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.
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. During the summer the older children go to the nursery with Mrs. Fatu.
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.
Children’s Choir – meets after coffee hour each week for 20 minutes or so. For more information talk to Deke Polifka, Music Director.
Today – Grate Patrol Offering. Each month we prepare and deliver 150 bag suppers for people living on the street. Our Grate Patrol Offering buys the groceries and supplies for this meal.
Beginning June 6 --This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion. For three Sunday evenings beginning June 6th a group will meet to read and discuss this study, presented and approved at the recently concluded General Conference. Anne will lead. We’ll meet in the Wesley Room 7:30-9:00. This Holy Mystery can be downloaded at www.gbod.org
June 10 – Jazz in the Garden. Hear the Yvette Rivers Trio from 6:30 to 8:30 in the garden. Bring a picnic supper and something comfy to sit on. This is a part of St. Luke’s outreach to the community: it’s laid-back and it’s free. So bring your friends and enjoy the evening. You can pick up a schedule for the entire series in the Wesley Room, or find it on the church web site, to share with others.
June 13 – Faith Lewis will be guest preacher. Faith is a member of St. Luke’s and a recent graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary, preparing for ordination.
June 13 - Peace With Justice Sunday. One of six denomination-wide Special Sunday offerings, Peace With Justice supports grants made throughout the world to organizations focusing on such peace-making activities as education, employment, landmine bans, mental health and social action. For more information go to www.UMCGiving.org
June 19 – Silent Auction to benefit the Methodist church in Matanza, Cuba. The auction begins at 8:00 pm.
June 20 – our Turn with Shelter Dinner. A group of church members and friends provides dinner for the Shelter residents on the third Sunday of every month. If you’d like to be a part of this enjoyable and rewarding experience, contact Nikki Parker or Cory Scott at nicoleparker555@hotmail.com and scott@urbanretail.com
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 deke@saintlukesmethodist.org or 202-333-4949.
The Tuesday evening study group is sharing various readings that have meaning for our individual journeys. During May we are learning about the roots of Methodism with Christine. We meet 7:30-8:30 in Anne’s office (rear office entrance).
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. First class began May 24th! 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 1:00 pm. 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.
Upcoming fundraising events for the trip include a silent auction on June 19th. Monies raised will go with the group as a gift to the host church in Cuba. Our host church is also 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
Donate Items for Silent Auction
We are seeking “high end” items as donations for the International Silent Auction that will be held on Saturday, June 19th to raise money for our Volunteers in Mission gift to the people of the Methodist Church in Cuba.
Do you have a china set, tea service, painiting/framed print, or an item of jewelry that you would like to donate?
What about cultural items from overseas that just don’t fit your décor anymore?
How about a gift of babysitting, cooking, yard work, or a golf or tennis lesson?
A pair of tickets you can’t use from your season pass?
Proceeds from such items will be used by Matanzas Methodist church for construction materials needed for our team project in August, and by the Methodist Church in Cuba for poverty relief work. Contact: Andrea Banyasz 703 683-0993 home and 202-255-6912 cell.
Wednesday evening prayer. A time for sharing, reflection and prayer. In the Chapel, 7:30-7:45 pm.
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…
For the release of hostages in Saudi Arabia
For those in any kind of trouble
For travelers
For those preparing to marry
For Kaou Kassambara in his job search
For Eliza Wharton, recovsear joering from hospitalization, and for her sister Dorothy Pearson
For Reese Parker Kolasky in church for the first time, and for her parents Carrie and Bob’s wedding anniversary
The joy of Martha Wagner being back in church
The joy of a successful yard sale to benefit the Methodist church in Matanzas, Cuba, and thanks to all who participated
Dr. Khoo Boo Teong shared the joy of his family’s sharing worship with St. Luke’s while he is studying at Georgetown on a Fullbright Scholarship for the next month. Boo Teong and his wife May Fong and children Esther, Samuel and Daniel are members of The Life Chapel in Selangor, Malaysia.
Beth Sworobuk shared the joy of her panda, who resides at 9th & D, NW
Jon and Lisa Kaldan shared the joy of having been able to worship with us for two Sundays before returning home to Denmark
Darryl Smith shared the joy of his mother-in-law visiting with the Smiths from Ethiopia, and the joy of Hannah’s fifth birthday
For Eric, young friend of the Pyles, with cancer
For Nancy Smyrnas’ son Craig, recovering from surgery for hernia repair
For the family of a young woman known to Sonia who died suddenly, leaving young children
For Jen Runyon’s friend Paul recovering from surgery
For Charity and Shalom Mulkey, on the unexpected death of their uncle, in Arizona
Inne Kim shared the joy of her friend Melissa’s newborn child
Don Scroggin reflected on the beauty of the cicadas’ song, and the wonder of their seventeen year cycle. He remembered that his wife Julie had been great with child the last time the cicadas visited us, and that now his son Patrick is a gangly seventeen year old, and encouraged the parents of new babies to appreciate the moment.
For Kirsty Zulu’s birthday and baptism
As gay and lesbian people are legally able to marry for the first time in the US, prayer that St. Luke’s will continue to affirm our openness to all
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, Lucille Dade, and Dorothy Bowers.
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.”