TO OUR NEXT RECTOR
A Welcome to our
Next Rector
Thank you for considering St. Luke's as a place to call your home. We look forward to meeting you and welcoming you.
We come together in our church to build relationships through God’s love without exception. In order to grow, we serve, engage, and encourage. Through fellowship, outreach, and worship, we seek to nurture God’s creation.
We have challenges and opportunities ahead, and we seek a leader who can walk closely with us, but who will also lead us, teach us, inspire us, and minister to us so that we are prepared to meet those challenges.
Thank you for taking time to read our profile below and look at our website. We hope it helps paint a picture of St. Luke's. We are sure you have many questions as we do. In God's love, we look forward to it all.
To submit your materials, please email Rev. Amy Real Coultas who is Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of Kentucky. Her contact information is amy@episcopalky.org.
St. Luke's Search Committee
Fofo Johnson, Co-Chair
Joshua Anderson, Co-Chair
Lydia Lewis, Vestry
Rick Rummel, Vestry
Phillip Fletcher, Congregation
Ruth Neaveill, Congregation
Jane Casada, Vestry
Jon Siegrist, Congregation
Priscilla Bond, Congregation
Doug Sanders, Vestry
A Prayer for St. Luke's Rector Search Process
Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, look graciously on our parish. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life and guide us to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church as we seek together to call the next rector or our parish ; that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us to pursue the mission and ministry which you desire us to undertake, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
OUR MISSION
We believe in building relationships through God's love without exception.
In order to grow, we serve, engage and encourage.
Through fellowship, outreach, and worship, we seek to nurture God's creation.
ABOUT US
St. Luke's, established in 1873, is a vibrant worshipping community rooted in the Episcopal tradition. Sunday worship at 10:00 am features a traditional Holy Eucharist Rite II liturgy with beautiful music and choir. Saturday worship is at 5:30 pm offers a more contemporary Holy Eucharistic Rite II liturgy with music provided by our Reflections band.
While St. Luke's willingly explores new worship styles, we remain committed to exceptional, inspiring, and enriching worship. Our music ministry is considered to be one of the finest in the region.
We have a long history of outreach work in the Anchorage and Louisville community. From our early days assisting flood victims in the 1930s to the present through a variety of ways. We provide outreach and care for others through partnerships like the Eastern Area Community Ministries, supplying a food pantry and providing other essentials for families in our community. We welcome and help resettle refugees through Kentucky Refugee Ministries, including in the last year families from Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine. We support Home of the Innocents, continuing decades-long fundraising for vulnerable children.
Whether you are here for worship or fellowship, St. Luke's welcomes all who come through our doors and we minister to them with love and grace.
ABOUT OUR CITIES:
ANCHORAGE & LOUISVILLE
St. Luke's is located in the small independent city of Anchorage (in the eastern part of Jefferson County) and in the wider Louisville metropolitan area. Anchorage was incorporated in 1878 and due to its beautiful tree canopy was noted for cooler temperatures during the summer months which led to many wealthy Louisvillians spending their summers in the area in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
One such resident was a brewing magnate and Jewish businessman Isaac Wolfe Bernheim who is remembered fondly for his philanthropy in the community. His generosity included assisting in the creation of St. Luke's Church.
Louisville was founded by a Virginia Charter in 1780. It is the largest city in Kentucky and is known for its vibrant urban life that includes an array of diverse neighborhoods and restaurants (a foodie city!) and hosts many well-known events including the Kentucky Derby, Thunder Over Louisville, music festivals like Bourbon and Beyond and well known art fairs.
Louisville is fortunate to have a world class orchestra that recently performed with Yo-Yo Ma at Mammoth Cave National Park, a professional ballet and opera company, many art museums, a zoo, professional men and women's soccer clubs, a baseball team, and men and women's college sports. The horse racing at Churchill Downs and bourbon industries are a notable part of Kentucky culture--there is something here for everyone!
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THE RECTOR WE SEEK
We pray that our next Rector will be a skilled collaborator, able to support our strong lay leadership and staff. Our next Rector will join us in welcoming visitors and be willing and able to speak to the needs of parishioners in their daily lives. We seek an individual who can inspire, motivate, and hold us accountable, and occasionally make us a little uncomfortable.
Qualities we desire in our rector are a passion for good communication, humor, liturgy and music, empathy, humility, candor, innovation, energy, and approachability.
