Winged Ox May 2012

8/2/2019 Winged Ox May 2012

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The Memorial Church of St.Luke, the Beloved Physician

150 Years of Ministry

1861-2011

1946 Welsh Road

Philadelphia, PA 19115

215.969.3645 (office)[email protected]

www.stlukesbustleton.webs.com

SERVICESSundays:10:50a.m. Church School in

Hall11:00 a.m. Holy Eucharistwith musicFollowed immediately byrefreshments and fellowship inthe parish hall.

Wednesdays:7:30 p.m. Healing Eucharist

ACTIVITIES:

Contemplative Prayer

W ednesdays 6:45 p.m.

in the church office

Inside this issue:Birthdays............................... 4Calendar................................9Changes: Q & A.....................7Flea Market............................5News...................................3,4Our Garden............................8Photo Gallery.........................6Prayer requests.....................4Rectors Message...............1,2Reminders.............................2Those Who Serve..................3Welcome Visitors.................. 2Word Puzzle..........................8

_

The Winged OxThe W inged Ox is the Ancient Symbol of St. Luke, the Beloved P hysician

A Newsletter for the People of The MemorialChurch of St. Luke, the Beloved Physician May 2012 Issue 137

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth (Isaiah 43:19a)

Most of us do not like change. That is not unique to human beings.

It is the case with most of Gods creatures; in fact, I know of no

creatures that like change. Luke the Dog and Leonardo the Catboth have real issues with change. Thats unfortunate, because we live in

time, and time and change are inseparable, which means that one of the

very few things that is unchanging is the fact of change itself.

In short, change is necessary, and so, if we are not to lead unhappy lives,

we need to get used to it. Nor is all change a bad thing. On the contrary,our faith tells us that God is the great change agent and that Gods changes

are always for our own good, even if we often fail to see it that way. Its

that feature of Gods personality that Isaiah is pointing out in the passage Icited above. God loves to surprise us; God loves to do new things.

As most of you know by now, God is doing a new thing at St. Lukes. At

the liturgy of April 22, I announced that the vestry of St. Lukes and the

vestry of All Saints Rhawnhurst have entered into an agreement to work

together to share resources. Most significantly, I will now be half-time atSt. Lukes and half-time at All Saints. I am confident that this is a very

positive development for St. Lukes and for All Saints, and I want to use

this letter to explain why.

When I arrived at St. Lukes over seven years ago, we were spendingdown the endowment funds that had been left to us by several benefactors

from years past. This pattern of deficit-spending has continued into the

present. We have been steadily eroding our investments. Not because of

financial mismanagement or extravagance. The problem is rather that ournumbers have been dwindling over the years, and, accordingly, there is too

little money to pay a full-time priest and maintain the physical plant herein the way it was always maintained. Something had to be done.

(Continued On Page 2)
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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WELCOME VISITORS!Are you a new reader?Come visit us! Were so g lad that you picked up this publication; we

hope you will find it interesting and wo rth your time and we ho pe

you will take the next step and worship with us sometime. If you

are worshiping with us, we welcome you! W hatever your religious

background, and however you have co me to be here, we welcome

you to St. Lukes. Please let us know who you are by signing our

guest book (by the doo r) or filling out a card found in the pews. You

can hand your card to an usher, or put it in the collection plate when

it comes later.

2

The situation was such that this year I decided I needed to leave St. Lukes, not because I wanted to

leave, but because I did not feel that St. Lukes could justify a full-time priest any longer. However, just

as I began to make preparations to leave, I learned that All Saints, Rhawnhurst was seeking to hire ahalf-time priest. So I spoke to Bishop Bennison and to Canon Jill Mathis, who both supported and

encouraged an agreement between the two parishes. To facilitate this process, Bishop Bennison asked

the Very Rev. Nancy Deming, who is our dean, to oversee the covenanting process between the two

parishes. In addition, the vestries at both parishes authorized a Covenant Committee, comprised of three

members of each vestry, to meet and finalize a Ministry Covenant, the document that will formalize ourpartnership. Our representatives on the Covenant Committee -- Jackie Oxenford, St. Lukes Senior

Warden, Colleen Szczur, St. Lukes Accounting Warden, and Katherine Gibson, St. Lukes formerAccounting Warden -- have done an outstanding job in working with All Saints members on the

