St Luke’s

Lutheran Church

Refuge . Renewal . Reach

Worship Gatherings

Please join us any Sunday at 10:00AM Pacific Time for worship. Our worship gathering is Live Streamed.  You can participate on-campus, in real-time online, or view the service at a time that works for you on our YouTube channel.

ON the HORIZON…

6/5 – Elders Discerning . Monday 7:00PM

6/7 – Men’s Doughnut & Work Group . Wednesday . 9:30AM

6/11 – Worship Gathering . Community Forum . 10:00AM

6/12 – Board of Trustees . Monday 7:00PM

6/18 – Worship Gathering . Community Forum . 10:00AM

6/19 – Ministry Team Huddle . Monday 7:00PM

6/26-30 – Vacation Bible Adventure (VBA) . Reserve room for your kid(s)

In January of last year we commissioned our Pastor to – along with his family – embark on an 18 month pilgrimage to Holden Village near Chelan, Washington.

As a community of faith we recognize the times are changing.  Culture, church, North Bellevue, even the members of our community are changing.  We feel the Spirit’s invitation to listen for our shared future.  With that in mind we blessed Pastor Mark into this learning journey, and brought in a temporary pastor from a different tradition and background to help us listen for our future from another perspective.

Pastor Mark (left) will be resuming his role with us in Summer 2023, and until then Pastor Dwight (right) is serving our community on a part-time basis.

REFUGE

  • Community of Belonging
  • All People are Welcome
  • LGBTQIA+ Affirming
  • United against racism
  • Care & Hospitality
  • Culture of Compassion

RENEWAL

  • Following in the Way of Christ
  • Discovering Faithful Presence
  • Wholistic Living
  • Word & Sacrament
  • Sustainable Spirituality
  • Shared Leadership

REACH

  • Deep Listening
  • Lamenting With & Joining those Suffering
  • Loving Our Neighbors as we Love Ourselves
  • Embodying Grace as we Experience God’s Grace
  • Finding Home Together

Who We Are

St Luke’s is a community of faith and practice in North Bellevue, on Seattle’s Eastside.  We seek to follow in the Way of Jesus Christ, who taught and embodied the love of God and love of neighbor as oneself.  We sense that life is better when we live it together; so, we gather regularly.  We tell stories to enlarge our imagination for justice and compassion.  We engage in practices to foster welcome, inclusion, and intergenerational competence.  All the while nurturing hearts of gratitude, generosity, equity, and kindness.

We receive all people as loved, image bearers of God. We’re prayerfully moving toward racial and class equity and joyfully welcome all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions; simply seeking to journey with others in their spiritual quests. Our campus is accessible (ADA compliant), and we are a Sanctuary Denomination Church in relationship with the Northwest Washington Synod of the ELCA.

As you’ll see as you scroll through our site, we have a passion to see all people in safe affordable housing.

And we believe that God loves and welcomes all into God’s family in Jesus Christ.  We desire our gatherings to be a place of healing, grace, prophetic witness & belonging.  Thanks for checking out our website, please let us know if you have any questions!

2018 Faith Organization Award…

The Alliance of Eastside Agencies (AEA) honored our faith community with the 2018 Faith Organization Award.   The award was a celebration of our years of collaboration local organizations such as Imagine Housing, CFH, and The Sophia Way, providing a Shelter and Day Center for women experiencing housing insecurity, and for sharing our campus with a new supportive housing development: 30BELLEVUE.

We desire to love and serve our neighbors and our neighborhoods as a faithful expression of our love of God.

 Our Name . Our Windows . Our Flame

Our faith community takes its name from the New Testament’s book of Luke.  Of all four gospels Luke was most intentionally written for a diverse audience, it has a strong emphasis on the presence and leadership of women, it emphasizes a practical and real-world spirituality expressed as justice and compassion, and it is the only gospel that tells the story of the resurrected Christ joining two friends on their journey to the town of Emmaus.

It is the “Emmaus Road” story of connecting with others and the Divine along life’s ordinary journeys, that is the inspiration for the beautiful stained glass of our building’s “Witness Windows.”  With guidance from a local artist and a craftsperson the members of our faith community created and installed these windows.

The flame symbol that you see on this website and around our campus also reflects the Emmaus Road journey.  Two parallel spirals reflect the journey of friends walking together.  The cross at the heart reflects our desire to center on Jesus Christ.  And the flame invites us to listen for the presence of Spirit; as one of the friends in the story says, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” Luke 24:32. 

