Acolytes
The role of all acolytes is to serve at the ageless and sacred ritual of the Holy Eucharist, through which we celebrate our relationship with God. Acolytes are crucifers, torch bearers, banner bearers, and Eucharistic Ministers (distributing wine at Communion). Acolytes also assist the Deacon’s at setting the Lord’s Table. An acolyte can also serve as thurifer whenever incense is used. If you would like to learn more about Acolytes, please contact the Deacon, saintlukesdeacon@gmail.com.

Altar Guild
The Altar Guild is a volunteer group whose ministry is to care for the altar, vestments, vessels, and altar linens of the parish. Members prepare the sanctuary for services, clean up afterwards, and supervise the decoration of the chancel and nave with flower arrangements and seasonal decorations as needed throughout the year. If you would like to learn more about Altar Guild, please contact the Deacon, saintlukesdeacon@gmail.com.

Lectors & Intercessors
Lectors read the Old and New Testament selections during the Liturgy of the Word, and Intercessors lead the Prayers of the People. Some Lectors and Intercessors are also trained as Eucharistic Ministers, distributing wine at Communion. If you would like to learn more about Lectors and Intercessors, please contact the Deacon, saintlukesdeacon@gmail.com.

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Ice Cream Sundays
July 7, 14, 21, 28 - August 4, 11, 18, 25 12 noon. Join us in welcoming St. Luke’s neighbors to The Front Porch this summer. Every Sunday at noon, we’re offering sweet treats and conversation to passersby. It’s intended to be casual and carefree. We even have a water bowl and treats for the doggies. You may have noticed the new planters and seating area under the tree at 46th and Colfax, and so have our neighbors. The Front Porch is the first part of the Riverside Innovation Team’s vision to demonstrate St. Luke’s nurturing and inclusive community to our neighborhood.

First Nations Kitchen: July 21
Volunteers needed for meal prep / set-up (1:30 - 4PM), drivers to pick up bread (2:30 - 3:30PM), and serving / cleaning up (5:00 - 7:30PM).

Peace Craft Project: September 21
The Riverside Innovation Team (a grant-funded St. Luke's team) imagines a creative role for St. Luke's on International Day of Peace. Plan to be involved!

Quilt raffled on June 16, 2019. Congratulations Sheila!

Children
St. Luke’s began as an Episcopal church school over 100 years ago, several years before we became a worshiping parish. Children and youth have been a major priority for us ever since. At St. Luke’s, our children feel welcome as important members of the parish. They connect with the Bible stories each Sunday through active lessons, as well as participate in worship. St. Luke’s is a home where young people can feel safe to ask the big questions and experience wonder and joy in God’s Creation and at church.

We recently surveyed our congregation, and “Children” made the Top 4 gifts list of our community. What sets St. Luke’s apart is that our kids interact with everyone. During services, events or coffee hours, you will often see St. Luke’s kids cheerfully helping out, and that our young people are engaged with caring “uncles, aunts, and grandparents” in this community of Christ.

Children are welcome at the table during Communion.

Loving child care is provided—birth up to age five—when families want it, and they are welcome to stay in the service. When children fidget and make noise, parents may also get distracted. However, the rest of us are smiling, knowing that children are vitally present in our community.

Sunday school lessons are based on Gospel readings that are read in the service, and families are given tools to continue to share the readings during the rest of the week.

Children—age three to ten—experience “Godly Play.” In each session, the children first get their bodies ready, then enter into the Bible story, then are given time to wonder, move and respond to the story.

Youth
We can’t guarantee that it will be easy to wake your young people up on Sundays, but we can say confidently that they will feel welcome and won’t regret having walked through the door.

Youth in middle school and high school are given leadership opportunities. They can teach lessons with adult mentors. Like all of us, when youth teach other kids, they learn it more deeply themselves. They can also help direct the pageants, serve as lectors and acolytes, sing with the choir, play instruments, direct outreach projects, plan mission trips, take photographs for communications, lead as day camp counselors, and serve on the vestry.

When meeting as a youth group, teens explore what it means to be Christian (Episcopalian in particular) in our world of many faiths and lack of faith. Activities and discussions with respectful listening give our young adults more experience, peers, mentors and tools to reach with faith beyond St. Luke’s. How does our Christian identity play out in our decisions in the real world?

Young adults who choose to become confirmed in the Episcopal Church participate in a series of classes to give them the knowledge to make a more informed decision. We encourage this at or after age 16.

Most importantly, youth at St. Luke’s know that they will always have a church family with caring, supportive people to whom they can turn as they take the next steps through life; that the door is always open to them, even after graduation.

Adult Faith Formation
St. Luke’s provides Christian education for adults as well as children. We offer reading groups, seminars, workshops and other opportunities throughout the year. Learn more about church history, about the presence of God in our lives today and in the future, and how we all grow in our faith journey, though they may be very different from each other.

After Sunday Worship
St. Luke’s offers a lively discussion group each Sunday after the 10:00 a.m. service.   This group discusses topics related to theology, spiritual practices or the history of religion among other topics.  The members of the Sunday group select the themes to be explored.

Education for Ministry (EfM)
Education for Ministry or EfM, is a theological education program for lay adults.  This course of study was developed by the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.  The participants study the Bible, church history and theology, while learning to engage in theological reflection.  Although the course consists of four years, participants commit to only one year at a time.

St. Luke’s EfM groups meets on Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m  and Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. from September through May.  New members are accepted into the group each September.

Community of Hope
The Community of Hope is a 15-week class, offered by St. Luke’s and St. John’s – Linden Hills, whose goal is to broaden participants’ understanding of pastoral ministry and to cultivate a culture of pastoral care within congregations. The class runs from September through early January.