Committee to form an equitable agreement for both parishes. I am grateful to all who have been

involved in this process, because it means that I will not be leaving St. Lukes. I will now be able tocontinue as your priest and as the priest at All Saints. But of course there will be changes. The two most

notable changes for St. Lukes is that Harriet and I will be moving out of the rectory here to occupy the

rectory at All Saints. I decided to make this change, because it will afford me an opportunity to get to

know the members of All Saints and the neighborhood there. In addition, All Saints rectory is in aquieter neighborhood. The other change is that beginning May 20th St. Lukes liturgy will be moved

from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. on Sundays. The vestry and I discussed the possible implications of this move,but in the end, it was apparent to us that this is the most equitable compromise. (All Saints liturgy willalso be moved -- from 10:00 to 9:30 -- to enable me to serve both parishes.) I know I speak for the entire

vestry when I say I appreciate your flexibility and support for these changes. All of us believe that we

are spearheading positive changes at St. Lukes, which will allow us to continue serving Godscommunity for the foreseeable future. If you have questions or concerns, I invite you to address them to

me or to a member of the vestry.

God Bless,

Father Tim


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REMINDERS:The deadline for the

JUNE Winged Oxwill

be MAY 25.

Outreach

St. Luke's is supporting

two outreach programs,

each vital to thecommunity. They arethe Somerton FoodBank and area shelters.We need your continuedsupport to continue

these worthy projects.

The Food Bank isalways in need ofcerealand cash donations to

buy meats and maintain

operating expenses.

The shelters lookforward to the Wawagift cards provided by

your donations!

Please continue to makedonations of plants to

the Feed the HungryVegetable Garden! Theveggies grown in the

garden will benefit

Somerton Food Bank.

Those Who Serve

Sunday, MAY 6

Chalice Bearer: B. Kaufold

Readers: S. Carmody

Ushers: J. Brambilla, J. Litzke

Altar Guild: S &C Carmody

Coffee Hour: J. Oxenford, J.

Gardner, J &J Litzke

Counters: J & J Litzke

Sunday, MAY 13

Chalice Bearer: J. Litzke

Readers: L. Carter

Ushers: T. Truesdale, J. Bramb illa

Altar Guild: B&G. Hair, J. Woods

Coffee Hour: NO COFFEE H OUR

Counters: B & D Shifflett

Sunday, MAY 20

Chalice Bearer: J. Oxenford

Readers: K. Gibson

Ushers: J. Brambilla, J. Litzke

Altar Guild: L Carter, R Fischer

Coffee Hour: Espositos, A. Thorpe,

M. Geiger

Counters: J. Brambilla, R. Whaley

Sunday, MAY 27

Chalice Bearer: J. Brambilla

Readers: J. IannottiUshers: J. Litzke, T. Truesdale

Altar Guild: K Kenny, S Nesbitt

Coffee Hour: H. Rolland, S. Remick,

R. Whaley, Emma, Nancy

Counters: A. Thorpe, K. Gibson

NEWS

Church School / Nursery

Due to the time change in our

church service starting May

20th, the church school will

be meeting at 10:50a.m.

The church school children

will be studying the parable

of the lost sheep and thestory of the Shepherd boy,

David, during the month ofMay. In addition, we will be

celebrating Mother's day on

May 13th with a certificateand art. On Pentecost

Sunday, May 27th, we will

be celebrate the church's

birthday with song and art.

The official end of churchschool this season will be onJune 3rd at an outdoor

service and picnic. At that

time the children will receive

certificates for church schoolattendance. We ask that they

bring games, bikes, balls, etc.

to play outdoors at the picnic.

We have had a successfulyear thanks to our volunteer

teachers; Llyn Carter, BettyShifflett, Ashley Martino,and the teaching team of Sara

Nesbit and Karen Kenny.

The class has grown toinclude seven children. We're

hoping to continue to grow

even more.


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PRAYERS PLEASE

Members: Dorothy,

Elaine, Ruth B., Nancy

H., Edna, Alan, Mabel,

Ruth L., Louise, JoanW., William L, Robert B, Patricia L,

Nancy Martha, Llyn C., Katherine G.

Friends and Family: Joyce, David,

Avery, Katherine, Malcolm, Amarante,

Greg, David, Martha, Amy, Hendricks

family, Amber, Joline, E lisa, Larry,

Carol, Anthony, James, Myles family,

Jim, Robert, Iris

Those Serving in the Armed Forces:

