AN EDITION OF THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER

The United Methodist Reporter (USPS 954-500) is published weekly by UMR Communications, 1221 Profit Drive, Dallas Texas 75247-3919. Periodicals postage paid at Dallas Texas and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The United Methodist Reporter. PO Box 660275, Dallas, Texas 75266-0275.

Two Sections, Section A • 076510 • Vol. 157 • No. 26 • October 29, 2010

in this issue

Bless Friday Health Fair2 3 5 It takes 17 bags of mulch to cover our flower beds. 5 ½ for the front beds, and 11 ½ for the back beds. I do it

twice a year, on a very precise schedule—either the first or second Saturday after Dee says, “We need to mulch.” When she says this, she is using the “royal we,” because I am the one who does the actual spreading of mulch. Dee spends her energy at the more skilled labor: plant-ing some fall flowers, thinning the leaves on the bushes, and generally “cleaning things up” in the flowerbeds.

It really isn’t much, this twice-a-year work. It takes a few hours, once in the spring and once in the fall. And I sup-pose it makes a difference. But twice a year doesn’t really maintain landscaping. It takes mowing each week, and continuing to keep the lawn and flowers watered. And the most important part has to happen every single day: sunshine.

We might take a lesson from nature on the care and feed-ing of a soul. There are some things that have to be done every once in a while: a spiritual retreat; a hard look at the stewardship of your life-how you spend your time and money and talent. And there are some things that require weekly participation: a time of Sabbath; worship as part of the church community; and Bible study alongside other Christians. And there are some things, perhaps the most important things, which need to happen every day, perhaps even all the time: prayer; reading of Scripture; practicing mercy and justice; and consistently and persis-tently basking in the sunshine of God’s grace.

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church3471 Westheimer at Edloe

P.O. Box 22013, Houston, Texas 77227713-622-5710

www.stlukesmethodist.org

Maintenance

of the Soul

The 2011 Stewardship theme is “Standing on the Promises”– Promises that we have made to sup-

port our Church and all of the incredible things that it does that make it such an integral part of our lives. We are honored to be a part of this year’s campaign with Herminio and Miriam Aguila and Chuck and Pam Holm.

continued on page 2

Eternal Light: A Requiem

Day light savings time ends at 2 a.m. on November 7. Don’t forget to fall back one hour.

2 | Making a difference… | The City and World

outreachreaching out to our

community and the world

October 27, Assemble and wrap Seafarer’s Christmas boxes for crew members stationed at the Port of Houston during the holidays. Meet at 6 p.m. in the Parlor at the Gethsemane Campus. Contact Bob or Peggy Harrison at 713-771-5585.KIDS HOPE USA is seeking mentors for at-risk elementary school students attending HISD’s Sutton Elementary for the 2010-11 school year. To be a friend for one hour a week contact Marci Pampe, St. Luke’s KHUSA Sutton Director at 713-357-4466.Donations needed are: ladies shoe boxes, socks, hard candy, gum, toothpaste, toothbrushes, books, hats and Texas souvenirs. Drop off donations at the Gethsemane Parlor Kitchen or the Connection Center at the Westheimer Campus.Mentors of Hope encourage students with life goals by mentoring social skills or serving as a program volunteer over a 30-minute, weekly lunch at Hope Café on the Lee High School campus. Contact Sheila at 713-787-1767.Misión Milby Community Development Center needs volunteers to help refurbish its building. Please contact Pamela Scheyer at 713.869.9898 or pfscheyer@servantsnow.org.Christian Community Service Center’s Vision Care program needs volunteers to perform vision screenings during the school day. On-the-job training is provided and State certification is available at no charge. Please contact Jeni at 713-961-3993 x215 or seasonal@ccschouston.com.YoungLives ministry to teen and parenting moms is looking for mentors and volunteers. Please contact Courtney at younglives@gmail.com or 832-630-0296.Houston Food Bank: Natural disasters and the economic downturn have created a greater need for volunteers (ages 8 and up) to pack boxes and assist with food drives and special events. Register at www.houstonfoodbank.org or contact Matthew at 713-357-4466.

