JULY—SEPTEMBER
outreach / spiritual life center / united methodist women
“Half the Sky is informative, timely and necessary information presented with sincerity, concern and desire to make a difference locally and globally. I am delighted St Luke’s is offering this series, especially after traveling to Rwanda and researching gender-based violence. What a great way to gather together, become informed, enjoy dinner conversation while eating a locally prepared meal, and to top it off there is shopping that supports women around the globe! I look forward to the next gathering.” —PAM HAMILTON
Turning Outrage into Action by Betty Brandt, Director of the Spiritual Life Center & Half the Sky Organizing Committee
Three women in Cleveland are held captive by one man for 10 years. Otherwise compassionate and loving people want to do horrible things to the man accused of the crimes. They are outraged! What would it take for all of us to be as outraged about the nineyear old Afghani girl married off to a 25-year-old man in exchange for some cash and a couple of goats, or the six-year-old Vietnamese girl sold as an indentured servant to cruel, abusive masters? Girls and women right here in Indianapolis and around the world are sold, abused, killed and horribly mistreated in a myriad of ways every minute of every day. The St. Luke’s Half the Sky Series wants all of us to be outraged about such treatment and then turn outrage into action. The organizing committee invites you to look straight into the problem, let your heart break open and then do just one thing to make a difference in the life of a girl or woman somewhere in the world. Every program in the series ends with a list of possible action steps. n TOP LEFT & RIGHT: Angela Cain, WTHR-TV from May 1 program, Gender Based Violence; Jill McElya, Invisible Girl Project from April 17 program, Journey Together RIGHT TOP TO BOTTOM: Men of the Half the Sky kitchen crew led by Larry Paxton; Music on April 17 led by Asim Syed;
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adult ed | small groups
JULY—SEPTEMBER
SMALL GROUPS—Take Off in a BIG Way! by Terri Coe, Director of Adult Ministries
An idea—“Let’s take six weeks during the season of Lent to gather in small groups to discuss the sermons”—sparked quite a response from the St. Luke’s congregation in February! Discussion guides were written. Small group hosts/ leaders were recruited. An announcement was made during a Sunday morning worship service sharing the idea, indicating that interested persons could sign up after the service. Before that morning was over, it was clear that more hosts/groups would be necessary to accommodate the interest. This was B-I-G! In the end, 60 small groups with close to 750 participants helped us launch our first Lenten Small Group experience. There were groups for women, men and women, young adults, mothers with young children, couples, and families. They met at the church, online, in homes and restaurants throughout greater Indianapolis. While most groups finished before Holy Week, ten groups continued to meet through the spring and one launched a new ministry with young adults. Another group, mothers of young children, are taking a break this summer but plan to gather again in the fall. They find that in the midst of busy lives and raising young children, it is valuable to take time to deepen their faith and friendships. Also, a group that continued to meet on a semimonthly basis this spring was made up of couples
Upon reflection, participants shared some comments: • Fantastic! I loved the chance to discuss the sermon in more depth. • I learned more about the historical context of Jesus and the time he lived on earth. • I met with a group on Sunday mornings while children had their own group. Great to meet new people and connect. Great to have a class for the kids, too. • We really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with other parents and make the church feel smaller. • Thought-provoking. Enjoyed it! • Small group has been a great way to get to know others while enriching my faith. • My friends and I were very interested in the group for multiple reasons – the six-week commitment, the chance to connect with other moms in the same stage of life that go to our church, and an opportunity to grow deeper in our faith. We all enjoyed discussing the sermon from the past week and the points that impacted us most. I found that I learned even more about the topic than I had by just listening to Rob and at times saw the scripture in a new light. Knowing we would be discussing it later in the week caused me to focus more during the Sunday sermon, and I found my recall was so much better. I attended St. Luke’s as a child. As an adult, my husband and I have been attending for the past 11 years. In my adult years, I have been looking for a way to get more connected to the congregation, especially young families and couples. Even though everyone in the group had a mutual connection or were friends prior to the group, it gave us a sense of belonging to our church and being known to each other.
