|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Formation for Spiritual Companions Other News, Events & Ministries at St. Luke's
|
Pastor Tom is on sabbatical until September 14th. He will be leading a tour group to Israel leaving Bellevue on September 21st and returning October 1st. During his leave, Pastor Paul Fauske is serving as our Interim Pastor.
Memorize? Not me!
As I walk outside by myself I like to pray. Besides talking to God or listening, sometime I like to pray a prayer I’ve memorized like the Lord’s Prayer or the Jesus Prayer. Lord Jesus Christ, you are the light of the world, Another favorite prayer is the Serenity Prayer.
God, grant me the serenity Another of my favorite prayers is one I learned at
At the end of my walk, I realized that I had memorized the prayer, something I thought I was incapable of doing. Now I have it in my heart and often when I am alone or when I am swimming I can repeat and pray that prayer. If I forget some of the words (which I often do), I just look at one of my cards the next time I have an opportunity. If you’d like one of these cards for yourself, ask me for one. When they are gone, I’m sure Pam will print more.
"Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot know the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen “
Shalom,
As this is my last article for St. Luke’s I thought it would be fitting to thank everyone and tell some of my treasured moments. I just have to say that this is a great community of believers and I have been very blessed to have been here. Thank you to everyone who has helped me learn and grow in this position and in my life. I have made so many friends here and have so many good memories of this place. I want to especially thank everyone who helped in the youth program during the last four years because without you we would not have been able to do the things we did. To all the youth I hope that you remember that change is part of life and God will bless this congregation with someone who will do amazing things with the youth program. Every one of you has changed my life in one way or another and I thank you for that. We have had some great times over the last 3½ years. Remember dodgeball in the sanctuary? What about the murder mystery night? Apex pranks, and lock-ins! What about GO night where it rained all night while we were at
In Christ,
P.S. If you would like to volunteer to help the youth with events or in any other way, please ask Kent Kollmorgen or Jim Wiederaenders for more information. Remember that you don’t have to be a parent of a youth to help. Note: Put September 21 on your calendar for a parent meeting between services.
Summer Worship Schedule, continued… Sundays 9:30 Blended Service and Thursday 12:00 Word and Sacrament It has been a pleasure seeing congregational members from both the Traditional and Informal worship services come together as a family to praise God this summer. The efforts of the musicians and worship leaders to weave the traditional and informal styles have been well received. While personal preferences in music style vary, we greatly appreciate the flexibility of congregational members to move a bit from their comfort zone to learn new songs during this summer. Thank you. If the summer Sunday worship schedule or the blended character is challenging for you, please consider attending the Thursday noon service. Along with the given elements of Word and Sacrament, musical offerings of a traditional nature are also occasionally included. You will find the worship experience refreshing. As stated so eloquently by Board of Trustees member, Leslie Schofield, “I love the Thursday service because of its purity and simplicity. It’s just pure worship.” Noisy Offering – August 31st Don’t forget your loose change! When there is a “5th Sunday” in the month, all are encouraged to empty their coin jars as an offering to support St. Luke’s Children’s Ministries. Kids of all ages will assist with the offering during the Children’s Sermon. ~Amy Corsini, Worship Director
Income & Expense for Program Year 2006/2007 and 2007/2008
July 1, 2007 Beginning Balance $ (61,114) Total Income (includes envelope giving and program income) for Program Year 07/08 $ $646,903 Total Expense Program Year 0708 $ (623,489) Ending June 30, 2008 Balance $ (37,700) This is how we ended the year. The deficit was reduced by over 35% due to the proceeds received from The Back into the Black auction that we held last fall. Thank you to all of you who supported that event and to all who contributed to the support of the ministries at St. Luke’s. We had anticipated being able to end the year with a ($25,000) deficit, but we are feeling the effects of the economic situation here as well as you are experiencing it at home. For the coming program year of 2008/09 our monthly expenses will average $50,773. This is down over $2,000 a month from last program year. Now is the time we all need to maintain our faith in that God will provide for us, both personally and for the support of His work. God’s Blessings, Treasurer
August 11—15 9:00 a.m. to noon Age 3 through those who have completed 6th grade
Join us for a rainforest program of faith-filled fun! Rainforest Adventures invites kids to share the good news of Jesus’ love for us by being caretakers of all that God has given us. You’ll hear stories about Jesus, make cool crafts, learn catchy rainforest tunes, play super fun games, and make new friends. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and teenage sisters and brothers are needed to help with crafts and games or working with the preschoolers. If you can’t be here to help, how about being a snack provider? All help will be greatly appreciated. If you wish to volunteer, call
This year’s service project will benefit the Emergency Feeding Program. We’re calling it “”Snaks for Kids”. The kids will receive a shopping list to purchase “kid-friendly” snack foods for back-to-school treats for disadvantaged students. Some examples are juice packs, peanut butter and crackers, chips or other one-per-package items. They’ll have fun picking out items they know other kids will like.
