Haiti Committee 2020 Annual Report: Available Now
Sts. Luke & James Haiti Committee is delighted to present our Annual Report, which chronicles our 2020 partnership activities with the Bonne Nouvelle Episcopal Church and School in Bigonet Haiti. It's full of good information and engaging photos. So – please find a comfortable chair and enjoy a good read. Click here. In addition, some months ago, we set out to create a list of everyone who has made financial donations to this partnership with Bonne Nouvelle, since its inception in 2008. We think you'll be amazed. People near and far – churches, schools, and other organizations. Click here.
Mailing List
During the current health emergency it will be especially important to be able to keep up on changes to activity times here at Sts. Luke & James. Please join our email list now!
Returning to In-Person Worship: An Update
(March 11, 2021) By Dick Justman on behalf of the Reopening Committee
Introduction As the COVID 19 pandemic worsened during the past year, consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Episcopal Church in Minnesota (ECMN), the Church building used by Sts. Luke & James has been closed to regular worship. Currently, we are in Phase 1.5 of our Reopening Plan. This means that our building may be used by clergy, other staff, volunteers and businesses that follow an approved Safety Plan. Our parishioners would like to have a timeline for our eventual reopening for worship and related activities. While we do not yet have a specific timeline, our Reopening Committee would like to share with you, information that we do have, and the criteria we will use to determine when we may again worship in our building.
Where we are today and where we need to be Thankfully, following a dramatic surge of COVID cases in early January, case numbers are now declining, and the test positivity rate has fallen below 5% in Hennepin County. However, there are still some significant “unknowns,” e.g. how COVID variants could affect the case rate, and the actual availability of COVID vaccine to eligible populations at risk. In addition, the New York Times, which publishes a county-by-county risk transmission assessments, currently rates the transmission risk in Hennepin County as “very high risk” and discourages in-person gatherings. So, it is not possible at this time to set a “date certain” for a return to in-person worship. In any event, it is likely that once we are able to gather in-person, worship will look very different from our pre-COVID experience for an extended period.
What will in-person worship look like? Whether or not parishioners are vaccinated, an approved Safety Plan will need to be followed in our building, e.g., wearing masks, social distancing, limited numbers, handwashing, avoiding activities that promote oral drop- let spread. These rules will apply to regular worship, baptisms, weddings, funerals, and related activities. For a variety of reasons, some parishioners may be reluctant to return to our building until the pandemic has largely abated; we will need to respect and honor those preferences. This means that remote worship in some form will continue to be available.
Challenges and Opportunities We are now in the midst of a penitential season. Therefore, whatever we do will need to recognize the need of our parishioners to observe a Holy Lent, including the weeks leading up to Holy Week, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday, an Easter Vigil and Easter Day. While this will be a challenge, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are confident that Sts. Luke & James will create an environment that allows for the observance of a Holy Lent. Some of this information relating to the period of Lent prior to Holy Week is already available in the Sts. Luke & James weekly e-mail. Continue to watch for updates.
Questions? We are aware that we have not given the specific timelines that our parishioners want. As more information becomes available, we will communicate with you through our weekly e-mail and in our monthly Epistle. If you would like to speak with us directly, please feel free to contact any member of our committee: Fr. William, Fr. Larry, Sheila Foster, Greg Fedio or Dick Justman. Their respective e-mail addresses and telephone numbers are available in our Church Directory. We thank all of you for your prayers and support as we move through the COVID pandemic to eventually reopen our church to spirit-filled worship that we have come to expect from Sts. Luke & James.
New Phone Number
We've had a lot of problems with our phone system. It badly needs an upgrade. We have a new phone number for a while. The number in the footer of our website, 612-524-9180, is the one you should be using until further notice. By the way, this is a mobile number so you can text us too.
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.
Sunday Worship Available Online
We are continuing online worship at this time. At 9:30AM on Sunday mornings we will gather in a Zoom meeting to greet each other before the worship service (the Zoom link is available from our office at office@st-lukes.net or by joining our email list). At 10AM our worship service begins on YouTube and is available here. Then, at approximately 10:45AM we will return to Zoom for announcements and coffee hour.
Adult Learning Hour (Adult Forum)
We continue with the Episcopal church's seven-part Way of Love series. More than a program or a curriculum, it is an intentional commitment to a set of practices. It's a commitment to follow Jesus: turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go and rest. Today's focus is on learning: reflect on Scriptures each day, especially on Jesus’ life and teachings. A brief film clip will be followed by break-out sessions with discussion questions. Adult Forum (Zoom) is at 11:15 each Sunday morning, immediately after YouTube worship and virtual announcements and coffee. Forum ends at noon.
Compline (Evening Prayers): 7PM Daily
During our time of separation, several of us have wanted to pray together "face-to-face" in the service of Daily Compline from the Book of Common Prayer. We are meeting on-line at 7PM each night here:
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.
Late-Night Connection Group: Wednesdays at 9:00 PM
Wednesday Late night, 9:00 PM mid-week conversation, support, and prayer group. What keeps you up at night? A once a week opportunity to process your week in conversation and prayer in order to make it to our Sunday moment. Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/93450825748?pwd=STJ5V2xiWlh2MzBXNndKb2E3RWRHUT09
Meeting ID: 934 5082 5748
Passcode: 116681
Photo: We're meeting together online every week and more!
The Epistle
Each month 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.
| March 2021 Epistle | February 2021 Epistle | January 2021 Epistle | December 2020 Epistle | November 2020 Epistle | October 2020 Epistle | September 2020 Epistle | August 2020 Epistle | July 2020 Epistle |
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.
| April 2021 pending | March 2021 | February 2021 |
Join Our Email List
Please consider adding yourself to our newsletter email list so we can provide you with up-to-the-minute worship opportunities and schedule changes during our stay-at-home time apart.
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Donations
During our separation we continue to maintain our building and to pay our staff. If your practice has been to make donations to Sts. Luke & James via the offering plate on Sundays, we urge you to consider making your donations online. 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 as well.
In Memory of Victor Price: Victor Price Anti-Racism Fund
During his life, Victor lived with the reality of racism every day. He was also passionate in his fight against racism in all its forms. In honor of Victor’s life and his commitment to fighting racism, you are invited to donate to a newly established Victor Price Anti-Racism Fund. The fund will be used to fight racism in Minneapolis at the discretion of the Priest-in-Charge/Rector.
--The intention is to spend the balance of the fund in support of current efforts to fight racism in Minneapolis.
--The fund will not be maintained in perpetuity. Once the proceeds from the fund have been spent, it will be discontinued.
--In addition to an acknowledgement of their gift, all contributors will receive a report on how the funds were used.
Please make your donation in Victor’s memory to Sts. Luke & James Episcopal Church, 4557 Colfax Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55419, and designate it for the Victor Price Anti-Racism Fund, or use the form below to make a donation online.
Children
We 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 Sts. Luke & James, 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. We are 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 us apart is that our kids interact with everyone. During services, events or coffee hours, you will often see Sts. Luke & James' 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 Sts. Luke & James 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
We provide 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
We offer 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.
Our 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 Sts. Luke & Jame 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.