Transitions
Deaths
August 1, 2009
mother of Leslie (Blevins) Naff and grandmother of Holden, Ellie, and Margot Naff.
Thomas Barnett DeRamus Jr.
August 4, 2009
father of Elizabeth (David) Crommelin and Sterling (Lesley) DeRamus and grandfather of David, Carolyn, Quentin, and Elizabeth Anne Crommelin and Mary Eleanor and Sterling DeRamus Jr.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
__________________
Sunday Lectionary Readings
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August 16
Eleventh Sunday
After Pentecost, Year B
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever.
Amen.
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Clergy Commentary
By the Rev. Rebecca DeBow
I have a friend, another priest, named Peter Horn. Once we were preparing for a pre-marital counseling seminar. Peter said, "I'm going to tell everyone how never to fall out of love." I asked him, "Do you know how to do that? He said, "Sure. It's simple. Being 'in love' is a myth. Love is work. You can't fall out of love if you come to understand you were never in love."
We are seductive. But if you hang around here long enough, you'll find we have all the problems lovers have. We love well and we love poorly, so poorly we hurt each other. Now and then, when people discover the fallible, broken parts of us, they leave.
I'm a finished product. I'm 53 years old and I'm done. Poke me with a fork. I have graduated from the school of love and there's nothing more to learn. Are you a finished product too? You know all about loving, right? Imagining that we're finished, fully capable of loving, causes us much pain. It's hard to forgive others and it's hard to forgiver ourselves for failing to love. We think we ought to know better. But we're not finished. We're all still learning. Church is a great school for love because if you show up here, you're bound to bump into other people.
In Christian community we are invited into the life of the Trinity. We're invited into that circle of Father, Son and Spirit endlessly loving each other and us. I know we'll go there when we die, but in the meantime, living in community is the next best thing. Except when it's not.
He says we'd get along so much better if we could just remember that every one of us is fallible and broken.
Learning how to love is our lifelong task, and church is good place to practice. It helps me to think that here in church we're all students in the school of love and most of us are nowhere near graduation. I'd say we're in kindergarten or first grade. I'm not sure I'm that far along.
How can we learn to love the way Jesus loves? Isn't it astonishing that he would call us friends? That's what he said to his disciples, "I no longer call you servants, but friends." It takes time to make a friend. When Jesus said, there's no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends, I don't think he was just talking about the ultimate sacrifice, like a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save his comrades. I think he was also talking about giving our lives a little at a time. We're spending our lives, pouring them out, in every moment. The question is what are we spending them on?
John Ortberg says, for some of us, achievement has become an idol. Winning, accomplishing, succeeding, and getting take up a lot of our time. But if we fail at relationships, can we have a good life? On the other hand, if we cultivate real relationships, if we work at learning how to love, can we have a bad life? Making friends to laugh with, cry with, learn with, dance with, serve with, pray with, live, love and grow old with-that is a magnificent life. If I could pour out my life like that, I'd have no regrets.
I'm very grateful that I get to practice the work of loving with you. As painful as human relationships can be, God wants to give us beautiful gifts through them. You show me the face of Christ. It helps me to remember, when we bump into each other, we bump into Jesus too. Jesus is the one who lays down his life for us, so our sins and even our sinful nature are forgiven and we will live forever as his friends.
Clergy Commentary is a weekly feature on our Saint Luke's web where our clergy express their thoughts about a variety of topics, spiritual issues, current events, books, films, and more. Go to www.saint-lukes.com and click on CLERGY COMMENTARY. A new commentary is posted every Monday. |
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Following the 10:30 service,
all are invited to Graham Hall for
a picnic style luncheon
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Mark Your Calendars!
September 13
Sunday School Begins!
