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Our History and Tradition
St. Luke’s History
When you become a member of St. Luke’s, you become a member of a church that is interwoven in the history of St. Albans, the State of Vermont, and of our Nation.
In 1816, the first church services were held at what was to become St. Luke’s. In 1860-1861, our current building was constructed and it is now the oldest standing church in St. Albans. We will be celebrating the 150th Anniversary of our building throughout 2010 and 2011.
Our church bells have always been the “town bells” and still ring to mark the hours.
St. Luke's Stands at the Entry to "Church Row" (undated picture)
The bells of St. Albans
The Episcopal Church
St Luke’s is part of the Anglican/Episcopal Church with roots in the historical Church of England, going back to the third century and the arrival of Christianity with the Roman soldiers.
The first English martyr and saint was St. Alban, a Roman soldier who died in the name of his Christian faith.
There are some 75 million Anglicans throughout the world and in the United States there are some 2.7 million members.
Episcopalians played a strong part in the founding of this country and the creation of our democratic system of government. More than half of the signers of the both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were Episcopalians. The National Cathedral in Washington DC is an Episcopal Church.
The National Episcopal Church, with offices in Manhattan. supports national and worldwide causes, and coordinate with Episcopal Relief and Development, and organization that provides support during times of emergency and disaster.
The Foundations of Anglican Spirituality
The Anglican approach to spiritual life is often likened to a “three legged stool” representing scripture, reason, and tradition. A more accurate way to describe this would be scripture and tradition, informed by reason.
What this means is that Episcopalians believe that every Christian must build an understanding and relationship with God, and to do that, God has given us intelligence and our own experience.
It is our obligation to study scripture and understand how the traditions of the church were created and find our own relationship with God using our intelligence.
We support you in your journey through opportunities for education and discussion for both adults and children. We have Sunday School at 10:00 every Sunday and adult education classes between services and at other times. ,
The “Book of Common Prayer”
Episcopal Church services and regular spiritual practices are based on, of course, the Bible but also guided by the “Book of Common Prayer” (BCP)
Although individual Episcopal Churches may sometimes appear very different from each other, particularly in other parts of the world, we are all centered around the same liturgy, the same readings from the bible each week, and the words found in the Book of Common Prayer.
The Book of Common Prayer is not, however, a book used only by clergy to guide church services; it is also used as a companion book, used by individuals or groups (should they choose) for regular devotional practice.
The BCP has been used continuously since the 15th century, with, of course, occasional careful and reverent editing to keep the essence, but incorporate more modern language.
