St. Luke’s is excited to hear St. Luker Karen Brown’s St. Luke’s Story:
When my husband, Art, and I moved to Orlando in 1987, we started to “church shop” looking for a local church with a great youth program for our youngest daughter who was entering the 9th grade at the new Dr. Phillips High School. St. Luke’s was the second church we visited and we just felt the Holy Spirit at work there. We immediately knew this would be our church home, and we’ve never looked back! There was only a small “beginning” youth program then, so we volunteered to be the youth leaders right away! When Pastor Bill Barnes came on board in 1992, I joined the St. Luke’s staff and I was truly blessed to be on staff for 16 1/2 years!! Even before I was employed at St. Luke’s, I was involved at our church in many ways, taking advantage of the multiple opportunities to serve.
My husband and I started the new member lunches through Church Growth. While on staff, I developed a new member sponsor program (so much fun). It seems wherever the Spirit moved, I moved with it. What an honor it has been to work with the UMW for our annual Holiday Marketplace for 27 years. Some of the ministry areas I have participated in are: Family Life, Stewardship, Recreation, organizing women’s retreats (two per year while I was on staff), spearheading and publishing of three St. Luke’s cookbooks through the years, Cancer Support Group, Military Cluster Group, Circle of Friends, Hospitality Team, Dinner for Eight Committee since 1992, Greeter, Communion Server, Stephen Ministry, Office Receptionist, funeral reception ministry, Bible studies, Sunday night Covenant Group, and recently assisting in starting to create a ministry for intergenerational mentoring for younger and older women, which is certainly needed since many young families live far from their parents and grandparents. This is our future! I wanted to share all of this with you, not to boast in any way, but to encourage others to do the same. The giving of your time and talent is such a privilege!
In thinking about why I chose St. Luke’s as my “church family”, I believe one of the reasons is that I could see, early on, how St. Luke’s reaches out to the community and the world, assisting those less fortunate in so many wonderful ways. This certainly has impressed me and makes me so proud to be a part of such a vibrant and giving church! There is something offered for every interest and every person at our church, which is truly amazing!
Art and I have made life-long and cherished friendships at St. Luke’s. My church family helped me through my husband’s surgeries, my cancer journey, and the death of my dear sister. I am so proud of the work and efforts of the staff and the members of this Christian body of believers. It will be a joy to see how St. Luke’s carries out their vision for the future with such a creative spirit! There is still much to be done in His name! God’s love is present in all that St. Luke’s has set out to accomplish. It is so exciting to witness St. Lukers sincerely carry out our core values in all that they do. May our dear Lord continue to bless this one-of-a-kind church we embrace as St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. It has been a privilege that all those years ago, my family chose St. Luke’s for our spiritual journey. We are blessed to be a blessing, and I pray that I am honored with many more years to serve wherever there is a need. Thank you for this opportunity to share my St. Luke’s story with you. God bless you!
-Karen Brown