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“To watch God grow a small group from about people to a list of in a few short weeks is so inspiring. As a -something single person, it is not easy to find and make friends and even with all the technology we have today, it is still possible to feel completely alone.” — — —
youth ministry
JULY—SEPTEMBER
Developing Storylines by Kevin Davis, Director of Youth Ministries
Through Youth Ministry, the church provides ways for teens to grow their faith in Christ, serve the community, and develop leadership. However, Youth Ministry is just one of many avenues we are utilizing to engage the younger generation. The Christian Life Scholarship, funded by a perpetual gift to St. Luke’s Endowment, is making a positive impact on a key direction of our church: embracing the younger generation and growing younger. This Scholarship is one of those opportunities that connects younger people to the life of our church. Not only does our youth ministry see the investment in young people, but our entire church and community is able to share in this effort. A storyline has developed over the last few years where we are seeing students return to St. Luke’s and our surrounding community. Avery Hollenback, one of the previous Christian Life Scholarship recipients, returned last year to intern here. While Avery was a youth ministry intern, she also worked in the areas
of Children’s Ministry with Summer Splash and worked in Member Care on hospital visits and congregational care. Avery helped us set a tone for further development of young leaders by working across church ministries. This summer, Avery is in Haiti working as a missionary in Fondwa!
Graduating Seniors: FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT:
Kara Beer, Abbie Wineland, Lauren Talbert, Meredith Wettersten, Amber Kriech, Chris Wiley BACK ROW, FROM LEFT:
Another Christian Life Scholarship recipient, Alex Moon, has volunteered in youth ministry, sound and technology, and is also serving in Fondwa as a missionary. St. Luke’s also welcomes Sara Andler, another Christian Life Scholarship recipient, as an intern for the Growth and Adult Education teams this summer. We are beginning to see this storyline develop with our youth connecting to our congregation beyond high school!
Kenzie King, Kennedy Robinson, Samantha Taylor, Ben Backer, Ross Urbahns, Laura Harris, Sarah Fuquay, Suzy Fritz
This year we are honored to recognize three more students as the recipients of the Christian Life Scholarship. Winners of this scholarship are evaluated on their potential for collegiate achievement, commitment — —
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to living Christian values in their daily lives, and their overall effort in the application process. It is my privilege to introduce to you the recipients of our 2013 Christian Life Scholarship (pictured below from
left to right): Suzanne Fritz, Abbie Wineland and Amber Kriech. Suzanne and Abbie graduated from North Central High school on May 23, and Amber graduated from Carmel on June 2. Suzanne will be attending Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Abbie will be attending Ball State to study Elementary Education, and Amber will be studying Organizational Leadership & Supervision at IUPUI. All three students excel in academics and school involvement, while showing great Christian leadership. Don’t be surprised if you hear their name in the next few years shared as another example of continued support for students and growth opportunities for our church! Congratulations to this year’s Christian Life Scholarship recipients. As Director of Youth Ministry, I am excited to see St. Luke’s investment in the lives of
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young people and the growth of connection to our congregation continue as students use their gifts within St. Luke’s and beyond. The Christian Life Scholarship is just one avenue where we can invest in this key direction of connecting and reaching out to the youth of our community and congregation. We are beginning to see more avenues open up as students volunteer in more areas of the church, and more recently as we opened up the opportunity for members of the church to mentor our recent High School graduates. On Sunday, May 5, the congregation recognized our graduating class and asked for mentors to continue connection to St. Luke’s with students while they are at school. Twenty mentors responded, and some amazing stories of connection have already developed. For example: one family is moving to Boston this summer and specifically asked to mentor one of our students who will be attending Boston University. A retired teacher from Butler asked to mentor one of our students who will be at Butler in the fall. We are thankful for ongoing connections and want to add to the storyline. Graduation has always been a huge milestone, and we are being intentional about capturing this time with students and families in the life of our church. St. Luke’s is dreaming, casting vision, and beginning to shape this key direction on establishing community connection with this growing number of young adults. n