When we think back on the truly exceptional occurrences in our lives, our Church played a major role. Similarly, at our lowest points, our Church is there to comfort us and to help us cope. How blessed we are to have St. Luke’s in our lives.

But as much as we lean on St. Luke’s for support, St. Luke’s needs OUR commitment. It needs us to stand on our promises. STANDING ON THE PROMISES reminds us of our promise to support St. Luke’s through our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness. STANDING ON THE PROMISES represents our response to God’s covenant with us and the opportunity to reach out and grow our community of faith.

November 14 is earmarked as Commitment Sunday. It will be a celebration as we rise together recognizing all God has done for us and how valuable each of us is to Him. We hope that you received your commitment card and that you will com-plete it, mail it back right away or bring it with you on Sunday, placing it in one of the boxes throughout the church. And then, join us November 14 in celebrating and rededicating ourselves to this special place-our Church.

Sincerely,

What is Black Friday?

A new cultural name for the shopping day after Thanksgiving. Originally, it was the day that merchants finally saw black ink instead of red in their yearly profit numbers. Recently it has become the day when retail stores fling open their doors in the

pre-dawn hours to a crowd of anxious shoppers impatiently waiting for deeply discounted items that are sparse in reality to the number of shop-pers. The horrific shopping scenes have been seen on TV and YouTube. Employees are trampled in the milieu of consumerism, and shoppers engage in fist fights. It is ultimate consumerism at bargain prices!

What is Bless Friday? This same Friday after Thanksgiving was orga-nized as a symbolic way for Christians to signal to the world that Advent can start with a day of Christian service. Bless Friday is about values. It is a day of service, no matter how large or small. It is a day to celebrate the beginning of Advent. It is about serving others and gathering for fellow-ship.

You can come celebrate Bless Friday with your church family in Canterbury Hall at the Gethsemane Campus. If you have visiting family for the Thanksgiving holidays, bring them along with a covered dish for lunch. The gathering time will be from, 11-2 p.m. After lunch, blessing bags will be prepared and filled with non-perishable food and health items for distribution to the homeless.

It is a great opportunity to start the Advent season with a Bless Friday, a gathered fellowship of friends and family for preparing a bless-ing to those that we meet at the stop light or on the street corners. The details of the ”how to” of distribution will be available when we gather together on Bless Friday.

Donations of non-perishable food items, small health and hygiene items and money donations are welcome. Contact Mireya Ottaviano at mottaviano@stlukes-hou.org or go to www.blessfriday.org to help with the Bless Friday event.

Standing on the Promises St. Luke’s Stewardship emphasis for 2011

Let’s Change Black Friday to Bless Friday!

continued from cover

| 3Making a difference… | The City and World

I would like to introduce the Semana family to you. Alexis (Alex), Landrada, and their children Will-

Christal, Guerchom, and Martin. The Semanas are Methodists from the Ivory Coast. Alex, before their family moved to the U.S., was working on becoming a licensed United Methodist Pastor, a process that he hopes will continue here in the Texas Conference. Alex and Landrada moved to the Ivory Coast as Rwandan refugees. As refugees, they lived a marginalized life in Senegal, yet all around they could see glimmers of hope as the Methodist Church began to ordain its first pastors.

I celebrate this family’s faith, their deep joy that springs from their life in the Spirit, and the hope that drives them. Alex, in my conversations with him, always reminds me of why what we do as the church matters and why I have reason daily to give God thanks.

The Semanas also have some real and material needs. Needs that they would not mind me sharing- I’ve asked. Things like floor rugs, kitchenwares, lamps, bedding, a computer, wall hangings, more friends to visit with. I introduce this family to you so that if you feel moved to help them in any way, you can contact me. I also lift them up to say that there are many families within our congregation at St. Luke’s and in our community that God has and is drawing to us so that we might embrace them. I give God thanks for these gifts of relationship. I give God thanks for believing in our church community enough to present us with the challenges of care, nurture, and discipleship that we have been given.