William B. William S, Chris G.,

Kevin M., Andrew R., Chris K.,John R.,

Chris R., Eric B., Rob D ., Jerry F.,Thomas H., Tom B.,Casey R., Jermaine,

Bradley, Michael, Maxx, Eric J., John T.,

George M., Steven M, Police,

Firefighters, Emergency Medical

Responders

MA Y

2-Joan W ilhite

4-Mabel Forde

5-Ashley Martino

Lauren Esposito

Kyra Mangle

9-P. Bruce Sholley

10-Ruth Fischer

14-Cindy Martino

Ruth Williams

18-Marie Carter-Ballman21-Audrey Esposito

23-Amelia Corda

29-Elaine Woods

29-Nancy Martha

CONGRATULATIONSto EmilyMarie Esposito: Baptized 4/22/12

NEWS

Here are some interesting facts to know about the

church season of Pentecost. It is the longest seasonin the church calendar. It is also known as

Whitsunday and runs from May 27th until Dec. 1st,Advent. It is known as the Christian festival on the

7th Sunday after Easter, celebrating the descent of

the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. Pentecost is alsoknown as the birthday of the church. It occurred on

the Jewish feast day, fifty days after Easter. The

Holy spirit fell on the people gathered in Jerusalem

and 5,000 persons became Christians. You can readthe story in Acts 2.

Submitted by,

Barbara Kaufold

SAVE THIS DATE!

JUNE 3 : Outdoor Eucharist andrd

Picinic! ALL ARE INVITED!

`

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PHOTO GALLERY:Easter Fun 2012


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Changes at the Memorial Church of St. Luke: Questions & Answers

Q. What changes are coming? Is St. Lukes closing? St. Lukes is NOT closing! We are implementing some changes

though to ensure that St. Lukes can continue our m ission of serving God in the future.

Q. Why do we have to change? We know change can be uncomfortable, and not too many of us like change, but as the

Accounting Warden reported at the Annual Meeting in Jan 2012, St. Lukes spent $80,000 m ore that we received in 201

If we do not change, the church can run out of m oney and be forced to close.

Q. How can w e save St. Lukes? We can save it be accepting changes that are necessary to keep St. Lukes viable. The

most significant change will be that Fr. Tim will become a part time priest at St. Lukes but he will continue to work ful

time by working part time at All Saints Church in Rhaw nhurst.

Q. Are the churches merging? NO. Each church will maintain its individual identity and each church will continue to

have its own vestry. While each church will ma intain its own ministries, we will also work together to discern how w e ca

support each o thers ministries.

Q. Who will decide which ministries will be supported? In conjunction with the priest, the separate vestries will

continue to make decisions for their respective churches. A Covenan t Committee- with representatives from each churchwill work out details will work out the details with ensuring that neither church is forced to make all the comprom ises

necessary for this partnership to be a success.

Q. What kind of compromises? Since Fr. Tim will serve both churches, each church will modify its worship schedule t

allow him and the parishioners to fully participate in Eucharist and share fellowship. This will also allow Fr. Tim to

spend ample time with each congregation and travel safely between churches. Starting Sunday May 20, the liturgy will

be celebrated 8am & 9:30am at All Saints and 11am at St. Lukes.

Q. What other changes will be necessary? In addition, Fr. Tim and Harriet will be moving out of St. Lukes rectory an

into the one at All Saints. The rectory at All Saints includes some am enities that the St. Lukes rectory does not have, an

at the same time will allow Fr. Tim to get to know the people at All Saints better. Fr. Tim will also maintain his

relationships with St. Lukes parishioners by being onsite at our Coffee Hour for fellowship.

Q. What about other activities at St. Lukes? Contemplative Prayer and Healing Eucharist will continue on Wednesda

evenings at St. Lukes. Decisions abou t other activities will be made at an appropriate time.

Q. Who is on the Covenant Com mittee?Nancy Deming, the Dean of the Pennypack Deanery will lead the Committee.

Jackie Oxenford, Colleen Szczur and Katherine Gibson will represent St. Lukes. Diane Cairns, Joanne Fu lforth and

Bernie Veres will represent All Saints.

Q. What are the responsibilities of the Comm ittee? While major decisions about the partnership have been m ade,

several administrative and m inisterial decisions are yet to be made. The C omm ittee is responsible for finalizing the term

of the Ministry Covenant, which will describe the responsibilities and obligations of the 2 churches and for deciding how

the 2 churches can share resources, office supplies and personnel.

Q. If Fr. Tim is part time, w ill he still visit the sick and perform pastoral care?Absolutely! Fr. Tim will continue his

pastoral care duties.

Q. This is a lot of change. How do w e make sure is works? Fr. Tim and the senior wardens at St. Lukes and All Saint

have been discussing a plan to share a priest and to partner with each other to pool resources and to save money. By

dividing the expenses of a full time priest, each church will be better positioned to continue to m aintain its individual

identity while facilitating our shared ministries in the Diocese of PA. We can make sure it works by m aintaining our

warm, welcoming spirit and positive outlook for St. Lukes.


