St. Paul's Lutheran Church
"Let us begin by acknowledging the land upon which we gather today. This land has been playground and campground for many generations of people, including the Lumbee, Skaruhreh/Tuscarora, Cheraw, Catawba, Occaneechi, and Shakori Nations. Its waterways were their highways, its flora and fauna their banquet table, its starry skies their canvas upon which their stories were painted. They cared for this land, and we remember their lives here with gratitude. We give thanks for all Indigenous peoples who continue to care for this land and to call it their home."
-- Vicar Amanda Spangler
Welcome to St. Paul's!
St. Paul's In-Person Worship Guidelines
• Here is a listing of the Sign-Up Genius links we are presently using to accomplish our many needed tasks. Please fill in as you are able. You can bookmark these sites to make it easier to return to them.
- Devotions – https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c044eabad28a3fd0-daily1 Please send your devotions to Vicar Ashley Bowman at vicar@stpaulsdurham.org
- Sunday Morning Worship Tasks which include setting up, lector, worship assistant, altar guild, communion assistants, and ushers, you can sign up at this list link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0944a4a72fa5f58-sunday1
WORSHIP: In-Person, Live Streamed, Recorded
- We are open on Sunday mornings for worship at 8:30 and 11:00 am.
- The 8:30 am worship will be in-person only using Setting One of the ELW, which is printed for the entire service.
- The Sunday morning 11:00 am worship service is in-person or can be viewed on our live feed which is https://vimeo.com/event/1478223. You may access this in any way you wish: phone, tablet, computer, or even on Smart TVs, using the same link every week. The 11:00 am worship will also be recorded to our Vimeo site to be viewed at your convenience. We are using Setting One of the ELW, which is printed for the entire service.
- You may visit this Vimeo Site: https://vimeo.com/stpaulsdurham/videos to view any Sunday worship recordings. This site also has other recordings such as Bible Study, special services, informational videos of our committees, and musical occasions.
- Download the following complete Worship Bulletins in PDF format which are full bulletins, attached is another PDF which are announcements. They coincide with the live or recorded worship services.
- February 23, 2025 -- 7th Sunday after Epiphany-- Feb 23 Announcements
- March 2, 2025 -- Transfiguration Sunday -- March 2025 Cross Connections
- March 9, 2025 -- 1st Sunday in Lent -- March 9 Announcements
- March 16, 2025 -- 2nd Sunday in Lent -- March 16 Announcements
- March 23, 2025 -- 3rd Sunday in Lent -- March 23 Announcements
In celebrating the beauty and strength created through diversity, we welcome, value, and include all of God's children regardless of race, culture, age, sexual orientation, gender expression, ability, appearance, or citizenship. St. Paul's is committed to racial equity.
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."
1 Corinthians 12:12
If you are not attending in person and would like to make a contribution online, you can make a recurring contribution in the "giving" tab on this website or use the QR code to the left to get you there directly.
We have a live link to our Sunday morning Worship Service which begins at 11:00 AM.
Click HERE and you will be taken to the live feed on our Vimeo Link.
VIDEOS at St. Paul's Lutheran Church -- This link will take you to our VIMEO page and you may select any Sunday or special worship service, as well as an assortment of other videos related to St. Paul's, anytime.
Announcements
We are worshiping at 8:30 and 11:00 am using Setting One in the ELW for both services. The 8:30 worship will continue to be in-person only, the 11:00 am service will be in-person, live-streamed, and recorded.
Lenten Mid-Week
Wednesday Lenten Suppers
April 2 and April 9
Relax and enjoy good fellowship by coming to the Wednesday Evening Suppers each week before Lenten Worship
Menu for April 2 will include lasagna and for April 9 will include fish sticks, completing both meals will be side dishes and dessert.
Be sure to join in the fellowship!
