Welcome, visitors! There is a visitor card in the pew rack; if you’d like a call this week, please fill out the card and give it to the pastor or place it in the collection plate.
Welcome, children! Our nursery is located upstairs. Just follow the signs. Mrs. Fatu Colley is in charge of the nursery. The nursery is available from 10:45 until 12:15. Parents can take their infants, toddlers, and younger preschoolers to the nursery at any time during the service.
Children ages 4 and up go to Sunday School after the children’s story, and meet their parents or adult relatives after Sunday School in the Wesley Room for refreshments. Their Sunday School teachers are Miss Heather and Miss Cherise.
Holy Communion in the United Methodist tradition is open to all who desire to receive the bread and cup. Children are welcome to participate in Holy Communion. For more information, please take the brochure, United Methodists and Communion, on the information table in the Wesley Room.
St. Luke’s web site is always current! Check it out at www.saintlukesmethodist.org. Thanks to Derek Willis for making this happen.
New church directories are available. Pick one up in the Wesley Room after church.
Put yourself on the map. We now have a map on the wall in the Wesley Room so that we can see where everyone is from and also the places we all keep in our hearts. Please add your places during coffee hour today.
The Tuesday evening study group is sharing various readings that have meaning for our individual journeys. The readings are available on Sunday before Tuesday (in the Wesley Room) or by fax. If you don’t pick up the reading today, contact the church office to get it by fax. We meet 7:30-8:30 in Anne’s office (rear office entrance).
Pledge Sunday follow up. We have had a strong beginning for our 2004 pledges. If you haven’t been able to pledge yet, you can place your completed pledge card for 2004 in the collection plate today. Extra pledge cards are available in the narthex. If you would like a box of pledge envelopes for your 2004 giving please let Shalom know in the church office.
Visions of India’s Villages: Paintings by Supti Sen
The exhibit in the Narthex Gallery features the work of one of our own parishioners, Supti Sen. Supti was born in Calcutta, India. After completing a master’s in science, she taught herself how to paint. Supti has traveled to many places in India, including the villages of the Himalayan region, where she found the inspiration for the landscapes that will be on display. To Supti, these scenes depict the true nature of India’s villages. Supti also is accomplished in embroidery, and one of her embroidered pieces is on display.
Adult Sunday School for Advent meets each Sunday before Christmas at 9:45 am in the Wesley Room. We are using Mary Had a Baby: An Advent Study based on African-American Spirituals. Since each session is self-contained, you can come to one or more as you are able.
Baby Shower for Kim! All are invited to a baby shower for Kim Pyle during coffee hour after church today.
Poinsettia Orders. Order forms for poinsettias are included in the Sunday bulletin through December 14th. Cost for the poinsettias is $10.00. Please indicate a preference for red or white. Poinsettias may be purchased in honor or in memory of loved ones. They will be used to decorate the church on
Sunday, December 21st, and may be picked up following the service; or please indicate if you would like it delivered to someone unable to attend church.
Christmas at St. Luke’s Shelter. On Christmas the Shelter remains open all day. The residents, who must leave by 7 am every other day of the year, can sleep in and enjoy a late breakfast and relaxing day. Christmas dinner every year is prepared by June Kress and Dennis Soiberman.
We have asked each resident to name something ($30 and under) he would like for Christmas. The list is posted on the bulletin board in the Wesley Room. Two or three people could go together to make one of these purchases. Please wrap and tag your gift and bring it to the church office by December 21st.
Bowling on Saturday afternoon, December 13th. We’ll carpool from church. Check with Carmen Rottenberg, cmrottenberg@hotmail.com for details.
Christmas Pageant on December 14th. With the special help of our children and the choir, we will hear the Christmas story told in scripture and in music during worship on Sunday December 14th.
Christmas Pot-Luck Feast for Cuba trip on December 14th. After church on the 14th we’ll gather in the Fellowship Hall for a Christmas pot-luck feast to benefit the Volunteers in Mission trip to Cuba. Sign up on the bulletin board in the Wesley Room and bring a dish to share. Suggested donation for the Volunteers in Mission trip will be $5. For more information contact Sylvia Zulu, sylzulu@yahoo.com.
Caroling on Sunday afternoon, December 21st. Join the choir at 4:00 pm on the 21st for caroling around the neighborhood, ending with a party. For more information contact Deke, deke@saintlukesmethodist.org.
St. Luke’s Christmas Eve service will begin at 5:00 pm in the sanctuary.
