A Sweet Memory For The Rest of My Life by Jane Williams
Dear Friends, In thinking back to my time with you at St. Luke’s, I hardly know where to begin. My friends and colleagues in the Houston early childhood community were still reeling from the sudden death of our beloved Ella Hawes, the Director of St. Luke’s Day School in the early spring of 1998. That summer I received a call from Benny Vaughan to ask if I would come to St. Luke’s for an interview for Ella’s position. After conferring with my pastor at Westbury UMC, I did interview with the personnel committee. Shortly after that, I talked again with the folks at St. Luke’s and was asked to join the staff as Director of Children and Family Ministries, as Ellen Shepard had recently resigned to move with her family to Atlanta, Ga. So, beginning in late July 1998, I became a member of the church and the staff. It was [...]
God is Good by Jill Almaguer
My husband and I bought my childhood home in Bellaire from my Dad after Mom died and he decided to stay in assisted living. I had grown up at Bellaire Methodist and intended to go back there when we moved to Bellaire and I began working at Texas Heart Institute. At that time I found out that our THI VP’s daughter, Katy, was the assistant choir director at St Luke’s so we went to a service there. The chancel choir was packed in like sardines in the old Sanctuary choir loft and Dr. Pace preached a sermon that included an example of the healing of a baby through regenerative medicine which was the area I was working in. I also found out my nephew was attending St Luke’s after he relocated to Houston. Long story short, I joined the choir, joined the handbell choir, played handbells for a wedding of a [...]
What St. Luke’s Means to Us by Mark and Becky Kidd
I am from Wichita Falls, Texas and Becky is from Jennings, Louisiana. We were both raised as Methodists. We met in Houston in 1977, where we happened to live in apartments next door to each other. Soon after moving to Houston from UT Austin, I learned that Dr. Walter Underwood was the Senior Minister at St. Luke’s. He was my pastor back home. I had been friends with his son Wally. My mother and Billie Underwood were friends. My mother made sure that all of us “Kidd kids” were involved in every aspect of the church – Choir, Sunday School, MYF, Youth Musicals, Scouts. Naturally, I started attending St. Luke’s right away, and soon Becky and I started dating. We were married by Dr. Underwood on March 1, 1980, in the Sanctuary. The next year we were invited to start a Sunday School Class for newly married couples. In the early days, we had sponsors to help navigate the ups and downs of a new class. First, it was Ann Coker, then later Mike and [...]
I Didn’t Really Have a Church Home by Rebecca Matthews
As the daughter of a Methodist preacher, I moved around a lot. I didn’t really have a church home. When my husband and I found St. Luke’s I felt so blessed to have found a community to surround not only our marriage but our growing family. We joined a Sunday school class and met and came to know lifelong friends who supported us as we went through good times and bad. Our children attended St. Luke’s Day School and I became very involved in the parent organization. School book fairs and vacation bible school put my creative mind to work and I learned so much from the wonderful women that I worked with on so many projects. The loving environment that the church provides for that program helped not only my mothering skills but gave our children a solid foundation on which their faith could grow. In later years, our children [...]
Allison, Katrina, Rita, Ike and Harvey – St. Luke’s responds
When storms come, St. Luke's responds. Former Outreach directors Susan Silvus and Alice King are joined by Lee Denson and Hugh Parker in this look back. Watch their video conversations... Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Rita Hurricane Ike Hurricane Harvey
Memories of St. Luke’s by Bonnie Hellums
When I was in high school at Lamar from 1958-1961, I ended up becoming friends with a wonderful girl named Pam Fleming. She was very popular and I was delighted that she was my friend because I was somewhat of a dork. Some of the other cool kids at that time at Lamar were Susan Silvus, Nancy Hale (Cobb), Ken Jacobson, Alan Nash and Bill Denham!! Pam shared that her dad (Dr. Durwood Fleming) had started St. Luke's and that they had a great Sunday evening gig for kids like us called MYF. Two of the sponsors for our group were Jack and Laura Lee Blanton. I went and loved it, so became a regular on Sunday nights. My family was attending Bellaire Methodist at that time, but I was persistent, and they decided to move the membership to St. Luke's. My parents, Sherwood and Larry Crane jumped in with both [...]