Dear St. Lukers,

Look what came in the mail today!

At this year's annual conference, I will celebrate 25 years in pastoral ministry. If I add on my years as a youth director, it’s 35 years in church ministry. While I also worked jobs in retail and as a summer cast member at Disney, the church environment has shaped me the most. As I talk with people struggling with church politics and hear the harm they have experienced in their church past, I am often asked, “Why do you stay?” I promise this is not a shameless sermon series plug, but honestly, I stay because of the very words we have been studying with the letter of 1 Peter.

I do BELIEVE the local church and its mission and potential is the living HOPE of Christ tangibly at work in the world. I do BELIEVE we can be, at our very best and most intentional, a radical movement and force of LOVE in our community that heals, reconciles, and embraces people, works for equity and justice, and makes our cities better. 25 years ago I may have been...

Listen now at st.lukes.org/podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Pictured above in the first row: Amie Gimon, Linda Fritz, Karin Wendzel,

Rita Swanson, and Jim Hudson. In the second row: Sharon Adelhelm,

Patti Stanley, Sherri Staudt, and Ed Tackett (from Salem Lutheran Church).

Congratulations to our newly commissioned Stephen Minister class! These lay individuals attended 50+ hours of training to help walk alongside people during difficult times. We proudly commissioned them on Sunday, May 7 with the help of Dr. David Stephens who first started the ministry at St. Luke's many years ago. Congratulations to all!

If you are in need of someone to listen, care, and support you during a storm in your life, contact the Care Office at care@st.lukes.org or 407.876.4991 ext. 262 to be matched confidentially with a Stephen Minister. Women are matched with female Stephen Ministers and men with male Stephen Ministers.

We want to extend a huge thank you to our incredible teachers and staff at the Child Development Center! And a special shout-out to Janet Chambers, Director, and Danielle Cox, Associate Director, for their leadership and dedication. We hope you all had a wonderful week, and have a great rest of the school year!