Transitions
Deaths
July 29, 2009
father of Sellers and
Henry Shook Jr.
Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
______________________
Births
Olivia Grace Short
May 10, 2009
daughter of Kate and Roland Short III,
and grandson of Bethy and Roland Short Jr.
As she grow in age, may she also grow in grace and
in the knowledge of
her Savior Jesus Christ.
__________________
Sunday Lectionary Readings
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August 9
Tenth Sunday
After Pentecost, Year B
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Following the 10:30 service,
all are invited to Graham Hall for
a picnic style luncheon
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Save Items for
55th Place Ingathering
Our First Friday ingathering for 55th Place will be here before we know it! As you clean out shelves and closets to prepare for the school year, think about donating items no longer needed to 55th Place. On Friday, October 2, Saint Luke's will serve as a collection drop-off and accept used household items, linens, small appliances, small furniture, kitchen items, clothing, and more. Volunteers will be stationed at the porte-cochere to help remove donation items from your car between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. All you need to do is gather your items and drive to the church! 55th Place is one of our Saint Luke's outreach ministries, and proceeds go to help the needy in Birmingham.
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Christian Medical Ministries
of Alabama
Golf Classic & Walk Event
August 14
To be a sponsor in this event, please mail your check to Christian Medical Ministries of Alabama, 400 Office Park Drive, Suite 210, Birmingham, Alabama 35223. You can pay online by visiting www.cmmauab.org, and clicking the "Donate" button. Please visit the site for some examples of the work being done by CMMA. You also may drop off a check at the church in Barbara Vandergriff's office on second floor. Please make your check payable to "Christian Medical Ministries of Alabama." For more information, please contact Hans Watford at keeper1@mindspring.com
See article below to learn more about this ministry.
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Christian Medical Ministries
of Alabama
Christian Medical Ministries of Alabama (CMMA) has been sponsored by Saint Luke's Outreach for nearly ten years in support of its efforts to counsel, mentor, minister to and encourage medical and dental students, residents, and fellow physicians. This non-denominational organization has two full-time ordained ministers and dozens of lay people like myself who volunteer their time and money to help fellow physicians experience the healing love and support that Christ wants for all of us. I've long said that Medical training can beat the humanity out of you, if you let it. And all too often, I've witnessed wonderfully altruistic students come through years of difficult, sleep-deprived training only to become someone their friends and spouses would hardly recognize. There's also the ever-present drumbeat of science trying to explain all of life's meaning by leaving God out of the equation. CMMA nourishes a better way.
In my own spiritual journey I've witnessed first hand the living Christ heal and transform lives through CMMA. It is such an amazing experience that you just can't keep that kind of news to yourself. And when Christ is working, the work just grows.
CMMA needs your help to continue to touch the over 200 students and physicians it sees EACH week, in sponsoring lunch talks at the med school, dinner praise and worship gatherings for married couples on Monday nights, the same for singles on Tuesday nights, not to mention private counseling, countless small group meetings, plus special retreats and mission trips. Multiply those numbers by the twenty-seven years that CMMA has been at work in Birmingham, and you can begin to glimpse the impact the organization has had as these future healers touch countless others in their roles as physicians.
Several members of Saint Luke's are trying to raise money to support
CMMA in its upcoming Golf and Walk fundraiser on August 14. I am asking if you would join me as a financial donor. All donations are tax deductible. Please note that CMMA is audited independently each year. To be a sponsor in this event, please mail your check to Christian Medical Ministries of Alabama, 400 Office Park Drive, Suite 210 Birmingham, Alabama 35223. You can pay online by visiting www.cmmauab.org, and clicking the "Donate" button. Please visit the site for some examples of the work being done by CMMA. You also may drop off a check at the church in Barbara Vandergriff's office on second floor. Please make your check payable to "Christian Medical Ministries of Alabama."
Thank you in advance for your support and prayers,
Hans Watford MD
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Attention Medical Personnel!
Any Used Stethoscopes?
Grace Episcopal Church's AIDS Outreach Committee and UAB's continuing medical mission to Zambia and Haiti are collecting used stethoscopes to help outfit nurses who are battling twin epidemics of AIDS and tuberculosis. Nurses in these countries work long hours for little pay and often cannot afford to buy their own stethoscopes, so they work without them. If you have a working used stethoscope, please place it in the box in the Saint Luke's library marked STETHOSCOPES, located to the left of the desk. For more information, please call Sandie Keith (970-6329).
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Children's Ministries
Volunteers Needed For Rotation
The Children's Ministry still needs volunteers to help with Rotation Sunday School this coming school year. Rotation is for children in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th grades and is a great volunteer opportunity for any age adult. You will only be needed for four weeks. If you are interested, please contact Emily Boles (802-6211 or eboles@saint-luke.com).
Items Needed for the Level II Atrium:
· Lamps
· Rugs (a large rug would be nice, there is no carpet in the room we are in)
· 2 coffee tables
· 1 or 2 end tables
· Red and black felt-tip pins
· Pencil holders
· Nice file holder for the children's work
· Pencils
· Clip boards
· Small three ring binders for the children to work on their own missal. (I would need to give someone the exact size if they would like to donate these.)
· Old Christmas cards with pictures from the infancy narratives
· Calligraphy paper and pens
· several plants
· sacred art to hang on the walls
· a seamstress to make some burlap "curtains" to cover open shelves, and a fair linen
· Bibles NRSV or ESV ( I would to have around 10)
· Bibles in several different languages
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Adult Confirmation Classes
Begin In November
If you are interested in becoming a member of Saint Luke's or have an interest in learning more and/or refreshing yourself on the Episcopal Church, the upcoming Inquirers' Classes are for you. Attending does not mean that you are making a commitment; however, to be confirmed, you do need this series of classes. Classes will include topics such as Church History, The Book of Common Prayer, How the Bible Came to Be, Living the Christian Life, and Instructed Eucharist. The classes, taught by the Rev. Richmond Webster, Rector, also provide an avenue for asking questions about who we are as Episcopalians and members of Saint Luke's. Below are the dates for the classes:
Sundays, November 1 and 8, 9:30 am
Wednesdays, November 4 and 11, 6:30 pm.
