going on this week.
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Onboarding of new vestry members Marge Dent, Al Lichty, Neal Engelman, Carmen Garness and Jeff Decker is occurring. We’ve held our first Vestry Working session this week. All are onboard, enthused and excited to serve. Justin will commission the 2023 vestry members at services soon.
- A Vestry retreat plan is in progress to get us quickly aligned and connected to be the most high functioning team we can -- to do the important work you’ve given us to do.
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Vestry Leadership meetings will occur with Kit, Cathy and Justin weekly as well with a vestry and warden targeted and prioritized list of activities to ensure we are getting the most important work done as quickly and effectively as possible.
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Negotiations for a long term Sunday School wing rental continue to move forward. This is a fantastic opportunity and a true blessing that we intend to be able to make happen as it’s within our control. Many details to work through but seems doable currently. Many thanks to Amy Caucutt, Diane O’Mara, Dan Berndt and others who have worked tirelessly to efficiently, effectively and professionally to find valuable uses for our extra space – another way to serve God and our community. More on that when details are available.
Please feel free to reach out to Kit Muellner or myself at any time you have questions or concerns and perhaps keep our vestry and leadership team in your prayers? Cathy Botz, Junior Warden
Much more to come very soon!
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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 Last Sunday after the Epiphany. This week we'll be commissioning some of the new vestry members we elected last week. 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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Ash Wednesday
February 22, 5:30 p.m.
Join us for worship, imposition of ashes, and Eucharist at 5:30 p.m. on Ash Wednesday, February 22.
While you're adding this to your calendar, make it a recurring event: We're offering Eucharist at 5:30 on Wednesdays in Lent.
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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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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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Sunday Morning Faith Formation
In the Fellowship Hall during coffee hour
Faith Formation is on hold this week because of the Annual Meeting. Here's the schedule for the next few weeks:
February 19 - Safe Church Tier 1 Training (more details below)
February 26 - Episcopal 101: The Baptismal Covenant
March 5 - Coffee hour (no faith formation)
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The Safe Church Policies of the Episcopal Church establish and maintain standards intended to ensure that our faith communities are safe places where all of God’s people are loved and encouraged to grow into the people God calls us to be. These policies provide specific recommendations, best practices, and guidelines that seek to protect children, youth, and vulnerable adults.
All faith communities annually present Tier I Safe Church training to all members. Tier I training offers a broad overview of all Safe Church Policy documents through community conversation, with attention to the issues they address regarding vulnerability, power, and healthy boundaries.
Presentation will be Sunday, February 19th after the service as faith formation.
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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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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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Calvary - St. Luke's Collaboration Corner
Episcopalians Working Together
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- 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!
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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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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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St. Luke’s Episcopal Church works with ISAIAH. ISAIAH is working with Minnesota Legislators to pass laws that will help all people, whether you work for a large company or a small business, no matter what your economic status or culture or race. Two of these laws are Paid Family Medical Leave and Paid Child Care. In Minnesota there is a shortage of child care spots, because of a shortage of child care workers, who are not making enough to take care of their own families. Yet the cost of child care is higher than minimum wage workers earn, so many people can’t work. Yes there is a shortage of workers. This is why. See https://www.house.mn.gov/SessionDaily/Story/17360
Paid Family Medical Leave would grant a partial salary for up to 12 weeks for workers to care for their family member. The leave would need to be authorized and most people would not use it, but if you do need to take off work to care for a family member, it prevents you from losing a paycheck, and losing your housing. It prioritizes equity, so no matter what your wage, all get paid fairly. See http://paidleavemn.org to find out more about Paid Family Medical Leave, but better yet, attend the hearing session on Saturday, Feb 18, Christ United Methodist Church, 11am-12:30pm to hear about it from the legislators who are working on it. Both of these laws are a plus for small business, as many employees want to work for larger companies to get better benefits. It is structured to be affordable for small businesses. Yet big businesses like Target are fighting against it.
You can make a difference for your family, children and grandchildren’s families by supporting these bills. Please call, email or write your senators and representatives to support these bills. A prepared script for calls, emails and letters is available, with as much training, hand holding and care as you desire. Please contact the Rochester ISAIAH representatives, Kathryn Lozada klozada@isaiahmn.org or Olivia Bergen obergen@isaiahmn.org
Please share this with your family and friends. We need hundreds of people to call and write in order to beat the big business lobbyists. It’s so important to our future!
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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 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
Since 2017, we've read and discussed the entire New Testament----with the exception of John's gospel. No more! We've begun to read the fourth gospel.
Join us! 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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