THIS WEEK AT ST. LUKE’S In-person and Live-streaming/zoom gatherings from St. Luke’s.
On Saturday, May 22 we resumed in-person worship. We will continue to stream in-person services at St. Luke’s, as well as the Daily Office, as scheduled. Please join us on our Facebook page for streamed services.
**(Note: if you are NOT a Facebook member, when you click on the link it will ask you to sign in or create an account, which you can ignore and just scroll down the page a bit till you see the service.)
Click herefor a copy of the Book of Common Prayer! Click here for a copy of Enriching Our Worship 1. This contains supplemental liturgical materials (i.e. Canticles) we occasionally use for Morning and Evening Prayer.
Daily Office: Morning and Evening Prayer – Morning Prayer at 9 AM; Evening Prayer at 5PM are live-streamed on Sunday; Tuesday through Saturday morning.
5:30PM – CENTERING PRAYER: Our ongoing group meets each Thursday at 5:30 BOTH IN THE CHAPEL AT ST. LUKE’S AND ON ZOOM. All are welcome to join in. To access the “zoom chapel” click here. Click here for a brochure on The Method of Centering Prayer.
Sunday School, 9:30 AM – We use Godly Play a Montessori –based curriculum. Please email Mother Barnes at mthrbarnes@gmail.com to register and receive Zoom log-on information. Please note that Pentecost Sunday was the final Sunday School session until the fall.
Children’s Christian Education Materials Click below to access free faith formation resources for kids.
For Sunday, July 25, 2021. Materials include: Lectionary based Sunday Paper Junior
See our Children and Youth page for more offerings including resources for talking with kids about the challenging issues of our time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & UPCOMING EVENTS
►Have a green thumb? The Warren Memorial Garden Committee welcomes volunteers to help out with their monthly care of the garden. Have questions? Please speak to Mickey Baccoli, Senior Warden or email David Wegner at drwegner@epix.net
►St. Luke’s Holy Hikers
The St. Luke’s Holy Hikers kicked off its inaugural walk at Lake Scranton in May, enjoying the beauty that is God’s creation, with prayer and kinship. Our final three hikes for 2021 will be: n Saturday, August 17th, we will walk a portion of the Trolley Trail Countryside Conservancy (Church of the Epiphany Trailhead); on Saturday, September 18th we will hike one of the trails at Hickory Run and visit the Boulder Field; and on Saturday, October 16th will conclude this year’s hikes by walking The Leigh Gorge Trail (Rockport trailhead) which is an easy walk adjacent the Leigh River with stunning views that should be in peak fall color. We invite everyone to join and encourage you to invite a friend. For more information, please contact David Wegner at drwegner@epix.net or Mother Barnes at mthrbarnes@gmail.com
►Lift Every Voice and Sing Churchwide Revival
The Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) invites all to join a virtual churchwide revival July 27-30 that will feature stirring music, testimonies, learning, and messages from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and others.
For four nights, Black Episcopalians will lead The Episcopal Church in worship and preaching. All services will be livestreamed.
The UBE revival also includes daytime sessions featuring panel and group discussions, prayer, and fellowship opportunities.
►Cypress House at St. Luke’s Awarded Becoming Beloved Community Grant
Cypress House at St. Luke’s was notified this week that we have been awarded a 2021 Becoming Beloved Community grant by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. The $9,000 award will support the ongoing development of our Cypress House Bakery Prison Re-Entry Program.
The entire system of mass incarceration is one of the most egregious examples of racial injustice in our country today. The parole and probation programs continue that injustice even upon release from prison. The rate of minority incarceration in Lackawanna County is the highest of any county in the Northeastern quadrant of the U.S. Cypress House aims to repair the breach in our society by assisting men and women post-incarceration with a return to life on the outside. In addition the presence of Cypress House in the community of Scranton will help bring awareness to the issues surrounding mass incarceration.
The grant that we have been awarded is a seed grant to help us grow into the work of Becoming Beloved Community.
►SAVE THE DATE: St. Luke’s will be holding a Summer Parish Picnic. Date is tentatively set for Sunday, September 12th. Stay tuned for more details. Interesting in helping to plan this event? Please speak with Mother Barnes or contact Vestry member, Sharon Sollami at sharonsollami@gmail.com
150 YEARS ON WYOMING AVENUE
On Friday, July 2, 2021, St. Luke’s celebrated the 150th Anniversary of our current church building. Celebration include an Anniversary Eucharist at 6PM, and an open house with tours and exhibits. Outdoor festivities included refreshments, games and activities for children and families and a jazz band. Photos of the evening’s celebration will be posted soon. Sincere thanks to all who made this evening’s celebration possible!
Click here to view the Anniversary Eucharist.
Click here to view Bp. Kevin’s greeting and blessing.
Juneteenth (“June” plus “nineteenth”) is a day that marked the beginning of the journey towards justice, accountability, and reconciliation in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas. That day he informed enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. This announcement gave voice to the written words of the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln.
Juneteenth is a day for followers of Jesus to be reminded of their Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” It is a day for churches and faith communities to gather together to learn, pray, and continue the work of justice and reconciliation. A day such as this one provides an excellent opportunity for transformation. We must take advantage of the moment we are in to actively listen through honest and transparent dialogues that strengthen our faith and our connections to one another.
LENTEN ADULT BOOK STUDY:Jesus and the Disinherited – On Tuesday evenings in Lent at 7PM, our seminary intern, James Smurl will lead us in a discussion of Howard Thurman’s classic theological treatise. “Howard Thurman (1900-1981) demonstrates how the gospel may be read as a manual of resistance for the poor and disenfranchised. Jesus is a partner in the pain of the oppressed and the example of His life offers a solution to ending the descent into moral nihilism. Hatred does not empower–it decays. Only through self-love and love of one another can God’s justice prevail.” This book study will be held on Zoom. Click here to join the discussion!
