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 are encouraged to remain in worship until they leave with Amy Catania at the beginning of the final hymn. Then they’ll have about a half hour of learning and sharing before joining us at coffee hour.
Every Tuesday – the weekly study group is discussing The Purpose-Driven Life. 7:30-8:30 pm in Anne’s office.
Please remember to fill out the survey of ministry areas for 2005 and drop it in the collection plate. It’s not about committee meetings anymore… it’s just about finding something in the life of St. Luke’s that’s compelling and energizing for you.
Through mid-November – Understanding the Common & Historic Foundations of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
Richard Pyle is leading a six week series using Bruce Feiler’s Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths (HarperCollins, 2002). The course aims to offer a vision of hope from insight into the common origins of these three major faiths. The class will meet at 9:45 a.m beginning on October 3rd.
Today – Second Sunday Concerts begin at 2:00 pm today with a piano recital by Molly Orlando of Chopin, Beethoven, Kabalevsky and Liszt. Second Sunday Concerts are free and all are welcome. In the sanctuary, with refreshments afterward in the narthex.
October 11th – The church office is closed for Columbus Day
Cookin’ in the Kitchen October 15th
As part of its job readiness program, the Next Step Kitchen would like to invite volunteers to participate in a day in the Kitchen to cook Eggs Florentine on Friday, October 15th. The plan--for those who'd like to cook eggs Florentine-- will be to start cooking by 9 am and to eat around 11 am so there is time to clean up before class ends, usually around 12:30. Please contact Sonia Kassambara if you can attend, and if you'd like to donate items or money to purchase the items above. Sonia Kassambara (703)308-0165, work phone or kassambara.sonia@epa.gov, e-mail
October 17th – Blessing of the Animals. In the spirit of St. Francis we will offer a blessing of the animals in the church garden during coffee hour.
October 17th – worship leaders training after coffee hour. If you feel drawn to the ministry of reading scripture and leading worship on Sunday mornings, please plan to attend this training workshop, led by Allen Hengst.
October 22 – Next Step Kitchen graduation!
Come celebrate with the new graduates and the St. Luke’s Shelter community at 11:00 a.m, with lunch following. Contact Susan Keenan for information, susan@nextstepkitchen.org.
Special Offering on October 24th
We will take our World Communion Sunday offering on Sunday, October 24th. This denomination-wide Special Sunday Offerings supports scholarships for international and US racial- and ethnic- minority graduate students; ethnic scholarships for undergraduate students; and scholarships for racial- and ethnic-minority persons seeking second careers in church-related vocations.
October 31 – Cuba Trip Report! The Volunteers-in-Mission team will give a slide show and report on the August mission trip to Holguin, Cuba, where they worked at Prince of Peace United Methodist Church. Please plan to stay after church for a rare glimpse of life in Cuba!
Support St. Luke’s Shelter/Next Step Kitchen this month by registering for the Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walkathon on November 20. Walk for St. Luke’s Shelter/Next Step Kitchen! To register on behalf of St. Luke’s, use the link at the St. Luke’s web site, www.saintlukesmethodist.org.
Federal employees can also support St. Luke’s Shelter/Next Step Kitchen by designating #7940 as your pledge in this year’s Combined Federal Campaign. If you would like a speaker from St. Luke’s Shelter/Next Step Kitchen for your CFC campaign kick-off, please contact Susan Keenan, susan@nextstepkitchen.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 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, 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.
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 Sadie Evans Downing, new grand-daughter of Betty and Richard Pyle
For Vernell, undergoing a biopsy
For Sonia’s family on the death of their uncle Tex
For Jen’s friends who married last weekend
For Cecilia’s sister and new brother-in-law
For the new members joining St. Luke’s: Farai Chigumbura, Janelle Rynes, and Darryl Smith
For Marian Potter’s friends Matthew, whose mother died recently, and Nettie, grieving the loss of her daughter
For Arianne Perkins, taking the LSATs on October 2nd
For Craig Silliman’s sister Kim, mother of four young children, with breast cancer
For Matthew Scruggs, son of Joyce and Derrick Wagner, being redeployed to Iraq in January, and for the end of the war
For Nakuma and her new baby
For the victims of a drive-by shooting in Sonia Kassambara’s neighborhood, and for the safety of the neighborhood
For Kate and Mark, married in Zambia on September 30th
For Michael Kelly
For Curt Canada’s brother Curtis, homeless and sick in Indianapolis
For the hurricane victims, and for those working to bring them aid
For Janelle and Joel Rynes as they prepare for the birth of their second child
Continued prayers for Jen
For the Pyle’s young friend Eric, who is moving toward death from cancer
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 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.”