Members' News and Worship Updates

This Week or Coming Soon

New Rector Selected!
Dear Parish of Sts. Luke and James,
On behalf of the Vestry of the Episcopal Church of Sts. Luke and James, it is my pleasure to introduce The Very Rev. Susan L. Daughtry—photo below—as our next Rector. Rev. Daughtry’s first day at Sts. Luke and James will be October 10, 2022.
Susan has served for the last eight years at the Episcopal Church of MN in the Diocesan central office, in the role of Dean of Formation. She has worked closely with the formation of both lay and ordained leaders. She has coordinated the design and delivery of courses, trainings, cohort gatherings, workshops, and practicums for the School of Formation. In fact, parishioners of Sts. Luke and James may remember Susan from her visit to our YouTube church service on March 14, 2021, her guest sermon, and the spirited zoom discussion that followed.
—Max Athorn (Senior Warden)

Sunday Worship Back Indoors
After a series of wonderful outdoor worship services, Sunday morning Eucharist has returned to our lovely indoor space each Sunday at 10AM.

Community Forum Schedule: Sundays after Worship
September 25: Standing in the Way of Jesus – led by Bonita LaDuca and Gayle Junnila
October 2: This Sunday is kept open for an even more vibrant coffee hour!
October 9: Farewell to Co-Priests Fr. Larry Bussey and Fr. William Heisley
October 16: Greeting our new rector Rev. Susan Daughtry
October 23: Part 1: The Haiti Committee leads a discussion on the New York Times’ recent investigative reporting on the depth of poverty in Haiti, and its historical causes.
October 30: Plans being made.
November 6: All Saints Sunday; no Forum
November 13: Part 2: The Haiti Committee leads a discussion on the New York Times’ recent investigative reporting on the depth of poverty in Haiti, and its historical causes.

Collaboration with St. Andrews Update
Thanks to all who have expressed interest in Sts. Luke & James’ collaboration with St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Six “units” — singles, couples and families — from our parish have volunteered to participate in the initial lay-exchange activities over the next six months. Our joint parish planning group will meet soon to work out the next steps to move forward. Stay tuned for more detail. Sts. Luke & James planning group. Clergy Larry Bussey & William Heisley. Wardens Max Athorn, Mary McKelvey & Fiona Shine. Members Tony Morley & Ruth Anne Olson.

Women’s Retreat Taking a Hiatus
The women's retreat will take a hiatus this fall, with high hopes of returning next year (we are already booked for October 20-22, 2023 at the ECMN Retreat Center). The combination of “life” interfering with best laid plans, a very full plate for our congregation generally, and the welcome of our new rector this fall, makes it seem a wise move. Think about creating your own day of rest and creativity and send us any ideas for next year! – Sarah Sivright on behalf of the Retreat Team

COVID-19 Protocols
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidance on prevention measures based on whether COVID levels are low, medium or high within a community. The COVID level in Hennepin County has been alternating between low and medium recently. In such communities, the CDC recommends that people who are at high risk for serious illness talk with their health care provider about whether to wear a mask or take other precautions. It also recommends that individuals stay up to date with their COVID vaccines.

Masks are welcome, but no longer required. • You will be invited to come forward for Communion, rather than receiving it in place. • You may receive from the chalice if you choose. • Please continue to stay in place for the Peace. • We ask that all who are eligible to be vaccinated be vaccinated.
Stay home and watch the service on our livestream anytime you are not feeling well, have any cold, flu, or COVID symptoms, or have been exposed to COVID, please get tested and stay home until you have a negative result.

Live-stream Option: The worship service will be broadcast live on Sunday morning at 10AM on our Facebook page. Live-streaming is new to us, and we're still outfitting our worship space with equipment. Please be patient as we gradually develop our skills! Early in the following week we will archive the service on our YouTube channel. The YouTube services will be lightly edited to enhance the sound quality and shorten some parts of the service.

Bryant Avenue Construction Closures
The Bryant Avenue road construction has moved closer to us. The intersection at 46th closed at Bryant. If you are coming to the church from the east, you will need to use 42nd or 50th to cross Bryant Avenue. Please allow extra time when coming to church to allow for road closures and parking. Please be patient as the neighborhood deals with this two-year construction project and allow yourself more time to get to church and find parking.

Sts. Luke & James Elder Profiles: Marie (& John) Radomsky
We continue our recently-launched practice of telling the stories of our parish members aged 75 or older. This week we feature the Elder Profile of Sts. Luke & James members Marie (& John) Radomsky. You may also pick up a printed copy at the ushers’ tables, on Sunday. And watch for more profiles of the elders of Sts. Luke & James in weeks to come.

