We Need Your Donated Items for

The Ninth Annual

Birmingham Hospitality Network (BHN) Auction!

JULIET's will go out to eat on Thursday, July 29 to Arlington Antebellum Home. Lunches are only offered on Thursdays in the summer, so please take advantage of this opportunity. We'll leave the church parking lot at 11:00 am.  Reservations are needed by Tuesday, July 27. Contact Jeanna (jspeegle@saint-luke.com or 802-6218).

Thank You from St George's!

SPAFER Presents The 17th Mid-South Lecture Series Featuring

Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor

Body & Soul: What the Body Knows About God

September 24 & September 25 - St. Stephen's Episcopal Church

Go to www.spafer.org for ticket information or to learn more. 

This month, our concern for spiritual wellness turns to growth. Is there evidence of grace growing in my life? Am I growing closer to God and seeing more of the fruits of the Spirit in my life? In short, am I making any progress in my Christian journey? And how would I know?

Spiritual growth is a deeply personal, individual thing. It takes different shapes and forms, and looks different from one person to the next. For you, spiritual growth may be increasing your commitment to solitude and prayer each day, and finding that your experience of fellowship with the Lord grows richer and more important to you with the passing of time. For others, spiritual growth may mean greater devotion to works of mercy and justice, giving more of one's self to serving the sick, the lonely, the poor, the physically or emotionally challenged, etc, and experiencing a deeper, more apparent connection between such works and one's worship and prayer life. For me, spiritual growth may mean increasing in my love and sensitivity to the hurts, fears, and troubles of those around me, having greater compassion in my heart and more willingness to be a supportive, caring presence to troubled souls I encounter. Or perhaps spiritual growth for you is a new hunger for delving into and drinking deeply from God's Word, and a new commitment to study the scriptures and other Christian literature. Any and all of this, and so much more, can be called spiritual growth, or growth in grace, because through his Holy Spirit, God's grace touches us in all these many varied ways, allowing us to grow in Christian maturity, spiritual discipline, and faithful discipleship.

My challenge to you is to find a path to spiritual growth that speaks to you, motivates you, and honors your own unique gifts. The important thing is not the precise how of our spiritual growth, but that we are growing. Mind you, I'm not speaking of other-worldly piety here, or about earning God's favor by becoming "super-Christians." We are loved by God just as we are, never doubt that. However, the Holy Spirit will never leave us in the same spot, if we will just cooperate with him. The Spirit's work is to re-create us more and more into the image of Christ. Once he comes to live in us, he begins to move out into every area of our minds and hearts. He is never finished with us!

Plant an acorn in the ground, and if external conditions are favorable, you'll one day have a great oak tree. Unlike acorns, we can choose to inhibit or enable our own spiritual growth. We cannot make it happen on our own (after all, it's the Spirit's work, not ours), but we can take positive steps to allow spiritual growth to take place. So how do we open ourselves to allow the Spirit to dohis work?

1. There can be no genuine spiritual growth without prayer. We need a working, conversational relationship with God. Do you treat God like your doctor, only consulting him when you have a problem or need a prescription? Learn to use prayer as an instrument of faith, a mode of regular conversation, rather than as a salve for conscience or a plea in emergencies. Instead of praying out of duty, talk with God out of love for his goodness and for the life he's given you. Be willing to be yourself with God, open and transparent. God knows everything about you, and loves you anyway! Share your heart with him, happy and sad, good and bad. Let him guide you in knowledge and understanding. Talk to him as you would a friend, and do it often.
2. Take stock of yourself, your interests and goals in life, and talk them over with God. You may want to make some time to share the same things with one of your priests. Ask yourself: what am I really living for? Do I have goals and objectives and deep commitments, or am I just rocking along? Do my words about what is important to me match up with the ways I'm spending my time, talents, and resources? Spiritual peace with God comes from integrity of personhood, of a clear consistent integration of what I say, what I do, what I believe, and who I am.
3. Ask yourself: would Jesus endorse my goals, values, and lifestyle? Am I doing and living what I sincerely believe to be godly and right? Do I need to make changes? Have I asked God to show me new ways of honoring him in my life?

The Spirit can and will work in your life, and you'll see growth if you pay attention to the above and faithfully participate in the life, worship, study, and fellowship of your church family. God wants to help you to grow in grace, to be a more active disciple and a brighter witness to the love of God in Christ. Romans 8:6 tells us "To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Cultivate a grateful heart, a prayerful spirit, and a compassionate nature, and a rich new life of fellowship with God awaits you. To quote the Psalmist, "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree; they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God."

Saint Luke's Episcopal Church recently awarded Girls Incorporated® of Central Alabama $2,000.00 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 through 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 the costs for health care, formula, childcare, and other general necessities. The overall goal of BABY R is to delay early sexual activity among adolescents and reduce the growing number of teen pregnancies in our community.

The program is open to youth ages twelve years through eighteen years 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 at (205) 599-5549 or ljackson@girlsinccentral-al.org. Click here for the website of Girls Inc. of Central Alabama.