When I was asked to represent Stewardship on St. Luke’s Council, I thought “What?! I don’t know anything about stewardship.” The more I thought about it and prayed about it, I realized that I did know something about stewardship and I could support that ministry on Council. I think our lives are all about stewardship.
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We are stewards of God’s creation through our rain garden and taking care of our property.

We are stewards of our beautiful building by continuing to maintain and improve the property. This allows us to host events like voting and blood drives, VBS and Trunk or Treat, organizations like Learning Tree, Angelica Cantanti, and 12 step groups that use our building.

We steward our homes by taking care of them.​

We steward our time with work, volunteering, family activities, rest and relaxation.
St. Luke’s as a collective stewards of our time, our talents, and our money. Here’s a list of some but not all the things:

· Exodus Lending
· Wednesday night meal
· Volunteer and donate to Feed My Starving Children
· Fisher House
· Loaves and Fishes
· Meals on Wheels
· Make sandwiches for The Sandwich Project
· VEAP
· Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage
· Oasis for Youth donating clothing and monetary gifts.
· Knitting ministry
· Quilt recipients: Lutheran Social Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Lutheran Disaster Response
· Care Team visiting our homebound members
· and more…

I think it’s exciting to be part of a church that cares so much about the needs of others and are actually doing something about it!

Because of our online presence, anyone anywhere in the world can join us for worship and participate in many of these ministries.

So, here’s the deal. I hope you're feeling grateful for this amazing church. If you aren’t involved in some way, please get involved. You can help with property, Wednesday Night Church meals, Tech Team, and our many ministries, join the knitters, altar guild, oh! join me for stewardship!

We are encouraged to steward our resources. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, worried about saving for a child’s college or your retirement, a new car or down payment on a house, I invite you to attend the Financial Purpose class here in January. It’s just 4 sessions and we’ll learn how to become debt free, have savings for the future, and give cheerfully. It’s made a huge difference in my financial life and I’ll be glad to share with you how if you want to speak. It is transformational!

If you’re not currently giving to St. Luke’s, I invite you to start by giving $1 a day.

On Christ the King Sunday, November 23, during worship you will be invited to bring your 2026 Commitment Cards to the baptismal font. I look forward to you joining me, God bless.

We find that we now have an urgent need for at least 5 new Altar Guild members.  We are not the traditional women-only group as our current membership includes several couples.  Going forward, we are encouraging couples and families with confirmation-age children to serve St. Luke’s by preparing our altar area for weekly worship, communion, and holiday Sundays.
 
We have a core group of experienced members who are anxious to train and assist new members.
 
Although Altar Guild meets, as a group, once a month to review the past month and prepare for the next, only one person needs to represent each couple or family at the meetings.  The meetings are at 6:30 pm on the second Monday of the month, September through May. 
 
We work in teams and pride ourselves on being flexible, available, and helpful to each other.  We really need to increase our membership and know that you will find it a joyful and fulfilling way to serve our congregation.
 
In summary, St. Luke’s Altar Guild works together to care for the altar area and prepare for worship, including:

• Setting up communion
• Setting up for baptisms
• Changing paraments and flags according to the seasonal colors and celebrations
• Caring for altar linens and candles
• Ordering fresh flowers
• Decorating for Christmas and Easter

 
 
Please contact us with your interest, questions or concerns.  We would love to have you come to our next meeting and check us out.
 
Vi Rozek ([email protected]  952-393-2259)
Bette Gamboni ([email protected]   952-888-8317)

This Sunday we will remember those who have gone before us; those who have entered into the “Great Cloud of Witnesses” (Hebrews 12). We give thanks for their lives.

We share this belief each and every week when we pray the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in…the communion of saints.” The communion of saints includes all who place their hope in Jesus Christ – the living and the dead.

One of my favorite quotations is from Saint Teresa of Calcutta, ‘holiness is not the luxury of a few people, but a simple duty for you and me.’ We are all called to become saints, and we can accomplish that by striving to follow God’s commands and be united within God’s love. To be holy, to be a saint, means allowing God ‘to live Jesus’ life in us’ as Mother Teresa taught.”

Please join us this Sunday, November 1 at either or both worship times – 8:30 and 10:00 AM, when we will lift up those for whom we will celebrate their life and resurrection, from All Saints 2024 to All Saints 2025, here at St. Luke’s; both members and nonmembers alike.

