St. Luke's United Methodist Church

The ‘General Church News’ Section

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We claim a rich heritage. We are indebted to those who have walked the faithfulness before us. “We thank God forall that [the Great Redeemer] has done”_ those were the words of Chief Grey Eyes, the Wyandot Indian who expressed appreciayion for the work of Methodist missionaries. They are our words, too. We thank God that we have been brought to this hour. Called to witness and serviice, we greet the future with the assurance that nothing “will able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). God is with us! Thanks be to God!

St. Luke’s and Oak Park UM’s formally became one during a special charge conference of both congregations on Dec. 18. Members of both churches voted unanimously to merge, and legal details are now set to be finished by Dec. 31.

That meeting was followed by a Service of Deconsecration at Oak Park’s burned facility two hours later. The former Oak Park Church is now formally closed and demolition workers have already set to work. The property — including the church sanctuary, a school building and a fellowship hall — will be leveled soon.

The congregations agreed to the merger terms recommended by a committee of three members from each church. A one page listing of those terms will be available soon on this site.

A potential merger between St. Luke’s and Oak Park United Methodist Church will be the highlight of business to be discussed during St. Luke’s annual Charge Conference on Oct. 20.

Corpus Christi District Superintendent Eradio Valverde will be presiding the meeting in the church sanctuary beginning at 7 p.m.

“All who are interested in this historic meeting are certainly welcome,” St. Luke’s Pastor Pamela Dykehouse told the congregation during worship services on Oct. 16.

Both congregations have formally indicated that they are interested in working together on a merger in recent weeks, and the Oct. 20 meeting will be an opportunity for St. Luke’s members to give their official consent to begin working out the details of what several have called a “marriage” between the two churches.

After the St. Luke’s Charge Conference agrees to the merger, a committee of six people (three from each church) would then be appointed by clergy and lay leaders from both churches. That group would then begin the month’s long process of ironing out a myriad of details involved with merger.

This merger has been brewing since March of 2011 when Oak Park’s sanctuary was destroyed by a fire. Oak Park members have since been worshiping each Sunday in the St. Luke’s chapel, and the Oak Park congregation voted in its own Charge Conference in August not to rebuild its sanctuary.

October 10 kicks off 10-Fold, a 10-day multimedia experience that spotlights 10 powerful ways The United Methodist Church is making an impact worldwide.

Log on daily to www.10-Fold.org, October 10-19, to explore each day’s featured project. See live webcasts and videos, read powerful stories, and learn ways YOU can join the effort. Plus, when you click to BE COUNTED, our sponsors will give $1 to the day’s initiative – just because you visited!

Members of Oak Park UMC have formally requested a merger with St. Luke’s, Pastor Pamela Dykehouse told St. Luke’s parishioners during Sunday Services on September 25.

Oak Park’s members voted to make the request during a Charge Conference meeting on September 21, and it comes after the St. Luke’s Church Council unanimously agreed in its August meeting to invite a merger with Oak Park.

Talk of a possible merger has been brewing since March when a fire destroyed Oak Park’s sanctuary and St. Luke’s began hosting Oak Park’s regular Sunday services in its chapel. Now that official bodies of both churches have formally expressed interest in a merger, “there is still plenty to talk about” in regard to details of the potential partnership, Rev. Dykehouse said during the Sept. 25 services.

The St. Luke’s congregation is now set discuss the merger, and possibly formally agree to it, during its regularly scheduled annual Charge Conference on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.

The 2011  St. Luke’s Charge Conference is set for Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary.

This is the annual meeting of the basic administrative unit of the local church in the United Methodist system. It is called by and presided over by our Corpus Christi District Superintendent Rev. Eradio Valverde. The voting membership of the Charge Conference is comprised of the members of the Church Council and all clergy affiliated with the local church. The Charge Conference is the official connecting link between the local church and the general Church.

It is the responsibility of the Charge Conference to review and evaluate the total mission and ministry of the church, receive reports from the pastor, staff and church leaders, and adopt objectives and goals recommended by the Church Council that are in keeping with the objectives of The United Methodist Church (2008 Book of Discipline, paragraphs 246-246).

All are welcome to attend meet our Superintendent, celebrate our church’s ministry, and hear plans for our continuing mission.