| 111 Whalley Avenue-New Haven, Connecticut 06511 Phone: (203) 865-0141 Fax (203) 752-1403 E-mail: slchurch1844@snet.net |
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HISTORY OF ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church is believed to be the third oldest African American parish
in the United States. On June 7, 1844, a small group of African descendants who were
members of Trinity Episcopal Church petitioned the Rector and Vestry for approval to
form an Episcopal society. The new congregation was organized under the name of Saint
Luke's Parish and was given use of a building. The Reverend Eli Worthington Stokes, a
Black Deacon, was called as the first Minister and was ordained a Priest in 1846 in New
Haven.
On April 12, 1852, the church acquired at an auction property formerly held by the
Colored Baptist Society. The Reverend I. M. Garfield, a white clergyman, held service for
the parish after the resignation of the Reverend Stokes. The Reverend James Theodore
Holly, a young Black Deacon ordained to the priesthood at Saint Luke's, was named the
Rector in 1855, and served the church for five years. He left St. Luke's for Haiti in 1861,
and in 1874 he was consecrated as the first Episcopal Bishop of Haiti. In 1894 Angle
Catholic Liturgy was introduced when the Parish held their Parish's Jubilee on Saint
Luke's Day. The event marked the start of a building fund for a new church structure.
Under the leadership of a young Black Priest, the Reverend Eugene Henderson, the
present church was erected. The present church property was acquired through
contributions, including $5,000.00 given by Betsy Roberts, a member of the congregation
who had worked as a laundress and saved the money to be given to the church as a gift
upon her death. With the proceeds from the sale of the former church property, plus
contributions, work started on the new edifice. The church building construction was
further advanced by a gift of $18,000.00 from Lucy H. Boardman of Trinity Church. Saint
Luke's Church was dedicated free of debt in 1905.
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church is believed to be the third oldest African American parish
in the United States. On June 7, 1844, a small group of African descendants who were
members of Trinity Episcopal Church petitioned the Rector and Vestry for approval to
form an Episcopal society. The new congregation was organized under the name of Saint
Luke's Parish and was given use of a building. The Reverend Eli Worthington Stokes, a
Black Deacon, was called as the first Minister and was ordained a Priest in 1846 in New
Haven.
On April 12, 1852, the church acquired at an auction property formerly held by the
Colored Baptist Society. The Reverend I. M. Garfield, a white clergyman, held service for
the parish after the resignation of the Reverend Stokes. The Reverend James Theodore
Holly, a young Black Deacon ordained to the priesthood at Saint Luke's, was named the
Rector in 1855, and served the church for five years. He left St. Luke's for Haiti in 1861,
and in 1874 he was consecrated as the first Episcopal Bishop of Haiti. In 1894 Angle
Catholic Liturgy was introduced when the Parish held their Parish's Jubilee on Saint
Luke's Day. The event marked the start of a building fund for a new church structure.
Under the leadership of a young Black Priest, the Reverend Eugene Henderson, the
present church was erected. The present church property was acquired through
contributions, including $5,000.00 given by Betsy Roberts, a member of the congregation
who had worked as a laundress and saved the money to be given to the church as a gift
upon her death. With the proceeds from the sale of the former church property, plus
contributions, work started on the new edifice. The church building construction was
further advanced by a gift of $18,000.00 from Lucy H. Boardman of Trinity Church. Saint
Luke's Church was dedicated free of debt in 1905.
The mission of St. Luke's Episcopal Church is to spread the
Good News of Jesus Christ, and promote spiritual growth
through worship, study, witness, and service.
Good News of Jesus Christ, and promote spiritual growth
through worship, study, witness, and service.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 8:00 A.M & 11:00 A.M
| The Reverend Dr. Victor A. Rogers, Rector The Reverend Gladys Whitney, Deacon Maria Fusco, Director of Music & Organist Jocelyn Freeman, Liturgical Dance Director |
| Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, St. Luke's welcomes you. |
Debby Teason, Steel Band Director
Donna Johnson, Assistant Steel
Band Director
| ST. LUKE'S COMMUNITY HEALING MINISTRY St. Luke's Episcopal and Christian Community Action Launch Community Healing Network. |
It is becoming increasingly clear that Black people throughout the diaspora are still living
under the burden of a poisonous world view established in slavery –a world view that
says that Black people are not as smart, not as beautiful, not as capable as white
people. In recent years, a growing number of scholars and commentators have been
writing about the emotional legacies of slavery or what psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint has
called “post-traumatic slavery syndrome.” These are the present-day manifestations in
individuals, families, and communities of the damaging belief system developed to justify
the dehumanization, subjugation, and enslavement of Black people.
That belief system--that lie-- was so powerful, so thoroughly inculcated into our
ancestors, and so effectively passed on from generation to generation-- that all Black
people, to one degree or another, came to believe the lie. Many of our ancestors
believed the lie and told it in countless ways --spoken and unspoken-- to their children,
who told it to their children–-and the lie still lives today. The lie is reflected in broken
families and in the high rates of murder, suicide, and other forms of self-destructive
behavior in the Black community. That is the bad news.
The very good news is that, at long last, people in the Black community are beginning to
see that the lie is still very much alive within us, that it is causing profound hurt in people,
families, and communities, and that by confronting it, we can begin to heal. Black people
across the country and the world are beginning slowly, but surely, to turn to the task of
healing. We are seeing the beginning of a long overdue “black wellness” movement.
The Center
It is to this work that St. Luke’s has been called. In keeping with the example of its patron
saint, Luke, the physician, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church has always dedicated itself to the
ministry of healing. In October 2005, St. Luke’s entered a season of renewal and has
since felt a call to deepen its long-standing commitment to the work of healing.
Specifically, St. Luke’s is being called to play a leading role in healing the painful wounds
in New Haven’s Black community.
We envision a St. Luke’s Center for Community Healing, a comprehensive ministry of
healing serving the Black community in the Greater New Haven area. We see a place of
healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation for hurting men and women, boys and girls, and
families. The mission of St. Luke’s Center for Community Healing will be to take the balm
of Jesus’ healing ministry to wounded places in the Black community to heal and save
God’s people.
Among other services, the Center will offer: 1) community healing workshops; 2) regular
services for community healing; 3) healing retreats; 4): healing workshops; 5) training in
the ministry of healing; 6) healing conferences; 7) consultation with other churches in the
community seeking to establish healing ministries; and 8) links to community mental
health resources for those needing professional help.
We launched the Community Healing Ministry with a community conversation and
ecumenical healing service held in October 2006. This groundbreaking event will serve
as a foundation through which St. Luke’s can develop a Christian Community Healing
Curriculum specifically addressing the emotional legacies of slavery.
Conclusion
In 1863, enslaved Black people were freed physically with the signing of the
Emancipation Proclamation. One hundred and thirty-three years later and almost seven
years into the 21st century, Black people are still not spiritually and emotionally
emancipated. That “emancipation proclamation,” we must sign for ourselves. With its
Center for Community Healing, St. Luke’s seeks to establish a sacred space to promote
the spiritual and emotional emancipation of Black people.
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