In all this, my prayer is simple: “O Lord, help us to be faithful with the gifts we have been given. Amen.”

-Justin

Embracing: Families

Save the date, Saturday, November 13, for the Gethsemane Community Health Fair where health services such as flu shots, cholesterol

tests, blood pressure checks, informative discus-sions on topics such as nutrition, breast and pros-tate cancers, and more will be available in Canter-bury Hall from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Participants may enter prize drawings for grocery store gift certifi-cates and sporting event tickets, adding fun and excitement to the event.

The Gethsemane Community Health Fair is

being coordinated by St. Luke’s member Preston Boyer of Boy Scout Troop 55 as his Eagle Leader-ship Service Project. Preston chose the Gethsemane Community Health Fair to reach out to those who may not know such services exist, or are not able to afford them.

Donations are sought to reduce the costs of the health fair. Funds raised over the costs of the event will be turned over to the Christian Commu-nity Service Center (CCSC) to help replenish local food pantries such as the one at the Gethsemane Campus. Contact Gethsemane Campus Executive Director Robbie McDonough at (713) 357-4461 for details on how to donate.

Tuesday Book Group:

12:30 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Gethsemane Campus

ThanksgivingSharing Sunday, November 14

To Sign Up: email Justin Coleman at

jcoleman@stlukes-hou.org.

Health Fair At Gethsemane Campus November 13

Please join with Children’s Ministries and bring your grocery sack with donations of non-per-ishable food items to church on November 14

to help feed Houston’s hungry.Donations will be distributed by the Christian

Community Service Center (CCSC). Items needed are: cereal, peanut butter, macaroni & cheese, tuna canned soup, vegetables and fruit, packages of beans and rice.

Did you know?The combination of Natural Disasters and the

economic downturn has created a greater need for the Houston Food Bank to assist our partners in 13 counties.  

Over the past year the HFB has more than doubled in growth, providing over 137,000 meals weekly. The majority of this growth is minors and the working poor.

The HFB mission to end hunger is only possible through the generosity of individuals and organiza-tions. 

  Of the people helped by your donations: 94% are not homeless 47% are children and nearly half of the households include at least one working adult.

4 | Making a difference… | Relationships

caring ministries

Celebrating LivesCHANCEL CHOIR In Honor of the Marriage of: Jane Lewis & Don Wright by Edna & Bob Edgley

EDLOE WOODSHOP In Honor of: Roberta Howard by Barbara Focht Cheryl Tesch Bobbie Wisecup

FRIENDS OF MUSIC In Memory of: Gertrude Mary Miller “Queenie” Darnell by Alyce Lou & Vic Morris

GETHSEMANE MEMORIAL FUND In Memory of: M. D. Allyn by Dan & Carolyn Peterson

LIBRARY FUND In Memory of: John Wildenthal by Alyce Lou & Vic Morris

OUTREACH FOUNDATIONIn Memory of: Walt Silvus by Nancy Stephenson

ST. LUKE’S METHODIST CHURCH FOUNDATIONIn Memory of: Ola M. Bowman by Michael & Cindy Graves Benjamin Harold Burrow by Michael & Cindy Graves Mr. & Mrs. Gus Eifler

Bobby Sue Smith Cohn by Michael & Cindy Graves Willard Lee “Bill” Curtis by Gus & Jackie Browning James A. Elkins III by Louise & Mike Conway Robert N. Ross Sr. by Les & Linda Allison

UMW SCHOLARSHIP FUNDIn Memory of: Martha Tomek by United Methodist Women

Congratulations to:John and Michele Mitchell on the birth of twin sons, Mathew Coast Calhoun Mitchell and Marcus Crews Caldwell Mitchell, on May 6. Proud older brother is Sam Folb.Bill and Anne Sellis on the birth of their son, Benjamin John Sellis, on October 12. Proud older brother is James Sellis.Jane Marie Tisdale Lewis and