Previous Elder Profiles:
Barb Buehl, Tony Morley, Char Carlson, Al Carlson, Bonnie Carleen, Maxine Richmond, Bobbie Kaufmann, Sara & David Sommer

Save the Date! The first ever Sts. Luke and James Gala, “Together Again for the First Time” will be held Saturday, November 5th
We have begun planning food, décor, ticket prices, and fund-raising activities for our first ever Sts. Luke & James Gala. We could use help in all the above areas, contact the office (office@st-lukes.net) if you’d like to help.

Pastoral Care
We understand the importance of continuing to provide pastoral care and healing prayers for any in our community who are in need. If you have any pastoral needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to Rev Larry Bussey at 612-309-8896, or to Rev Morris Goodwin, or to Rev Gretchen Pickeral, lilmargret@gmail.com, 612-961-1154. We’ll be there for you.

Building Use
Our church building is used for much more than just Sunday morning worship. Most of our lower level houses a child care service every weekday. We host several community groups too. Take a look at an example of a typical week's activities. Be sure to contact our office whenever you plan to conduct any event at church!

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Worship Videos

First Friday Taizé: 7PM Monthly (No Taizé in July or August)
Our Taizé service has returned to the nave (main worship space) and has also returned to its previous time, 7PM. This is a half-hour service of quiet reflection with modern chants (reiterated worship songs). Masks are welcome, but optional, for in-person worship, but you may also join the service via our live-stream on Facebook.

Compline (Evening Prayers): 7PM M-Th
During our time of separation, several of us wanted to pray together "face-to-face" in the service of Daily Compline from the Book of Common Prayer. We continue to meet on-line at 7PM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night here:

| Zoom Meeting Link |

All are welcome to participate in this service (you do NOT need to be a member of our congregation) from your phone, tablet, or computer. You will be given the opportunity to join with audio & video, audio only, or just observe. It's helpful to have the Compline service open in your Book of Common Prayer, or to view the service text on your computer.

Community Forum
Yes, Community Forum. You might remember our learning community has been called "Adult Forum," then simply "Forum," and now it’s "Community Forum." Why? Because the planning group is very sensitive not only to what plans it makes, but also for whom those plans are made. Adult Forum sounded exclusive: adults only and the implication was that they should be us, insiders. Forum was used for a few months to indicate that all ages were welcome. But it was decided that that, too, was exclusive of people who are not members of the congregation. The Community Forum is for everyone! The group also has made plans to leave open Sundays, mostly so that the incredibly rich and important coffee hours that we spend – really, truly hours! – after the Sunday liturgy might continue to be available with no precluding or intervening events.

Donations
Our existence as a faith community depends upon direct donations from our participants. Your contributions preserve our worship space, pay the staff that are engaged in worship, outreach, and justice initiatives, and directly support projects in our community. Many of our parishioners have found it easiest to set up electronic funds transfers (EFT) by contacting our office. However, we welcome donations via credit card using the links in the Donations section below.

Photo: The Very Reverend Susan L. Daughtry, our newly-called Rector!

Connect to Information

The Epistle
We publish a newsletter that will help you get to know us, our people, our passions, and our opportunities for engagement. Please take a look at one of our recent editions.

Vestry Corner
The vestry had our final meeting with Fr. Larry and Fr. William as our Priests-in-Charge on September 12. We had an opportunity to thank them for their leadership, as we begin this month of thank yous, farewells, and new beginnings. Next month will be Rev. Susan’s first vestry meeting.
We also welcomed Kerry Nelson, our co-Bookkeeper, who hosted an informational session so that we can better understand the documents that help us to build and organize our budget. We will host a similar session with the parish at-large in October.
As we are preparing our budget, amidst our leadership transition, we also consider the recommendations of our Racial and Indigenous Justice Committee, regarding our patterns and procedures for spending and banking, and a stated priority to patronize BIPOC-owned businesses and financial institutions.
We also discussed the partnership that is developing between Sts. Luke and James and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, and opportunities for community-building between our parishes. It’s been exciting to hear from many interested parishioners!
If you would you like to make a report to the Vestry, you can use this form. If you’d like your report to be seen in our upcoming wardens and vestry meetings, your submission must be received by the first of the month.

Vestry Minutes
Our Vestry meets monthly to represent the parish in matters of worship, education, service, community life, and business. Meeting minutes are posted here AFTER they have been approved at the following month's meeting.

Vestry Agenda
Shortly before each regular Vestry meeting (the second Monday of the month) we will post the agenda here.

| October agenda pending |

2021 Annual Meeting Report
We held our annual meeting of the parish on Sunday, January 23, 2022. If you weren't able to attend, here are some links to the materials and recordings.
2021 Written Reports and Agenda: [ PDF ]
2020 Written Reports and Agenda: [ PDF ]
Full Meeting Video: [ YouTube ]

Join Our Email List
Please consider adding yourself to our newsletter email list so we can provide you with up-to-the-minute opportunities and schedule changes.

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General Giving

Individual giving is the ONLY source of funds that our community has. We maintain our worship space and grounds, pay our staff, purchase our supplies, and support charitable work.

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