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St. Luke's 2021 Annual Meeting

1/26/2021

 
Annual Meeting
Sunday, January 31, 2021 - 10 AM

Due to the pandemic, the ELCA has authorized all congregations to hold a virtual annual meeting. St. Luke's is providing three ways to participate - online, by phone, or in person. The St. Luke's Constitution requires that a member must be present in the meeting to vote. There is a 75 member quorum needed. Please plan to attend.

We ask that if you have the capability of participating via Zoom (online or by phone) that you do so and reserve space in the Sanctuary for members who may not have that option. The majority of the Council Members will be participating via Zoom.

Zoom - The link and phone number will be provided in the Thursday Newsletter and will be on our website home page prior to the meeting. www.stlukesbloomington.org.

Sanctuary Attendance - Please contact the church office for reserved seating. (952) 881-5801.

The Annual Report was sent as an attachment to members we have email addresses on record. If you did not receive one in your email inbox please check your other email folders including junk mail. It was sent by Cheryl Thiele. Use her name to search your email folders.

If you cannot find it or did not receive one, please call the church office and we would be glad to email you a copy. If you would like a hard copy of the report, please stop by the church office Tuesday - Thursday between the hours of 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM. Reports will also be available Sunday morning at the main entrance starting at 8:15 AM.

To participate online or by phone follow the link or call the number provided. There will probably be a slight pause prior to being admitted into the meeting.

At the start of the meeting Vicar Stephanie Luedtke will give a brief tutorial on how to participate.

If more than one St Luke's member is viewing via your online device you will be asked to rename, listing names of all voting members present. You will be given instructions how this can be done.

During the meeting for privacy we will be voting via Survey Monkey. When voting on an item, a link to Survey Monkey will be provided on the screen. You will receive instruction how to participate including a test vote as part of our tutorial. Click on the link to begin the voting process. For each item voted upon there will be up to 5 voters listed. This is to allow more than one St Luke's member to vote on their online device. Most tablets, ipads, and smartphones will allow you to connect to Zoom and vote via Survey Monkey. If you do not have such a device or are using a landline you will need to receive a paper ballot. Please contact the church office or stop in to receive one. 

It has been my privilege to serve as president the past year. I look forward to our meeting. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me; call, text, or email.
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God Bless,
Larry Nelson, President
M: (612) 599-5240

E: lnelsonic@gmail.com

What’s up with the Sound?

1/19/2021

 
Sound Board Techs
Technology is a wonderful thing when it works.

Just this morning the ELCA Rostered Leaders were to gather virtually for an online meeting with Bishop Eaton. Stephanie and I tried to follow a link to join, but it didn’t work? Trouble shooting I tried to sign on to the ELCA Homepage – that too was not working. It soon became apparent that the meeting would not happen as planned.

Following this meeting, we attended the Bloomington Conference Rostered Leaders Meeting, which was rescheduled from its normal time to allow us all to attend the ELCA meeting. The moderator opened the meeting by asking how everyone was doing. Immediately one of the participants replied, “I’m frustrated, I planned my morning around the ELCA meeting and wasted 45 minutes.” Yes, technology is a wonderful thing when it works.

This past Sunday, St. Luke’s had technical difficulties. There was a problem with the sound for livestreaming. Our apologies. In the past we have also had upload issues as we attempt to live stream worship. However, we have not missed a worship. It has been posted on YouTube.com every week. In fact, since I have been here we have only missed worship once and that had nothing to do with technology – we were snowed in on Sunday, April 15, 2018.

I am thankful for all the people who have made it possible for St. Luke’s to continue to hold worship every week whether it was prerecorded, outside in our parking lot, live streamed, or uploaded following worship. What a gift. What a sacrifice.

