Sunday Lectionary Readings
May 31
Day of Pentecost, Year B
Acts 2:1-21
or Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 104:25-35,37
Romans 8:22-27
or Acts. 2:1-21
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
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Parish-Wide Event!
Wednesday, June 3
5:30 pm Graham Hall
All are invited to the parish-wide
Boomerang Express Event for food and fellowship!
Look at all the fun the children have been experiencing throughout the week in Vacation Bible School! There is no cost for dinner, but donations will be accepted.
As part of our VBS outreach, we will collect snack items (non-perishable) for PreSchool Partners for the coming school year. Please bring one or more of the following snacks and place it in the collection bin in Graham Hall. Suggested snack items: cereal bars, pop-tarts, juice boxes, individual bags of chips/pretzels,individual fruit cups.
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Dr. Harry Moody
To Speak On Positive Aging
This Thursday, May 28
Saint Luke's is honored to host Dr. Harry R. Moody, director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 28. Dr. Moody, an engaging and entertaining speaker, will discuss "Stages on Life's Way: A Vision of Positive Aging" from one of his most recent books. This wonderful opportunity to hear an expert in the field of aging is open to all senior adults, health care professionals, clergy, caregivers, and children of aging parents. Plan to attend, bring a friend, and share this information with others. The program begins at 11:00 am in Graham Hall. Lunch, by reservation will be served for $5.00. Please contact Jeanna (jspeegle@saint-lukes.com) or 802-6218) for reservation and/or more information.
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R.O.M.E.O. Luncheon
Tuesday, June 2
Join the ROMEOs for our next luncheon on Tuesday, June 2nd. We will leave the church parking lot at 11:00 am on the church van and return at 1:00 pm. Call Jeanna (802-6218) if you can join us. All retired and semi-retired men are welcome!
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Swim Goggles For Sawyerville
Saint Luke's has been asked to help out with the Sawyervile Supply Drive. We have agreed to collect 150 various size swim goggles! Drop them in the collection box in Claypool Commons. We will collect goggles until Sunday, June 14. Please help us continue in our mission efforts by contributing to this great cause! If you have any questions or would like to know more about Sawyerville Day Camp, please email Lindsay Joe or call 802-6206.
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Birmingham Hospitality Network
Will You Help Host?
Saint Luke's will host Birmingham Hospitality Network families here at the church from Sunday, June 28 until Saturday, July 4. We need volunteers! We have a sign-up board in Claypool Commons where you can volunteer to spend the night, help set-up rooms, prepare a meal, serve a meal, do laundry, transport cots, or break-down rooms. Please consider giving some of your time to this vital ministry.
Birmingham Hospitality Network (BHN) is a group of churches that provide safe and loving overnight shelter for homeless families, many of whom are first-time homeless.
To learn more about this Saint Luke's
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,
you did it to me. Matthew 25:40
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Parents Of Graduating Seniors,
Share Your News With Us!
As a parish family, we would like to recognize your son or daughter and make a note in the Dialogue of where they will attend college in the fall. Please contact Sandy Porter with this information (sporter@saint-lukes.com or 802-6210).
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Summer Adult
Education Offerings
Sunday Morning Lectionary Study
9:15 am to 10:15 am · Room 224
This class will meet every Sunday throughout the summer without any breaks. Empty nesters and adults who do not have children in need of supervision are invited to explore the riches of each Sunday's Bible readings with Father Steve DeGweck.
Beginning June 8!
God's Fierce Love: Living Like the Lilies of the Field
Two Meeting Times Offered:
10:00 am and 5:30 pm · Room 232
A short film and easy-going discussion will strengthen your trust in the unfailing love of God. Rob Bell's films offer powerful encouragement and start good conversations. Diane Weatherford and Warren Cain teach the morning class, and Patty Gilbert teaches the course in the evening. All are welcome. This class will meet on four Mondays: June 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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Ninth-Grade Confirmands!
