Doubters are welcome - sermon from Sunday

Here is an excerpt from the sermon this past Sunday, August 26, by The Rev. Joe Hensley, Assistant to the Rector. Read the entire sermon via our website by clicking here.

Our newest banner, crafted by
St. Luker, Patricia LeMoine

We have called this Sunday “gathering Sunday,” because we are coming back together again after summer travels and absences. But every Sunday is a gathering Sunday, a day to re-form this body of faith in Christ. All are welcome here, no matter how much faith you have been given. Our task is not to boast about our belief in God, not to congratulate ourselves on having been admitted to some special club of faith. Our task here is not to say to the world, "come and be like us." Our task here is one of scratching and tapping the dividing walls. And we do that by hearing sacred, often confounding words. We do that by offering prayers for those we care about but without knowing for sure where those prayers go. We scratch and tap by eating a sacramental and often inscrutable meal of bread and wine, mysterious flesh and blood. Our task here is to gather in a community of hospitality where even unbelievers, especially unbelievers, are welcomed, not as lost souls in need of saving but as kindred spirits on a path of wondering. It may be that those who have wandered in the wilderness of unbelief will teach those of us who claim to believe how to be hungry for God.

Weclome to our new intern, Hilly

We are excited to welcome a new member to the St. Luke's family. Hillary "Hilly" Martinez began working with us this past week and will be here for the next 10 months. Below is an article she wrote for our Sept. newsletter introducing herself to the parish.

Hilly poses with one of our new St. Luke's tote
bags (made from recycled materials and only $3)
Share some good news about St. Luke's
when you go shopping.

 

Hi St. Luke’s! My name is Hillary Martinez.  I’m a recent Duke graduate and I’ll be interning at St. Luke’s for the year.  As a Duke student, I was active in Duke Chapel’s PathWays program.  PathWays was designed by the Chapel to facilitate conversations and experiences around the topic of calling and discernment.  After my freshman year, I spent a summer living in the PathWays House (just off of Duke’s East Campus) and interning with a tutoring center in the Cornwallis housing project.  Now, I’m back in the PathWays house, this time for a yearlong placement as a fellow. 

 

In order to foster thought and prayer on vocation among the fellows, the PathWays program has several components: The four fellows live in intentional Christian community, participating in daily morning prayer and sharing meals and conversations.  As fellows, we also audit classes in Duke’s divinity school, selecting subjects in line with our vocational interests.  In order become active members of our community, we volunteer one to two hours a week within Durham’s West End.  Lastly, each fellow has a part-time placement at an organization in Durham.  I’m thrilled that I get to spend my fellowship year with you here at St. Luke’s.   I can’t wait to get to know each of you personally over the course of the year, but in the meantime here’s a little bit about me:

 

I was raised in Southern California just off the campus of UC Irvine.  I have three older sisters and six nieces and nephews (though five of them live in the Fiji Islands so I spend a lot of time on Skype!).  As an undergrad, I majored in English and minored in Education.  For my senior thesis, I put together an interactive poetry exhibit, which was a ton of fun and a creative practice that I hope to continue to explore in coming years.  I love reading, writing, running, traveling, and hiking.  I’m excited about the adventures that God has in store for this placement year and I’m looking forward to learning about you and learning from you in the coming months. 

Durham Congregations In Action meets at St. Luke's

DCIA luncheon in Johnson Hall. Thanks to Barbara Longmire
for a delicious spread and to our kitchen volunteers! There were
about 55 people in attendance.

St. Luke's hosted the monthly assembly meeting of Durham Congregations In Action (DCIA) on Tuesday, August 12. DCIA was founded forty years ago to address the needs of the poor, elderly, and youth in Durham. Over the years, it has become a parent organization for many of the social service projects in our community (Urban Ministries of Durham, Meals on Wheels, Interfaith Hospitality Network, YO Durham, CROP walk, and more). It has also encouraged dialogue and reconciliation among congregations of many faiths: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and more. As part of its work each month, DCIA holds a gathering of representatives from its member congregations with a meal, a topic pertaining to DCIA's mission, staff reports, and community announcements.

