The Community of Saint Luke seeks to be
A nurturing, challenging community which values continuity as well as change, exploration and creative opportunities
- A place where all who come are accepted and respected
- A community ready to use the skills and experience of all its people
- A community which values everyone’s freedom to search for the deep resources of the spirit, to make their own response and to find a fulfilling life
St Lukes Presbyterian parish was formed in 1875 to serve Remuera, Epsom and Newmarket. A wooden church which, had originally been a Congregational church on the corner of Remuera and Orakei Roads, was purchased and moved to the current site in the same year. The present church was built in 1931-32, using the plans of a church built in 1904 in the Scottish village of Twechar, near Glasgow. A complex of halls behind the church has served the parish and the community in a variety of ways for over a hundred years. In 1984, the renovated and refurbished halls were reopened as a community centre. The community centre and church interior were extensively redeveloped in 1998.
The parish currently has around 170 members, coming from Re
muera, Epsom and Newmarket and from as far as Warkworth and Takanini, Henderson and Howick, to share in the particular style of worship and liberal theological emphasis that characterises St Lukes. The 1996 annual meeting declared St Lukes to be a “reconciling and inclusive community where all who come to worship, to celebrate or to explore with us are accepted and respected”. The meeting affirmed that gay men and lesbian women have a full place as members and leaders in this church and community.
Many St Lukes parishioners are deeply involved in civic, political, professional, commercial, social service and cultural activities around Auckland, taking into the communities of their daily lives the open, creative and caring spirit which is a hallmark of St Lukes.
The St Lukes church community is the heart of a greater community - The Community of Saint Luke. This is a lively community consisting of many different groups and individuals who gather for a wide variety of reasons in the St Luke’s buildings. Around 1200 people a week can be involved in the diverse activities of the Community of Saint Luke.
Through its activities, the Community of Saint Luke is actively involved in community-building and seeking community and personal well-being. In this we work in partnership with the Community Services Division of Auckland City, and with the Human Development and Training Institute of New Zealand which is located at St Lukes.
We recognise and value the diversity of those who make up this broad Community of Saint Luke. As a church, we want to stand alongside other belief systems and journeys of exploration, with our own unique insights and experience.
For many decades St Lukes has identified itself and been identified by others as standing in the liberal tradition. In recent years the term “progressive Christianity” has emerged to embrace the older term “liberal” and the emerging understanding of Christian faith as reflected in the writings of such people as Marcus Borg, Bishop John Spong, Lloyd Geering, John Dominic Crossan, Karen Armstrong and others. In 2005 the St Lukes parish council recently resolved that St Lukes would become a member of The Centre for Progressive Christianity and adopt the eight points of the Centre as reflecting the position St Lukes takes. The eight points are:
By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who…
- Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus
- Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us;
- Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus' name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples;
- Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to):
- believers and agnostics,
- conventional Christians and questioning skeptics,
- women and men,
- those of all sexual orientations and gender identities,
- those of all races and cultures,
- those of all classes and abilities,
- those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;
- Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe;
- Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes;
- Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers; and
- Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.