Dear St. Luke’s,

We are past the busy and beautiful seasons of Lent and Holy Week, we made it through Easter morning, and now we have the privilege of taking a step back and looking at where we are as a Church. The majority of our paid staff were not here a year ago, and things are getting done. I thought I would take this opportunity to give you a picture of those who get stuff done around St. Luke’s.

Current Staff:

Nicholas Hull, Priest-in-Charge: That’s me! I started in January of 2021. You see me on Sundays and around the Church and community. I pray, talk a lot, and love taking things to the dump or thrift store.

Sue Bentley, Parish Administrator: If you have a question about the Church, Sue knows the answer. She is the master of where the rubber meets the road, keeps the lights on, remembers everything I don’t, and knows how to get things done.

Kate Weber, Organist: Kate is the overall Czar of aesthetics and music. She and I work closely to make our worship beautiful and meaningful. She goes above and beyond to spread her enthusiasm for music and singing to our youngest members. Did you know that she writes our pageants and musicals performed in the Church?!

New Staff:

Gennifer DiFilippo, Day School Director: Mrs. Gen has been with St. Luke’s Day School for over twenty years! She currently teaches creative movement, and you probably know her as a famous dance instructor in the greater community. She will begin her position as Day School director this July. We will miss the current director, Anne Marie Coggins, tremendously, but we are thrilled to see Mrs. Gen continue to make her mark on our community.

Victoria Elie, Communications Coordinator: Victoria joined us last July and works closely with Sue and me to make our bulletins, e-news, website, and anything else with words in it look nice and make sense. She proofed this before it went into your inbox. She is raising the bar at St. Luke’s on how we communicate our love of ministry and God! If you have anything you would like to help in the communications department, her e-mail is comms@saintlukeschurch.net.

Cecil Allen, Sexton: We finally have a sexton! St. Luke’s has not had a sexton for many years, and I am thrilled! Cecil joined us in April and knows how to do just about anything. In his first few days, he repaired almost all of the broken tiles in the Nave, which I have been hearing about since I began my time at St. Luke’s. Next, Cecil rapidly began beautifying the landscape by the Fort Hunt side of the Church. Every day we leave him a list of things that need to get done, and he gets them done. Then does stuff that we didn’t even know needed work, like organizing the shed in the alley. I’m not sure if you can tell, but I am excited this work is getting done and fully aware that he is an indispensable Sexton.

Mary Grace McPeek and Kristen Manous, Nursery Attendants: Mary Grace and Kristen grew up at St. Luke’s, and we are so glad that they are back and on our team! They open the nursery by 9:00 am every Sunday and close after the last child is picked-up after the 10:00 am service. We have seen more and more children in the nursery since it was re-opened this past fall, which is a testament to their loving and fun nature!

Andrew Manous, Nave Sexton, and Chapel Assistant: Andrew also grew up in St. Luke’s and is the brother of Kristen Manous. His work is probably unnoticed around the Church, while his efforts touch everyone at St. Luke's. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, Andrew helps me set up for Chapel at the Day School, welcomes the children, and worships with us. When Vanilla Bean (the omnipresent hat-wearing dog) gets too distracting during Chapel, Andrew gives her the attention that she demands so the students can focus on Chapel. After Chapel, he makes sure everything is tidy in the Nave, so we are ready to welcome parishioners on Sunday morning. If you have a BCP or hymnal within reach on Sunday morning, then you have Andrew to thank!

Now, the most valuable person that gets stuff done around St. Luke’s is YOU!! The altar guild, outreach committee, Circle of Care, AV team, ushers and everyone else makes the ministry happen at St. Luke’s. If you want to become more involved in the ministries at St. Luke’s there always is much to do. My summer goals are to have the Church's exterior property looking good, to expand our pastoral care, and personally get more involved with our outreach efforts. Help with any of these initiatives would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to do anything else that isn’t on our list, let us know, and we can partner to make our community look more like the Kingdom of God.

Blessings,

Nick