A Reflection from Transition Priest in Charge, The Rev. Dr. Paul St. Germain Ecclesiastes famously speaks of “seasons” in life. As residents of an area where seasons are both celebrated and endured, we may ask ourselves the characteristics of this season of transition St. Luke’s is entering. Will it be busy, hectic, filled with new […]

A Final Reflection From Dean Shambaugh, Since we started using Constant Contact, I have written more than 1000 E-pistle cover letters. When people were isolated during the beginning of Covid, we were sending out three E-pistles a week, which meant a huge number of letters from me! Far from being a burden, this was a […]

A Reflection by Dean Shambaugh In his essay “My Vision for an Urban Cathedral,” the Very Rev. John Downey, retired Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Erie Pennsylvania and longtime chair of the North American Dean’s Association, describes a cathedral as being both open to all and grounded in Christian faith and practice, centered in […]

A Reflection by Dean Shambaugh “So why are you really leaving?” Of the many comments I received at the door last Sunday, this one stuck in my mind. The person seemed to be looking for some inside information, juicy details, or some hidden explanation that just isn’t there.  Yes, getting the cathedral through the years […]

A Reflection by Dean Shambaugh, January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany. The word “Epiphany” means “showing” or “manifestation.” The liturgical name for the feast of the Epiphany is “the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.” This title tells us that the significance of the Wise Men is that they were gentiles. In other […]

I wish you all of God’s blessings for a most wonderful Christmas this year and look forward to seeing you as we together live out Christmas in the days and weeks to come. As I say every year, in our tradition, Christmas is not just a day but a season and not just a season […]

Last Friday, December 9, I received the most surprising email of my life, from the the White House Social Office. I was invited to the Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act. I knew why I’d received it: I’ve devoted decades of work for LGBTQ+ inclusion and justice, including Chairing the Religious Coalition for the […]

A Reflection by Dean Shambaugh It was getting late. We were most of the way through a two-hour rehearsal and people were getting tired, tripping over tempo changes, and making simple mistakes. There was only a dress rehearsal left before two concerts and we just weren’t gelling. The conductor looked at us and asked, “Do […]

A Piece by Dean Shambaugh, Did you know that December 6 (not December 25) is St Nicholas’ Day?  St. Nicholas is a 4th century bishop of Myrna (in Turkey) who was known for his generosity, particularly in one story of giving gold coins to young children.  Brought to America by Dutch colonialists and immortalized in […]

You may have noticed that we have been using blue instead of purple as our liturgical color this Advent. Blue is a “Sarum” color, coming from rites developed at Salisbury Cathedral in the 11th century, restored during the English Reformation, then rediscovered during the Oxford movement of the latter 19th century.  Blue was used with […]