A Few Of Our
Collaborators

Holden Village

Holden Village is a retreat center located in the North Cascade mountains of Washington State. The Village seeks to cultivate a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world.  It is to Holden Village that Pastor Mark Griffith and family were commissioned to go on an eighteen-month pilgrimage, (the Griffiths will be back in Summer 2023).  Visit Holden’s website.

The Sophia Way & Sophia's Place

Sophia’s Place is transitional short term housing for women experiencing housing insecurity.  It is located on our campus and accessed from the lower parking lot. Sophia’s Place is an expression of The Sophia Way and provides meals, living space, work space, safety, comfort, and community for its residents as they each work toward what is next on their journey. 

Interfaith Task Force for Homelessness

The Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness is a working group of local people intentionally linking together across different religious, spiritual, and secular traditions toward preventing and ending homelessness and housing insecurity for all and everyone.  Website.

Imagine Housing

Imagine Housing develops permanent affordable rental homes in East King County. Their apartments provide individuals and families a place to live near their jobs, good schools, transportation, and health services. We partnered with Imagine Housing to create 30Bellevue, a low-income housing building located on our campus.

Congregations for the Homeless . CFH

CFH seeks to end homelessness on the Eastside. Their mission is to partner with men and the community to create pathways from housing insecurity to stable living situations.  Every February we host a group of men who eat and sleep on our campus. It’s an honor to partner with our neighbors in this practical way.  Patty & Prentice serve as our primary connection, they’d love to hear from you.

Salvation Army Feeding Program

On a regular basis we provide nutritious hot meals to the Salvation Army – Crossroads Bellevue location. Gathering around tables with others is vital to following in the Way of Jesus, and this practice provides our community an opportunity to come along some of our neighbors seeking to escape the daily burdens of food insecurity.  If you would to join in just to get a feel, or make this a regular part of your spiritual practice, Bob can help you get connected. 

Home Building . Ensenada, Mexico

Most years we commission a team of everyday people who are connected with St Luke’s to Ensenada, Mexico to build a home for a family in need of safe permeant housing. We are finding this to be a beautifully reciprocal opportunity to develop friendship, to renew faith, and to build a home.  A person doesn’t have to be a professional builder, anyone with an open heart is welcome.  You may want to consider participating on an upcoming build… Bruce would love to help you think about this opportunity to connect & serve.  

Alcoholics Anonymous . AA

AA’s primary purpose is to help people with an addiction to alcoholic find a community of support in the journey to sobriety and sustaining sobriety.  A number of AA groups meet on our church’s campus.  Click here to find an AA group near you.

Café Connect

Stay . Engage . Care & Be Cared For

Make Yourself at Home…

Most Sunday’s after our worship gathering we connect with each other, meet new friends, and care for one another over fresh coffee and tea in our lobby.  We lovingly refer to this as “café connect.”  Coffee is free and we welcome you to engage to whatever degree feels comfortable to you.  Smile, introduce yourself, be curious, and help make people feel welcome and cared for… everyone belongs. It’s also totally cool to head out after worship, no pressure, just do what feels right.  When you’re here you are family!

Children, Youth & Families

The mission of Children, Youth & Family at St Luke’s is to provide a means for fostering personal and spiritual growth. We do this for our youth and families of all kinds, by providing planned activities and events where experiences are shared intergenerationally; with an emphasis on providing the building blocks for fostering healthy wholistic lives through listening to, learning from, and following in the way of Jesus Christ.

For a complete list of our activities & special events for kids of all ages contact Melinda.

A dedicated nursery room is available for our youngest congregants.

  The PrayGround

The PrayGround is a dedicated area in our sanctuary set up for children and parents to quietly, or sometimes not-so-quietly, color and draw while still participating in our community’s primary worship gathering. We love children – of all ages – at St Luke’s and never frown on the occasional noise or wiggles-attack… its happens to all of us from time to time!

Sunday School

Children ages 5 thru 12 enjoy Sunday School following our worship gatherings, during the school year, starting at 11:15 and ending at 12:15. This allows children to fully participate in our worship gathering. We believe that children engaging worship with their family or care provider is important to their faith journey.

Vacation Bible Adventure

Blasting off soon!  June 26-30.  VBA is a joyous time in our community of faith! It’s high energy, vibrant and so much fun! We get to host dozens of children and spend the week exploring life in the Way of Jesus… learning to love God, others, creation, & ourselves. Registration for 2023 is open. For additional details check in with Melinda.

