Online Auction Now Live!

Our fundraiser online auction is open now until 8PM on December 4. Click here to view and bid.

Members' News and Worship Updates

This Week or Coming Soon

Online Auction: Now through December 4
Included in our fundraiser auction are food items, events tickets, handmade craft items, gift baskets and bags, boat and fishing trips, cross country ski lessons, a Wisconsin cabin get-away. Please bid high—remember this is a fundraiser!—and bid often from the comfort of home on your computer or smartphone. Please share with friends and family near and far. Items that are for local winners only are clearly marked in both the title and description. If the winning bidder is from out of town we will contact them regarding shipping. Click or share this address: https://www.32auctions.com/StsLukeandJames2022

Time to Pledge
Stewardship packets were mailed on Friday. The mailing contains a number of items, most notably a pledge card for 2023 with a return envelope.
If you could not be present on Covenant Sunday (Nov 20), you may mail your pledge card to the church office. You can also pledge online.

Master Singers: December 3 A perennial favorite, the Eau Claire based choir will present a holiday concert under the direction of their founder, Dr. Gary Schwartzoff. A free will offering will be taken for the benefit of the music ministry of Sts. Luke and James. Saturday, December 3rd at 3:00 pm

Walk the Labyrinth: December 3
Pause for a moment Peace be with you, all who are weary Come on inside… You are invited to enter into the labyrinth at your own pace and perhaps feel the breath of the Spirit of God along the way. We have printed guides and can answer questions. On Saturday, December 3rd, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm the church will be open for you to have an opportunity to come walk the labyrinth or sit awhile in silence in the church. We hope you’ll join us.

Community Forums in Advent
Join us for these opportunities to enter the journey of Advent together. Note: Please don’t bring food or drink into the Worship Space — it’s important not to give our friendly neighborhood mice any more reasons to move in!

Sunday, December 4 | Advent Journey: Wrestling with the Creeds Join our rector, the Rev. Susan Daughtry, to read the Nicene Creed as if it were poetry or a psalm. Where is the Holy Spirit speaking to you in this ancient text?

Cookie Walk and Boutique: December 10 & 11
We are bringing back the St. Luke's tradition of the Cookie Walk on Saturday, December 10th and Sunday, December 11th after the service. This is a great way to get your Christmas cookie fix and have cookies to take to events and not need to bake a bunch! We'll also have some boutique items to purchase.

Haitian Art Sale: December 10 & 11
On our trips to Haiti we have always visited Croix-des-Bouquets which is the community where beautiful Haitian metal work is made It is a collective of sorts in which many artists live in proximity making work from the same medium but each creating their own unique artistic products. This work makes great holiday gifts as well as home decoration. Please come check it out!

Neighborhood Caroling with Lynnhurst UCC: December 11 Members of Lynnhurst Congregational Church (UCC), at the north end of our block, will join us at Sts. Luke and James at 11:45 am on Sunday, Dec. 11, for multi-generational caroling throughout the neighborhood. After we have shared our joy with our neighbors and new church friends, we will end up at Lynnhurst Church for hot drinks and fellowship. Lynnhurst’s gym will be open for kids to run and play. This will be a great way to celebrate the worldwide Beloved Community. – Contact Louis Hoffman hoffman.louis@comcast.net

Photo: Bishop Craig Loya preaches at Rev. Susan Daughtry's installation.

Photo: All Saints Day procession of the parish's departed.

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.

• 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 vaccinate. • 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.

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.

Sts. Luke & James Elder Profiles: Urve Daigle
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 member Urve Daigle. 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, Marie Radomsky, Jim & JoAnn Grilley, Sarah Sivright

A Festival of Lessons and Carols: December 18
On Sunday morning, December 18th at 9:45 AM, our gathering time will feature a special prelude by our handbell choir, Ring Out!
At 10:00 A.M, the hymn Once in Royal David's city' will lead us into the beautiful Lessons and Carols (Liturgy of the Word) portion of worship. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist follows. A festive wassail reception will be held in the library after the service.

Kantorei: December 18
Under the direction of Adam Ringwald, this esteemed Twin Cities choir always presents a magnificent program. Tickets may be purchased at https://www. kantorei.net/advent-tix. Sunday, December 18th, at 4:00 pm

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 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!

Keep in Touch

Connect Your Faith

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.

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: Bishop Loya presents Rev. Susan Daughtry to the parish

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
Please come to the community forum after church on November 20. We will invite your input on the 2023 budget. The budget, ultimately, will be approved by the Vestry January 2023 and then presented to the parish at our annual meeting. The Vestry took action this month to authorize the transfer of a portion of our savings account to the First Independence Bank, the only black-owned bank to have branches in Minnesota. For more information about this project, talk to a vestry member or a member of the Racial and Indigenous Justice Committee. As we enter the stewardship season, we invite you to prayerfully consider your own capacity to give monetarily to Sts. Luke and James. Our shared process of learning and planning our annual budget is vitally important, but it relies on the financial commitment of our membership. Our Vestry Nominating Committee is formed! Beginning February 2023, we are looking for a Junior Warden (three-year Warden term), an at-large vestry member (three-year term), a vestry member in the area of Faith Formation (three-year term), and a Treasurer (One-year, renewable term). Is any of this interesting to you? Talk our committee: Max Athorn, Karin Spencer, and David Larson.
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.

| November 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 ]

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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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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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