We will say their name, show a picture, light a candle, and toll a bell for each one.
 
There will also be a candle table in the lobby for you to remember your loved ones.

As we remember those who have died, may we offer ongoing prayers and blessings for their family and friends:
 
Judy Dahlen, Rita Minsaas, Kathryn Nave, Laura Bodger, Gerald Boyle, John McWilliams, Karol Schmidt, Donald Kappers, and Nancy Dagen   
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Isaiah 58:10
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
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VEAP is experiencing an unprecedented need for pantry items due to ongoing inflationary pressures, the government shutdown and the anticipated loss of funding for SNAP benefits.   VEAP provides a critical service, serving over 250,000 people and distributing almost 5 million pounds of food each year.  VEAP is requesting non-perishable, unexpired items and/or monetary donations. Every dollar donated and every pound of food counts!  
 
Through the month of November, St. Luke’s will be collecting non-perishable food items.   Monetary donations may also be made along with your offering – just designate the funds to VEAP.  If you work for or are retired from a company that offers to match employee donations to 501c3 organizations, we encourage you to make a donation now.  A donation of $30 will feed an individual 3 meals a day for 30 days.

And at the Thanksgiving Eve Worship, Wednesday, November 26 at 7 PM, it is our hope that we can fill the chancel with a special food offering.

Blessings,
Bev Brosam
Missions
 

This Sunday we will gather like many protestant churches to remember the life and work of Theologian Reverend Martin Luther. Luther was influenced by Augustine (340–430) who emphasized the Bible rather than Church officials as the ultimate religious authority. He also believed that humans could not reach salvation by their own acts, but that only God’s grace made known through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection could offer salvation.​

This is the reason that baptism is welcomed at any age. It is not what we do, but what God has done. The theologian Karl Barth, when asked when he was saved, famously replied, "I was saved at 3 o'clock on a Friday afternoon, on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem, in the year 33 A.D.

It is fitting that on Reformation Sunday; three students will affirm their baptisms at the 10 AM Worship. I invite you to consider these promises today:

“You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:
…to live among God’s faithful people.
…to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper
…to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed.
…to serve all people following the example of Jesus.
…and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?

If so, please respond: ‘I do and I ask God to help and guide me.’”

This will be followed by an invitation to those gathered in worship,

“People of God, do you promise to support and pray for one another in your life in Christ?”

They will be invited to respond, “We do, and we ask God to help and guide us.”

In all of this let us prayer without ceasing:

“We give you thanks O God, that through water and the Holy Spirit, you give us new birth, cleanse us from sin, and raise us to eternal life. Stir up in your people the gift of your Holy Spirit; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever. Amen.

Also, don't forget...

Trunk or Treat
Sunday, October 26th

Join us on October 26th from 4:30-6:00pm for a safe and fun trick-or-treating event. Come in your costumes and trick-or-treat from trunk to trunk in our church parking lot.

We could always use more trunks! If you are interested in decorating your own trunk and participating in Trunk or Treat please contact Andrea Griner at [email protected]

The best decorated trunk will be the recipient of the St. Luke’s Trunk or Treat Traveling Trophy--The Golden Troll!

Come and enjoy cider, popcorn, and a bonfire! 

Saturday, October 18th
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Help make our congregational community event a success. There is something for everyone and you won't want to miss it! Bring the whole family and all your friends. We will have 3 Food Trucks here: Hasta La Pasta, Ironman Sandwiches and Hot Box Foods.
Local Artists will be presenting their…

• Olive wood items from the Holy Land
• Arts & crafts, dried flowers
• Quilts, rugs, table runners & hot pads
• Hand knit hats, mittens and scarves, crocheted items
• Purses, bags & soaps
• Cards & holiday wrap, decorations
• Stocking stuffers to fit every budget
• NorthStar Scrollers - scroll saw woodworking items
• Foozy Socks
• Dog and cat items
• Pillows
• Aprons
• Personalized clay ornaments
• Free standing lace items
• Clothesline Rope Bowls
• Fresh baked goods from a micro bakery & preserves & maple syrup
  

​Never too soon to shop for Christmas presents. Come and enjoy.