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WORD PUZZLE

F O R C O M E S G B S

T W S P I R I T U E P

H N O T W H E N I C E

A N R S V Y O U D A A

T B U T M I N E E U K

A W I N T O H I S S T

K I G L O R I F Y E R

E L D E C L A R E W U

O L W H A T E V E R TF T H I N G S A L L H

J O H N D T H E A R S

(John 16:13-14) When the Spirit of truth

comes, he will guide you into all the truth;for he will not speak on his own, but will

speak whatever he hears, and he will declare

to you the things that are to come. {14} He

will glorify me, because he will take what ismine and declare it to you. (NRSV)

Word List

WHATEVER GLORIFY DECLARE

BECAUSE THINGS SPIRIT TRUTHSPEAK HEARS GUIDE COMES WILL

WHEN THAT TAKE NRSV MINE JOHN

INTO YOU THE OWN NOT HIS FOR

BUT AND ALL ON OF

OUR GARDEN

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold

and heat, summer and winter, day and night will nevercease."- Genesis 8:22

Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth

fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life:

Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonableweather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for

the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus

Christ our Lord.Amen.-BCP, p.824

You may have heard a lot of buzz about a vegetablegarden. The fenced-in property at St. Lukes is being

prepared for planting. Donations of plants are needed tohelp make our garden beautiful and provide produce forthe Somerton Food Bank which is in need of fresh

vegetables. The Feed The Hungry Garden is a project

by the Womens Outreach Wing. The plan is to grow,amongst other things, varieties of tomatoes, peppers,

and herbs. The property is also open to those who are

interested in gardening and growing veggies forthemselves. Children can also jump into the fun. With

adult help, they can plant their own plants learn about

how plants grow and where veggies come from. A

special Junior Gardner certificate will be given to thechildren. Volunteers are needed to water, weed, feed and

harvest the garden. If you have any interest in the garden,

please see me or any WOW member.

-submitted by Stacey Carmody

8


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MAY 2012Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat

2-AA Meetings

in Hall 1P & 7P

1-1pm-UAW

meeting in HallAA Meetings in

Hall 1P & 7P &

2-AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8 P 6:45P-

Contemplative

prayer 7:30P -

HolyEucharist

with Healing

in Church

3- AA Meetings

in Hall 1P & 7P&8P

4-AA M eeting

in Hall 1P

5-10a Yoga11:30a-Al-Anon

Mtg in Hall

6- 5 Sundayth

of Easter10:30a:Holy

Eucharist

11:45: Coffee Hr. In

Hall

7-AA Meetingsin Hall 1P & 7P

7:00p-Vestry

Meeting in Office

8-AA Meetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8 P

9-AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8 P 6:45P

Contemplative

prayer in

Ofiice 7:30P -

HolyEucharist

with Healing

in Church

10 -AA Meetingsin Hall 1P & 7P

&8P

11 AA Meetingin Hall 1P

12 10a- Yoga inHall

11:30a-Al-Anon

Mtg in Hall

13-6th Sunday

of Easter

10:30a:HolyEucharist

10:20:Church School

NO COFFEE HOUR

14-AA Meetings

in Hall1P & 7P

15 AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8 P

16 AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8 P

6:45P-

Contemplative

prayer 7:30P -

HolyEucharist

with Healing

in Church

17 -AA Meetingsin Hall 1P & 7P

&8P

18 -AAMeetings in

Hall 1P

19-10a-Yoga inHall

11:30a-Al-Anon

Mtg in Hall

20- 7th Sunday

of Easter11:00a:HolyEucharist

10:50:Church School


Hall

23-AA Meetings

in Hall1P & 7P

24 AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8 P

25 AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P

&8P6:45-

Contemplative

prayer

7:30P -Holy

Eucharist with

Healing in

Church


&8P

27 -A AMeetings in

Hall 1P

28-10a-Yoga inHall

11:30a-Al-Anon

Mtg in Hall

27-Whitsunday11:00a: Holy

Eucharist10:50:Church School


Hall

28-AA Meetingsin Hall1P & 7P

MEMORIAL

DA Y

29 AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P&8 P

30 AAMeetings in

Hall 1P & 7P&8 P

6:45

Contemplative

prayer 7:30P -

HolyEucharist

with Healing

in Church


&8P 9

9


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The Memorial Church of St. Luke the Beloved Physician1946 Welsh Road

Philadelphia, PA 19115

215-969-3645

[email protected]

www.stlukesbustleton.webs.com

FIRST CLASS MAIL

Address Correction Requested
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Winged Ox May 2012