together in ministry everyday
WHEN I FIRST MET JULIA back in 1988, I knew clearly that she was the person we wanted to be our Director of Children’s Ministries. With her experience in the classroom, her understanding of child development, and her deep faith commitment, she successfully negotiated the maze of St. Luke’s and helped create faith memories for hundreds of children. My admiration and respect for her has continued to grow over all these years, and I was thrilled when she became Executive Director of Ministries and proved once again what a skilled person she is. She’s been an immeasurable help to The Garden as we have tried to make sense of our past and move into a dynamic future. Her abilities to synthesize, analyze and organize information and data are the best I’ve ever seen, and she’s such a good “people person” with a wonderful sense of humor. Like you, I will miss her presence here more than I can say. —LINDA MCCOY, Pastor, The Garden
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ABOVE: Julia during the special worship service for the beam signing of the new Sanctuary in 1998 RIGHT:
Bill, Anne, Aaron and Julia —August 2008
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Director of Children’s Ministries position at St. Luke’s. A couple of weeks later, she started what would turn out to be a -year journey here. That was July , . Before the “open community of Christians” identity statement was hammered out (and eventually nailed to our Narthex wall), Julia experienced that open community first hand. “What was most important for me during that time of my life was that a single mother would be given the honor and privilege of being responsible for care of the children of this congregation. That was huge to me.” The other thing that Julia quickly came to understand is that people could just be themselves at St. Luke’s—they would accept a single mom as their Children’s Direc-
tor, and they probably would have embraced an ornery, cigar-smoking old man too. “Secular and religious did not have a clear line dividing them here. People brought their whole selves to this community. You didn’t have to be one person at church and another outside, and that set St. Luke’s apart. Coming here felt like my childhood Baptist church home where I experienced unconditional love.” Anyone who knows Julia knows that her skill set extends far beyond “children’s world,” as she calls it. Eventually Julia began to get involved in other areas of church administration. During the period of rapid growth following the transition from Carver McGriff to Kent Millard, Julia was part of visioning work, the building com-
JULY—SEPTEMBER
music ministries
Bringing Believers Together Through Music by Jenny Hawke, St. Luke’s Chancel Choir Member
From the very beginning, long before the Chancel Choir learned what anthems they would be singing at their spring concert and abroad; before knowing what walking and bus tours would be available; before the first email exchanges with tour guides, priests in Rome, Assisi and Milan, the concert tour to Italy promised to be the trip of a lifetime. For nearly a year prior to the -day trip that started on April , Music Ministries staff corresponded, planned, and drew up itineraries. The trip was brought to attention of civic leaders, and the Chancel Choir members were named Cultural Ambassadors for both the city and state. Still, could it be possible for a group of amateur, if wellmeaning, Methodists to sing and be welcomed in centuriesold, iconic, Catholic places of worship?
wide range of styles. But we also included anthems in Latin, including two by -century Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli. We hoped these would provide connection with our beautiful and historic venues and be appreciated by our audiences.” The next day, the choir joined thousands of Catholics from around the world for the weekly audience with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square. May , the choir learned, was an observed holiday in Europe, similar to Labor Day in the United States, and also a day when Catholics observed the feast day for St. Joseph. The crowds seem to follow the Chancel Choir to Assisi, where singers participated in one of several masses held that day in the Lower Basilica, just above the crypt where St. Francis was buried.