I am a firm believer in the old adage “‘tis better to give than to receive”, so when I was asked to serve on the St. Luke’s Foundation—essentially being a part of the Board whose job it was to consider requests for funds of charitably gifted money to share with other causes that support St. Luke’s ministry—I was in! Now, like any good Lutheran volunteer, I didn’t EXACTLY know what I was getting into when I said yes. That was about two and a half years ago and I am now writing to you as the President of the Foundation. (I guess this is where I recall another poignant adage: time flies when you’re having fun!)

In the spirit of continuing to have fun and be a good Lutheran volunteer, I am still learning what I am doing and working hard toward filling my predecessor, Patrick Lair’s, proverbial big shoes as President of the Foundation. I have the honor to serve with a great group of St. Luke’s Lutherans. We meet via Zoom and I always leave our meetings with a smile on my face. Our Foundation Board members include:

Paul Kopnik, Vice President
Al Buss, Treasurer
Helen Schatzlein, Secretary
Jana Cinnamon, Member-at-Large

The St. Luke’s Foundation was originally set up to establish and administer an endowment fund for the benefit of St. Luke’s and its congregation. We have two separate funds from which we are able to pull, one of which is specifically designated for requests for youth in middle and high school-aged their related requests. This fund (known as the PHASE fund) was generously set up by a St. Luke’s family in honor of a loved one.

The Foundation operates on 4% of the total funds’ value at the end of each calendar year. Funds can and have been carried over for use in future years. More information about the funds can be found on the St. Luke’s website.

In my relatively short time serving on the Foundation, we have funded a variety of requests ranging from lighting and computer upgrades at the church to funding scholarships for trips to summer camp, and even a food truck feeding the families of those who attended Vacation Bible School! We have been able to support the choir, the quilters, the staff, the youth and the building itself.

At a recent meeting, the Foundation was joined by our Regional Gift Planner from the ELCA Foundation, Joe Sullivan. Our time with Mr. Sullivan gave the St. Luke’s Foundation some insight into some greater opportunities for us to share our charitable giving beyond the scope in which we are currently doing. We also learned that Mr. Sullivan can provide guidance for the congregation and partner with individual members in different aspects of gift planning services. Look for more information about that in the future.

For now, know that we are grateful to those of you who have donated to the Foundation in the past, and those who continue to do so. We appreciate your generosity! Gifts to the donation often come from memorials, but must be designated to go specifically to the Foundation. We are also grateful to those who have submitted requests for funds. The Foundation application can be found on the church website or in the office.

As I finish writing to you on the eve of my first-born’s tenth birthday, I’m thinking of a bright future ahead, and not only for him, but for St. Luke’s and its ministry. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the St. Luke’s congregation as the President of the Foundation. I look forward to continuing to serve and the opportunity to be a good steward of the funds gifted to the St. Luke’s Foundation to support St. Luke’s ministry.

Jodi Murphy
​St. Luke's Foundation President

Joyce Jacobson made a confession to me one Sunday morning, “Rob, I like your sermons, but I really like watching all the children in the Prayground.”
 
My friend and collegue Pastor Heather Roth Johnson asked on Facebook,
 
“What are the best reasons for children, youth, and families to be in worship?”
 
She received about 40 answers. Here is how she summed up them up:

1. Train them up! “If you want to raise an adult, who doesn’t worship, raise a child who doesn’t worship. You can’t come back to a place you’ve never been.” – Rich Melheim. We do meet people who enter the church as adults. But I find that the people who return to church after a leave of absence went as a young children. In fact, the last funeral I did was for a woman who stepped away from the faith for 50 years. When she found out she was dying, a pastor was called in to speak God’s promises to her. “Train up a child in the way in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it. ” (Proverbs 22:6)
   
2. Body of Christ! “Children of God come in all ages.” – Betsy Hoium. Precisely right, and how quick we are to forget this. We are all children of God, and we are faithfully formed to love God and to love others. IMO, there is no such things as a “mature Christian” if we really believe we have everything we need to love God and love others. Plus, kids give “honest feedback!” – Jay Gamelin.
3. Not the Future! “Children aren’t “the future” of the church.  They are precisely the present.” – Natalie Hall. Kids are not miny adults. They are the church of today, but they learn differently through muscle memory, repetition, and movement. Adults make a promise when a baby is baptized to love them and be in faith with them. This means the congregation needs to learn as children do. “Because kids learn best by doing…” – Heather Hanson, or “Faith is caught, not taught!” – Janet Blake.
4. Kids will be kids. “Jesus said, ‘Let the children come!'” – Julie Miller. If kids belong to the kingdom of God, then they belong to the church. “The kingdom of God will be filled with wiggles, squiggles, and squirms.” – Beka Forst. Doesn’t this give the best image of the kingdom of God? We get to see this in our worship spaces, too. Kids giggle and poke, squirm and need room to move. Make sure you are paying attention to #5. Read below.
   