The picture included for this blog shows four people trying to solve the issue. I give thanks for each one of them, members: David Johnson, Jon Sasseville, Paul Klein, along with Doug Klein from Intermedia Systems, the organization we have contracted with for live streaming. I give thanks to every member of St. Luke’s who volunteers their time, talent, and treasure to carry out our mission. Without each of us chipping in, supporting one another, offering grace and finding solutions when things need to be fixed where would we be? This is what it means to be church. May the grace of Jesus Christ be with you and shared with others.

Worship is so important at St. Luke’s we offer four ways to participate:
1. Live and in person – currently socially distanced.
2. Online through Facebook and/or YouTube either live streamed or uploaded.
3. Podcast on Soundcloud.
4. Message sent by mail to those members who are not online. 
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Thankfully the sound for our Soundcloud Podcast this week was not affected. You can hear the readings and message here:  https://www.stlukesbloomington.org/streaming.html
Ongoing prayers and blessings, Rob
rob@stlukesbloomington.org
952-881-5801 ext. 103

Who is Jesus?

1/12/2021

 
"The Real Face of Jesus... " Popular Mechanics Magazine
This is the question that the Gospels try to answer – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As a church we have started each year reading through a Gospel. This year we are reading Luke. The hope is that when you hear the Good News you will be filled with Joy and share it with all people.

“When the shepherds saw Jesus, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.” Luke 2:17-18

Have you made known what you have been told about this child? Were the people who heard it amazed by what you told them?
​
What have we heard about Jesus so far in the first 154 verses of Luke?

- He is the Son of the Most High
- Ancestor of David
- He will reign over the House of Jacob
- Of his kingdom there will be no end.
- He is Holy
- The Son of God
- Mighty Savior
- The Lord
- He will give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgivness of their sins.
- He will give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
- He will guide our feet into the way of peace.
- The Messiah
- The Lord
- A child laid in the manger
- First born to Joseph and Mary
- God’s salvation
- A Light for revelation to the Gentiles
- Glory for God’s people Israel
- Filled with wisdom and the favor of God upon him
- God’s Son the Beloved, of who God is well pleased.
This is just the beginning, Join us in the weeks and months ahead for there are still almost 1,000 verses to go.
Like his disciples we too are asked by Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20a)
How you answer makes all the difference.
 
Yours in Christ,
Rob Norris-Weber, Pastor
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
Bloomington MN

New Practices for a New Year

1/5/2021

 
2021
It's a new year, and it's a fairly good bet that 2021 will be better than 2020. The bar is low, after all. But, it's not going to happen without our help. How are we going to find God in all we do this year?  Will we each attempt to emulate Frank Laubach, who I quoted in last Sunday's sermon, "I am tak­ing, by delib­er­ate act of will, enough time from each hour to give God much thought?"  I wonder what it would mean for each of us to "give God much thought," and what tools we might use to help us do so. 

One set of tools I commend to you are the practices created by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Whether you commit to adding the Daily Examen into your days, or if you're looking for devotional resources, I recommend https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ as a great starting point. 

Our journey through the Gospel of Luke is another commitment that we can each make. As we explore this third gospel, we can ask ourselves how it is different from the others, and what God is saying to us through it. If you'd like some creative ways to engage with the gospel, I recommend you check out the Luke-Act video series at https://bibleproject.com/or the Gospel of Luke on the bookshelf at https://cartoonistbible.com/. 

If you would like to use the reading plan for worship, here is the link to the Gospel of Luke.
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Finally, our new year can start well with contemplation and reflection. Our next Book Group selection was chosen with this aim. The Painting Table by artist, author, and Episcopal minister Roger Hutchison is a process-oriented guide to written and artistic journaling through grief and healing. We will engage in the practices in the book together, and will support each other through the healing that can come in 2021. If you'd like to participate, you can get the book online. Our group meets at 4:45 PM, every other Thursday, beginning on January 14th. Find us on Zoom here. 

Happy New Year!

Vicar Stephanie Luedtke

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St. Luke's Lutheran Church
1701 West Old Shakopee Road Bloomington, MN 55431
952-881-5801 | office@stlukesbloomington.org
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