Sunday, November 15,
Instructed Eucharist and Dinner 6:00 pm.
Confirmation Sunday, December 6
Mark these dates on your calendar. For more information, please contact Jeanna Speegle (jspeegle@saint-lukes.com or 802-6218).
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Saint Luke's Senior Adults
Celebrate 10th Years!
On July 28, our Saint Luke's seniors had a party to celebrate their 10th Anniversay, complete with music, great food, and special guests!
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Outreach Spotlight
Episcopal Place
Nestled among the homes, parks and businesses of Birmingham's Southside, Episcopal Place offers affordable, independent living for 146 residents. Our unique partnership between government, the faith community and the non-profit sector allows Episcopal Place to meet the needs of today's seniors and disabled adults who want to age at home and remain independent for as long as possible.
Life at Episcopal Place is designed for safe and simpler living among friendly and caring neighbors and staff. Our 141 apartments are rent-subsidized by HUD (Housing and Urban Development) to accommodate fixed income or low income residents who qualify.
Opened in 1980, Episcopal Place was founded by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama and nine founding parishes in the Birmingham area. The impetus for the building of Episcopal Place was an elderly Episcopalian woman who wrote to Bishop Furman Stough, saying she was no longer able to live by herself and had no place to go. Her plea echoed the plight of thousands of older adults on fixed or limited incomes who faced soaring rent and the inability to cope with the responsibilities of living alone.
Phase I of Episcopal Place opened in October, 1980 with 100 apartments, while Phase II was completed in November, 1995. In 1988, the Board of Trustees began to develop a unique Supportive Services Program to enable residents to age in place with dignity and prevent premature nursing home transfers.
Today, residents at Episcopal Place are more frail than ever before. Approximately 80% would easily qualify for assisted living, which costs on average 2,500 a month in Jefferson County. But with an average monthly income of $1,228 our residents can not afford that option. However, the Supportive Services Program helps keep residents active, independent and able to stay in their homes at Episcopal Place.
The Supportive Services program includes:
· Pastoral Care and Worship services, including monthly Eucharist and special worship services, memorial services for residents who pass away, prayer meetings and Bible study, pastoral care and grief counseling for residents and families; Coordination and blessing of our Christmas Gifts of Joy for families adopted by the residents and staff of Episcopal Place; visits to residents in the hospital or rehab centers
· Resident Transportation, including costs associated with our Ford Goshen lift van which carries residents to grocery stores, banks, the post office, cultural events and to other activities
· Hot and nourishing Noon Meals five days a week for residents who are too ill or frail to cook;
· Subsidized housekeeping which helps frail or at-risk residents afford light and heavy housekeeping tasks;
· Activity programs, such as monthly birthday parties, bingo, exercise and nutrition classes, trips to cultural and entertainment activities, arts and crafts activities and book clubs;
· Other services such as health screenings, education programs and weekly visits by a fresh produce truck.
Episcopal Place is blessed to have Saint Luke's Episcopal Church actively involved in providing services to residents. This year, Saint Luke's is funding our Pastoral Care Program and is providing partial funding for our handicapped-accessible van. Paula Pointer and Chad McGowan currently serve on our Board of Directors while Kathleen Cole is a faithful volunteer at our front desk. St. Luke's is a sponsor for our monthly birthday party program and members of the clergy help conduct worship services for residents.
The support of Saint Luke's is critical to the success of Episcopal Place and to our residents' ability to remain independent. We thank you for helping us to fulfill our important mission through your gifts of money and time.
Tim Blanton
Executive Director, Episcopal Place
Current Volunteer Needs
Right now, Episcopal Place is looking for volunteers to do grocery shopping and dog walking for elderly residents who are homebound due to illness or frailty. If interested, please call 939-0085.
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Stewardship of Creation
The Founding of the Center for Religion and Environment Signals a New Era of Green Thinking at Sewanee.
After years of growing cooperation, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Theology, and All Saints' Chapel have joined in a unique partnership to create the Sewanee Center for Religion and Environment. The new center has the opportunity to put the School of Theology in a leadership role in the Episcopal Church's development of environmental stewardship. "Major movements in theology and in our church liturgy have for a long time been encouraging us to pay a deeper attention to stewardship of what God has given us in the world," says School of Theology Dean, the Very Rev. William S. Stafford.
The University's Strategic Plan of commitment is to make Sewanee a model of environment education and sustainability, a commitment that has inspired Sewanee to begin a systematic examination of the way the University educates its students and interacts with the natural environment.
The new center will seek to "find a way to integrate faith, practice, and understanding of environmental issues for our students," says Dr. Robin Gottfried, the center's founding director and professor of economics. The larger goal, however, is to create a resource that will engage the University, the local community, the Episcopal Church, and other faith communities in a theologically grounded approach to environmentalism.
(From the Mountain, Summer 2009; Sewanee School of Theology)
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Did You Miss A Sermon?
Did you know that Sunday sermons are posted on our web? If you missed a Sunday or simply want to review what you heard, click here to read or hear a sermon.
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View Parish Photos Online!
Click here to view photos from Vacation Bible School, Confirmation Sunday, Day School events, PreSchool Partners, Palm Sunday, and more!
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Want to Know What's Going On
At the Church?
Click Here To See Saint Luke's Calendar of Meetings and Events.
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Now you can connect 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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