St. Luke's has been a member congregation of DCIA for many years, supporting it with our outreach funds and sending representatives. It relies on community support in order to fulfill its mission. Our assistant to the rector served as its secretary for three years. DCIA helps St. Luke's stay active and engaged in the overall effort in Durham to serve the needs of the poor and encourage peace, justice, and reconciliation. For more information about our involvement, contact the Rev. Joe Hensley or Martha Conner, our DCIA reps. For more info about the organization, visit their website at www.dcia.org

A representative from Reality Ministries shares how DCIA seed
money grants are helping his organization help youth in Durham.
DCIA also provided a seed money grant to LEAP (Latino Education
Advancement Partnership). St. Luke's will host the LEAP tutoring
and pre-school readiness programs. For more about LEAP click here.

Each month, assembly representatives say the DCIA affirmation
together to begin the meeting.

    

Three baptisms

On August 19 at St. Luke's, we welcomed three new members into the body of Christ through the sacrament of baptism, including a baby and his father. After the service, we had a wonderful reception in the Sprague Room with some wonderful "church-made" cake.

"Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works." (from the Book of Common Prayer p. 308)




sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and
marked as Christ's own for ever.

 

Pauli Murray celebrations!



St. Luke's youth view a mural of Pauli Murray



Last week, the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church officially accepted the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray into the calendar of commemorations known as "Holy Women, Holy Men." This week, our Diocese of North Carolina held its annual service in honor of Murray, who was the first African American woman ordained an Episcopal priest. The service was held at St. Titus' in Durham with members of St. Luke's participating in various ways. Below are some links to news stories about these recent events!

http://triangle.news14.com/content/top_stories/661035/durham-woman-named-episcopal-saint

http://wunc.org/programs/news/archive/Sli071912_Saint_Pauli.mp3/view

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/19438921/article-Durham%E2%80%99s-saint--Pauli-Murray-legacy-celebrated

Blackfeet Culture Night

After a surprisingly tiring first day, the crew was ready for a night to wind down and relax. Of course, what we got was anything but. As we all sat chatting amongst ourselves we anxiously waited to meet a woman named Jolee, a traditional Blackfeet tribe member. She arrived late due to what she called "Indian Time," where everyone generally runs behind schedule. Although she appeared to be an average, modern woman, she was strikingly knowledgable about legends and beliefs of the Blackfeet people that have been passed down from her ancestors. She told us about certain signs from nature to pay particular attention to for times of preparation and signs that appeared as warnings. Some examples are, if a bird swoops down in front of your car, it means slow down. If you ever see horses galloping, it means a storm is coming; and if the wild berries in the forests are abundant during spring and summer, it means there will be a harsh winter. After her captivating lesson on beliefs, ceremonies, and traditions, she introduced us to several of her ten children, two of her many grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. These would be the participants of a traditional pow-wow, some as dancers and some as drummers. As her family set up, we all sat on the floor of the cafeteria, once again, chatting to ourselves. Suddenly, a heart-stopping boom resonated through the cafeteria prompting shocked shrieks from the girls and stunned silence from the men. The pow-wow had begun. The boom came from a hand made drum (frame built by Jolee's grandfather, with the hide stretched by one of her grandsons)  and  strung with the hide of elk and horse. About five members of Jolee's family, Jolee included, surrounded the drum and put down a bass line that could put all modern rap music to shame. Her great-grandchild of two, "danced" (walked) in traditional garb that Jolee herself had sewn just the night before. Two of her grandsons embodied two different kinds of steps, one being the "Chicken Dancer." One of her granddaughters danced in a dress sewn with hollow metal bell-like ornaments and was called the "jingle-dress dancer." Her other granddaughter danced with a shawl sewn with tons of vibrant tassels and moved her feet rapidly and with perfect precision to the beat of the durm. She was called "the fancy dancer." Jolee sat around the drum with two or three of her older grandsons and her brother. The oldest grandson was the leader to most of the songs and sang haunting but beautiful melodies. The others echoed his tune and the group encircling the pow-wow looked on with pure astonishment. Truly, the songs these people sang were chilling. After we watched a few dances, we were invited to dance with them. We did a freestyle dance, a trick dance for the girls then for the boys (where you had to stop dancing when the music stopped, or you were out of the game) then a guys-girls partner dance. After the vivacious dancing, everyone was hot, sweaty and more than ready for bed. Even though the majority was ready for a quiet night to sit on our air mattresses and stare at the walls, what we got was tiring, but incredibly worth it. I will never forget the night (a MONDAY nonetheless) that I got to participate in a traditional Blackfeet pow-wow.

- Maggie Young

Making the Best Out of a Rainy Day

Painting at Heart Butte High School!