We want to welcome a rector into our community who can worship with us, work with us, cry with us, laugh with us, and share in the joy that comes from being a part of St. Luke's.
WHO IS ST. LUKE'S?
OUR PEOPLE
St. Luke's is a warm and welcoming community of believers. When the people of St. Luke's gather there is always a sense of community, caring, and compassion. We welcome our neighbors in our community so that they can share the joy that comes from being a part of St. Luke's.
We are committed to welcoming people of all backgrounds. People of all ages, races, sexual orientations, or political affiliations are able to fully participate in the life and leadership of St. Luke's.
OUR WORSHIP
St. Luke's services are marked by rich tradition, inspiring sacred music, and meaningful and uplifting preaching. We offer traditional Rite II services each week from the Book of Common Prayer. We also celebrate causal communion services on Saturday evenings with contemporary music.
Our parishioners are involved in several important lay ministries to support our worship service as acolytes, choir members and instrumentalists, lectors, eucharistic ministers, ushers, greeters, live stream technicians, and Altar/Flower guild members,
OUR MUSIC
The music ministry at St. Luke's is a vital component of our worship tradition and offerings. We continue the centuries-long tradition of glorifying God through choral and instrumental music. The music program at St. Luke's also offers regular Choral Evensong services and a concert series featuring musicians from across our community, region, and country.
We are also fortunate to offer contemporary music through the Reflections praise band featuring a loyal group of singers and instrumentalists. They enrich the Saturday evening services, fellowship gatherings, and community outreach throughout the year.
OUR PASTORAL CARE
St. Luke's is a caring church. We love and prayerfully support our church family through all seasons of life. We are fortunate to have a team of lay-leaders who stand ready to support parishioners in times of need. We offer centering prayer meetings, delivery of meals to those needing temporary support, flowers to the sick and shut-ins, and anointing for those requesting healing.
Other services include: Lay Eucharistic Visitors, Prayer Ministry, Hospital Visits, Meal Ministry, Flower Ministry, Funeral Coordination, and others.
OUR OUTREACH
St. Luke's is committed to serving those in our community and world. We partner with thirty other churches in Eastern Area Community Ministries, supplying a food pantry and providing other essentials for families in our community through our "Big Red Bag" monthly ministry.
Each month we learn about, pray for, and financially support a different local, national, or international organization through our Monthly Mission Partner through the loose plate offering at the end of the month.
Past partners include: Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief, Food for the Poor, Habitat for Humanity, Prodigal Prison Ministries, Virginia Theological Seminary, Home of the Innocents, WellSpring Mental Health services, and more.
OUR EDUCATION
St. Luke's is committed to providing many opportunities for learning, teaching, and fellowship for individuals and groups in and outside our parish. We offer opportunities throughout the week and year to help build relationships and further our knowledge of the Bible, church history, and deepen our faith.
Our Wednesday morning Bible Study is lay-led and changes topic monthly while Sunday morning classes are offered on a variety of topics.
OUR CAMPUS
St. Luke's is blessed in many ways. We have a beautiful church on a serene campus across several buildings that include the original worship space with a recent 7,000 sq ft addition that allows for us to welcome our neighbors for fellowship, events, and education.
Find out more about our campus below.
THE CHURCH
The sanctuary of St. Luke's reflects the English gothic style in which the architect Arthur Loomis designed in the early 20th century. When entering, visitors are struck by the beautiful stained-glass windows that line the walls. Our 10:00am Sunday services and Saturday 5:30pm services take place in this space, along with weddings, funerals, concerts, and feast day celebrations.
LYMAN HOUSE
In 1997 the church expanded and purchased an adjacent property to the church which later became the main church offices. The space also serves as an additional space for smaller meetings and gatherings of various groups within the church. It is named in honor of David Lyman whose generous gift to St. Luke's allowed for there to be no debt associated with the purchase of the property.
NEW FACILITES
Over a decade ago, St. Luke's embarked on another phase of the expansion and beautification of our church facilities. Having outgrown the buildings from the 1950s it was decided that change was in order. After years of challenges including the pandemic, we were blessed to complete and open our new updated and expanded addition in the spring of 2022.
MEMORIAL GARDEN
St. Luke's is blessed to have a Memorial Garden adjacent to the sanctuary on our campus. Presently, there are two columbariums where members of the parish can visit loved ones. The space offers guests a beautiful space for a contemplative moment to pray, remember loved ones, and take a moment of peace and quiet.