Chancel Choir members and 40 After a brief rehearsal outside additional family members and the basilica—and a brief meetfriends received the answer— ing with church leaders—the a resounding “yes”—at the choir filed in, some to sit in first evening concert they gave pews, some to stand. Between on April 30 at Chiesa di Sant’ subtle cues from the laity sigWalking to the buses after the Assisi mass Ignazio di Loyala, a church in naling when the choir was to the heart of Rome, just a few minutes’ walk from the Pan- sing each of its four prepared anthems, one of the priests— theon. Nearly people—those who had seen the simple an American, as it turned out—provided summaries of the signboard on the church steps and curious tourists who hap- prayers and the homily in English, an unexpected but welpened to pass by—came, listened, stayed, and gave the choir a comed blessing within a very liturgical service. standing ovation for its one-hour concert. Eighty voices filled the space to overflowing, as did the people “Most of our selections were repertoire from , & attending the mass, several standing in the back. As people centuries of European and American choral traditions, approached the altar for the distribution of the Eucharist, the as well as arrangements of spirituals,” said Mark Squire, choir sang “Ubi Caritas” a cappella, a text no doubt familiar Director of Music Ministries. “With them, listeners heard a to many there. (“The love of Christ has gathered us togeth— —
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er, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”) People remained in the basilica and applauded after the choir had sung John Tebay’s “Psalm ” as a postlude. Every following venue held its own surprise, its own blessings for the choir. More than attended an evening concert at the small theater/cinema in Cortona, a small hill town with streets too narrow for tour buses. Prior to the Saturday evening mass at San Marco in Venice, the choir waited in a small, seldom-seen courtyard where the high walls were studded with discarded architectural remnants—columns, moldings, etc. Once inside, the choir could take in the basilica’s gold mosaic ceiling while waiting for their cues to sing. As in Assisi, the choir had no opportunity to sing in their new space at San Marco prior to the service, making it all the more important to ignore those surroundings and watch the director closely, usually by finding a peephole peering over the shoulders of several other singers—few venues had anything resembling a tiered choir loft—and remember to sing with heart. Yet this is where the hard work of the previous year pays off, as Nancy Papas can attest. A second alto, she didn’t sing in Venice due to a cold and temporary laryngitis. “The sound reverberating through the arches of the cathedral was absolutely heavenly,” she said. “For the first time I could hear all sorts of soprano harmonies I never heard before. It surprised me later to learn that the choir felt discom-
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bobulated at that performance and not at their best. That was nowhere in evidence from the incredible music.” Sunday, May , however, the choir’s last day of singing, would be the most memorable on the tour for many. The choir left Venice early that morning to attend a service of the small Methodist church in Milan. No towering, freestanding basilica here; instead, the church occupied part of what looked like a long stretch of office buildings. Yet here was a warm, faithful community of about people to listen and participate in a service delivered in both Italian and English. The choir sang several selections and celebrated communion with the community at the end of the service, as groups of congregants joined the pastors around the altar in a circle for the passing of bread and wine and joining hands in prayer. “That space and that experience was a sacred as any other place we’ve sung this week,” said Marli Howell, who sang during the tour along with her husband, George. The choir was invited to stay for lunch—a pitch-in, many assumed. Not so. A team of about eight women from the church served St. Luke’s members a five-course Italian meal, starting with pasta and ending with Colomba Pasquale —a traditional sweet bread served at Easter time—and espresso. Rodney Aist, one of the church pastors (and former intern for Susan Fuquay), said this group of women had experience serving meals like this before... to about people.
music ministries
JULY—SEPTEMBER
How could anyone not be awed and touched by this extension of hospitality? The choir participated in another afternoon mass at San Marco in Milan, singing from the choir stalls in the apse, completely hidden from the congregation by the altar—a football field away, according to Nancy Papas. Yet the design of the church carried the music up toward the dome and out to the nave for an ethereal effect. That night, the choir sang in front of the altar for its final concert. Its attendance included several people from the Milan Methodist church as well. “Experiences like this show us how expansive and diverse the Christian family is,” said Mark Squire. “Our Italian tour guide put it best when he told us we had taught him that music brings people together. Along with the deepening of musical and spiritual experience, the Italy Concert Tour provided the choir an opportunity to cultivate bonds of friendship both within the choir and with international friends.” n
HIGH SCHOOL ORGAN STUDENTS TO EASTMAN Kyle Walker and Joseph Huang, active high school students in the St. Luke’s Music Ministry, have been accepted into the Pipe Organ Encounter Advanced Program at the Eastman School of Music this summer. Kyle is a rising junior and Joseph, a rising sophomore, both at Carmel High School. They have played preludes and postludes for worship services at St. Luke’s and are active in the youth music program. It is quite an honor for these students since only a total of 27 were accepted into the program. They will have private daily lessons and classes with master teachers from some of the nation’s finest college organ programs and church positions. Kyle and Joseph will have daily lessons in improvisation and sacred music skills. They will also get to see and hear the world’s largest residence organ at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. Both Kyle and Joseph study organ with Dr. Charles Goehring.
LEFT:
On the square at San Marco in Venice Tour director Bob Zehr giving instructions outside the Vatican RIGHT: Ignatius church in Rome preconcert MIDDLE:
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