A Cornerstone on Field Avenue
St. Luke Lutheran Church sits on a quiet corner of Edgcumbe Road and Field Avenue in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood, a stretch of southwest Saint Paul that has shaped the congregation since its earliest days. The story begins above the Thomas Grocery Store in 1909, when a small circle of Homecroft neighbors began meeting for worship. They formalized their dream on March 18, 1913, incorporating as St. Luke English Lutheran Church. The charter members were a striking mix of Germans, Scandinavians, English, Slovaks, and Italians - a small league of nations, as the congregation's own history puts it.
In 1916 the Rev. Salzwedel was called by the synod to serve as Mission Director of St. Paul, holding services at Luther College Chapel and helping to establish other congregations alongside his work at St. Luke. The first resident pastor, Rev. William Schwartz, was installed in 1923 and remembered as a "faithful pastor and a fiery speaker." The 1930s and 1940s brought growth from sixty-three confirmed members to more than twice that number, along with the construction of the parsonage on South Wheeler Street and a basement beneath the original church for fellowship, Sunday School, choir, and youth meetings.
After a series of shared ministries and interim pastors in more recent years, the Rev. Bristol Reading was called as pastor and installed in early 2022, continuing a ministry that has now run for more than a century in the same Highland Park setting. Pastor Bristol, who is also a trained spiritual director, lives in the neighborhood with her family.
Sunday Morning Worship with Holy Communion
Sunday worship is at the heart of life at St. Luke. The congregation gathers each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. for a service of Holy Communion, drawing on the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal's "Propers" for the Prayer of the Day. The service follows a traditional Lutheran pattern, with a Prayer of the Day rooted in the day's scripture readings, congregational singing, sermon, Prayers of the People, and the sharing of bread and wine at the communion table. All are welcome to commune with the congregation.
For those who cannot attend in person, the same service is offered via Zoom. Anyone interested in joining remotely is encouraged to email secretary@saintlukechurch.org for the connection details. Gospel readings and sermons are posted in the days after each service to the church's blog, The Word & The Spirit, which carries weekly reflections for anyone following along from a distance.
One of the most distinctive services of the year comes on November 1, when the church observes All Saints Day. During the service, a Rite of Remembrance is held: as the names of those who have died since the previous All Saints Day are read aloud, a family member or friend may come forward to light a candle in their honor. If no one comes forward, the pastor lights the candle. The observance has become a centerpiece of the church's calendar and one of its most cherished moments.
A Building with Bells and a Pipe Organ
The present church building was dedicated on February 2, 1958, after several years of planning that began in 1953 under the long pastorate of Rev. Albert Hock. In his final sermon in the old church, Pastor Hock reminded the congregation that their concern "shall not be so much the place, as the beloved Son." The old church was razed in 1959, and the parsonage garage was later built on its site.
Inside the current home, a nine-rank Schlickler pipe organ, dedicated in 1973, still sings in worship under Music Director Rebecca Ruiz. The Verdin bell carillon, which began ringing across the neighborhood in 1967, marks noon and 6:00 p.m. each day, calls the people to worship, signals a death in the congregation, and celebrates weddings. The bells have made the church an audible landmark of Highland Park for more than half a century.
The building also functions as a community hub. It has hosted Minnesota Youth Symphonies auditions for more than fifteen years, served as a polling place for Ramsey County, and regularly opens its doors to outside groups such as the Ramsey County Garden Club and the Highland Friendship Club, a program serving young adults with disabilities.
The Saturday Farmers' Market
On summer Saturdays, St. Luke's parking lot transforms into the St. Luke Farmers' Market, now in its twelfth season. From 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. between mid-June and early October, local growers set up stalls offering freshly picked fruits and vegetables, artisan breads from St. Paul's La Boulangerie Marguerite, hand-crafted soaps and candles, locally sourced honey, and other goods. The market accepts EBT and welcomes visitors from across the city.
