| 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 who may have come in close contact.Saturday, January 21 8-10am. Garden and ground work session (Mulch spreading) 9 am Altar Guild. Nave. Kay Gresham, Bill Callahan, Valleri Callahan, Cindy Henry, Ila Hurley, June Santa 10-12pm Girl Scouts. Johnson Hall 3-5pm. Rosalie Fonda funeral. Sanctuary. Reception to follow in Johnson Hall. Sunday, January 22 8 and 10:30am Holy Eucharist-masks optional, but recommended. Preacher-Presider: The Rev. Dr. Rhonda M. Lee 9-10:30am. Parish annual meeting. Johnson Hall. 9-11:30am. Nursery, Gray Building (the school building across the walkway from the fountain) 11:45-12:45pm. Children’s Choir. Nave. 12-1pm. Faith Team. Kramer Room Monday, January,23 Tuesday, January 24 Rector Rhonda’s office day 5:30-6:30pm. Hand Bell Choir rehearsal. Nave 7-8:15pm. Rector & Friends Bible Study on Zoom. Wednesday, January 25 11:30 am Prayer and Share on Zoom 7-8:30pm. Adult Choir Rehearsal. Nave. Thursday, January 26 7 pm Lay-led Bible Study on Zoom Friday, January 27 1:00 pm Connections and Support Group by Zoom Saturday, January 28 9 am Altar Guild – Nave. Nora Hammond, Beth Bonner, Peter Kariher, Kelley Lawton |
| New This Week Notes from the Music Director: the Third Sunday after the Epiphany is one of my favorite Sundays in the liturgical year. I love the comforting and assuring words of the prophet Isaiah and the familiar Psalm, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?” And one can easily picture the Gospel image of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee calling four people from their simple but important vocation of fishing (everyone had to eat!) to leave their nets and their boats and follow him. This scene is powerfully reflected in today’s sequence hymn 661, They cast their nets in Galilee, which speaks of “contented, peaceful fishermen, before they ever knew the peace of God that filled their hearts brimful, and broke them too.” In the text of the hymn we witness the “both-and” joy and anguish of their lives in following Jesus: John who died homeless in Patmos, Peter who ultimately was crucified, head-down. These words are set to the simple and lovely hymn tune Georgetown by Welsh-born American composer David McKinley Williams (1887-1978). Other musical offerings today reflect the Gospel reading, including the organ prelude of the C. H. H. Parry hymn tune Repton, to which the poetic prayer “Dear Lord and Father of mankind” by John Greenleaf Whittier is set. During the playing of the music at the prelude, I invite you to turn to hymn 653 to read – and perhaps pray – the words of this marvelous prayer. Our annual parish meeting will take place at 9 a.m. on Sunday January 22nd in Johnson Hall. The 2023 budget will be presented and there will be time for questions and discussion. A packet containing the budget and ministry reports will be available to pick up at church. If you picked up a packet on the 15th, it was missing an update on the solar panels. There are printed copies of that update available. You can also access a file version of the full packet here: https://stlukesdurham.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/2023-annual-mtg-reports.pdf Please plan to attend this informative meeting! 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. Note of Thanks from The Rev. Phillip Bass: “Dear St. Luke’s. Thank you for thinking of me and honoring my ordination. Your gifts, prayer, and presence were very much appreciated. St. Luke’s is such an important part of my journey and I am grateful for all you have taught me. Thank you all.” Office Volunteers Wanted. Rector Time Certain Rhonda Lee and Mike are hoping to revive the pre-Covid practice of having some parishioners help cover phone and reception duties at the church for a few hours each week while Mike works. If you are interested, let Mike know. Once he has a good core of volunteers, we can work out a schedule. The St. Luke’s Needlework Ministry meets on the third Wednesday of the month in the Kramer Room from 1:30 – 3:30 pm. Contact Grams Gutknecht for more information. gramsg@nc.rr.com. St. Luke’s Walkers, 2:00 p.m., January 28, 2023, Buckquarter Creek Trail, Eno River State Park. After a break of more than two years, St. Luke’s Walkers are ready to go. This outing for St. Luke’s Walkers will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 28th with a rain date of February 4th. We will be hiking the Buckquarter Creek Trail. Take Cole Mill Road northwest, cross over Pleasant Green Rd., and go all the way to the end of the park driveway to the circular parking lot. The 1.5-mile trail is considered “moderate”, so good walking shoes and walking sticks are recommended. If you want to join in, please send a message to Karen Gray (919-612-0331) or Bill Gutknecht (919-672-2153). Singing Opportunity for Children. Our wonderful St. Cecilia children’s choir was suspended during the pandemic. We are now offering a 45-minute singing time on Sunday mornings for children in grades 2 and above who wish to sing in some Sunday services. Each session is Sunday at 11:45 (later if church runs late) in the music room in Johnson Hall. Please contact Kaye if you have a child, grandchild, or family member who is interested. Sunday Adult Learning in Epiphany and Lent Please note: on Sundays when no adult learning is offered, we will enjoy extended fellowship time. Today, 22 January: Annual parish meeting at 9 a.m. in Johnson Hall ; no adult learning 29 January and 5 February: St. Luke’s members Julia Hoyle and Patty Michaels will make a two-part presentation on their pre-pandemic diocesan pilgrimage to Israel and the West Bank. 19 and 26 February and 5, 12, and 26 March: Each week, Rector Rhonda Lee will lead a discussion comparing the texts for the day from the Revised Common Lectionary (the lectionary we use on Sundays) to the texts offered in The Rev. Dr. Wilma C. Gafney’s newly-published A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Church Publishing Inc.). To learn more about The Rev. Dr. Gafney and this lectionary, check out https://www.wilgafney.com/womenslectionary/ . Unless otherwise noted, all sessions will start at 9:10 a.m. in the Kramer Room just off the north-side narthex. Please plan to join, and invite a friend! “Rector and friends Bible study” second and fourth Tuesdays, 7 to 8:15 p.m. on Zoom. Please plan to participate in our 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. 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. |
| During the Eucharist, the consecrated wine will be available to all and communion will be received around the altar rail. Reception of the Blood of Christ will be by intinction. Only the priest (or lay eucharistic minister) will lightly intinct the wafer for you, and then drop the wafer into your hand. Communicants will not intinct their own wafers. If you want to receive the wine, please approach the priest with your hands cupped in front of you, as most of us typically already do. If you do not want to receive the wine, please approach with your hands together as if in prayer, and then open them to receive the dry wafer. Please remember that the consecrated bread (or wine) alone does constitute full communion, and you may receive the wine, or not, as you feel led. We believe this practice of distributing the wine, from a silver chalice and without the priest’s fingers touching the wine, is as safe as we can make it. We ask that if someone attends a service and then tests positive for Covid and others who may have come into close contact with them, that they please contact the rector or senior warden for both pastoral care needs and also to inform others who may have come into close contact with them. |
| Our Nursery is 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. |
| Please be advised that neither the clergy nor your vestry will ever ask for help, gift cards, etc. through emails or text messages. There have been more bogus texts being received. CONTACT UPDATES – Up-to date contact information can be found online at ACS, or the ChurchLife App for your phone or tablet. Contact Mike if you have any problems logging onto ACS. You can also ask Mike to send you a paper directory if needed. |
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