LECTIO DIVINA LENTEN VIRTUAL RETREAT DAY: On Saturday, March 13 from 10am-2pm, Mother Barnes will lead a virtual retreat on the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina, literally meaning “divine reading,” is an ancient practice of praying the Scriptures. During Lectio Divina, the practitioner listens to the text of the Bible with the “ear of the heart,” as if he or she is in conversation with God, and God is suggesting the topics for discussion. Join us to learn more about this traditional way of cultivating a relationship with Christ through reflection on His word that leads beyond mere acquaintanceship to an attitude of friendship, trust, and love. To register, please email Mother Barnes at mthrbarnes@gmail.com
Diocese of Bethlehem Black History Month Series.
From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference
Starting January 18 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), The Episcopal Church launches “From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference,” a campaign urging Episcopalians and our neighbors to engage in the spiritual practice of listening and honest conversation across the many differences that separate us, starting with four simple questions:
What do you love?
What have you lost?
Where does it hurt?
What do you dream?
Inspired by the Latin phrase on the U.S. seal – E Pluribus (“from many”) Unum (“one”) – the campaign is designed to offer a faithful perspective and time-tested practice for knitting deeply divided communities into a diverse, more perfect union. In a cultural moment shadowed by pandemic, fractious politics, and deep division within families, communities, and nations, Episcopalians can partner in simple ways to celebrate difference, listen with deep curiosity, and promote healing.
“I have never been more profoundly aware of the need for passionate and practical commitment to the way of unselfish, sacrificial love that Jesus taught,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said. “Conversations with others across difference is not just a nice thing to do. It is a spiritual practice of love in action. It’s how we reknit the fabric of our democracy and the human family of God.”
Listening, adapting, and leading in tense cultural times is deep in the Church’s DNA.
“From Many, One” is designed to be simple and transformative. It is geared toward individual people talking to other individuals, although congregations may join, too. Participants are encouraged to follow these steps:
Learn about The Four Questions and related wisdom at www.episcopalchurch.org/from-many-one
Watch videos of people modeling The Four Questions
Sign up and set a conversations goal
Have the conversation(s)
Pray for your partner
Contribute to the “From Many, One” story space with insights, video/audio highlights, a poem, prayer or image inspired by your conversation(s)
Check out partner efforts like Braver Angels: With Malice Toward None, Civil Discourse Course, Sacred Ground, and The People’s Inauguration
Join the Easter campaign celebration with a special online worship and sharing time
“We hope people understand this is only scratching the surface of the practice and learning that we’re called toward,” said Rev. Melanie Mullen, the church’s director of Reconciliation, Justice and Creation Care, one of the departments that collaborated to shape the campaign. “Our goal is to point people toward partner efforts that meet you where you are: for more simple conversation, further learning, deeper reckoning and/or action. More than that, we hope people see this as part of a life-long commitment to creating beloved community.”
For more information on the “From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference” campaign, contact the Rev. Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers, canon to the Presiding Bishop for Evangelism, Reconciliation and Creation Care, sspellers@episcopalchurch.org or 212-716-6086, or Sarah Alphin, associate for Evangelism, Reconciliation and Creation Care, salphin@episcopalchurch.org or 212-716-6102.
This service is designed especially for those who have experienced loss, especially in this pandemic year, or find the holidays difficult. This years’ service will be an interfaith service offered by the Scranton Area Ministerium and will be live-streamed.
Prayers and Litaniesand Devotional Resources Prayers for Self, Church, Community, and World Amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic (The Episcopal Church) Prayers : For Use During the Coronavirus Outbreak (Church of England) A Pandemic Prayer Litany for Health Care Workers (St. John’s, Boulder) A Pandemic Prayer Litany for Police Officers and First Responders (St. John’s, Boulder) A Prayer for Peace in Our Streets (from dailyoffice.org)
Holding on to Hope
A National Service for Healing and Wholeness – Live from Washington National Cathedral – Sunday, November 1, 2020, 4-5:30PM
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry led a live-streamed prayer service from Washington National Cathedral, Holding on to Hope: A National Service for Healing and Wholeness, on All Saints Sunday, November 1, at 4:00-5:30 p.m. EST. In the midst of a pandemic, racial reckoning, and a historic election, the live-streamed service gathered Americans for prayer, song, lament, hope, and a call to love God and neighbor. The event was simulcast in English and Spanish.
Resources on Race and Racism
“Can you yearn enough for Church; can you yearn enough for Jesus.”
Bishop Kevin expresses his support of Kelly Brown Douglas, Stephanie Spellers, and Winnie Varghese, and encourages everyone in the diocese to read their message, “Speaking of Freedom,” and reflect upon this moment.
Here is their written statement. https://dfms-my.sharepoint.com/…/EWobhXqaQGVPogF-T-ysGXkBoN…
In this video they read the statement and discuss.
Please, I urge you to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. This is a call to the Church, to us Episcopalians, to BE CHURCH.
White Fragility In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’” (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.”
Here is another good book on racism that is free right now – Me and White Supremacy And here’s a workbook to accompany it.
And a good article from Psychology Today – The Psychology of Rioting: The Language of the Unheard. ___________________________________________________________________________ For those who still wish to view our Holy Week at Home booklet – Click here to access a full service booklet of resources which were used for observing Holy Week at Home. These may be used in the home by individuals and families. St. Luke’s supplemented these with the streamed services which are still available on our parish Facebook page.
If you haven’t used Zoom before, we encourage you to watch this video in advance. Want to know more about how to find a live stream on Facebook? Click here.