On Sunday, May 17, our ninth-graders became members of Saint Luke's and the Episcopal Church through the Rite of Confirmation.
Defend, O Lord, these young people of our parish,
with your heavenly grace, that they may continue
yours for ever, and daily increase in your
Holy Spirit more and more, until they come
to your everlasting kingdom. Amen
Elizabeth Turner Webster, James Parker Alison, Grace Evelyn Hawkins, Harris Calhoun Waggoner, Anne Fairly Alison, John Lucien Gardner Jr., Jonathan Gordon Jetmundsen
Taylor Norman Jetmundsen, Virginia Gilder Smith, Stephen Reeves Favrot, Alice Mims Whatley, Thomas Daniel Balkovetz, Evan Richard Woodward Mancer, Nelson Anderson Jetmundsen, James Henry Emack
Kyle Parker Tankersley, Rebecca Jane Henderson, Rucker Agee Durkee Jr.
James Crosby Taylor III, Ann Douglas Logan, Clement Tranum Fitzpatrick IV, Catherine Shephard Smith, Harrison Hays Reich, Isabelle Adair Shallcross, Edward Karl Aldag III, Mary Nobles Hancock
Paul Reeves Goepfert, Taylor Grayton Stewart, Richard Gates Porter, Sarah Grace Sparks, Margaret Lee Shuster, Timothy Patrick Callahan, Elizabeth Norris Coleman, Charles Kristoff Johnson
Mary Elizabeth Hobbs, Andrew Jefferson Fix, Hannah Westbrooke Mancer, John Holbrook Kimberly Jr., Mary Elizabeth Wilson, Ray Douglas Carter III, Ogden Shropshire Deaton Jr.
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Vacation Bible School 2009
June 1 - 4
We Are Looking Forward to a Fun Week!
Be in prayer for VBS, the students and the volunteers, June 1 - 4. We can still use volunteers even if you can only help a few days or a few hours. Just let us know! Plan to join us for the parish-wide Boomerang Express Event on Wednesday, June 3 at 5:30 pm in Graham Hall for food and fun as we look at all the fun the children have been experiencing throughout the week! There is no cost for dinner but donations will be accepted.
Throughout the week we collect an offering to give to Woodlawn Ministries to help fight hunger. We also will collect snack items (non-perishable) for PreSchool Partners for the coming school year. The food items being collected include pop-tarts, cereal bars, juice boxes, individual bags of chips or pretzels, and individual fruit cups. There will be a location to collect these items as well as a spot for offering money to be collected as well. Help us as we assist these wonderful ministries.
Email Emily or call 802-6211 if you would like to volunteer.
Parents...It Is Not Too Late To Return Your Volunteer Forms
Please return your volunteer forms for the 2009-2010 school year to the Children's Ministry Office (Room 220A) or by mail as soon as possible. We thank you in advance for your willingness to help!
Save the Date
For These Summer Events...
Zoo Trip
Rising 1st-3rd graders
Tuesday, June 23rd
Splash Beach Trip
Rising 4th -6th graders
Thursday, June 25th
Bingo & Ice Cream
Wednesday, July 15th
For ALL ages, children & adults!
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Adult Education
Sneak Preview for Fall!
Our first three Sundays this fall, we will hear a report from the Rev. Richmond Webster on the Continuum of Discipleship at Saint Luke's with special emphasis on the first leg of our Christian journey: Meeting Jesus. In keeping with this theme, on Wednesday nights we'll gather for an engaging and thought-provoking introduction to Jesus Christ through the films of Rob Bell. Many who enjoyed these films in Sunday school say they look forward to watching them again, and there are several we haven't seen yet. On Sunday mornings, in the fall, look for a class on parenting, new and improved based on last fall's experience, and, of course, a class on the lectionary readings. Does this whet your appetite? Look for more information on more fall offerings in the weeks to come!
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A Great Success Story!
