​I am sharing a recent message from the CEO of VEAP: 
With warmer days ahead of us, VEAP is pleased to officially kick off our annual springtime March Food and Funds Drive!
This statewide campaign, convened by Minnesota FoodShare, is the largest grassroots food and fund drive in the state, bringing together community organizations, businesses, and faith communities to help stock nearly 300 food shelves.
VEAP is grateful to have experienced an unprecedented level of support in ensuring we have basic food staples in our pantry, but there are many items we cannot easily procure.
Financial contributions allow us to respond the most flexibly to changing needs. Every $30 donated allows us to feed an individual for an entire month (a total of 90 meals!). Please consider supporting VEAP at this critical drive.
Thank you and best wishes for a warm spring!
Joe McDonald
CEO
How can you help?  Three ways to help provide donated items, financial donations and volunteering.  For financial donation and or volunteering opportunities, please visit their website:  https://veap.org/donate/
Presently, the items they need the most include:

• Baking essentials (flour, sugar, cooking oil, etc.)
• Birthday items for our young visitors (cake mixes, frosting, candles, etc.)
• Laundry detergent
• Personal care and household items: shampoo, toothpaste, soap, shaving cream, toiletries, etc.
• Paper products: toilet paper, paper towels, napkins
• Gluten-free products (whole grains like brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, cornmeal; nut flours and butters; rice crackers, GF snacks, etc. Check for gluten-free product label.)
• Whole grain cereal (like Shredded Wheat, Kashi, bran cereals, Chex, etc.)
• Paper bags (We will always take your extra paper grocery bags. We are not accepting plastic bag donations).

You can bring these and other non-perishable food items to church during normal business hours: 
Tuesday - Thursday   8:30 AM - 4:30 PM or on Sunday during either the 8:30 am or 10:00 am service time.  In addition, any Saturday through the month of March, you can have your donations picked up at your home between 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm, by Craig Brandt and Roger Lyson.  To arrange for a pick up either email Craig at craigbrandt_9@msn.com or call him at 612-799-7561 or call the Church Office at 952-881-5801 
 
Blessings,
Pat Cavanaugh

On February 23, 1923, the charter was signed and a fifth congregation began to serve the area. St. Luke's English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oxboro became the first Lutheran church in a community that today has fifteen Lutheran congregations.

Through the years many things have changed except for one thing, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. This is the promise - we celebrate the past, live our mission in the present, with an enduring hope for the future. During our 95th Anniversary we invited people to share their history...

What drew you to St. Luke's
Preschool
Friends, Family, Neighbors invited us
Born and raised. Our Family Church
It was the favorite of all we visited
Baptism
Marriage
Friendly Congregation
The Pastors
The Youth Program
The Music
The People
What do you like most about St. Luke's
God fills my pores
Family
Belonging
Community
Friends
Music
Mission and Outreach
Feels like home
Wonderful people
Sharing Christ with others
Kindness Shared, Caring Community

 
For all of this and more we celebrate, giving thanks to God!
If you are interested in being a part of the planning team for the Century Celebration, please contact Barb Roberts: barbhigleyroberts@gmail.com
 
More pictures from the 95th Anniversary Celebration
​
Blessings,
Pastor Rob Norris-Weber

The season of Lent this year has new and unique significance. It marks a year since we began our new, more distant way of life and church. This year, we have had the luxury of time to plan, and are offering a variety of worship experiences. On Ash Wednesday, we enter into the season of Lent by taking a contemplative turn, offering our hearts to God again, and turning with Jesus toward Jerusalem. There are three options available for the Imposition of Ashes and Communion. We will be holding in-person and livestreamed worship at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM. If you’d like to worship at home, but receive ashes from a member of the pastoral staff, drive-through ashes will be offered from 10:00-10:30 AM and 6:00-6:30 PM. You can pick up a communion kit at that time, as well. If you’d like to worship from home, and are comfortable offering ashes to yourself or your household member, at-home ash and communion kits are available for pickup or delivery. If you would like an at-home ash and communion kit, please fill out this form or call the church office at (952) 881-5801. 
 
On Sundays (starting February 21st,) we will be moving to two services, both in-person and livestreamed. They will look similar to one another, with the exception of the music we use to worship:  
8:30AM - with hymns and organ music
10:00AM -with band and praise music
 
And, finally, on Wednesdays between February 24th and March 24th, we will offer two worship services. At 11:00AM will be a Service of the Word, both in-person and livestreamed. At 7:00PM, we will premiere our beloved Holden Evening Prayer, which will have been pre-recorded. We know how much everyone loves singing along with Holden, so we wanted to make it a beautiful experience for all of us to worship together at home. Our singers will record, unmasked, from home, and our lectors and preachers will also record from home. This will be a beautiful, intimate reminder that we can all worship together from home. 

Vicar Stephanie Luedtke

“Let the children come to me, do not hinder them.” – Jesus
Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage (EGO) follows Jesus command and lives out the St. Luke’s Mission as it cares for the children of Haiti – “A welcoming and growing community of faith, busy making Christ known to the world.” EGO has been a mission outreach partner of St. Luke’s for many years.  If you do not know much about this organization you are not alone.  Here is a little more about them.  This is their story:
In 1970, Don and Doris Peavey answered God's call to serve as missionaries. Along with their four children, they moved to Dessalines, Haiti, where they built Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage.
They chose the name Ebenezer from the Bible verse, 1 Samuel 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone...he named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

With the Lord's help, Don and Doris have enjoyed watching the children grow spiritually, academically, emotionally and physically into adulthood. They have taught many of the children to sing, play musical instruments and conduct gospel services. They have provided training and education, and some of EGO’s children are now nurses, accountants, administrators, computer operators, pastors, teachers and worship leaders. God has always provided what Don and Doris needed for ministry, just as He promised so many years ago; including leadership succession.

In 2012 Ken & Marla Drowley moved to Haiti with their two children to continue the work that Don & Doris had faithfully started. Under their leadership EGO continues to focus on sharing the Gospel of Christ through both word and deed in ways that are applicable to the needs of the Haitian people. Their primary ministry is through orphan care to the 71 children who call EGO home. These infants and children were placed in their care through Haitian Social Services because of deceased family members, parental abuse, neglect, and special medical needs. Ken & Marla serve as on-site directors and handle the day to day operations. They and their team focus on the long term needs of the kids and work to ensure that they have the education and training they need to become independent responsible adults who can contribute to their own communities when they are grown. They also serve the community by providing family support through food, formula, and tuition assistance programs, as well as medical care, elementary and high school education, vocational training, and spiritual development.

How can you help EGO continue their work?  Two ways, financial donations and donated items.  Both of these ways can be found on their website: Home Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage (https://ebenezerglennorphanage.org).

To make a financial donation click on DONATE in the upper right of their main website.

To donate items from their wish list, click on “Get Involved” and then “Donate Items” for their “Gift Registry” (Click HERE or copy and paste for the registry (https://ebenezerglennorphanage.org/donate-items).  Items are purchased through Walmart. Please follow all shipping information found on the website.

In addition to these two, there are also children & student sponsorships and onsite volunteer opportunities. Please explore the website to learn more about our mission partner.

Thank you for any contributions and for your prayers,
Pat Cavanaugh
Council Representative for Missions

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.
​
God Bless,
Larry Nelson, President
M: (612) 599-5240

E: lnelsonic@gmail.com