It is not all about me! Be a servant.

Here is an excerpt from last Sunday's sermon (Sept. 23) by the Rev. Joe Hensley. To read the entire sermon, click here.

Serving one another in the Eucharist. This is
practice for serving one another in the world.
Picture from our recent Eucharist on the lawn.

"If you want to be first, be last?  If you want to be a master, become a servant?  It makes no sense because it’s not what we’re taught.  We live in a competitive society.  We live in a world where you rise to the top, where you strive to be best.  The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest.  They were probably saying, “Who’s the best of us?  Who’s the one who can cast out the most demons or cure the most sick people?  Who does Jesus like best?”  We know a lot about arguing about who is the greatest.  Is it my candidate or your candidate?  Is it my team or your team?  Is it the person with the nicest, most complete resume or the person with the biggest heart?   Who’s the greatest?  We spend time in our minds arguing, “How can I be the greatest?  How can I be like those great ones out there somewhere?”  We know a lot about arguing about the greatest.  I think we live under what I would call a tyranny of the greatest because it’s all about the greatest.  It’s the greatest generation, it’s the greatest society, it’s the greatest country on earth.   Greatest, greatest, greatest and we are held prisoner....

And that is the power of  servanthood; the power to interrupt the tyranny of war; the power to interrupt the tyranny of the greatest.

That power begins when we in our own hearts can accept a simple truth.  If you can remember one thing from the sermon, maybe this will be it.  It is not all about me.  It is not all about me, and when we can begin to believe that in our hearts, when we can begin to believe that the world does not revolve around our ambitions and goals -- even though those goals may be noble and mighty, goals as noble as holding together a country, holding together a family, holding together our very selves -- when we can begin to see that it is not all about me, then we are going to be just that much closer to the something that Jesus offers us; to the ability to connect with one  another and with God.  When it is not all about me, then we are set free, we are emancipated to see and to serve one another, to be free to make someone else’s day before waiting for them to make ours."

EYC ropes course teambuilding fun

On Sept. 22, 14 youth and 4 adults from our EYC youth group completed a half-day of low-ropes course events at Carolina Outdoor Education Center. We had a ton of fun and grew closer as a group as we took on the teambuilding challenges. At the end of the day, we took rides on the double zipline. There were many leaps of faith. It might have been trusting a group not to drop you in the trust circle or stepping off the platform on the zipline!

Our youth group meets at least twice a month. One of those meetings is a lunch and program from 12-2 on the second Sunday of the month. The second event could be anything from a ropes course to a service project to an overnight trip. For more information, get on our email list, follow us on twitter (@stlukesdurhamey), or join our facebook group. Contact Joe Hensley at the church (assistant-rector@stlukesdurham.org

Word for the Weary

Below is an excerpt from this past Sunday's sermon by the Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple. To read the entire sermon, click here.

"...When speech itself has become so twisted, when civil discourse has become an endangered species,
when scoring points with sound bites is more important that getting the facts straight, when fact checking becomes only another pawn of partisanship, it is all enough to render us cynical and, worse, silent. “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire.”

The writer of the letter of James declares, “No one can tame the tongue - a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness
of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to
be so.”  We can use words to pronounce blessings.  We can use words to utter a curse. Too often we
are artless hypocrites.  But our speech can be more than hypocritical.  Our words can be harmful.
They have the power to hurt and even to destroy.  Angry words leave invisible scars that cause
tangible harm in the lives of those we wish to hurt, but sometimes more so upon those we claim to
love....


...The church is where we get speech therapy.  We learn the words that will guide us in daily life.  We
confess that we have sinned against God and our neighbor. We say the words and make the signs that
“the peace of the Lord may always be with you.”  As people of the Book of Common Prayer, we say
many of the same words over and over.  Many of my Methodist, Presbyterian friends are like, “How
can you do that?  Say the same words over and over?”  But watch what happens for those of you
long-time worshippers here.  If I say, “Almighty God, to whom all hearts are” (congregation
responds) “open, and all desires are” (congregation responds) “known, and from whom no”
(congregation responds) “secrets are hid.”  There’s something deep in us and we need that, especially
at the moments where we are imprisoned by sickness or fear or despair."

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.