Donald Edgar Wright who were united in marriage on October 16.Ruth Mayer Johnson and Adam William Miller who were united in marriage on October 16.Kolby and Lisa Beich on the birth of their son, Robert Clawson Beich, on October 19. Proud older sister is Bentley Beich.Elizabeth Jill Forst and Justin Ronald Nations who were united in marriage on October 23.Heather Renee Jones and Owen Richard Torres who were united in marriage on October 23.Our Sympathy to:Family and friends of Helen Alberta Spore who died on September 18.Agnes Stanley on the death of her husband, Oliver Walton “Dub” Stanley, on October 2.Pam and Jimmy Erwin, Brittany and Robb Erwin on the death of Pam’s mother, Mary Belle Thompson, on October 10.Bob and Dona Chambers, Rob and Marji Chambers, Donald and CJ Chambers, Dina and Ryan Taaffe and David Chambers and their families on the death of Bob’s sister, Celeste Chambers Lipscomb, on October 12.Pam and Jim Humphrey, Lisa and Matt Oren, Emily and Hayden Oren on the death of Pam’s father, Charles Reginald Cleveland, on October 15.

If you know of a concern or a joy that the church should know about, please contact Caring Ministries at 713-402-5086 or -5156.

Are you or a loved one facing surgery or hospitalization? A crucial aspect of St. Luke’s Caring Ministry are the prayers we have with members prior to surgeries and during hospitalizations. Contact Karen Smith with details at 713-402-5086 or ksmith@stlukes-hou.org

We Care!

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him. Romans 15:13

As Christians, we are called to care and pray for one another.

Cares and Concerns:Methodist Hospital Betty Broyles-Pettey Evelyn Gallaway Bonnie MayorSt. Luke’s Hospital Roberta Howard

Recently DischargedWalter McCaineTom MeloMary Nelle MooreCarol Wolf

Seasonal Decorations for Advent are a beautiful enhancement to our worship experience. Your contribution to the Advent Flower Fund is a wonderful way to

remember or honor your loved ones.Contributions are welcome in any amount and will be acknowledged in the Sunday

Bulletin and in The Spire. To participate, please complete the form below and return it to the church office before Monday, December 6, 2010.

Seasonal Decorations for Advent at Westheimer Campus(Please Print)

In honor of:

In memory of:

Given by:

Donor’s Name:

Address:

City: Zip: Phone:

Email: Amount of Donation: $

Three StrandsNew Class for Committed Young Couples

Three Strands is a new Sunday School class for engaged and recently mar-ried couples in their mid 20s to early 30s. The name Three Strands refers to

Ecclesiastes 4:12, which says, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” The purpose of Three Strands is to create a Christ-centered community for the growing number of young couples who join St. Luke’s each week. To help us grow in our faith together, the class will be taught by more experienced couples who are willing to share their hearts and minds. Beginning October 31 the class will meet at 9:40 a.m. in Crossroads 101, located in the Crossroads Building across West Alabama from the St. Luke’s fields. Beyond Sunday mornings, Three Strands members will have opportunities to worship, socialize, and serve together.

| 5Making a difference… | Relationships

senior adults

A calendar of youth activities is available online at www.stlukesmethodist.org/programs/youth

Living Abundantly: Connecting-Growing-Serving Mainstreamers is a ministry by, with and for Senior Adults.

November 11, Mainstreamers Honoring Veterans Day with wartime

remembrances through stories, music, keepsakes and mementos. Bring your pictures and other keepsakes (ration books, letters and cards, souvenirs and things left from those years) to share. Bring your stories of your lives during the war years that we can tell one another. We will listen to some music of those times by Rob Landes. Dr. Tom Pace will offer a special message. All are invited to share memories and stories, to bring mementos for display and to join together in the fellowship of this special day of celebration. Lunch buffet at noon $10. Call Kathy Neely, 713-402-5139, for reservations by Tuesday, November 9.

