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!
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.
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.
Jan 19 - Video and Discussion around Creation Care led by Tina Bessias
Jan 26 - Finding our place in creation led by Megan Cunningham or a team member of the caring for creation team
Feb 2 - Climate change as a public health crisis led by Megan Cunningham or a team member of the Caring for Creation team
Thursday Morning Bible Study
We are continuing in 1 Thessalonians. 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!
UMD Volunteer Update
Amanda Anderson
Volunteers are needed for shift at Urban Ministries Community Cafe. We are back to 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.
Jan 21 -- Artie Hendricks, Chaplain at Duke Hospital, topic to be announced
Jan 28 -- Lynn Heath, "Three Secrets of Resilience"
Feb 4 -- Aaron Klink (title TBD)
We meet at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, from 4 to 6 pm. All are welcome.
Learn about Bees and Beekeeping
On Thursday nights from January 16 to March 20, St. Paul's will host "Bee School." This course is offered every year by the Durham County Beekeepers Association, and it's a great chance to learn more about honey bees. Some people take it as preparation to become beekeepers while others are just bee conscious." The course always fills up, so don't delay if you're interested. Details and registration can be found at durhambeekeepers.org. Talk to Tina Bessias, Theresa Oertel, or Bill Gresham anytime about the hives at St. Paul's!
Preschool registration
Registration opens for members of St. Paul's for the 2025/2026 school year on January 6. Classes are offered for children 10 months to 4 years old. Class offerings and registration information can be found at https://stpaulspreschooldurham.weebly.com/enrollment.html. Feel free to contact Candace King, preschool director if you have any questions.
St. Paul's Readers -- February 20 at 3 pm
Please join us at our next book club meeting on Thursday, Feb 20, at 3 pm in the Conference Room. Ellen Lavery will lead our discussion of West with Giraffes by LInda Rutledge, 2021. This novel is an emotional, rousing, and incredible tale based upon a true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. As Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience of transporting these giraffes from the Atlantic Ocean to the San Diego Zoo. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, his narrative explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it's too late.
ELCA event for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
The social ministry committee would like to invite you to participate in the ELCA's National Day o Racial Healing on Tuesday, Jan 21 (the day after MLK Day). The event will include live Zoom events throughout the day, from 11 am to 3 pm. The content will include a variety of workshops and opportunities for reflection. The topics of the workshops include educational opportunities on the lived experiences of people with various racial and ethnic identities, how people are working to address racism in their communities and beyond; and how we as Lutheran Christians can be actively antiracist. The panelists include ELCA churchwide staff, bishops, authors, artists, pastors, theologians, and others actively involved in doing the work of racial justice. You can find more information about the event here: https://www.elca.org/our-work/publicly-engaged-church/racial-justice-ministries/national-day-of-racial-healing
Hiking Group
Vicar Ashley will be starting 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, Jan 25 -- Sandy Creek Park, 3510 Sandy Creek Drive, Durham
Saturday, Feb 8 -- Occoneechee Speedway, 320 Elizabeth Brady Rd, Hillsborough
Sunday, Feb 22 - West Point on the Eno Park, 5101 N Roxboro St., 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.
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.
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.
- Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 -- Christmas Eve 7 PM Worship
- Dec 29, 2024 -- First Sunday of Christmas -- Dec 29 -- Announcements
- Jan 6, 2025 -- 2nd Sunday of Christmas -- Jan 6 Cross Connections
- Jan 12, 2025 -- Baptism of Our Lord -- Jan 12, 2025 Announcements
- Jan 19, 2025 -- 2nd Sunday after Epiphany -- Jan 19, 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.
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."