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 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. Cherise Williams and Heather Thomas are our Sunday School teachers.
Today – we welcome Christine Day as our guest preacher. Christine is a graduate of Drew Theological Seminary and in the ordination process through the New York Conference of The United Methodist Church. She currently serves as a Chaplain at Georgetown University and is a member of the St. Luke’s community.
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).
Today -- last date for lily orders. If you would like to have a lily placed on the altar in honor or in memory of someone this Easter, please complete the order form in this week’s bulletin and place it in the collection plate along with your check.
Easter lily deliverers needed! Please sign up on the bulletin board in the Wesley Room to deliver a lily to one of our home-bound members or friends after church on Easter Sunday. (Several are within walking distance.) You’ll be glad you did!
Today – First Spring Concert. Deke and Joyce Polifka will play two pieces for four hands: Dolly Suite by Faure and Petite Suite by Debussy. A flyer for the complete Spring Concert series is on the church web site for you to download and share with friends, or pick one up in the Wesley Room after church. The concerts begin at 2:00 pm, last about half an hour, and are followed by refreshments. The concert series is free and open to the community. Bring your friends!
Today – Church Council regular monthly meeting at 12:45 pm.
April 4th – Holy Week begins with a procession of the palms beginning at the corner of Calvert and Wisconsin next Sunday. See the Holy Week insert for the complete schedule for next week.
Children’s Choir – meets after coffee hour each week for 20 minutes or so. For more information talk to Deke Polifka, Music Director.
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.
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, 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.
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.
New Church Directories are available in the Wesley Room. Please take one with you.
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.
Joys and Concerns…
Jen Runyon shared the joy of her sister’s pregnancy, and asked for prayers for Amy and Michael as they prepare for the birth of their child
Charles Howe asked for prayers as he applies for a new job
Don Scroggin lifted up the controversy about the ordination of United Methodist pastors who are gay or lesbian, reminding us that not so long ago churches had also been in conflict about ordaining women. He gave thanks for the gifts of openness and diversity he has found at St. Luke’s, and asked that we continue to assert our identity as a congregation that welcomes all.
Derrick Wagner shared the joy that Joyce has been cleared for jogging by her doctor.
For those who grieve the loss of family and friends as a result of the Madrid bombings
For Inne Kim’s grandmother, recovering from surgery in Korea
Clint Riley shared the joy of his parents, Erma and Bill Riley, visiting from Kansas
Penny Andrews shared the joy of Nancy Rowand visiting, with Jeanne Goss’s grandsons Robert and Evan
For those seeking work and anticipating job interviews
For Andrea Banyasz’s friend Edith’s mother
For Gladys Manuel in California
The joy of Anne McAfee being back in church after an extended absence
The joy of receiving Jamie Sworobuk into the St. Luke’s family. At age three days, Jamie was already a big help with the children’s story.
For Emily Dawson as she attends the national conference of United Methodist Women where she is running for re-election to the board of the Women’s Division
Continued prayers for the people of Haiti, and especially for the children and staff of Wings of Hope Orphanage.
For peace and for members of the military, for contract employees, and for the people of Iraq
For Carrie and Bob, whose baby is due in May
For our Volunteers in Mission team as it prepares for the trip to Cuba in August 2004
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.
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.”