November 18, Day Trip: 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Our Day Trip will take us to Baylor College of Medicine to visit the new Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum. Our docent will be Ruth Sorelle, longtime medical writer and authority on the history of the Texas Medical Center. After our tour we will have lunch at Danton’s Seafood on Montrose. $20. Please call Kathy Neely, 713-402-5139, for reservations.

December 9, Mainstreamer Day 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Rev. Nancy Kellond will be with us to present her very special one-woman portrayal of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Nancy, who many of you will remember from her time as a pastor here at St. Luke’s some years ago, is Senior Pastor at Klein UMC. We have a special musical treat planned as well. Our very own senior chorale group will entertain us with music and stories of the season. It will be a warm and wonderful day, topped off with a holiday buffet. $10. Call Kathy Neely, 713-402-5139, for reservations.

December 11: A.D. Players production of A Christmas Unwrapped. This A.D. Players holiday treat is a collection of holiday comedies by Jean-nette Clift George, where the audience selects which three of four touching and hilarious one-act plays will be performed each day. These holiday treats include a mix of characters who, in the end, all find friendship, joy and the true meaning of Christmas in the unlikeliest of circumstances. Lunch before at an area restaurant and tickets are limited, call now to reserve your place, 713-402-5139.

Warm Your Heart Project Mainstreamers is sponsoring an outreach project to provide Christmas gifts for low income, homebound seniors through the Food For Seniors program of Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston. Donations are being accepted to finance 500 baskets contain-ing fruit and other food items. $10 will provide one basket for one person, but donations in any amount are gratefully accepted. December 14 -15, volun-teers will gather in Fellowship Hall from 9 a.m.-noon to assemble the baskets and get them ready for pick up by Interfaith Ministries. This is a great time of fellowship and caring that you will want to be a part of… the more hands, the merrier! Come for the whole time or for any part of the time that suits your schedule.

youth activities

Eternal Light: A Requiem

On All Saints Sunday evening, Novem-ber 7, the Chancel Choir, Early Music Ensemble and orchestra of St. Luke’s will once again present the exceptional

piece, Eternal Light: A Requiem, composed by Howard Goodall. Commissioned in 2008, Eternal Light is a “fresh and unorthodox interpretation of the Requiem Mass,” in the sense that Goodall intended it to be a Requiem for the living.

Exquisitely beautiful, the ten movements incorporate traditional Latin texts, intertwined with hymns and secular poetry that most will recognize, such as John Newman’s “Lead Kindly Light” and John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.”

Howard Goodall is a well-known composer in England, where he is a prodigious writer of choral works and music for television, radio and theater. He’s been the recipient of over a dozen major international broadcast awards and is a tireless advocate for music education.

Mark your calendars to be in the Sanctuary at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday

evening, November 7, to savor this experience, and to celebrate and remember those who have gone before,

as the Chancel Choir, Early Music Ensemble and orchestra present How-ard Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem.

All are welcome; there is no charge for admission.

6 | Making a difference… | Relationships

New Members

Baptisms

Blaire Elizabeth Ludeke, daughter of Jason Ryan Lude-ke and Lynn Rentzel Ludeke, on October 17.

Ellison Joyce Taylor, daughter of Michael Alan Taylor and Michelle Milrany Taylor, on October 17.

Shelby Hamilton Cruse, daughter of Samuel William Cruse III and Ashley Lahour-cade Cruse, on October 24.

Abril Flores and Gustavo Felipe Flores, children of

Gustavo Helizeo Flores and Magdalena Estrada,

on October 24.

Not picturedPatricia Biller unites with St. Luke’s Gethsemane Campus by transfer from another United Methodist church. She is a member of the Challengers Class and joins her father,

Luther Todd, in the St. Luke’s membership.

Jeff and Sandy Murdock unite with our congre-gation by transfer from another denomination. Sandy is Vice President of Health System Operations at UTMB. Jeff is retired.

Tom and Betsy McCrary unite with St. Luke’s by transfer from another United Methodist church. Tom is in marketing and Betsy is a community volunteer and homemaker.

