LUN Summer 2014 - St. Lukes Lutheran Church Leeds

Lutherans Up North
June - August 2014
ST. LUKE’S LUTHERAN
CHURCH
9 Alma Road, Headingley LS6
2AH
Tel/Fax: 01132 759 042
Bishop Walter Jagucki: 01132 676 360
Chair of the Congregation: Katrina Kay:
Pastor Mark Hardy: 0779 552 2229
0790 8191 595
Pastor Libby Toomsalu: 01274 615 365
Organist: Nev Mosey: 01132 632 578
Deacon Seija Frears: 01904 705 238
Church Warden: Eon Michalides
‘Lutherans Up North’ is edited by Pastor Libby
Please let her have any items you wish to be included in the next edition by August
17th
Lutheran Church in Great Britain Annual Synod
On Saturday May 17th Bishop Walter, Pastor Mark, Pastor Libby, Deacon Seija and
Annette Higgins travelled to St. Anne’s Lutheran Church in the City of London to
attend the Synod of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain. Even though the train
journey now only takes just over 2 hours, it was good to arrive at St. Anne’s and be
greeted with refreshments by Marja-Liisa Morgan and to spend time catching up with
so many other friends. The morning’s business session concluded with Bishop Martin’s
reflections on his first 4 months as our Bishop. He has attended Council meetings and
visited several of our congregations and found that “small is beautiful”, and believes
that the LCiGB could be a model for other churches as their numbers drop and they
seek ways to ‘include’ all their congregations in a unified membership. He finally
presented us with three challenges concerning the frequency of Holy Communion
services, out part in promoting social justice and going on pilgrimage – all important
aspects of our Christian life.
The discussion session, led by Bishop Martin, was about the Porvoo Communion,
which is currently a communion of 13 mainly northern European Anglican and
Lutheran churches. It was established in 1992 by an agreement entitled the Porvoo
Common Statement which states that the signatory churches "share a common life in
mission and service". These churches are either Anglican or Lutheran.
The agreement was negotiated in the town of Järvenpää in Finland, but the
Communion's name comes from the city of Porvoo where there was a joint celebration
of Holy Communion after the formal signing in Järvenpää. The purpose of the
agreement is to draw the Churches involved into a new and closer relationship for the
sake of greater unity and more effective mission.
In October 2013, the Presiding Bishops of the Porvoo Communion gathered for a
meeting in Reykjavik. The LCiGB was represented by Bishop Walter, supported by
LCiGB's representative on the Porvoo Contact Group, Bishop Emerita Jana JerumaGrinberga. At this meeting, the historic decision was taken to approve in principle the
full membership of Porvoo, both of LCiGB, and of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran
Church Abroad.
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In his sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, noted that,
“We will only find renewal and common purpose in the service of proclaiming the
news of the Kingdom, and in making new disciples, when we are together caught up
in the prayer and worship of God.” He concluded, “If we are to continue to grow
closer, so that our communion becomes family, and that family becomes the
transforming influence in our society, which is so desperately looking for a new way,
after the decades of reliance on material growth have betrayed us, if that family is to
become what it should, then we need each other more than ever, not for comfort in
the cold, receding tides of Christian faith, but to stretch and challenge each other to
ever closer walk with God and evermore passionate fulfilling of his mission. day to
day.”
To that end, the LCiGB’s membership of Porvoo will be ratified in September when
Bishop Martin will add his signature to the agreement, and LCiGB will take another
step in its journey of mission and faith.
For more detailed information about the Porvoo Communion, visit the website:
www.porvoocommunion
St. Luke’s Annual General Meeting,
April 27th
The minutes of the 2013 AGM and EGM
were read and accepted, and the new
Trustees were approved.
Matters Arising:
Membership:
48 adults
8 children (Under 16)
3 ‘Friends’
Services in Harrogate have stopped
because St. Peter’s have changed
service times and is no longer available.
Suggestion that if it’s necessary in the
future, we could look for another venue.
Reports were received from Bishop
Walter, Pastor Libby, Pastor Mark,
Deacon Seija, Conrad Volker and Peter
Sandeman.
