Celebrating Community - St Luke's Rededication Weekend
St Luke’s celebrated a special weekend on 18th and 19th May by hosting a trio of events which included a Bring and Share Community Feast, a Rededication Service with Baptism and Confirmation, and a Celebration Café Church.
The Bring and Share Feast featured activities including a dress-up photo booth, piñata, games, children's disco, and, of course, plenty of food. Trophies were presented to the youngest guest (seven weeks old) and to the oldest guest (ninety-five years old and fresh as a daisy!).
On Sunday 19th May the Bishop of Ripon, Helen-Ann Hartley, led a special service combining a Rededication of St Luke's with Baptism and Confirmation within a Celebration of Holy Communion (and people even got home in time for lunch!). The Bishop opened the service by banging on the doors of the church with her crozier (Bishop’s special staff), before leading a procession through the church which included a trumpet, guitar, and djembe. Six Candidates were confirmed, each of whom had been involved in our recent Alpha Course.
The weekend's events concluded with a celebratory Café Church on the Sunday afternoon, with yet more cake, crafts and activities, stories, music, and a prayer tunnel. The theme centred on the saint after which the church was named – St Luke – and the vision of the church as a place of healing and wellbeing (in offering the ‘wholesome medicine of the gospel’, as a prayer puts it).
The Team Vicar of St Luke’s, Rev’d Andy Patrick, commented:
"What a wonderful, joy-filled weekend. I'm thoroughly shattered, especially as my one-year old deemed it a wise time to give us only three hours sleep! The events of the weekend were a celebration of our community and the things that God is doing among us. They also marked our re-designation as a Parish Centre of Worship, which sounds very churchy but roughly translates as ‘an excuse to have a party’".
“St Luke’s is a special place – a home from home. It’s a place of faith, hope, and love. There is a unique family feel where children can be themselves, and where we hope everyone feels welcomed and loved. The aim of our special weekend was to give thanks for these things and to celebrate the links we have with our community".