Welcome to St. Luke’s! We invite visitors and guests to come and explore this community at worship, at work caring for God’s world, and in fellowship together as we seek to create a community of faith in the city. 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. Please join the congregation for refreshments after worship in the Wesley Room.
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. Older children worship with the rest of the congregation, leaving during our final hymn for twenty minutes of worship arts with Amy Catania and Deke Polifka, then rejoining their families during coffee hour.
Today – welcome to our guest preacher, Beth Stroud. Beth currently serves First United Methodist Church of Germantown in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Thanks to Beth for being with us today.
This afternoon- further conversation with Beth about becoming a Reconciling Congregation. Interested members of several area United Methodist churches will meet with Beth at 4:00 p.m. today at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church (3401 Nebraska Ave, NW, across from American University). Please see Don Scroggin after church if you would like a ride. For more information on the ministry of reconciling congregations, see www.rmnetwork.org
Today – the baptism of Sadie Evans Downing, daughter of Missy and Riley Downing, and Eilidh Elizabeth Pierpont, daughter of Kim Pyle and Roby Pierpont.
Today – Human Relations Sunday. This is the first of six special offerings taken throughout the year by the United Methodist Church as a whole. Taken on the Sunday preceding the birthday of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Human Relations offering supports church-based community development work in racial- and ethnic-minority communities in the US and Puerto Rico, a multiracial network of grassroots social justice organizations, and youth offender rehabilitation projects which give teenagers a chance to succeed. The bulletin insert includes more information and an offering envelope.
St. Luke’s Pledges for 2005. We have had a strong response to our pledge campaign for 2005. If you have not yet made a pledge for the coming year and would like to do so, please call or email Rayna Luke at the church office, rayna@saintlukesmethodist.org.
It’s not too late to buy a 2005 calendar to support seven children orphaned by AIDS, being cared for by the congregation of St. Dorcas United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (Farai Chigumbura’s home church). The calendars are $20 each, or $25 including mailing.
Tonight – Our Turn with Shelter Dinner. On the third Sunday of each month, a group of St. Luke’s members and friends prepare and share a meal with the residents of St. Luke’s Shelter. We meet at the Shelter at 6:45 pm and leave by 8:00. To be a part of this enjoyable experience, please contact Cory Scott or Nikki Parker (scottc@urbanretail.com or nicoleparker555@hotmail.com)
Tsunami Relief Fund -- United Methodists top $1 million in online giving. The United Methodist Church has surpassed $1 million in online gifts in response to the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami. A special Web site, www.methodistrelief.org, was activated Dec. 27 and is available for online credit card donations. One hundred percent of every penny you give to UMCOR goes directly for relief and recovery efforts (administrative and other costs come out of different funding areas). You may also donate by placing a check in the offering plate. Please mark "South Asia Emergency" on the check.
January 21- meeting with Bishop Schol. Newly appointed Bishop John Schol will meet with area congregation members at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church (3401 Nebraska Ave, across from American University), from 7:00-9:00 pm. This is an opportunity to hear of the Bishop’s vision for the Conference and to ask questions.
January 30 – Hymn Sing and celebration of leadership. We’ll sing old and new favorites, and recognize our congregational leadership for 2005.
Hypothermia Shelter in Place at St. Luke’s. Responding to a request from Friendship Place for hypothermia shelter in Ward 3, St. Luke’s offered to open its doors to up to ten men on nights when the temperature drops below freezing. The hypothermia shelter is managed by Catholic Charities, who provide a counselor and beds for our cold weather guests. The hypothermia shelter is housed in the Next Step Kitchen classroom (which is returned to classroom space in time for each morning class). Many thanks to Susan Keenan for recognizing this as an opportunity to be in ministry to those in need, and to the Church Council for its enthusiastic and unanimous support.
New Pew Bibles in January. Thanks to the generosity of Preston Willingham, the son of Golda DePaolis, St. Luke’s will soon have twenty five new pew Bibles dedicated in memory of Golda. Preston’s kindness also opens up an opportunity for others to donate a pew Bible in honor or in memory of someone. We will have a bookplate in each pew Bible indicating in whose name they have been given. Each pew Bible costs ten dollars. If you would like to donate a Bible during January, please fill out the form provided in the bulletin this month and drop it in the collection plate, along with a check. Our goal is fifty new pew Bibles.
Grate Patrol Cold Weather Needs It’s that time of year again – cold temperatures, wind chill, snow and ice means hypothermia season for the homeless. Help protect the lives of The Salvation Army Grate Patrol’s homeless clients by donating new or very gently used cold weather clothing such as: hats, gloves, scarves, socks & thermal underwear (particularly in larger sizes). We will distribute cold weather gear on Grate Patrol throughout hypothermia season. Please contact Leslye Wooley at 202-250-7706 or Leslye_Wooley@uss.salvationarmy.org for more information.
New Church Directories are in the Wesley Room. Please take home a copy.
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 program of St. Luke’s Shelter and St. Luke’s Church, providing job training in restaurant skills for homeless men and women. The program is located downstairs in the St. Luke’s kitchen. For more information, go to www.saintlukesmethodist.org.
Tuesday evening weekly study group meets 7:30-8:30 pm in Anne’s office.
January 17th and 20th, church office closed. On Monday in honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and on Thursday for the inauguration.
Yoga classes. A practice of breath and posture that helps integrate body and soul. Beth Sworobuk leads yoga 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.
St. Luke’s web site is always current! Check it out at www.saintlukesmethodist.org. Thanks to Derek Willis for making this happen.
Put yourself on the map. We 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.
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.
Joys and Concerns…
For Nedi and his family
For Helen Rogers in Georgetown Hospital
For Penny’s continuing recovery after surgery
For Betty Lawrence, home from the hospital
For Nikki’s sister Natalie, who has a job interview
For all of the victims of the tsunami.
For Robert Jones, the driver of the Salvation Army’s Grate Patrol van, hospitalized with congestive heart failure
For the congregation of St. Luke’s and for the United Methodist Church as it struggles toward faithfulness in the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the ordained ministry of the church
Dorothy Preston shared her gratitude for the new year and her commitment to do more for others this year.
Susan Swift shared the joy of her son’s admittance to Vanderbilt University and her concern for all young people’s temptation of alcohol while away at school.
For St. Luke’s as we enter into the conversation about being a reconciling congregation.
Rosalyn Zulu shared the joy of her acceptance into the University College of The University of Maryland
For peace
For Matthew Scruggs, son of Joyce and Derrick Wagner, being redeployed to Iraq in January, and for the end of the war
For the Pyle’s young friend Eric
For Earl Williams’ cousin Eric, in Iraq
For our military in Iraq and for the people of Iraq, and for our leaders that they may lead with wisdom
For the children and staff of Wings of Hope Orphanage, in Haiti.
For Prince of Peace Methodist Church in Holguin, Cuba
For the community of St. Luke’s Shelter.
For those living with HIV/AIDS
For our members who are unable to attend because of their health: Emma Cox, Jeanne Goss, Lucille Dade, and Margaret Roberts.
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.”