Financial Peace University, which was offered at Saint Luke's during this year, was a wonderful success, with great thanks to all those who had a hand in leading the program!
Here's what participants are saying about Financial Peace University:
Hayden and I really enjoyed the class. I felt like we learned something new each week. Family finance is a challenge in every marriage and family and this class enabled us to address issues and concerns that we haven't normally addressed. We encourage others to look at this as an opportunity to strengthen your marriage and your finances at the same time.
-- John Scott
It was great. We're saving so much money! Spending cash, instead of using credit cards, makes us think about what we spend. It helps us realize how much we have that we don't need. We learned strategies for saving too--like how to negotiate, and how paying cash encourages dealers to lower their prices.
-- Darla Sellers
The class statistics are inspiring, too. Fifty-three people participated in the class, and the reported total amount of debt paid off during the course is a whopping $412,500 - and this is based on LESS THAN HALF of the participating families reporting so far. At least two families became debt-free during the course because they had started organizing their finances by the principles taught by Financial Peace University.
We hope to offer Financial Peace University again very soon!
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Summer Camp Is
Not Just For Kids...
Check Out
The Camp McDowell
Folk School!
Have you heard the news? Parents of summer campers can be campers this summer too! Kid campers will enjoy vintage McDowell accommodations while adult students at the Folk School will stay in the air-conditioned comfort of the Camp McDowell lodges. The Alabama Folk School is even offering discounts to parents or grandparents of summer campers. Take $100 off our June 22-27 session, or $75 off our August 1-5 session. The Folk School is already a bargain retreat, and the discounts make it even more affordable. Whether your child is in camp or not, you deserve time this summer to have a personal retreat or a retreat with friends. Learn about traditional and hand-crafted arts including: oval Shaker boxes; Old-time and bluegrass music on banjo, fiddle, mandolin, dulcimer, autoharp, bass, and guitar; Appalachian Dance; French hand-sewing; pottery; mosaics; woodcarving; glass beads; photography; and more! Click here for more information and to print a registration form. For more information or to register by phone, please call Danielle Dunbar (563-9990).
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Girls Incorporated Of Central Alabama
Babies Are Basically Your Responsibility "BABY R"
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church recently awarded Girls Incorporated® of Central Alabama $2,500.00 in support of its "Babies Are Basically Your Responsibility" (BABY R) Program. Girls Inc. (formerly known as Birmingham Girls Club) has been in the greater Birmingham community since 1938. Annually, thousands of girls ages six to eighteen are reached through center-based and outreach programs. Girls Inc. six core areas of programming are health and wellness; careers and life planning; leadership and community action; sports and adventure; self-reliance and life skills; and culture and heritage.
BABY R is a component of the Girls Incorporated's Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy® initiative that utilizes infant simulators to provide teens with a similar to real life parenting experience. Students care for infant simulators overnight. They are responsible for feeding, changing diapers, providing head support, and managing the baby's crying time. Through electronic sensors, the method of care is recorded which indicates how well students cared for their babies. In most cases, the results are negative, revealing that adolescents lack parenting skills and the proper resources needed to appropriately care for children. Students also gain knowledge of the financial responsibility of having and caring for an infant along with the costs associated with child-rearing in general. Students learn how to create budgets that include costs for health care, formula, childcare, and other general necessities in which they compare to the reality of their own expenditures as teens. The overall goal of BABY R is to delay early sexual activity among adolescents and prevent the growing number of teen pregnancies in our community.
The program is open to youth ages twelve to eighteen who attend Girls Inc. centers and schools located in Jefferson and Shelby Counties. As Girls Inc. continues to offer this program and expand their services, more infant simulators are needed to accommodate class sizes. With infant simulators costing roughly $540 each, these funds will be instrumental in assuring that adequate equipment and supplies are available to meet the growing demands of the program.
