Welcome

Welcome to St Luke’s –
the Parish Church of St Luke the Evangelist
on Burton Stone Lane, York.

Summer 2021

Praise the Lord! – something more like a normal Sunday Parish Communion service will begin at St Luke’s on the 1st August.

Although the government has ended the law making face masks compulsory, we ask all those attending church to continue to wear a face mask, unless you have been exempt from doing so. This is to protect and reassure those of us who are clinically vulnerable or anxious about the risk of lifting lockdown. Masks feel like a nuisance to many (particularly in the warmer months) but with Covid-19 cases rising rapidly and predicted to continue to do so over the summer months, this would not be a good time to throw these masks away.

Please do not attend St Luke’s for the time being if you have:

  • been outside the UK in the 10 days prior to coming to church
  • had symptoms of Covid in the 10 days prior to coming to church
  • been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 in the 10 days prior to coming to church

Thank you for your help with this.

Hand sanitiser will still be available at the church door, and cleaning after the 10.00am service will continue.

To improve air quality, the outside doors in the Lady Chapel and at the back of church will remain open during services.

We no longer need 2-metre gaps between seats or household groups of seats, but the seating rows will be more spaced than they were before lockdown. Please fill the seats next to the wall first to ensure that people arriving later do not have to squeeze past worshippers already seated. If you want to ensure space between yourself (or your group) and others may place a sign provided by the welcome team on request) on the seat next to you.

Socially-distanced seating will be available at the rear of the church and in the side chapels for anyone who is vulnerable and anxious not to be close to the rest of the congregation. Communion will be taken by the priest to worshippers occupying these seats.

Singing will be restricted during services to a limited choir to limit airborne infection, but the final hymn will be for everyone to join in while remaining masked. Anyone concerned about being in the church during singing may wish to leave before the final hymn.

Communion will continue to be in the form of bread only, due to the risk of sharing a common cup. Communion will be available at the altar rail, although all are asked to stand (and not kneel) to receive it. Rows will be invited to go to communion by a warden or sideperson. The choir will not sing during communion but music will be played instead so as to avoid communicants passing through aerosols produced by the choir.

Tea/Coffee

We are delighted that tea and coffee will be served in the hall after the 10.00am Sunday service.

The windows and door will be opened and you are asked to take your drink outside. Chairs will be provided outside on request. During rainy weather the church will be kept open so that people may drink in the wider ventilated space there.

All are asked to wear masks whilst collecting coffee/tea and to remain masked until they have taken their drink to where they intend to drink it. If you are with a group, please will one of you collect drinks for your group?

Anyone who shielded during lockdown because of their health is asked to take advice and consider whether a return to church is appropriate now while cases are still rising.

We hope that in the near future, circumstances will improve and we will all be able to meet and worship as we did before. In the meantime let us work together to keep each other safe.

If you need any additional help or assistance please get in touch using info@stlukesyork.org.

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We serve a parish of about 5,500 souls about a mile north of York Minster; standing on the corner of the Lane and Shipton Street, St Luke’s has been home to warm, welcoming and worshipping Christian community for over a hundred years.

We meet to worship God every Sunday and at some time on most weekdays too; St Luke’s sees weddings, Christenings and funerals throughout the year, and our Church Hall is a busy hub for church and community social events.

During term-time we offer a Parent and Toddler Drop-in every Monday and Wednesday morning, and a range of children’s and young people’s activities mostly on a Friday evening. We welcome new members to choirs for young people and the young-at-heart, and for senior citizens our Tuesday Club meets every week.

St Luke’s is commited to grow in Christlikeness, influence and numbers; to welcome all, to work to safeguard God’s creation, and to promote justice in the world.

See you soon…

Who’s Who?

Vicar of St Luke’s (we’re praying for our next one)

The Revd Jackie Doyle-Brett left St Luke’s in February 2021 to be Priest-in-Charge of Derwent Ings, a group of villages south of York; we are already praying for her successor – though it will be a while before we know who it is.
 

