Who We Are: Community. Service. Intellectual Inquiry into the Holy Spirit
If you had to define St. Luke’s in three words; community, service, and intellectual inquiry into the Holy Spirit (who’s counting these words, anyway?) might be the ones.
We are a community of worshipers who find love and meaning in our ancient yet still relevant liturgy.
We are an inclusive community of people from every walk of life who find purpose and joy in one another.
We are a community of seekers and questioners, deeply curious and engaged in finding the Holy Spirit in its many forms through readings, lively conversations, and action in our community.
We are a community of do-ers. We believe in doing the work of the Holy Spirit that makes a positive impact on the lives of everyone around us.
For almost two centuries, St. Luke’s has been a community of people drawn together in love and faith, and to do good works.
For decades, we’ve fed the hungry and homeless. We feed the hungry every week at the Market Street Pantry, serve the homeless at St. Vincent’s Haven in Newark, and bring our community together in fellowship through the Granville Turkey Trot, which raises more than $100,000 each year for the Food Pantry Network of Licking County. These works are expressions of our deep and abiding faith in Christ Jesus.
We are a community that is not afraid to ask questions and talk about hard subjects – and even to disagree at times. Bible studies, our Bring Your Own Brain series, and Coffee Grounds for Discussion are times to talk and learn — fruitful steps on our spiritual journeys.
St. Luke’s has started some pretty amazing things! We established the Welsh Hills School here in Granville and a school in Africa. We launching the recycling program in Licking County and the Great Granville Garage Sale that supports the Licking County Coalition of Housing.
We have a lot of fun, too! From Women’s Wine nights to Fourth of July Ice Cream socials, to Christmas Carol Sing-a-longs, we have lots of ways to gather in joy, love, and community.
Our Creator is bigger than we can even imagine. We are learning and growing, changing through the transformational love of Our Lord. St. Luke’s is the patron saint of an eclectic group: artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, glass makers, glass workers, gold workers, goldsmiths, lace makers, lace workers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, stained glass workers, surgeons, and unmarried men — a pretty good representation of Our Lord’s abounding love for every creature, including you.
We honor the Holy Spirit, in our love and care for one another, for everyone everywhere, and for all creation.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The Episcopal Church has an ancient and storied history, yet we are as relevant today as we ever were.
The Episcopal Church celebrates diversity, honors tradition and transforms hearts and lives. We strive to live by the example of Jesus Christ, welcoming the stranger and the outcast, helping our neighbors and offering forgiveness and love. We walk the “middle way” between Protestant and catholic traditions. The liturgy (the way we do church) and the sacraments (actions that we believe are visible signs of grace) are very important in the life of the Episcopal Church.
Often we also walk the “middle way” in our theology and debates. We don’t believe that everyone has to agree with each other – but that we can enter into thoughtful, respectful discussion on a range of issues.
The Episcopal Church has between 2-3 million members in about 7,500 congregations in the United States, the Virgin Islands, Haiti, Europe and other areas in North America. We are part of the larger Anglican Communion, which has 70 million followers around the world.