| Table of Contents This week at St. Luke’s New This Week Ongoing Announcements |
| This Week at St. Luke’s |
| Public Health Indicators: here Free COVID test from Durham County here. Click here and scroll down for Online Worship Bulletin. We ask that if someone attends a service and then tests positive for covid, that they please contact the Interim Rector or Sr. Warden for both pastoral care needs and also to inform others that may have come in close contact. Saturday, December 17 9 am Altar Guild – Nave 10 am Girl Scouts – Johnson Hall Sunday, December 18 – Advent IV Newsletter deadline 8 and 10:30am Holy Eucharist – masks optional but recommended The Rev. Dr. Rhonda M. Lee, Preacher and Presider 9 – 11:30 am – Nursery – Gray Building 9:10 – 10 am – Celebration of Jim Craven’s 80th Birthday – Sprague Room 11:30 am – Greening of the Church – Nave 11:45 am Children’s singing – Music Room, Johnson Hall Noon – Faith Team – Kramer Room Tuesday, December 20 Rector Rhonda’s office day 9:30 am EfM – Kramer Room 1 pm Joyce Avery funeral at St. Joseph’s with Reception to follow at St. Luke’s, Johnson Hall 6:30 pm Men’s dinner – Johnson Hall Wednesday, December 21 8 am Morning Prayer on Zoom 9 am Staff Meeting – Kramer Room 11:30 am Prayer and Share on Zoom 5:30 pm Bells Rehearsal 7 pm Choir Rehearsal Thursday, December 22 7 pm Bible Study on ZoomFriday, December 23 Office Closed 1:00 pm Connections and Support Group by Zoom Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve 9 am Altar Guild – Nave 5 pm Special Music 5:30 pm Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist Sunday, December 25, Christmas Day No worship services |
| New This Week |
| This Sunday, December 18, we will resume the offertory custom of passing the plate. However, we will be passing baskets instead of our traditional plates as porous items, like wood baskets, have been shown to be less transmitting of viruses than harder surfaces. Hand sanitizer is available around the entrances to the nave but we recommend your bringing a personal hand sanitizer with you. Thank you for any and all gifts! We will be celebrating Jim Craven’s 80th birthday on Sunday, December 18 between the services in the Sprague Room. #AdventWord The Stagville pilgrimage is the only diocesan event between now and the end of the year, but we are participating in #AdventWord again. (Learn more here.) We’ll post each morning through December 24, and you’re welcome to reshare the images and reflections on your own social media channels. You are invited to sing and make merry with Maple Court residents Thursday, December 22 at 11:00am. St. Luke’s Share Your Christmas gift cards will be given at that time. Wear your Christmas colors and bring your voice for Christmas carols. Note that St. Luke’s did not host a Thanksgiving meal at Maple Court this year and instead will focus on sharing Christmas. Maple Court is at 207 Commons Blvd in Durham and provides apartments for 24 veterans at risk for homelessness. Our Christmas Eve Special Music will begin at 5 p.m. followed by our Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist at 5:30 p.m. There will be no service on Sunday, December 25. The final Morning Prayer on Zoom with Intern Kate Rademacher will be Wednesday, December 28 at 8 a.m. This is the link: Zoom Diocesan intern Kate Rademacher’s time with St. Luke’s is quickly coming to an end. Her last regular day with us will be Christmas Eve. In this season of discernment for both herself and this parish, Kate has generously shared her gifts of wisdom, kindness, and humor. Now it’s time for her to return to Church of the Holy Family and to continue conversations with the Commission on Ministry and our bishops, to see whether she is called to take more steps toward ordination as a priest. Kate, we give thanks for you, we will miss you, and we will keep you in our prayers. Please keep in touch! New “Rector and friends Bible study” starts in January. Second and fourth Tuesdays, 7 to 8:15 p.m., on Zoom Please plan to participate in our new, twice-monthly Bible study, led by Rector Time Certain Rhonda Lee. In January, we’ll start by reading Ecclesiastes, an intriguing book in the Wisdom tradition of the Bible. The author of Ecclesiastes is older, has seen a lot, and has some thoughts about how to live faithfully in this flawed world. After Ecclesiastes, we’ll decide which book to read next. You won’t have to prepare in advance for our sessions, although you’re welcome to read ahead if you’d like. We’ll read and discuss the text together. At our first session on 10 January, Rhonda will give some background about Ecclesiastes, and then we’ll start reading together. If you’d like to prepare in advance you can read the first chapter. The Zoom link will be in the weekly electronic announcements. You can also obtain it by emailing Rhonda or our Parish Coordinator, Mike Sistrom. A special request: When logging into the Zoom meeting, please make sure your “screen name” is your actual name, not, for example, “iPad” or “Mom” or another nickname. This helps reduce the possibility of “Zoom-bombing”: random people joining the meeting simply to harass us. If you don’t know how to change your screen name, Rhonda or someone else at church will be happy to help you. St. Andrew’s Pilgrimage to Montgomery and Selma: A Journey of Peace and Reconciliation January 17-20, 2023 Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will with God’s help. (Book of Common Prayer, pg. 305) A pilgrimage is a journey we take to look for God in a particular place and trust that as we open ourselves to that experience, we will be met with God’s presence and direction. This pilgrimage is designed to provide an opportunity to go more deeply into our Baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being. As a community of faith, we will learn together about the racial injustices of our collective past, while recognizing that racism continues to be a present reality that impacts and plagues our church, our community, and our country. Our four-day, three-night pilgrimage to central Alabama will include museums and sites that played a significant role in our national history and the struggle for human rights, including: The Civil Rights Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Edmund Pettus Bridge, and Dexter Ave. King Memorial Baptist Church. In preparation for our pilgrimage, our St. Andrew’s planning team will offer study, reflection, and community building. The pilgrimage itself is designed by Progressive Pilgrimage; and the Rev. Tricia de Beer, the Rev. John de Beer, and the Rev. Ginny Inman will provide spiritual leadership. The cost for St. Andrew’s members will be no more than $975 and includes travel in a deluxe motor coach, hotel, several meals, tour guides, and museum and entrance fees. Susan James Frye Parish Administrator and Communications Coordinator 2105 West Market Street Greensboro, NC 27403 336-275-1651, ext. 1 www.standrewsgso.org The best email address for me is parish@standrewsgso.org. |
| Ongoing Announcements |
| Our Nursery is now open Sunday mornings from 9 to 11:30 a.m. for infants through children aged five. Both the nursery attendants are fully vaccinated and boosted and will be wearing masks. Adult Learning is offered on Sunday mornings from 9:10-10:00 in the Kramer Room (opposite the narthex/vestibule as you enter the church from the north side visitor parking). Schedule and topic information is available here. Please note: on Sundays when no adult learning is offered, we will enjoy extended fellowship time. Opportunity For Children to Sing – Our wonderful St. Cecilia children’s choir was put on hold during the pandemic, and we certainly miss them! Although there aren’t currently many children attending church Kaye Saunders will be offering a thirty-minute singing time on Sundays for children in grades 2 and above who are interested in singing in some Sunday services. Each session will be at 11:45 (later if church runs late) in the music room, and will last thirty minutes.SESSIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH DECEMBER 18. Come join us in the music room after church for some singing! |
| Please be advised that neither the clergy nor your vestry will ever ask for help, gift cards, etc. through emails or text messages. Bogus texts are frequently received by some parishioners. CONTACT UPDATES – Up-to date contact information can be found online at ACS, or the ChurchLife App for your phone or tablet. Contact Kathy if you have any problems logging onto ACS. You can also ask Kathy to send you a paper directory if needed. |
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