Lenten services will be live steamed at: https://vimeo.com/event/4930889
Holden Evening Prayers is the service for Wednesday evenings. The worship bulletin can be downloaded here: D-9170A_Holden_Evening_Prayer_-_Assembly_edition__Download_Edition (1).pdf
Lent begins the first week of March and Stations of the Cross will again be offered on Fridays at 12:00 noon in the Sanctuary. I hope that long-time members are looking forward to seeing St. Paul's beautiful collection of the Stations artwork as they will be back up on the side walls of the Sanctuary for the Lenten season. For those who are new, the Stations follow Jesus from Gethsemane to the tomb with visual depictions of his journey. On Fridays, you can join me to follow Jesus on this path with scripture and prayers that tell the Holy Week story. Following Jesus on this path offers pause for us to contemplate our own lives, in our time and place. Please join me on any of these Fridays at noon during Lent: March 7, 14, 21, 28, April 4 and 11. -- Pastor Lorrel
Holy Week Worship Schedule
Palm Sunday - April 13
Worship will be at 8:30 and 11:00 am, gathering in the foyer to process with palms into the sanctuary. Both services will celebrate Holy Communion. The 11:00 am service will be streamed and recorded for viewing on Vimeo.
Maundy Thursday - April 17
Worship will be at 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm and both services will celebrate Holy Communion. The 7:00 pm service will also include Foot Washing and will be streamed and recorded for viewing on Vimeo,
Good Friday - April 18
At 12:00 pm the Stations of the Cross service will be held. At 7:00 pm Tenebrae will take place. The 7:00 pm service will be streamed and recorded for viewing on Vimeo.
Vigil of Easter - April 19
At 7:00 pm, the Easter Vigil service will take place, followed by a wine reception (non-alcohol option available).
Easter Sunday - April 20
Easter services will take place at 8:30 and 11:00 am. The 11:00 am will be streamed on Vimeo. During the Sunday School hour, Easter Breakfast will take place in Trinity Hall between services (9:30-10:30 am) and an Easter egg hunt will take place for the children outside.
Adult Sunday School
Starting January 5, we will have a 7 week long session on Creation Care and God's written Word. We hope you can come join us during the sessions (9:45-10:45 am) in Trinity Hall for these thought and action producing sessions.
Mar 30 -- Faith Sexism, and Justice: Creation is diverse, as is the body of Christ -- led by Lorrel Strom-Jensen
April 6 - Faith Sexism, & Justice: God Calls Us to Action in Community - led by Bee Ellertson
April 13 - Religion and Politics - led by Bill Gresham
April 20 - Easter Sunday
April 27 - Religion and Politics - led by Bill Gresham
Thursday Morning Bible Study by Amy-Jill Levine
We are continuing with the Book of John. Copies are available under the TV in the Atrium. We meet Thursday mornings at 10:30 in the conference room and via Zoom. Notes and Zoom link are emailed early in the week. All are welcome to join!
Vacation Bible School Interest Meeting -- Sunday, March 30th at 9:45-10:15 am
Please join us for an overview of Vacation Bible School and how you can get involved! VBS will take place July 14-18 and we'll need lots of help to make it a success. Questions? Contact Preschool Director, Candace King at preschool@stpaulsdurham.org
UMD Volunteer Update
Amanda Anderson
Volunteers are needed for shift at Urban Ministries Community Cafe. We are at the original time frame, 11:30-1:30 pm. We'll help with meal prep before serving lunch just as we did previously, only four volunteers are needed. Volunteers MUST sign up online to participate. Sign up here: https;//bit.ly/UMD_Signup As always, please reach out to Amanda with questions about of volunteering.
Dropped Stitch meetings gather at 1:00 pm on the fourth Fridays, in the church atrium sofa area.
The Tongue and Thimble group creates small quilts which are distributed to nurseries at local hospitals for their young critical patients. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month from 10:00am - 12:00pm downstairs in the Fiber Arts/Music room off Genesis Hall.
Growing thru Grief is continuing to offer grief support to those grieving the loss of a loved one. Here is our upcoming schedule.
Apr 1 -- "Who Am I Now?" with Betsy Barton. Stones transform after time in a rock tumbler -- and so do we, as we go through the upending process of getting the rug swept out from under feet after a loss. We'll talk today about being open to new discoveries.
