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.
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 – Baby shower for Janelle and Joel Rynes during coffee hour. See Penny Andrews for details.
Today – 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!
Today – Grate Patrol meal-making after church. Please stay to help assemble 150 bag dinners for homeless men and women living on the streets of downtown DC. To help deliver the meals on November 2nd, sign up in the Wesley Room or email the church, office@sainitlukesmethodist.org.
November 7th – All Saints Day Observed
On All Saints Sunday we will remember those dear to us who have died in the past year. One way to remember them is to bring a framed photograph of each person, to be placed in the chancel during worship on this day. We will also lift their names in prayer.
November 11th - Charge Conference
Our District Superintendent, The Rev. David Argo, will preside at the annual charge conference, a tradition that dates back to the origins of Methodism. The church council meets as the charge conference to approve specific decisions for the coming year. All church members and friends are cordially encouraged to come. Charge Conference begins at 7:00 pm in the Wesley Room.
November 14th – Second Sunday Concert series continues at 2:00 pm on November 14th Second Sunday Concerts are free and all are welcome. In the sanctuary, with refreshments afterward in the narthex.
November 21st – Thanksgiving/Pledge Sunday
On November 21st we will gather our pledges for 2005 during a joyful service of thanksgiving. If you aren’t able to attend on the 21st, you can send your commitment cards into the church office earlier or make your pledge via email to the church office.
A separate letter this month will include information about pledge trends and patterns of giving at St. Luke’s, as well as a commitment card for the coming year. Commitment cards will also be available on November 21st.
November 20th- Help the Homeless Walkathon
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 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 Anne McAfee
For Nancy’s friend Beverly, with breast cancer
For Jeff King’s mother, in the hospital, and for his cat Squeakers; also the joy that Jeff’s book has been accepted for publication
Sonia shared the joy of being a first-time auntie, and also the joy of Next Step Kitchen’s graduation ceremony on Friday
Derrick Wagner shared the joy of sunshine
Continued prayers for Eliza Wharton, getting resettled in New Orleans
The joy of Gladys Manuel and her daughter Lorraine May visiting from California
For Shalom’s grandmother Alene who will have hip replacement surgery in November
For Nate’s (Shalom’s fiancé) brother Joel who is dealing with an undiagnosed numbness in his legs, unable to climb stairs
Continued prayers for Amy and Deke’s grandmother, with lung cancer
The joy that Theo’s friend Nate is coming to visit
For Sadie, Betty and Richard Pyle’s new granddaughter, who was hospitalized but is home again
For Carrie’s friend Liz’s mother Anne, in hospice care
For Don and his son Patrick as Patrick has his first driving lesson from his dad
For Penny Andrew’s friend David, whose wife died unexpectedly in England
For Karen Westergaard, working with women in Afghanistan through mid-November to develop small businesses
For Margaret’s elderly mother in law who fell and broke her hip
For the new members joining St. Luke’s: Farai Chigumbura, Janelle Rynes, and Darryl Smith
For Matthew Scruggs, son of Joyce and Derrick Wagner, being redeployed to Iraq in January, and for the end of the war
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
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.”