About St. Luke’s Choir. The St. Luke’s choir rehearses every Sunday morning at 9:30 am. The St. Luke’s choir seeks to strengthen our worship by encouraging congregational singing, by honoring the varieties of the congregation’s faith heritages and traditions, and by embracing new ways of discovering God’s presence in our lives, through worship that is vibrant and alive. You don’t have to be able to read music to be a part of St. Luke’s choir. We keep it simple. For more information, contact Director of Music Ministry Deke Polifka, deke@saintlukesmethodist.org.
New! Children’s Choir. The children now have a brief rehearsal every Sunday after church, and they will sing regularly during worship. For more information contact Deke Polifka, deke@saintlukesmethodist.org.
St. Luke’s Shelter is a ministry of St. Luke’s church. The Shelter, which is located in the church, provides a small group of homeless men with a secure residence for up to six months. The Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place refers residents to the Shelter. The Shelter operates every night of the year. The dinner meal is provided 365 nights of the year by neighbors, members of nearby churches and synagogues, and several Wisconsin Avenue restaurants and grocers.
St. Luke’s Shelter Next Step Kitchen is a new program of St. Luke’s Shelter and St. Luke’s Church. Next Step Kitchen will provide job training in restaurant skills for 6-8 homeless men and women in a 12 week course, with the course to be offered 4 times yearly. The program will be located downstairs in the St. Luke’s kitchen. For more information, please consult the St. Luke’s Kitchen Notebook on the information table in the Wesley Room, or Susan Keenan, Executive Director, susan@nextstepkitchen.org.
Combined Federal Campaign. St. Luke’s Shelter/Next Step Kitchen is now a part of the Combined Federal Campaign. The CFC # is 7940.
Yoga classes. A practice of breath and posture that helps integrate body and soul. Beth Sworobuk leads yoga Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the sanctuary balcony, 9:30-11:00 am. Classes are half-price for church members and friends. Contact bethsworobuk@aol.com for more information.
Wednesday evening prayer. A time for sharing, reflection and prayer. In the Chapel, 7:30-7:45 pm.
Joys and Concerns…
Theo Trevor shared the joy that his brother Eliot’s 4th birthday is December 1st.
Charles Howe shared the joy of Thanksgiving with members of his church family at Nancy’s house
Kojo Otchere shared his joy in the children’s choir
For Nicholas, Deke’s autistic colleague who was mugged last week
For Bob Kolasky’s friend whose father passed away from cancer
For Cory Scott’s grandmother Lorna, in the hospital
For Likando Kumoyo and Sylvia Zulu remembering Likando’s father Alex Kumoyo’s birthday on November 23rd
For Ransom Silliman’s cousin Cassie in the hospital for heart surgery
For Curt Canada’s friend Ben, diagnosed with cancer
For the Georgetown University Gospel choir as they prepare for their concert, and for Cherise Williams in her theology class
For Carmen Rottenberg, who has been sick the past two weeks
For Patty, friend of Sonia Peters-Kassambara, who has lost her job and is six months pregnant
For the three small children of Arthur Knight, who died recently
For members of the armed services who will not be with their families at Thanksgiving, and a prayer for peace
For Kaou Kassambara and his family in Mali, celebrating the end of Ramadan this week; and for Kaou’s sister Miriam visiting from Mali.
For Dorothy Preston’s friends, the Nunby and Lacey families, suffering the sudden death of loved ones
For the family of Katie Arnold’s colleague Tom who died in a car accident
For Beth and DJ, whose baby is due in early March
For Kim and Robbie, whose baby is due in January
For our Volunteers in Mission team as it prepares for the trip to Cuba in August 2004
For the military in Iraq and for the people of Iraq
For the community of St. Luke’s Shelter.
For Wings of Hope Orphanage in Haiti
For those living with HIV/AIDS
For our members who are unable to attend because of their health: Margaret Roberts, Jeanne Goss, Vernon Thomas, Lucille Dade, and Dorothy Bowers.
Sermon copies for the hard of hearing can be picked up every Sunday in the narthex. Each week’s sermon is also available on the web.
Our Mission Statement
St. Luke’s United Methodist Church seeks to serve the community’s spiritual and physical needs. We are a small congregation dedicated to creating an atmosphere of inclusiveness in which all feel welcome to worship. At. St. Luke’s, we try to follow the example of Christ’s ministry and teaching by sharing our building, our time and our prayers in many community partnerships. We embrace new ways of giving thanks and work to teach the joy of God’s grace to all whom we can reach.
We follow in the Wesleyan tradition in our belief that “scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.”