Family Retreats

Our annual retreat to a camp near Bellingham is a memory-maker for everyone who participates. We connect, play games, sing songs, share stories, enjoy creation, and so much more. It’s a journey to get there but when you’re there you’re truly away from it all. It’s uplifting and relaxing. Join in… it’s gonna be fun!

Generations Together

Regular opportunities for intergenerational relationship building

We Pray & We Play!

Generations Together is an intentional opportunity for children, youth, and families to connect with everyone in our community of faith. We take part in friendship building activities that everyone enjoys! Sometimes we have special projects to work on, sometimes we make a meal together, and ALL of the time we have fun… Join us for an Easter egg hunt, an Advent fair, Christmas caroling, bingo games, great food, community picnics, block parties, and that’s just a drop in the bucket… We’ve always got fun and formational events on the horizon!

 

Belonging & Serving 

Some Pathways for Connection…

Community Forum

Most Sundays during the school year, following our worship gathering we host a Community Forum.  Community Forums are usually curated discussions, learning spaces, or explorations of topics that touch our lives.  Sometimes we talk about and engage different spiritual practices, hold open dialogues about current events, or engage in intergenerational play. There are always beverages… sometimes snacks.  Community Forums are a great opportunity to connect in conversation and deepen relationship within St Luke’s.  Contact our church’s office with any questions, or just stick around after a gathering and join in… you are always welcome!

Love & Justice Chorale

Our Love & Justice Chorale rocks!  We love music and the arts.  Our Love & Justice Chorale holds regular rehearsals in evenings and no experience is necessary… If you have a voice, speak sign language, play an instrument, or run sound equipment… or would like to learn, then we have a place for you. The chorale sings during some of our worship gatherings and during special times throughout the year.  To inquire please talk with Cheri, our fearless Worship & Arts Minster.

Community Care & Prayer Teams

We desire to be a community of care and prayer.  If you have a passion for caring for others, and letting them know that they are seen, they matter, and they are loved, then we invite you to contact Arlys.  Whatever your passion for compassion is, we would love help you use it as a blessing. 

We also have an active prayer ministry.  First of all, if you would like to receive prayer, there are a number of avenues. Usually during communion in worship we have a station for conversation prayer by the banner; you can email Arlys or the church office, or simply fill out a prayer card located in our pews.  We would love invite you to join our prayer team, if that fits in your spiritual practice.  

Piece Makers . Quilters

Our quilters sense that everyone deserves to be warm and have something beautiful in their lives.  Our Piece Makers gather together every Thursday to create unbelievably fabulous quilts. In Spring time – around Easter – we have a “Blessing Of The Quilts” before sending the quilts to places far and wide. All levels of skill are welcome, whether you are a seasoned quilter or a newbie wanting to learn. These passionate people create works of art to be shared as an expression of God’s unitive love. Come join the fun!  Contact Cheryl to learn more

Altar Guild

Our Altar Guild is a community of people who not only care for each other, but who actively care of our entire community by thoughtfully attending to our worship spaces.  If you have an heart for hospitality, making a place beautiful, and setting a table that helps make everyone feel welcome so that all free to receive what they need from God and community, then consider learning more.  Lyn would love to get you connected. 

Men's Doughnut & Work Group

Consider connecting with some of the men of St Luke’s to eat doughnuts, drink coffee, tell stories, make wisecracks, and yes… dare one another to follow in the Way of Jesus. The guys gather every other Wednesday, in Pierson Hall on our church’s campus. Harvey would love to fill you in on details or answer any questions.  BTW sometimes they take on update or repair projects around our campus.

Good Samaritan Fund

When Jesus was asked “who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story that has come to be known as The Good Samaritan (also in Luke’s Gospel).  In the story, the Samaritan sees a fellow human in need, feels compassion, and joins the person… our Good Samaritan Fund is one of the ways we seek to follow Christ’s teaching.  Mondays through Wednesdays, 9:00-11:30AM Joe is available on our campus to hear stories and whenever possible to help connect people with resources.  

Groups . Cause, Working & Book/Bible Study

Community and belonging matter to us.  There are numerous groups connected at St Luke’s.  These groups come in all shapes and sizes.  Some groups choose to study our sacred text, engage other books, engage a real-world cause, or tackle a project for St Luke’s.  As a faith community we encourage you to engage the readings, themes, topics, issues that really interest you… such groups can be a great way to meet people, deepen your spiritual practice, and grow in wisdom, love, service, justice, and take collective action. Groups can meet in person or online.  Our community is happy to try to connect you with an already existing group or to help form a new group around a theme you’re desiring to explore… of course you are welcome engage with folks from other realms of your life… you not limited to just St Luke’s.  Contact our church’s office with any questions or group ideas.