BABY R is very labor intensive. On baby delivery days, volunteers are needed mostly to help dress babies, prepare diaper bags, and distribute them to students. For more information on volunteering with this program, please contact Latrice L. Jackson, Outreach Director (599-5549 or ljackson@girlsinccentral-al.org). Click here to learn more about Girls Incorporated of Central Alabama.
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Stewardship For Creation
A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. The delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.
--Albert Einstein, 1954
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Now you can stay connected to Saint Luke's in NEW ways! Saint Luke's is now on Facebook and Twitter!
Our Facebook page is "Saint Luke's Episcopal Church" and it is open to any Facebook user. Facebook is FREE -- to join, click here.
 Our Twitter profile is "saintlukesbham" and is available to any Twitter user.Twitter is FREE -- to join, click here.
For more information, click here for the Saint Luke's website.
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Top Secret Masters the
Acoustic Challenge of the Nave!!
3rd Annual God and Jazz Featuring Top Secret at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church
A beautiful piano introduction by our very own Shaun Pezant opened the show with the uplifting Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, sung by the angelic great voice of Norris Jones. Hands lifted high and glistening eyes filled with tears served as the limbic lubricant to start the evening of rejoicing jazz. The second number featured awesome Kelly O'Neal, whose sweet saxophone served as Stevie Wonder's voice for the song You and I which was quilted together by Norris Jones' electric guitar and Sean Michael Ray's astonishing electric bass. A slinky Melvin Baldwin on drum accompanied by Pezant's rolling piano entry into Miles Davis' All Blues played by Kelly O'Neal on the soprano saxophone surely put our beloved rector into a heavenly orbit. The take-turn showcase of each musician culminated in a sound that rolled 'round the Saint Luke's arches creating the sensation of two bands - one from the earth and one from on high. The crowd added a clap beat during the bass jam of Sean Michael Ray who, fanned flirtatiously by Norris Jones as he heated up the set, passed the baton to Baldwin on drums. The fourth tune settled down the pace with a breezy O'Neal saxophone and Jones jazz vocal instrumentation.
Next please welcome the distinguished Richard Moten on upright who entered into an echoing improvisational bass duel with Sean Michael Ray. Moten's Cheshire cat grin conveyed the love of a mischievous father-figure who would teach a thing or two to the young Ray upstart. The two ended as friends as the whole band collided into the Miles Davis "Jean Pierre" number. Again, our Rector reveled and rejoiced!
Caravan included Kelly O'Neal's soprano saxophone, Norris Jones on guitar, and an astonishing hand-tapped drum beat on the upright bass by Richard Moten, reminding us that the upright bass is a percussion instrument.
Next please welcome the beautiful CC Phillips who soulfully sang Just the Way you Look Tonight followed by Caught Up in the Rapture of Love. A wild saxophone bridge displayed how Jesus "lets our love fly free." Yes, "I want you in my life fulltime!" Her boundless voice also treated us with At Last coupled with a special Pezant piano bridge.
The main quartet gathered themselves in three or four numbers, including the classic jazz number Take Five made famous by Dave Brubeck. At a restful pause, Norris Jones tinkled out Jesus Loves Me on the electric guitar that warmed the way for an astonishing Falling in Love with Jesus vocal.
Our Rector Rich Webster led the jazz-loving congregation in reading of Psalm 139 that was segmented between verses with jazz improvisation. Following a soft light-filled jazz number, the band broke into an up-tempo When The Saints Come Marching In and the crowd erupted into a spontaneous praise-God parade. Jones held an infinite perfect vocal note in the next vocal-piano duet. The group ended with a wonderful tune from Stevie Wonder's Songs from the Key of Life and a heart-felt James Taylor How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You.
Indeed, how sweet it is to be loved by You, dear Jesus, and how very sweet it is to be loved by you - all of you members and guests of Top Secret. Your music is a generous gift that you have given your family at Saint Luke's for the third year, and we pray for many more years to come. Thank you!
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