Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Pentecost Sunday and Baptisms


Pentecost Sunday, May 27, we welcomed two new, young members into the Body of Christ by Holy Baptism.

Our mobile baptismal font (pictured in the photos below) was designed by St. Luke's parishioner, Frank DePasquale, who was also the architect for our church buildings. Note in the crafted glass bowl the representations of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the Holy Trinity with the three interlocking circles. In the dove's tail and along the edge of the bowl are cross images which are similar to ones in our church windows.

The families of the newly baptized.




Thursday, May 17, 2012

Witnesses in our worship: Durham Civil Rights Heritage Project

St. Luke’s has the honor of hosting a set of eleven banners celebrating the history of the civil rights movement in Durham.  This traveling exhibit makes use of photos and texts displayed upon fabric, including quotes from eyewitnesses in Durham. The banners and artistic metal frames are placed between the Stations of the Cross, complementing the journey of Christ as he faced a world hostile to his message of God’s liberating love. They look stunning in our space and add to the visual arts of our worship. This is certainly in keeping with our parish theme –"the art of living your faith." The exhibit will be with us until the end of June when it will continue its journey to other civic and religious locations throughout Durham. The coordinators of the exhibit are actually looking for its next destination, so if you know of a potential site, be in touch. 
We welcome the Durham community to come and visit this exhibit while it is at St. Luke's. There is usually someone in the office to open the door Monday-Friday, between 9 and 2 p.m. Of course, the church is open on Sunday mornings and often at other times as well. Contact the church office for more information or to schedule a visit.  

The unique metal frames were created by local
artists specifically for this project.
For more background about this project which has been a collaboration between the Durham County Library and several other local organizations, vist:  http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/dcrhp/index.php. 
Overview of the exhibit and guest book. Please
come visit and sign in.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A pastoral response to the passage of Amendment One

Below is a piece written by St. Luke's rector, the Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, today, the day after the passage of an amendment to the North Carolina state constitution which would make marriage between one man and one woman the only legally recognized domestic union in the state.

And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 JOHN 5:1-6

The day after an election, any election, we rush to the papers to look for the winners and losers. Did “our guy” win?  Did “our cause” prevail?  Who is claiming victory and who will have to wait and hope and fight the good fight another day?

On the day after a particularly contentious election , which makes plain the painful and bitter divisions among the members of Christ’s body, where is the good news? While some parts of the church celebrate the passage of Amendment One, others who already hold Christians in low regard find their suspicions of religious intolerance among followers of Jesus Christ confirmed. Where is the good news in that? Christians and other people of faith who worked passionately for the defeat of the amendment may feel tempted to just retreat back into their protected enclaves of the likeminded, perhaps surrendering to temptations of being intolerant and hateful toward neighbors who have been intolerant and hateful toward them.

 Where is the good news in that?

The Good News is where it has always been. Not in headlines as if they tell the deeper story of salvation.  Not in political power structures as if they hold ultimate keys to our freedom. The Good News is the Easter news: the love of God in Jesus Christ lives among us, walks among us and even works among us in surprising but always life giving ways. Always.  It is just that sometimes, some days, some seasons, Jesus is hard to see.  Those disciples on the road to Emmaus on the first Easter morning? They felt bereft and abandoned. But they weren’t.  Mary Magdalene in the garden on Easter morning was so caught up in her grief that she did recognize Jesus when he came to her side in a completely new and initially unrecognizable way.

Today is more than the day after an election. It is a new day with new possibilities for loving God, loving our neighbors, seeking justice and showing mercy.  Now don’t misunderstand. It is not a day to merely step back into a private world lacking in engagement with the very real challenges and struggles of the day. I read two papers this morning plus TV and radio coverage.  We who expect protection of our religious freedom must work to protect the freedoms of others.  Christians must engage passionately and respectfully with other Christians whose understanding of scripture and tradition differs from our own even and especially in matters critical to defending the dignity of all children of God.

