Families in Crisis

Help Us Help Others

Did you know that there is a special church fund used to help people in need buy food, pay their utility bills, and/or purchase gas? Using the gifts designated for the Rector’s Discretionary Fund, St. George’s priests are able to provide financial assistance for individuals and families who are in crisis. With the recent rise in food and gas prices, more and more people are coming to the church for aid. Will you help us help them? Donations of grocery store or gas station gift cards are also appreciated.

St. Luke's Needs Volunteers

Reading Buddies

Volunteers commit to coming at least once a week for about an hour and read with or to a child. Each child has their own reading goal that they try to reach with the help of his/her own buddy. Reading Buddies meets on Mondays, 10:15am – 2:00pm; Tuesdays, 10:15am – 12:15pm; and Wednesdays, 10:15am – 12:15pm from June 16th through August 1st. The orientation meeting is on Thursday, June 12th, at 3:30pm.

Recycling Assistant

St. Luke’s is going green and in our effort to be more ecologically friendly, we would like to begin recycling the cans, plastic, cardboard, and glass that we use in our kitchen on a daily basis. We need a volunteer to come daily or every other day M-F to rinse and sort these items before they taken to the recycling drop-off center.

Job Coach

We’re matching volunteers with mentor active job seekers who are associated with our Workforce Development Initiative. The job coaching would involve a weekly meeting set at an agreed-upon time between mentor and protégé’ and would include coaching on resume-building, job interview etiquette, job search strategies – all based on needs & willingness of job-seeker.

Senior Friends Assistant

Beginning in July, our Sr. Social Director will need a volunteer on Thursday mornings from 9am – 12:30pm to assist with the weekly Sr. Social event we host. This would involve helping set-up in the morning, interacting with seniors, and serving soft drinks and lunch.


For more information about these volunteer opportunities, please contact St. Luke's at www.stlukescommunityhouse.org or call 350-7893.

Ministry of Greeting

An Invitation to the Ministry of Greeting

Interested in greeting people as they enter and leave the church on Sunday mornings? This simple yet profoundly important ministry may be just for you. If you are interested in exploring it, we invite you to a Greeter Orientation and Training.

The first will be held Sunday, July 13th, at 9:00am. The second will be held Sunday, August 3rd, at 11:30am (immediately following the 10:00am service).

These informal and informative sessions will help attendees become more effective and intentional in welcoming visitors. We have some simple, practical coaching tips that can make your greeting even more meaningful, and your experience more satisfying. It is necessary to attend only one of the two.

For more information, contact Brad Thomason at 604-3109 or The Rev. Tim Jones at 385-2150 x 217.

2009 Outreach Funding Applications Available

If you are aware of an organization or activity that strives to serve those in need within our community and does so with a Christian message, please let us know by picking up an outreach funding application in the church office and have it completed and returned by August 1st, 2008.

Welcoming Newcomers

As families get into their summer routines, your Newcomers Committee is active in ensuring that anyone interested in enhancing their spiritual lives at St. George’s is welcomed with open arms. Each Sunday, Father Spruill invites all visitors to make themselves known to our congregation by completing a visitor card found in the pews and submitting them to an usher or greeter. This information is entered into our church database whereby the visitor will receive letters of welcome, a phone call, and be placed on our active mailing list.

Orientations are held after the 8:45am or 10:00am services every other month where members of our Vestry and committee leaders explain the opportunities for involvement in our vibrant parish. A cookout will occur on July 13th to which all visitors who have attended St. George’s since September 2007 will be invited to meet other members and learn about the opportunities for growth.

If you would like to be involved on the Newcomers Committee or serve as a greeter at our worship services, please contact Rebecca Teel at 385-2150 x 213 or

The "2 St. George's Team" in the Holy Land

Linda Crane, Sally Miller, and Paul Teschan flew to and from the Holy Land with the St. George’s Pilgrimage 2008 group but with a different mission. Our mission was to learn what life is really like for Palestinian Christians and to explore the possibility of a relationship between St. George’s parish, Nashville, and St. George’s College, Jerusalem, that might benefit Christians in the Holy Land. We succeeded in our mission within the limits of time. That mission grew from the invitation of The Rev. Dr. Kamal Farah of St. George’s College, Jerusalem, when we met him on Pilgrimage in 2007: “Your media do not tell you about the situation of Palestinian Christians. You need to spend time with us and we with you.” Fr. Farah crafted the 9-day experience that informs this report.

We learned that the Christian population of Palestine is the oldest Christian population that survives in the world today. But the number of Christians has declined from an estimated 20% of Palestinians in 1948 to 2% currently. Thus emigration is considered the biggest problem that Palestinian Christians face today. The rate is higher now than in the past one hundred years, and many fear that Palestinian Christianity is on the brink of extinction.

We discovered a number of opportunities for ongoing, mutually helpful collaboration between St. George’s parish, Nashville, and St. George’s College and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. These are under discussion with our parish leadership. This brief report is but a glimpse into a much bigger story that we want to share with you!

Paul Teschan