Melinda Hall joins St. Luke’s by transfer from another United Methodist church. She is a financial analyst with Citgo Petroleum Corporation.

Tony and Tiffanie Vil-lasana unite with our congregation, he by pro-fession of faith and she by transfer from another denomination. Tony is a self-employed landman and Tiffanie is a physi-cian assistant with Village Family Practice. They are members of the Compass Class.We welcome Bud, Darlene and Tori Thompson, who transfer to St. Luke’s from another United Meth-odist church. Bud is a self-employed physician/surgeon and Darlene is a Registered Nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital. Tori is a high school senior.

Magdalena Estrada and Gustavo Flores join our Gethsemane campus, she by profession of faith and baptism and he by profes-sion of faith. They are the parents of Abril Flores, age 6, and Gustavo Felipe Flores, age 5.

Tony Chavez joins our Gethsemane Campus by profession of faith and baptism.

Abe Carreon joins our Gethsemane Campus by profession of faith and baptism.

November Artist of the Month

Longtime St. Luke’s member Joe Eason returns to the Rotunda Gallery as our Artist of the Month for November. Just in time for some early Christmas shop-

ping, Joe has a beautiful exhibit of over 150 jewelry pieces: silver necklaces, pins, drops and earrings to share with his church family. His work is both contemporary and south-western in style, with an extra emphasis on the contemporary.

This year, Joe is especially excited about using some most interesting and outstanding fossil stones from Russia called “ammonite” in his pieces. Joe says that the ammonite is over 200 million years old, and that he is the only person in Texas who is showing pieces with these particular stones. They are a bit pricier than the usual pieces, but oh, so unusual!

Joe says that he has been working with jewelry for over 29 years, starting with a course on beads and southwestern jewelry, and he got “bit by the bead bug.” After a year of study at the Glassell School, he went on to study with a number of silversmiths, particularly Jim Morris of Kerrville, who has been his primary mentor and encourager.

Joe’s pieces are very popular with our church members, so much so that all shoppers on Sundays will be asked to take a number for service. Volunteers will be in the Gallery between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on November 7 and 28 to help you with your purchases (at other times, contact Monica Griffin at mgriffin@stlukes-hou.org or 713-402-5110). Joe will also be in the Gallery on No-vember 7 and at the 11:00 worship service.

Make plans to stop by the Gallery to greet Joe and do a little shopping at the same time. A portion of all sales goes to the Fine Arts Fund at St. Luke’s, so it’s a great way to sup-port our church as you cross names off your Christmas list!

Reagan Stacey Whitley, daughter of

Jason Edward Whitley and Kelly Laurae Whitley,

on October 24.

| 7Making a difference… | Spiritual Growth

The Rule of Benedict is not a rule, but a guide. It is a set of principles that helps us look at all facets of our life and deepen our faith in the midst of the every day. Benedictine spirituality is a commitment to principles of living well—not a denial, but a change of heart and a turn of the mind.

Come see how the Rule of Benedict can help bring balance to your life and help you experience spiritual-ity in a new way. At each meeting St. Luke’s pastoral intern Sari Frey will lead the group as we discuss readings from The Rule of Benedict by Sister Joan Chittister, share joys and concerns, and end with a short service of Compline—a monastic worship service. As appropriate, various spiritual practices also will be included.

Learn more and register online: www.stlukesmethodist.org/benedict or call

713-402-5139. Copies of The Rule of Benedict by Sr. Joan Chittister will be available for pur-

chase ($15) for participants.

The Rule of Benedict—A way of spirituality for the 21st centuryAn 8-week study beginning November 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m. in R23

The New Beginnings Class will study Chasing Daylight: a study on the life of Jonathan through November 21. Pastor Erwin McManus calls us to risk everything for a life of genuine purpose-to step out in faith to become movers and shakers rather than moaners and slackers. The class meets at 9:45 a.m. in B241.

Three new Sunday School classes The Common Ground Class is for parents with young children and concentrates on social and spiritual growth. The class meets in B241at 9:45 a.m.

