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The ox is a traditional symbol of St Luke

St Luke's Episcopal Church

- To know Christ and to make Him known -

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Who We Are

Worship: 9:30 AM Each Sunday

205 Front Street, Seaford DE | 302 629-7979

A Community of Faith:

Baptismal font and cover, St Luke's Episcopal Church

Through baptism, we share in Christ's victory over sin and death.

As His disciples, our mission is to know Christ, and to make Him known - by seeking to love God and to love our neighbors.

Worship with us Sunday at 9:30 AM. Find fellowship and rest from the challenges of daily life, stepping toward personal and spiritual renewal and toward living life abundantly.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are united by faith in a loving God...

In Jesus, we find that the nature of God is Love.

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The Episcopal Branch
of the Jesus Movement

What is this Jesus Movement language all about?

Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry uses this phrase to describe the mission of God's People. A movement is a group of people that is working together to advance their shared beliefs and philosophy, and if we are the Jesus Movement we are working to advance the kingdom of God's love. We are group of disciples of Jesus seeking to love God and to love our neighbors.

Bishop Curry explains that we are not about being an institution, but that we are the living Body of Christ. In the issue of the Yale Divinity School Magazine, Issue Title "New Voyages: ChurchToday and Tomorrow, 2015", he says that "the movement serves life, that there is no life serving the institutions, we serve Jesus". We are to be a community of people committed to living the way of Jesus in a way that is liberating, loving and life-giving.

When the Presiding Bishop is asked about how to turn institutions, around he says, "There are no institutional quick fixes or gimmicks that will turn a church around. Bible and prayer - then you deal with the institutions. Then you can transform institutions into servants of the Jesus Movement." Being people of the Word and Prayer leads us into God's mission. Institutions were created to serve people, not people to serve the institutions.

Did you know that the early movement of the Church
was called "The Way"?

The word "Christians" for the community of believers in Jesus did not come along for several generations. The men and women who were part of the early movement of the Church were Jews, but the gift of the Holy Spirit brought the Good News of Jesus to the people of towns and villages. People were healed, transformed, reconciled by Grace to a loving God who called them to keep reaching the people of communities with His love, and way of service. "The world will know you are my disciples by the love you show," John 13:35. The Torah had been the singular way in which the people were to live in order to flourish. So think about how radical it was when Jesus stated himself to be the way, the truth and the life. Early followers then came to understand Jesus to be the same or more important than the function of the Torah, God's self-revelation to humanity.

SO, We are the Jesus Movement!

We are called to enter into God's work in our community, and to proclaim the good news of God. I will close with the Presiding Bishop's words:

"Now is our time to go. To go into the world to share the good news of God and Jesus Christ. To go into the world and help to be agents and instruments of God's reconciliation. To go into the world, let the world know that there is a God who loves us, a God who will not let us go, and that love can set us all free."

"This is the Jesus Movement, and we are The Episcopal Church, the Episcopal branch of Jesus' movement in the world."

Amen!
The Rev. Marianne Ell

The Rev Marianne Sorge Ell

Our Pastor:

Prior to relocating to Seaford, The Reverend Marianne S. Ell served two churches in North Dakota from 1995 to 2013 - St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Williston, ND and St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Cartwright, ND.

Pastor Ell served as chaplain for Bayleigh Chase, a continuing care retirement community in Easton, MD. She is also a leader in the Episcopal Church nationally, serving in CREDO, a health and wellness program for active and retired clergy.

Pastor Ell was born in North Dakota, but grew up in Brazil and Maryland's Eastern Shore. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese. She enjoys coaching volleyball, basketball and soccer, as well as walking, traveling, reading, photography and scrap booking.

Our Governance:

In the Episcopal Church, the governing body of a local church is called the Vestry. A vestry is an elected group of parish members who oversee the church and its operations.

Vestry members are elected by the active members of the church to three-year terms. The roles currently served by the Vestry of St Luke's are:

Senior Warden
Junior Warden, Finance Committee
Front Door Ministry
Pastoral Care
Worship
Register

Positions appointed by the Vestry are:

Treasurer, and Parish Administrator
Finance Committee Chair
Delegates to Annual Dioc. Convention
Alternate Delegates

St Luke's Episcopal Church
has deep roots in the history
of Delaware - and of America!

stained glass window detail
Stained glass window commemorating sea captain
The St Luke's Bell
St Luke's bell, circa 1884
Historic Registry marker
Historic Registry marker
The nave of St Luke's Episcopal Church, Seaford De
The nave of St Luke's Episcopal Church, Seaford De
Ceremony conducted by the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812
Ceremony conducted by the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812
Ceremony conducted by the National Society United States Daughters of 1812. Gravesite located at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Front street, Seaford, DE 19973.
Ceremony conducted by the National Society United States Daughters of 1812. Gravesite located at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Front street, Seaford, DE 19973.
Visitors explore the church after ceremony conducted by the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812.
Visitors explore the church after ceremony conducted by the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812.
stained glass window detail
Stained glass window memorial
The nave and stained glass windows of St Luke's
The nave and stained glass windows of St Luke's
Memorial stained glass windows
Memorial stained glass windows
Memorial stained glass windows
Memorial stained glass windows
Front door of the Norman tower
Front door of the Norman tower

The origin of this parish can be traced to 1704 when a log chapel known as St. Mary’s was constructed on Chapel Branch in Northwest Fork Hundred.

The devastating impact of the Revolution on the Church of England in America contributed to the discontinuation of services there by the early 1800s. In 1835, the Rev. Corry Chambers was sent to the Seaford area by the Diocese of Delaware. Finding St. Mary’s in ruins, he organized St. Luke’s from the remnants of the former congregation. Services were held for a time in Union Meeting House at High and Church Streets.

This site was donated by Dr. John Gibbons, and construction of the present church was begun in 1838. On May 28, 1843, St. Luke’s was formally consecrated by Bishop Alfred Lee.

The church was remodeled and enlarged in 1886. Facilities were further expanded with the completion of a Parish House in 1931.

Prominent citizens interred in the adjoining graveyard include Major General Jesse Green (War of 1812); William H. Ross, Governor of Delaware (1851-1855); and Edward L. Martin, member of the United States House of Representatives (1879-1883).

St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The church is a two-story, brick Gothic Revival style building. It has a one-story chancel and crenellated three-story Norman tower. It features stained glass lancet windows. Concrete buttresses were installed in 1943.

Plan to visit this historic landmark...

Follow the link above, to find all the information you'll need for visiting St Luke's in person, and for contacting our church office.