It’s going to be tons of fun so ask your neighbors and friends to come too. The cost this year is $35; if you are in need of a scholarship, contact Carolyn. We don’t want anyone to miss out on this special adventure which includes opportunities to help those in need. Pick up a registration form in the narthex. Last summer we suspended our Adopt-a-Bill program because we adopted the gardens. With summer vacations, as in the past, our donations have decreased while our expenses remain the same (and higher than last year). This is the time we ask for donations for the church’s day-to-day expenses such as phones, electricity, gas and garbage. You may take the envelope(s) of your choice and return to the donation plate or to the office.
Summer Fruits and Veggies … Challenge 25 Your generosity for the
We are now going into our second month of our year-long challenge with Summer Fruits and Veggies … Challenge 25. Guess what the 25 stands for? If you guessed that is how many cans of each we need to make our goal, YOU ARE RIGHT! Again there will be shopping lists with the size of the can and the cost of the individual items, as well as the total of all the items. Our VBS service project for this year will also be the Emergency Feeding Program. They will be collecting “kid friendly” food items. Showing our children how to share what we have with children who go to bed hungry is something we can all do. We are so blessed, let’s share with those less fortunate, pray for them while teaching our children the joy of giving. Food items for August are: Canned Corn (15 oz) At the 11:00 a.m. worship service on September 7th, there will be a Godspeed service for
Have you completed your Spiritual Gifts inventory? Have your children? Have you brought the results back to church so that you can do your piece of the mosaic that we are doing as a whole congregation? If not, stop at the project tables and pick up the inventory, fill it out, bring it with you and then come back and add your line. When they are all completed they will be displayed for all to see where the “flame” burns the strongest at St. Luke’s. What color and which area do you think will burn the brightest? The Faith Formation Board has been busy planning for our fall Sunday School program for children. Did you know that there are also opportunities for learning for adults? We don’t have to live out our lives on the information we learned (or didn’t learn) as a child. The Adult Education Committee at St. Luke’s is planning several choices for classes in September. These will be finalized after we receive the results of the survey that will be given on the first Sunday of August. See the September Communicator for what will be offered. Contact one of the members of the committee if you have questions, input or desire to help. Cynthia Holmberg
Kids' Bell Choir, grades kindergarten through 3rd grade
Stay tuned for the details, but set early Wednesday evenings (planned as of this writing) aside for kids' music! Neighborhood friends are very welcome! Contact Patsy Jackson for more information. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!" An anonymous donor has pledged up to $10,000 if we come together as a community to do work around the church. After the noon service on Thursday, July 24, we will be gathering to weed, clean, prune and plant. There will also be some small projects inside the church. You and your family can come at any time during the afternoon or after work. We will be preparing a meal that you can enjoy either before you begin work or after you’re done. The more people that participate, the more money we can earn. In one Sunday alone, 22 people signed up to help, but we can still use your help.
(Action required) It’s time to renew your Lutheran Magazine subscription. For those who have been receiving it at the reduced church rate, we will need a check for $8.00 to continue. (The reduced rate is only available because the church orders 20 copies to keep your cost down.) If you have not been receiving it at home and would like to, send a check to the office and we will get you on the subscription list. If we do not have enough subscribers to make it financially prudent, we will have you subscribe personally at the rate of $15.95. We also have copies in the narthex you may read.
Steve Holmberg, St. Luke’s Director of Children’s Music has announced that St. Luke’s will host a summer camp for K – 6. This camp will consist of drumming, marimba and dance. Camp will run August 4th through August 7th (9:00–11:45 a.m.). The cost will be $80 per child; if you register early (before July 15th) the registration fee will be $65. Class size is limited to 30 children.
Building Community and Enriching the Lives of Participants This well-received program will be offered again this fall. There is a retreat on Saturday, October 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. followed by your choice of six Monday evenings or six Wednesday afternoons. This is an opportunity to enrich your spiritual life, worship, practice your listening skills and experience good listening from others. For more information, pick up a brochure in the narthex. Registration deadline is September 17. Nancy Quale, Dorothy Scott, Roselyn Olson,
The ladies of St. Luke’s are going out to the ballgame. Join us as we go to a Mariners’ game on Monday evening, August 25. The cost is only $10 per ticket. If you love baseball or just want to get together with a bunch of fun women, please call Pam Webber at 425-827-5861 or email her at pam.webber@fmglobal.com. We’ll provide more information regarding carpooling after we get a count of those attending.