Women's Retreats

Every year – minus the pandemic – the women of St Luke’s co-create a opportunity to gather for a retreat… usually over a weekend. This is a wonderful way to get spiritually connected, share stories, and get some “me” time. Women of all ages and backgrounds make for a truly inspiring personal renewal… Sometimes we just need a break from life’s regular routines.  Contact our church’s office with any questions or retreat ideas.

Communal Leadership

The existence of our faith collective invites creative and caring leadership from within our community.  We are a church of God’s people, by these people, and for all peoples.  Our Elders and Board of Trustees shoulder the responsibility of stewarding our group’s collective mission, and leading the way in listening for God’s direction as we discern our next steps in big and small matters.  Every year in late Fall we host congregational meeting to remember where we’ve been, look to the future and to identify the servant leaders for the next year.  Our Elders: Roberta, Bruce, & Heather; and our 2023 Broad of Trustees: Judy B. chairArlys vice, Leslie treasure, Cheryl secretary, Lisa, Diane, Lyn, Liz, Laurie, Judy K.  Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, ideas, or ways to help us as a community… together we are St Luke’s!

Giving & Serving

Together we support our community!

Corporate Matching: Double Your Gift!

Ways to Serve

St Luke’s & Beyond

From time-to-time opportunities to present themselves for us to respond financially or to serve our neighbors and our world. Below are some of our areas of focus for our faith community.  

Community Supported to Support Community

As you likely know, St Luke’s is a not for profit organization.  We exist solely – and souly – through the generous support of our parishioners, our friends, and those who wish to support our collective mission.  The most valuable gift anyone can ever offer is the gift of their presence and their passions.  We believe this community is worth investing in so we invite you to consider supporting the evolving mission and formation of St Luke’s with your creativity, finances, and your relationships.  Together we are St Luke’s! Learn more here.

Rose Window Restoration

We have recently learned that the structural integrity of our Rose Window is comprised, needing immediate attention. It will cost $10,600 to complete the restoration. We are so grateful this problem was discovered before the window failed.  We would like to raise funds to cover the cost, but given the precarious condition of the window are prepared to dip into our community’s reserves in order save it.  We invite you to prayerfully consider how you might contribute to this restoration project.  Learn more here.

Turkey & Syria Earthquake Relief

Our hearts break for our human siblings in Turkey & Syria whose lives have been devastated by the recent earthquakes.  As a faith community we are raising money to support aid efforts.  Our quilters created and  raffled a beautiful quilt to raise money.  While the raffle is over, you can still offer your support for the ongoing relief efforts.  

Ukraine Relief

Please continue to hold Ukraine in your prayers as they have now been under siege for more than a year.  Jesus’ invitation, “to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute” is an ongoing dare… we need each other and the Spirit to foster this kind of love.  We are pooling our aid money, you are welcome to contribute.

The Sophia Way

Contribute to help women experiencing housing insecurity.

Vacation Bible Adventure

Our Vacation Bible Adventure is a super-fun event held every in early summer. You can support by helping at VBA, preparing snacks, or contributing funds.

Lutheran World Relief

Donate to help those around the world who are in need of food, water, and shelter.

ELCA

Funds will go to the ELCA to assist those in need across our country.

…and this shall be
a sign unto you!

Our beloved sign is located in front of our campus on Bellevue Way near the Bellevue Way/520 intersection. We regularly update our sign with pithy sayings hoping to make you smile, to feel valued, or to have a reflective moment as you walk, jog, bike, wheel, bus, or drive by… It’s our way of saying “hello” and “you matter”!   

Let’s Connect 

Our campus is reasonably easy to find, near the South East corner of Bellevue Way & 520, just North of the QFC.  We have a Metro Bus Stop (#249) on the corner.  If you are driving a car please note that parking can sometimes be challenge; this is do to our shared lot with 30Bellevue and Sophia’s Place. Please view our parking map to help as a guide. For those with compromised ambulatory abilities, our campus is equipped with accessible restrooms, we have a drop-off location right in front of the lobby which is close to our sanctuary, and we have plenty of accessible parking.

Thank you for visiting our Site…

See you soon!

Phone messages will be returned on Wednesdays during office hours 10:00AM-1:00PM Pacific Time.

Office Hours

Wednesdays

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Pacific Time
Other times by appointment