Volunteers from St. Luke - usually five per Saturday - help run the information booth, cover the bread table and entrance tent, and assist with setup and breakdown. Without their work, the church notes, "this important ministry to our community cannot continue." A grant from Compeer Financial allowed the market to purchase a new point-of-sale device to better serve customers.
Feeding the Neighborhood
Outreach to neighbors in need runs through every week of the church year. On Saturdays, a volunteer from St. Luke drives to a local supermarket and loads their car with day-old bakery goods that would otherwise be thrown out - sometimes nearly overflowing - and delivers them to a local rehabilitation center, a senior apartment building, and other places of need. The effort is known simply as the Bun Run.
Once a month, St. Luke cooperates with sister congregations to feed a hot, healthy lunch through Loaves & Fishes. Together with St. Mark Lutheran Church, members purchase the ingredients and prepare the meal, which is served on the fourth Monday of each month at St. Matthew Catholic Church.
Each fall, members join area churches in the CROP Walk, raising money for both local and international hunger relief through Church World Service. The annual Fall Bazaar, a tradition stretching back nearly four decades, fills the church with crafts, baked goods, and rummage sale treasures. On a more personal note, all women of the church are invited to Ladies Night Out, a monthly dinner gathering at a local restaurant on the fourth Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Mission Work and Youth Trips
St. Luke's outreach reaches well beyond St. Paul. Confirmation students and adult volunteers have long partnered with Feed My Starving Children, both by packing meals at the Eagan facility and by raising money for the organization. In November each year, they shop for toys and assemble shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse, volunteering alongside warehouse staff as thousands of boxes are processed for shipment to children who otherwise would not receive a gift.
A micro-lending circle gathers about four times a year, pooling funds and loans through Kiva to entrepreneurs around the world. In its first eighteen months, the group made loans totaling $4,200 to thirty-three people across seventeen nations - with no defaults.
Youth in the congregation take part in Group Workcamps mission trips, joining roughly four hundred other young people from across the country to repair fifty to sixty homes in a chosen city each summer. The church also takes an annual August canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with pancake breakfasts awarded for jokes told at the cook's table. Past trips have included cross-cultural exchanges, including a two-week homestay with Japanese youth from a sister church.
A Rhythm of Prayer
Prayer is woven through Sunday worship and weekday life at St. Luke. The Prayer Shawl Ministry knits handmade shawls while lifting up the future recipient in prayer; when a shawl is given, the recipient is literally wrapped in loving prayer. Members and friends may add names to the congregation's prayer list by emailing the church office.
Pastor Bristol also offers spiritual direction, meeting one-on-one to listen deeply, ask questions, and pray alongside others as they make meaning of their lives. The congregation draws on a wide range of resources for prayer, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Prayer Ventures calendar, the Praying in Color approach to doodle-based prayer, Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina (silence-focused practices introduced in part by Thomas Keating), and the centuries-old practice of walking a labyrinth. Several public labyrinths are within reach in St. Paul, including ones at St. Catherine University's Carondelet Center, Metro State University, Como Park, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, and Edgcumbe Presbyterian Church.
Welcoming Everyone
St. Luke's welcome statement has become a hallmark of who the church is: "You may enter Saint Luke as a stranger, but you will leave as a friend." The congregation affirms that all are welcome regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and mental ability, economic status, family status, or where someone is on their faith journey. Membership spans generations - some families have worshipped there for decades, others have only recently arrived - and many who attend live in the Highland Park neighborhood, while others join from across the metro via Zoom.
For more than a century, the congregation has summarized its calling in three verbs: Connect with Jesus and one another, Grow in faith together, and Serve with love and compassion. Sunday School resumes after Labor Day with Rally Day, a festive morning of games, teacher introductions, and a potluck lunch for the whole church. Newcomers are invited to walk in, sit down, and find a community that has been praying in this corner of St. Paul since 1913.