5. Space Matters.“Belong, behave, believe in that order.” – Rob Norris-Weber. First, we all want to belong, even kids, to something bigger than ourselves. Second, most people will love the kiddos in worship, but crying babies or tantrums are hard on the hearing. Create spaces inside and outside the sanctuary for parents to bring kiddos and can still be part of the service. Third, belief comes to us by the spirit and that happens when we gather. It’s full circle!
   
6. Church is Intergenerational. “Where do you gather regularly with people from all walks of life? Church! How rare is that in this time?” – Bonnie Wilcox. What a gift to the church to have 4-5 generations in the pews together. Use this gift, and let kids lead. “They ask the best questions.” -Michelle Basner-Ketepa, and “they interpret the stories in such different, and beautiful ways.” – Melissa Lee. 
7. Open to the Creative Process. People come to worship and expect it to be a certain way. But there is a creative process that can change things like music, storytelling, preaching, and the prayers. Kids being themselves remind adults how creative worship can be. – Katie Rode. When we let kids take ownership in worship, “they become leaders, and they become our teachers, and we learn so much from them.” – Kaydee Kirk.
   
8. Brain Development and Biblical Literacy: Worship is good for their brains! – Dawn Rundman. If you have never heard Dawn speak about baby brains, go to one of her workshops. She will teach you how music, conversation, tasting communion, and interacting with others will teach them about worship. It’s what sticks with them as the grow! “So they’ll start to “play church” at home, and you’ll hear how our rote words sound in their ears!” – Amy Truhe.
   
9. Feeling Welcomed. When you have kids and youth in worship and a new family shows up to visit, they can see themselves there. “The story it tells new families makes all the difference.” – Jared Randell. “Kids, when they know they are welcomed and valued as part of the community of faith, they learn that they belong. Church has a place for them.” – Beth Tobin.
   
10. Faith is Contagious. “They spontaneously clap at the organ (and other things)!” – Amy Truhe. Their spirits allow them to respond in ways adults believe are (sometimes) unacceptably. I grew up in an anti-clapping church, but we know that clapping can be a form of praised. So kids clap you hands, twirl and dance, and tap your feet. “Children and youth are just as much of the Holy Spirit as everybody else and they don’t squash it.” – Pam Marolla.

 
Would love to hear your answer:  Comment on the blog

“What are the best reasons for children, youth, and families to be in worship?”
 
 Much thanks to
heatherrothjohnson (sTORYBOARDINGCHURCH.COM)
September 7, 2023/ 

Love your Neighbor! St. Luke’s 2nd Annual Block Party
Saturday, September 20 from 4 – 7 PM.

Come have some fun, enjoy some good food and greet the neighbors. One of most asked questions I get is, “Why don’t more people come to church?”

Do you know what the number one reason a person attends a church for the first time – Because they were invited!

Read the Blog from September 2nd Click here to learn more...​

Love God and Yourself! Wednesday Church Nights begin on September 24.

Come get a mid-week Spiritual Recharge.

We have dinner ready for you, and you don’t have to do the dishes.

There are activities for all ages on Wednesday evenings; preschoolers to adults.

For those interested in Bells and Choir, no rushing home to make dinner, simply come and enjoy. For Choir it can be dinner, Bible study, and rehearsal.

Here’s the Timeline –

5:30 pm: Dinner-$3 each (suggested donation) Kids under 5 are free!
We invite entire families for $10/household

5:45 pm: Bells of Praise Rehearsal

6:00 pm: Preschooler and Parent, Children's Ministry, Confirmation (with high school peer leaders) and Adult Bible Study

7:00 pm: Choir Rehearsal

Block Party + Sunday Worship + Wednesday Church Night = A Great Week!

The early Church met frequently-often daily-for fellowship and teaching (Acts 2:42-47). By the modern period, many churches adopted Wednesday evenings as a practical, culturally recognized midweek time slot. This tradition is rooted in the broader biblical directive to “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25).