The St. Luke’s Nursery is in the process of getting an overhaul and we need your help! This is a vital part of the Sunday morning worship experience and a priority of your Faith Formation Ministry Board. We are in need of a responsible adult to serve as Nursery Attendant on Sunday mornings, and/or to coordinate volunteers to meet the needs of our families with children ages 0-3. If you or anyone you know would like to apply for this position, please contact me at LisaZiehl@comcast.net
Patsy Jackson has retired from teaching in the Bellevue Public Schools, so she is now available to tutor and teach piano lessons. She is interested in tutoring kids going into 4th grade and younger. If interested, give her a call at (425) 881-0451.
Playing in the Water of Baptism On June 22 I arrived early for the reception honoring Kemp and Christine Segerhamer at
It was fun to watch her move from the pew and explore the aisle. She did so with caution and an ever present look over her shoulder to see if mom was coming after her. For those of you who do not know this worship space, the baptismal font is located in the aisle toward the back of the church and is a fountain that overflows its bowl. There had been a memorial service the day before so a large flower arrangement was on the floor in front of the font. At first I thought Jessica was moving to explore the flowers. She looked at the flowers and moved on. Her goal was to play in the waters of the font as they cascaded down the sides of the font and into the collection area at its base. Mom was quick to retrieve her. And Jessica would return, each time with a more direct approach to the water. Mom was quick to catch her and, surprisingly, Jessica did not verbalize a complaint, she just kept returning to the water. After sharing in Communion, Jessica and her mother left before this game could continue. It struck me that all of God's children are called to play in the waters of God's grace in our baptism. We are to return often to this life-giving water and to rejoice in its presence. Jessica became for me a parable of our life in Christ. There are many distractions to our returning to the water. There are times we know that others around us would wish that we would not be so persistent in our baptismal play. There are even times we are lead away from our baptisms by important things in life. The truth is that God's children have been given new life in these waters by the power of God's promise. We can confidently play in these waters because that is our calling in Christ. Jessica had it right. The water in the font is for us. It is a sign of the pure grace of God in which we live. Yes, we have to be in regular conversation about the reality of our discipleship. Yes, there is a cost to this discipleship. The fact remains that we are drawn to the waters of baptism and there we receive the free gift of life. Let's join Jessica in playing in the water. THREE PROFILES OF RECOVERY Part 1 From Donald Kurth, M.D., Chief of Addiction Medicine,
I count my recovery starting with my sobriety date, October 8, 1993; it was a long journey to get to that day. I was just a kid, really, when I started getting involved with alcohol and drugs. I came from a family where drinking is a part of many social activities, and it seemed to me that getting drunk and knowing how to drink was a rite of passage when I was growing up. When I was about 14, I started really drinking with my buddies. I was using heroin before Christmas break, my senior year of high school, and got addicted right away. I got arrested in my early 20s and the judge gave me probation with a stipulation that I had to enter a drug program. I entered treatment on December 29, 1969, and was there for 27 months. After that, I never touched drugs again. My initial treatment didn’t address my alcohol dependence and, in 1993, I entered a treatment program for it, stayed for 31 days, and got connected with 12-step recovery. This has been the anchor in my recovery since. In treatment, you learn to overcome the challenges that you will continue to face in life, but you do it in a protected environment. Unfortunately, a huge wall of discrimination exists for individuals who have been in jail or have had legal problems with drugs. Luckily, I am very persistent and recognized the importance of accomplishing my goals, such as finishing my education. My perseverance helped me overcome some of these barriers people in recovery experience and helped me circumvent any preconceived notions others had. National Alcohol & Drug Addiction, “Targeted Outreach” Submitted by,
Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemy We are not talking about saying, “I hope you do well on your next suicide mission.” end of story! We are talking about assisting someone in a substantial way to carry out their mission against the country to which we claim loyalty. This is no small accusation anytime but it especially serious in the age of terrorism. It is the next most serious betrayal behind actively being involved in the act of terror yourself. But you don’t need to know any terrorists personally to give aid and comfort to the enemy. We do it all the time. Satan’s little helpers we are! Perhaps more mischief has been done in the name of help and comfort than under any other guise. “Let me help you in exactly the way I think you need to be helped. I know what is best for you.” Governments do this all the time. They create ‘programs’ which can be funded, not necessarily programs that will comfort the afflicted. But governments don’t have the market cornered on unhelpful comfort. We do this to our children when we dress them warmly when we are cold, despite their protests, or when we ‘benignly manipulate’ a situation to protect our elderly parents by excluding them from decisions that affect them. Do we comfort anyone when we steal a person’s right to have a say in their own lives? Perhaps giving aid and comfort to those we love in the way that they need it is a better idea after all. |
||||||||||||||||
| Light in a world of darkness | ||
 |
 3030 Bellevue Way Bellevue Washington 98004 phone: 425-822-7907 e-mail:email@slukes.org fax: 425-889-4493 Newsletter Other Contact Info Map Driving Directions Site Map |