Treasurer’s Report
“We ended the year with a deficit of
approximately £763.00 leaving us with
reserves of around £4,515.00 if we
include the loan from St. Paul’s. Whilst
the loan has given us a cash flow
reprieve, this is still not a healthy
situation.
on our part, the only requirement is that
you must have paid more tax during the
year than what you have donated. If
you have not yet signed a gift aid form,
please sign one and return it to the
treasurer. Gift Aid applies equally on
weekly collections/offerings, and we
have special envelopes for this purpose.
Please make use of them, Having said
this, we have had a great response and
a number of people are already
contributing in this way.
Monthly contributions by standing order
can also help improve our cash flow and
many
of
you
now
make
your
contributions this way. If you would like
to set this up, please contact your bank
and inform them of our details:
St. Lukes, A/c 11719055, sortcode
050075; Yorkshire Bank, Headingley; 6
Otley Road LS9 2AA
Conrad Volker
If you would like a copy of the
statement of income and expenses for
the year ended December 2013, please
let Pastor Libby know.
The challenge is therefore on all of us to
see how we can work smarter and,
where possible, give more. Gift Aid is an
example of how we can receive
additional money (25% of the donation)
from HMRC with little or no extra effort
The meeting voted on sending Letters
of Call to Pastor Libby and Pastor Mark.
These will be completed at the Trustees
meeting on May 29th.
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Methodist District Administrator) is right
next door, the folk there are determined
to get involved and would like you to
join them. The building will be open
throughout the day offering hospitality,
big screens, facilities and quiet spaces
for rest and prayer.
Any offers of
‘welcomers’ to help will be gratefully
received.
Everyone is welcome to come and join
us looking closely at the Lord’s Prayer
on June 28th from 11.00 am – 3.00
pm, using “The Barber who wanted
to Pray” by R.C.Sproul as our starting
point.
The Leeds South and Central Methodist
Circuit intend to undertake some
servant evangelism within the crowds
and from the steps. What is servant
evangelism?
It is a simple act of
kindness given with God’s love and
nothing more, except a friendly smile
and word of greeting.
On July 26th our theme will be the hymn,
“Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”
There will be a Pot Luck Lunch at 1.00
pm
They want to give away bottles of water
and are asking if you would be willing to
donate towards the cost of buying the
water in bulk.
Each bottle will be
labelled simply with a greeting such as
'Given with God's love'.
Please let Pastor Libby know if you can
come to one or both of these days.
News from Afar
Bishop Walter has received a letter with
greetings
and
photographs
from
Aristide Nahagame, who, some of you
may remember, was confirmed at St.
Luke’s in 2004.
Unfortunately, actual donations of
bottles of water cannot be accepted
due to storage difficulties but donations
can be given to Pastor Libby (cheques
made payable to Leeds South and
Central Circuit). Many thanks for any
help you can give.
Since returning to Burundi, Aristide has
been undertaking ordination training,
and hopes to be ordained in the
summer.
If you want to experience servant
evangelism anyone is welcome to come
along and join in the experience of a
giveaway. Pastor Libby will be there
Because of the poverty of his church in
Africa, Aristide has asked for some
items to help him go forward in his call.
Bishop Walter, Pastor Libby and Pastor
Mark will be sending him a cassock and
some stoles. He also needs communion
vessels and a clergy shirt and some
black trousers, but unfortunately we
don’t know his size, though from the
photos you’ll see that he is very tall.
Bishops Diary
June
2 – 6: In Poland
15: Trinity Lutheran Church,
Nottingham
16: Closing Day of Churches Regional
Council,
Leeds
26 –
July
10: In Poland
3 -4: LWF Bishops’ Conference
15: Enthronement of Bishop of West
Yorkshire & the Dales, York
August
Please keep Aristide in your prayers.
An Ecumenical Event
Le Grand Depart - Saturday 5th July
As you will be aware, the Tour de France
is coming to Leeds and Le Grande
Depart is from Leeds town hall on
Saturday 5th July.
As Oxford Place
(where Pastor Libby works as the Leeds
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9:
Wedding of Josh Hardy and
Natasha, Edinburgh
12 – Visit with Bishop Martin, Sweden
22
Pastor Libby will be in France from June
5th – 23rd.
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