St. Luke's Episcopal Church

Live Oak, Florida

St. Luke's Episcopal Church
1391 SW 11th Street
PO Box 1238
Live Oak, FL 32064
ph: 386-362-1837
fax: 386-362-7545
ellen@stlukesliveoak.org

July - August 2017

From Your Rector:

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The Season following Pentecost is a time that we, as Christians, are called to live into our Lord’s “Great Commission.” It’s a time for us to take His message and way of life into the world, proclaiming His Kingdom. On my first Sunday back from vacation, I started what will be a summer long series on this Christian calling of evangelism. This word “Evangelism” is often misunderstood.

It means literally carrying or delivering the “Truth” or Good News. During the Annual Diocesan Convention in 2016, Bishop Howard called all churches in the Diocese to concentrate on evangelism, and to focus their efforts in this regard. The entire 2017 Diocesan Convention was dedicated to this topic.

Over 400 voices were heard during the convention, and from those conversations the following four (4) themes became apparent. The consensus was that diocesan and parish based evangelism efforts needed to be:

1. Real. This means being authentic and true, truth-telling people who offer safety for those who are struggling with issues of this world.

2. Rooted. We are people rooted in living prayerful, biblical, historical, faithful, and liturgical lives
3. Relational. The hope of the Gospel is fundamentally shared through relationship, and, at its heart, the church is relational.

4. Radical. To live out our faith in the modern world is a Radical idea. It’s counter- cultural, and yet bringing the church to the world with courage and conviction is what we are called to do.

As we worship and come together this summer, let us consider our Bishop’s chal- lenge to us and prayerfully explore how St. Luke’s - Live Oak can take Christ into the world in which we live. I am including inside this edition of the Godly Gazette, the text of our Diocesan prayer for evangelism. I would ask that you say this prayer at home during the week, as we will be doing as we gather for the Eucharist each Sunday. Let us live into the dismissals we hear at end of each ser- vice, “Let us go forth in the name of Christ” or “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

In Christ,

Fr George+

DEACON’S CORNER

First of all I want to say Thank YOU to all of you for the wonderful 25th anniversary celebration of my deaconate. It is such a privilege to serve together with you all, and you do make me feel very appreciated. Thank you all so much!! Our next event is our Cuba dinner on July 16 to raise money for the Cuban priests. We had a great time last year and we hope to do the same again!! With Joe Chamberlain as our chef and Bill Kosty preparing a “Before and After” slide show it should be a good time again. This slide show along with one featuring the water purification system will be sent to a nation-wide website for all the friends of Cuba in the U.S.

We are planning our next trip to Cuba for the week of Thanksgiving in November. If anyone is interested in going, please let me know asap. Y ou will need your passports by the end of July so we can start the process of getting our religious visas in Cuba. We will be taking replacement filters for the water purification system. The service has grown so much that Osmani and Tulia have had to put four 50 gallon water storage tanks on the roof to have sufficient water for all the peo- ple who are coming for water. It is a wonderful service – as one lady explained to me, “No one in our barrio has diarrhea now!” Thank God!!! And thank you, St. Luke’s for your generosity!

Phyllis

25th Anniversary Celebration of Deaconate

Summer Sunday Schedule

JULY - - 9am Adult S/S 10 am Service
AUGUST - - 9am Service 9:45, Adult S/S 10am Choir 11am Service

SUMMER HIATUS FOR YOUTH,

SUNDAY SCHOOL & YOUTH GROUP

Both children’s Sunday School and the Youth Group are on hiatus for the summer and will resume after Labor Day in September. Have a great summer!

BUSY HANDS FOR BABIES

Busy Hands will meet on Saturday July 1st from 9:30-11am.
August 5 – Busy Hands meeting, 9:30 – 11:00 AM
August 19 – Busy Hands Yard Sale, 7:00 AM – 12 noon.

SHEPHERD'S HANDS FREE HEALTH CLINIC

Our next Clinic date will be on July 13th at 5:30--7:30 pm. Thank YOU All for supporting this most wonderful ministry for those who are in medical need!

Social Movement

A fitness class for beginners and seniors is meeting on Tuesday and Thursday from 10am-10:45am in the parish hall. Denise Watson is leading the class. You need to bring light hand held weights (1-3 pounds) and a water bottle. Call Denise for more info at 352-239-3772

Daughters of the King

The Daughters of the King will be meeting for dinner on Tuesday, July 4 and August 1st at 6:00. All women are welcome to join us for a supper and a time of prayer and fellowship. No need to bring anything but yourself! If you have questions you can call Maureen Menosky 386-776- 1817

Men’s Night Out

The Men’s Group will meet on Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 at 6pm. Bring your favorite thing to grill and drink. All men are invited for good food and fellowship.

COFFEE HOURS

The Coffee Hour following the 11am service has been a tradition at St. Luke’s for many years. It is a great way to get a chance to visit with each other and to meet and greet those visiting and potential members. The menu can be very simple such as coffee, lemonade, and cookies. It is not meant to be a meal or heavy finger foods, just a light treat. We hope you will think about hosting an upcoming Sunday. You can call Ellen to sign up or check the bulletin board schedule in the Parish hall.

HELP WANTED

Marilyn Jones, your Godly Gazette volunteer editor is seeking a back- up editor. Once or twice a year the Jones take an extended vacation for 3-6 weeks and assistance in producing the newsletter while she is away is needed. We have an immediate need for someone to take over the publishing of the September newsletter.

If you enjoy desktop publishing and don’t mind volunteering 1- 3 days a month on an occasional basis, this might be a fun way to provide service to the church. Familiarity with Microsoft Word and Publisher and some experience in Picasa or another photo editing software would be ideal. Marilyn will be happy to provide training as needed.

If you have any questions and/or are interested in becoming the As- sistant Editor, please call or text

Marilyn at 386-209-2636, or email her at mkjones321@gmail.com.

GODLY GAZETTE NOW AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL

If you would like to receive your gazette by email, please notify the church office and we will remove your name from the snail mail list and add it to the email list. Thanks for your help in helping manage our budget. Don’t forget to visit our website. Most, if not all, of the newsletter is posted online. You may let Ellen know @ ellen@stlukesliveoak.org or go to http://www.stlukesliveoak.org.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church
1391 SW 11th Street
PO Box 1238
Live Oak, FL 32064
ph: 386-362-1837
fax: 386-362-7545
ellen@stlukesliveoak.org