Apr 8 - "Remembering Our Loved Ones," with Betsy Barton. Even though our loved one is not at the breakfast table, or on the other end of the phone line, they are still with us in some way. We'll talk in this session about how we keep their memory alive in our hearts.
Apr 15 - "Unexpected Blessings," with Betsy Barton. Blessings, really? But perhaps some hidden surprises await.
We meet at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, from 4 to 6 pm. All are welcome.
Hiking Group
Vicar Ashley has started a hiking/walking group to get together every other Saturday for easy hikes of 2-3 miles. Here is the schedule of upcoming hikes:
Saturday, April 5 - Johnston Mill nature preserve, 2713 Mt. Sinai Rd, Chapel Hill
Saturday, April 19 - Eno River State Park - Laurel Bluffs trail, 470 Pleasant Green Rd, Durham
For each hike we will plan to meet at church to carpool or caravan to each location. We will depart church at 9:30 AM. If you would rather meet us at a hiking location, please let Vicar Ashley know.
Social Ministry meeting April 8
The Social Ministry committee invites you to our meeting on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:00 pm in Fowler Library Topics on the agenda include CROP Walk, plans for the Creation Care's Yard Sale Lolapalooza on May 10, plans for supporting Housing for New Nope, plans the Sept 6 ELCA day of service, and any other times you bring to our attention. (A Zoom link will be sent around to folks on the "friends of social ministry" mailing list.) Please join us if you can. -- Bee Ellertson and Steve Mzyk, interim co-chairs.
St. Paul's Readers Meeting on Thursday, April 10 at 3 pm
Please join us in the Conference Room on Thursday, Apr 10 at 3 pm as we discuss our latest selection: Phil Strom-Jensen leads our discussion of Time Heals No Wounds: A Baltic Sea Crime Novel by Hendrik Falkenberg, 2013. (Note date change due to Holy Week.) This international police procedural mystery follows freshly trained detective Johannes "Hannes" Niehaus and his veteran partner Fritz Janssen as they investigate a woman's murder linked to dangerous, decades-old cover-ups from the Third Reich. As the death count rises, will Hannes be able to catch the murderer before another innocent life gets caught in the killer's dark plan? We warmly welcome all readers to join our informal and friendly book club. Whether you've read the book or not, come and check us out! For questions, please contact Katherine Trexler.
Creation Care Yard Sale Lalapalooza
May 3, 2025 (rain date May 10), 9:00 am- 1:00 pm
In honor of Earth Day, preserving resources, recycling and community connection, there will be a community yard sale in our church parking lot. Each seller will maintain their own table and be responsible for their own selling of their items. A $20.00 deposit will reserve the selling space and that deposit will be returned when the area is cleaned up and the sale ends. Further information to come or contact Marcia Redman.
Join a musical ensemble at St. Paul's!
Want to learn more about music? Or perhaps you simply want to keep up your musical knowledge and abilities. You should join a musical ensemble at St. Paul's! It's a great way to achieve all of these things and be part of a comunity. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings, handbells from 6:30-7:15 and choir from 7:15-8:30. Ensembles normally perform at the 11:00 am service but occasionally at the 8:30 service. Some ability to read sheet music is required for handbells. Ability to read music is also a plus for choir, but not required. If interested, contact Susan Beschorner, director of music at music@stpaulsdurham.org.
PASTA for PARKTOWN!!
Help Stock the St. Paul’s Shelf at Parktown Food Hub!
Keep it coming! THANKS to your generosity the “St. Paul’s Dry Boxed Pasta Shelf” stays stocked and ready to help hungry families. Please continue to add dry pasta to your shopping list to share with the St. Paul’s shelf. The Women’s Connection Group is leading this initiative to support the Parktown Food Hub.
This week at
St. Paul's
Worship with us in person on Sundays at 8:30 and 11:00 am. On Sundays, we are using Setting One of the ELW. The 8:30 service will be in-person only, the 11:00 am will be in-person, live-streamed (information below) and recorded for our Vimeo channel.
St. Paul's Mission Statement: "The mission of St. Paul's Lutheran Church as a part of the family of God is to share God in Christ with the world by equipping one another through worship, learning, witness, service, and support."