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.
During the summer, children ages 4 and up usually 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.
Children’s Choir – meets during coffee hour each week for 20 minutes or so. For more information talk to Deke Polifka, Music Director.
Today – Silent Auction to benefit the Methodist Church in Matanza, Cuba. Please peruse the international market in the Wesley Room during coffee hour. Bidding ends at some undetermined moment during coffee hour today..
Today – Grate Patrol Offering and meal-making.
Once a month we make and deliver 150 bag suppers to homeless women and men living on the streets n downtown DC. The Grate Patrol Offering supports the purchase of the groceries and supplies for the meals. To help contact Julie James at juliejamesemail@yahoo.com
Our next Grate Patrol delivery date is Tuesday, July 6th. To participate in the delivery, sign up on the bulletin board in the Wesley Room, or contact the church office. The Grate Patrol van will pick up our delivery team and the meals here at the church at 7:00 pm and return you here by 9:00 pm.
July 5th – The Church Office will be closed
July 9 - Jazz in the Garden on a Friday! Bring a picnic dinner and your friends and enjoy a beautiful evening of music, 6:30 –8:30 pm
July 5-11 – Anne will be on vacation. For pastoral emergencies contact Christine Day at 202-687-8631.
July 11th - Christine Day will be guest preacher. This will be our last opportunity to hear Christine before she leaves for NYC to begin serving a church there in August. Many thanks to her for being a part of St. Luke’s during her year in the Chaplain’s Office at Georgetown University Hospital.
July 11th – Children’s Ministry Meeting. All who are interested (parents, grandparents, friends) in helping shape our growing children’s ministry are invited to meet with Shalom Mulkey in the Chapel at 12:15 pm. This meeting will expand upon the safety/security and program ideas generated in the first parent meeting and will help provide a ministry plan to share with the whole congregation on August 1st.
July 18th – Where did we come from? Hear about the surprising history of St. Luke’s! The Rev. John Rottenberg will share the results of his d.min. research with us at a congregational meeting during coffee hour.
July 18th – Our turn with Shelter dinner. Once a month a group of church members and friends shares the preparation of a meal for the residents of St. Luke’s Shelter. Dinner with the residents is at 7:00 p.m. For more information, contact Nikki Parker or Cory Scott, Shelter Dinner Coordinators, at scottc@urbanretail.com or 202-256-9195.
St. Luke’s Choir is taking a summer break. For more information contact deke@saintlukesmethodist.org or 202-333-4949.
The Tuesday evening study group is taking a summer break, but will meet on Tuesday, July 20th.
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 first class graduated on July 2nd! The program is located downstairs in the St. Luke’s kitchen. For more information, go to www.saintlukesmethodist.org, or Susan Keenan, Executive Director, susan@nextstepkitchen.org.
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.
First Ever! St. Luke’s Music Camp July 12-16. Camp this year will be a wonderful experience involving singing, drama, arts and crafts, storytelling, snacks and games for children completing kindergarten through sixth grade. Camp will be held from 9:00 to noon Monday through Friday, with the children presenting their musical on Friday afternoon at noon for family and friends. This year’s musical is “By The Sea: Stories from the Life of Jesus.” Brochures and registration forms are available in the Wesley Room, or contact Deke Polifka, Director of Music Ministry at deke@saintlukesmethodist.org.
Volunteers in Mission Cuba Trip Update Our trip to Cuba will be August 14th-29th. We will be working at the oldest Methodist church in Cuba, in Mantanza, on the northern coast, and living at the Methodist seminary there. Our trip leader will be Greg Forrester, VIM Coordinator for the Northeast Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, who has led several VIM trips to Cuba in the past.
Our host church is in need of the items listed below. Please contact Sylvia Zulu if you need further information or are interested in making a donation. sylzulu@yahoo.com
+ Laptop computers
+ Over the counter medicines
+ Prescription medicines from your doctor (most important thing we can take)
+ Fabric, buttons, needles, thread, etc.
+ Towels
+ Sheets
+ Reading glasses and old prescription glasses
+ New underwear (men, women and children)
+ Toothbrushes and paste
+ Small soaps
+ Pens, pencils
+ Razors
+ Gently worn shoes
Wednesday evening prayer. Will not meet while Curt and Barbara are visiting their family in Poland.
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 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.
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…
Dorothy Pearson asked for prayers for her sister, Eliza Wharton
For Jen Runyon’s friend Alison with health problems
Sylvia Zulu lifted up gratitude for Deke’s work with the children during the past year
Dr. Khoo Boo Teong thanked the congregation for offering a spiritual home during his family’s stay in Washington, shared their joy in the Shelter ministry, and promised to keep us in prayer when they return to Malaysia.
Sonia Kassambara asked for prayers for those she knows with dental problems: for recovery, for freedom from pain, and for the ability to pay for the care
Betty Pyle shared the joy of Richard and Betty’s youngest daughter Katie’s marriage to Jeff Carson in New York last weekend
Farai Chigymbura shared the meaning of her church uniform which is worn by the women of her church, St. Dorcas United Methodist Church, in Zimbabwe, and which she has worn to church today
Beth Sworobuk and Don Scroggin lifted up the joy of Fathers’ Day
Matt Wilshire asked for prayers for Steve, a family friend who died this past week, and shared the joy of having his mother in worship
Sonia Kassambara shared the joy of hosting coffee hour and invited and encouraged those who haven’t done it yet to try out hosting
Penny Andrews thanked those who had been so kind to her in the days after Dorothy Bower’s death
For Vernon Thomas as she moves toward death
For Emma Cox who has been diagnosed with shingles
Nikki Parker shared the joy of her mother visiting
Inne Kim shared the joy of her birthday and her engagement to J.K. Barber
Carmen Rottenberg shared the joy of her father visiting, and asked for prayers for her grandmother Hilda, who has Alzheimer’s, and for her family
Gratitude for the completed life of Dorothy Bowers, and prayers for her family and friends
For Eric, young friend of the Pyles, with cancer
For our military in Iraq and for the people of Iraq, and for our leaders that they may lead with wisdom
For the Volunteers in Mission Cuba trip in August
For the children and staff of Wings of Hope Orphanage, in Haiti.
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: Margaret Roberts, Jeanne Goss, Vernon Thomas and Lucille Dade.
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.”