The Revd Dr Nick Sykes (Curate)

Nick is a doctor working in the National Health Service and at the University of York alongside his work in St Luke’s; married with three children, Nick was ordained in 2019.

The Revd Liz Carrington (Deacon)

Liz was ordained Deacon in 2009 after nearly five years as a Reader. A member of St Luke’s for many years, Liz was International Development Adviser to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy until her retirement in 2010.
 

Lynn Comer (Reader)

Lynn became a Reader in the 1990s and is a long-standing member of St Luke’s. She is married to Mark with a son and a grandson, and is Director of the York School of Ministry for the Diocese of York.

Colette Longbottom (Churchwarden)

Colette’s life is a whirl of learning French and the guitar while cooking, baking, reading, helping husband John with the allotment, walking in the countryside and being a mother and grandmother. It’s just as well she’s retired from a career in local government.

David Titterington-Cook (Churchwarden)

David is a Lancastrian who crossed the Pennines to live in York over a decade ago. Married to Neil with one son, David’s career has been varied but he now works happily in Stonegate. He gladly admits his guiltiest pleasure is a love of 1980s music.

About Us

  • We believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • We are a Christian family of people who worship and serve God in the Burton Stone Lane area of York.
  • We are a praying community, committed to caring for each other and those in our community, and sharing God’s love with everyone.
  • As a registered Inclusive Church, we welcome everyone regardless of physical ability, mental health, gender, race, sexuality or economic advantage.
  • We are committed to serving our local community; we run ‘Joyful Connections‘ (a weekly Community Café), and work with local schools and businesses.
  • As an Eco Church Silver Award holder, we aim to live simply, responsibly and sustainably in order to care for God’s creation.
  • As part of our commitment to justice we are a Fairtrade Church and sell a range of fairly traded goods at our ‘Joyful Connections‘ Café and sometimes after our Sunday morning worship.
  • We celebrate the creative arts using music and drama in our worship and at other events during the year.
  • We support each other on our faith journey with opportunities for growing, learning, listening and quiet meditative prayer.

Weddings

We’d love you to get married at St Luke’s.

Although the outside of St Luke’s doesn’t win many prizes, step inside and you’ll be surprised by the bright airy and spacious body of the church and the beautiful chancel area around the altar – the backdrop to many wedding photos.

When you get married at St Luke’s, most of the service takes place at the chancel step, just in front of where family and friends will be sitting.

You’re welcome to marry here if either of you live or grew up in St Luke’s parish, or if you worship regularly at St Luke’s, or if your parents live or lived here, or if they are or were members of St Luke’s – in fact there are lots of ways people can be able to get married here.

You can get in touch and we’d be delighted to show you round and talk about how your wedding would take place in St Luke’s.

We’ll arrange to meet up, give you the information you need, help you with the form-filling stuff and spend some time making the service personal to you both.

  • If you live in the parish but are having a church wedding somewhere else, you will still need to have your banns read in St Luke’s as well as in the church where you are marrying. We have to do this at least three weeks before your wedding so make sure you don’t leave it too late! Contact us any time about this and we will arrange it for you.
  • You can find out much more about marrying in the Church of England, including about fees, online at Your Church Wedding.

Christenings – or Baptisms

We love baptisms and Christenings (they’re the same thing) at St Luke’s.

Whether you’re nine minutes, nine months or ninety years old, God welcomes you into the family of Jesus Christ and so do we (we’ve baptised people at all those ages and quite a lot in between too).

Being baptised is being welcomed into the family of God and the Church, and it can happen at any age – some people’s grownups decide for them, and other people decide for themselves once they’re old enough.

Once you’re baptised you can go on to receive Holy Communion and to be Confirmed; talk to us about this and about how we prepare people to take these steps.

If you have a connection with St Luke’s or if you live in the parish we’d love to hear from you – come along to any service, or any of our regular weekly activities, or get in touch any way you like, and we’ll get you all the information you need.