The victory of our faith is that no matter what the setbacks along the way, Jesus is still the way, the truth and the life. The victory of our faith is in following the commandment of Jesus to love one another as God as loved us. Today and always.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Wideness of God's mercy

Here is an excerpt from the sermon this past Sunday: preached by our deacon, the Rev. Jan Lamb:


Episcopal youth and adults from St. Luke's and other congregations
 of the Durham convocation at Iglesia El Buen Pastor in Durham.
Fall 2011.
"...The wideness of God’s mercy is at the heart of what we as a church should be about. The story of the Church as it is described in the Bible shows us again and again that at every turn in the road when the Church had to spread the word beyond its comfortable walls, it had to be poked and prodded by the Holy Spirit. We need some serious poking and prodding today. So this story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch is about conversion of the Ethiopian, but it is also about the conversion of Philip. Out of the desert, Philip discovered that the Holy Spirit broke down one more barrier, overturned his narrow perceptions and prejudices, and kicked open one more locked door. Maybe this story of the conversion of Philip holds some hope for the church and for our brothers and sisters in North Carolina. That under God’s really big tent, we might break down barriers, invite the establishment and the rejected to come in and read aloud together, to be converted anew by the strange and the stranger, to see that there is water in the desert, to enter the waters of God’s mercy with the "not us", and to go on our way rejoicing having converted each other to this beautiful, dangerous, expansive life of faith and love."

To read the whole sermon click here.

Prayer shawls warm the body and the soul

St. Luke's has a prayer shawl group that meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. in the Kramer Room. Currently, this group has 3-5 active participants who quietly and prayerfully create shawls that are delivered to persons in need of spiritual comfort. Anyone is welcome to attend, even those just learning (or desiring to learn) to knit or crochet. Sickness, grief, difficult life changes: these occasions are times when we especially want to be reminded of the Holy Spirit wrapped around us. A prayer shawl is a tangible reminder of that love. The knitters do their work with conversations and prayers about the needs of the community on their lips and in their hearts. They also just enjoy being together in fellowship. Once completed, the shawls are delivered by clergy and pastoral care team members to persons in need.

 
I have received two prayer shawls at different times of need in my own life. I still use them in my prayer practice. On chilly mornings I especially have a sense of the warmth of God's love when I wrap myself in the shawl. I remember the hands of strangers who give of their time and gifts so that others may know the gift of God's grace.  -Joe Hensley

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Beyond our Doors

We are reading this book at St. Luke's and
discussing it on Sunday afternoons
from 4-6 p.m. in May.
There is an online discussion happening
throughout our Diocese as well.
Click here for more info.
St. Luke's has a wonderful campus and buildings. We also know that we have been called to go "beyond our doors" to proclaim the good news in the wider world. This past Sunday we started an afternoon series in which we are reading a new book, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the the Birth of New Spiritual Awakening, by Diana Butler Bass. We'll post some reflections about that book here soon. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from our Rector, Anne Hodges-Copple's latest article in the May newsletter that touches on some of the themes.
For the last two years Bishop Curry has been using the image of Jesus going ahead of his disciples to Galilee to challenge us. Episcopalians love our creature comforts. We are comforted by our holy and reasonable worship. But we are worried that the rest of the world is not as enamored with our traditions or any religion at all. "Oh, I am spiritual. Just not religious," say our family, friends and neighbors. Go to Galilee means we cannot merely open our doors and wait for those other people to come walk in. We can no longer sit back and wait for the people to come to us. We must be the people willing to go to the congregation just beyond our doors.

Where are we going, St Luke’s? Where is God calling us? In what surprising and maybe a little terrifying places will we go, seek, and find Jesus? Let me describe a few of the ways I spot some Galilee signposts directing us into strange encounters with the Risen Lord.

-Our first Faith Team is off to a fantastic start of providing emotional, strategic, and material support to a man recently released from prison.

-ECW is providing support to Project T.U.R.N., a seminary class that meets in a correctional facility for women where some of the students are incarcerated and others are not.

-Our collaboration with El Buen Pastor and the rest of the Durham Convocation, called Latino Education Achievement Partnership, moves us out in mutual ministry to a wider world. LEAP is a new vision for childhood education consistent with our deepest principles. LEAP already provides valuable tutoring for elementary age children. In the fall of 2012 LEAP will start the Kindergarten readiness program in the Elizabeth Gray Building.

-This summer our youth will travel to Galilee when they embark on various mission project, from the migrant worker  camps of North Carolina to the home of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana.

-We continue to organize more pastoral care teams to make sure that we are not leaving anyone behind. We are a community on the move, even for those of us who find our physical mobility more and more limited.

Get on board, St. Luke’s. Resurrection is the gift of new life that doesn’t wait until the end of time. Resurrection means now is the time to move out and on in mission and ministry in new and imaginative ways. Nothing to fear and everything to gain. Alleluia!