Classes for all ages, 9:15 am to 10:15 am
September 16
Wednesday Night Supper & Programs
Supper - 5:30 pm
Programs for all ages - 6:30 pm
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Adult Sunday School
Begins September 13 9:15 to 10:15
Fall 2009
Theme: Meeting Jesus
Meeting Jesus: Our First Stop on the Continuum of Discipleship
September 13, 20 and 27, 2009
We will kick off our Adult fall Sunday School schedule with a three-part series in the nave titled, "Meeting Jesus." In this class the Rector will re-introduce the "Continuum of Discipleship" as a teaching method and road map for Saint Luke's. We'll begin to explore that continuum in depth by focusing of the first leg of the journey and the implications for meeting Jesus in our own lives. The Nave, The Rev. Rich Webster.
Newcomers class:
October 4 -December 6, 2009
This ongoing class will be taught in a repeating, three part cycle, and will be available to anyone wishing to learn more about Saint Luke's and our various ministries. Classes will focus on 1) the Episcopal Church, 2) Saint Luke's and 3) finding a ministry. The goal is to help to assimilate and educate newcomers, casual visitors, and those considering a deeper commitment, such as confirmation.
The Tilson Room, The Rev. Rich Webster
Studying Our Sunday Scriptures
October 4 -December 6, 2009
Using a lecture/discussion format, Father Steve relates Sunday readings to their place in the themes of the season of the church year and to everyday Christian living. Discover how the Scriptures of the day reflect on each other and explore their historical context. Room 225, The Rev. Steve DeGweck.
Faithful Parents Raising Faithful Children, II,
October 4 -December 6, 2009
With help from psychologists, Barbara Johnson and Dale Wisely, find help and inspiration to strengthen your parenting skills through lectures: Childhood Temperament and Goodness of Fit; Parenting Myths; Parenting Styles and Methods of Discipline; Sibling Issues; Ways to Resolve Conflict; Teen Years-Living with Paradox; Cell Phone Use; Driving Contracts; Developing a Relationship with Your Teen. Experienced parents will share their joys and sorrows with their children and describe how they taught their children about faith. We plan to publish a schedule so that participants will know when the topic is relevant to their parenting situation.
Room 232, The Rev. Chris Girata.
People on a Journey, Meeting Jesus in Prayer,
October 4 -December 6, 2009
Guests will share their stories of experiencing Jesus' presence in prayer. Expect to learn new prayer methods and find inspiration to strengthen your prayer discipline. Room 212, Tina Darnall, Tina Tynes, Rob Waudby, and Rebecca DeBow.
Living the Questions
October 4 -December 6, 2009
Living the Questions is a video/ discussion series intended as an alternative to studies that supply all the answers; instead it sees faith as a journey. Facilitators with the help of videos and a directed discussion will create an environment where participants explore faith as a personal journey relevant to lives in the 21st century. As course materials suggest "it hopes to expose people to the ideas and concepts that have been taught and discussed for generations in our seminaries, but don't usually get discussed in churches." Living the Questions is for those yearning for something more than the shallow platitudes that often pass for theology. It's for those who want a class that encourages questions and dialogue. The class explores the best of modern theological thought in an open, accepting environment that invites people to share their thoughts and experiences safely. Each film segment is self contained and deals with an important aspect of our faith journey. Theologians such as Borg, Brueggeman, Crossan, Fox, Kung, and others, offer their thoughts on a range of topics from reading the Bible, the life of Jesus, Paul's message, the Rapture, social justice, the reality of evil, prayer, the meaning of kingdom, etc. Founders Room, Mark LaGory, Victor Darley-Usmar, Chris Heckemeyer, and Sandra Watson.
Inquirers' Class
Begins November 1
Are you interested in being confirmed or received as an Episcopalian? Taught by the Rev. Richmond Webster, the Inquirers' Classes will meet on the following dates:
Sundays, November 1 and 8, 9:30 am to 10:15 am; Chapel
Wednesdays, November 4 and 11, 6:30 pm; Room 232
Sunday, November 15,
Instructed Eucharist and Dinner 6:00 pm. Claypool Commons
Confirmation Sunday is December 6.
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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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Do You Enjoy Walking Dogs
or
Grocery Shopping? 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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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 under OUTREACH SPOTLIGHT
to learn more about this ministry .
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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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Outreach Spotlight
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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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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