A class for recent college graduates meets in the Blanton Building at 9:45 a.m.

Three Strands New Class for Committed Young CouplesSee article on page 4.

adult ministries

November 7“Running in the Cloud”

Fourth in the seriesStanding on the Promises

Hebrews 12:1-3Dr. Tom Pace–Westheimer Campus

Rev. Justin Coleman preaching–Gethsemane CampusRev. Alison Gardner Young preaching–Westheimer Campus

The altar flowers are dedicated to the glory of God andin honor of the founding of St. Luke’s United Methodist

Church, November 11, 1945, and in honor and memory of our beloved parents, brother-in-law and husband: Lurlyn &

Durwood Fleming, Virginia & Kenneth Shamblin, Doris & Ben Curtis, Kenneth Shamblin, Jr. and Loraine & Roy Lindberg by

Jon Hugh and Cheryl Lindberg Fleming, Pamela Fleming Shamblin, Steve & Marty Fleming Curtis.

October 31“Supplying Every Need”

Third in the SeriesStanding on the Promises

Phillipians 4:10-23Dr. Tom Pace–Westheimer Campus

Rev. Justin Coleman preaching–Gethsemane CampusRev. Alison Gardner Young preaching–Westheimer Campus

The altar flowers are dedicated to the glory of God and in loving memory of Thomas F. Taylor, Jr. by Sara and Thomas F. Taylor and family, and in honor of Martha Hill Jamison by the

members of the New Beginnings Sunday School Class, and in celebration of the marriage of Amy Rebecca Smith and

William Robinson Wagner, in honor of Mary A. Robinson and in loving memory of John M. Robinson and Florence and

Cam Wagner by Mr. and Mrs. William C. Wagner.

Gethsemane Campus8:30 a.m. Blended Communion service

9:45 a.m. Servicio en Español – Spanish Worship10:55 a.m. Traditional Worship

Westheimer Campus8:30 a.m. Sunday – Traditional Worship

with Holy Communion*8:45 a.m. Sunday – Encounter Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m. & 11 a.m. Sunday – Traditional Worship*6 p.m. Sunday – Improvisation Worship, Chapel

* Sanctuary

Sermon videos, podcasts and corresponding study guides are available online at

www.stlukesmethodist.org/worship/sermons

worship

Rebuilding Together

The Rule of Benedict

On Saturday, October 16, a team of volunteers from St. Luke’s United Methodist

Church participated in the Volunteer Home Repair Pro-gram in affiliation with REBUILDING TOGETHER-HOUSTON.

This service outreach was sponsored by United Methodist Men and Men’s Life.

The goal of REBUILDING TOGETHER-HOUSTON is to provide exterior home repairs for elderly or disabled homeowners, who are living in

targeted areas, and on a low fixed income. The home that the St. Luke’s crew worked on was in far northwest Houston and owned by Lula Mae Burr, who suffers from congestive heart

failure. Ms. Burr’s home is over 50 years old and she has owned her home for 38 years. The home was in need of siding and trim repairs or replacement, new steps and handrail to the front porch, and

re-painting. The St. Luke’s crew gathered at the Church at 7:30 a.m. and after a brief safety meeting and

prayer was off to work. The volunteers worked all that beautiful Saturday tearing things apart and putting them back together again. A lot of

innovative ideas were tossed about to solve the more difficult problems encountered. A true team effort went into completing the work in a timely and high-quality

manner. Ms. Burr was truly thrilled with the effort put forth by strangers on her behalf and in the end offered a prayer of thanks for the men who put forth so

much. As is the case with God’s work, those who serve receive the greater gift. In this case those who served were: Peter Billipp, Jim Bauknight,

Clark Bode, Shed Boren, Paul Cottage, Lee Denson, Richard Ethun, Curtis Hutcheson, Rich Johnson, Derek Munger, Mark Prescott, Joe

Sorena,and Chih Tien. Thank you to these men for their service.

Day light savings time ends at 2 a.m. on November 7. Don’t forget to fall back one hour.

8 | Relationships