Discovering St. Luke's Anew: Welcoming New Life, New Stories!

One of the many delights I experienced these past two months is the number of new people joining our congregation. I hear beautiful stories and feel God showing forth in the abundant joy of welcoming new life. The vestry, welcome committee, and I will celebrate and welcome our new folks next Sunday, Oct 26, details below. If you are new and have not filled out a visitor card, then I recommend you do that this Sunday! Furthermore, as we Discover St. Luke’s Anew, it is important that the entire congregation understand how we spend our finances. Please join us following this Sunday’s service in the dining hall to hear and see details of our budget and finances.  

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? Is.43:19

Peace,

John+

Theology on Tap -- Viewing of Traces of the Trade

October 20th: 7:00-9:00 PM

ToT meets this month on Monday, October 20 at 7:00 PM in the St. Luke’s dining room.

The meeting’s program will feature a viewing of: Traces of the Trade -a POV (point of view) documentary premiered on PBS in 2008. The viewing is open to everyone who would like to join us.

Background: Last fall, at Diocesan Convention, Bishop Nicholas Knisely announced an initiative involving the documentary Traces of the Trade which tells the story of Rhode Island’s involvement in the triangle slave trade. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage Episcopalians to examine the history and implications of the slave trade in our own communities. Thanks to Greg DeGroot for bringing this discussion to all of us.

Bishop Knisely and the Center for Reconciliation Advisory Board have encouraged as many churches as possible to host an event before the end of 2025 and begin to imagine how the varying communities across Rhode Island might develop their own unique path in the work of racial healing and reconciliation.

“History finally gets rewritten as descendants of the largest slave-trading family in early America face their past, and present, as they explore their violent heritage across oceans and continents. The film follows the DeWolfe family of Bristol, RI.” [IMDb review]

To learn more about ToT and its programs, contact Brent Bostick at brentbostick1@gmail.com

Women of Grace -- November 3, 7:00-9:00 PM

Women of Grace will be meeting on November 3rd. at 7:00pm in the St. Luke’s dining room. We will be discussing the book, The Spiritual Child by Dr. Lisa Miller. Miller states that children are born inherently spiritual. How this spirituality is fostered and cared for by loved ones will enable the child to ultimately achieve a stable education, health and life of thriving. Whether you are the parent of a child, a grandparent or a lover of children, join us as we explore the relationship between spirituality and positive outcomes for our youth. (Reading the book is not required.) Please click here to RSVP.

To learn more about Women of Grace and its programs, contact Deb Lukens at debukens73@gmail.com

As we look ahead to 2026, there were some changes to the tax code recently passed by the Government that you may benefit from as you support St. Luke’s.

For those taxpayers that claim the standard deduction, an Above-the-Line-Charitable-Deduction has been included. This allows for the first $1,000 ($2,000 for a couple) of charitable giving to be deducted from your taxable income. Making a pledge to the Church ensures you receive quarterly statements for your tax reporting.

For those that support the Church through Qualified Charitable Deductions from an IRA, 2026 will see a rise to $105,000 per person per year. QCD’s also help satisfy the Required Minimum Distributions for that IRA.

New One-Time Election: A new provision allows individuals to make a one-time election to do a QCD of up to $50,000 into certain types of charitable trusts, such as Charitable Remainder Unitrusts (CRUTs) or Charitable Gift Annuities (COAs). This amount will count against the total QCD for that year.

Ask your tax planner if you have any questions on these exciting changes!

Peace and Grace,

Michael Sullivan, Treasurer

Imagine living in Rhode Island when the cold weather hits. Maybe you are homeless or find yourself with no money for truly warm winter clothes. Maybe you have just arrived in the U.S. from Africa or South America and have never experienced snow or 20º temperatures or have never even owned a coat. What if you could only afford a coat for your children, so you went without? Think how good it would feel to be given a nice warm coat, hat, or gloves!

Through our ministry partners, Loaves & Fishes and Dorcas International, St. Lukes'

members are working to help those in our community. We are collecting ADULT

gently used or new coats, and other winter outer wear.

Each Sunday or any day during the week, you can put these items in the bins in the atrium, and we will take care of getting them put to use good use.

Thanking you in advance for your generosity!

Loaves & Fishes

Loaves and fishes is a food ministry partnering with other local churches. The third Saturday of each month, St. Luke’s provides hamburgers and more to people in Woonsocket. Each person walks away with a bag lunch, hot food and seasonal types of clothing as available.

The September run was successful -- we had approximately 80 people waiting for our arrival! As has been happening for the past few months there are many new faces and young children. People are always most appreciative that we are there and showing our commitment to them. 

The next run is on October 18th and with the cooler weather coming we need long sleeve tee shirts and hoodies for both women and men. For October we will maintain the bag lunch count at 120 with 20 bags going to the Greenwich Hotel in East Greenwich. It is appreciated if all donations of food and clothing can be in the St. Luke’s kitchen by 10:00 AM on October 18, 2025

Click here to sign up, help and/or donate. In signing up, there is no expectation that one person needs to fulfill the total amount of a particular donation item. When using the SignUp Genius, please indicate how many of an item you will be donating. 

We understand that there may be circumstances that change and you cannot participate despite initially committing to do so. In these cases we would appreciate you removing your name from the SignUp Genius.

If you are not receiving the SignUp Genius invitation in your e-mail and would like to do so, please click and send an e-mail to: saintlukesfeedingministry@gmail.com.

Your generosity is most appreciated. It allows St Luke’s to continue helping those in need.

ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

BLOOD DRIVE

When: Monday, November

3:00 PM -- 7:00 PM

Where: Auditorium

To participate, click Sign Up Here or go to ribc.org/drives and use code 2270

Prepare to donate:

• Eat well and hydrate
• Bring a photo ID
• Feel good and symptom free
• Must be 17+ or 16 with parental consent
• Meet minimum weight requirements
• For full eligibility requirements and COVID-19 information, visit ribc.org/eligibility

For more information: 800-283-8385 or go to ribc.org