St Lukes Day 2026
On St Luke’s day each year we have a tradition of remembering our patron Saint and making a gift to the church.
To start with: here’s seven things about St Luke.
1. St Luke wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else. The gospel according to Luke and the book of Acts make up 27%.
2. St Luke, unlike the other gospel writers, didn’t meet Jesus himself.
He converted to Christianity while travelling with the Apostle Paul as a medic and a researcher.
3. St Luke wrote for people like himself, with no religious background. People who would have be othered by the Jews at the time.
The good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the rich man and Lazarus, Zaccheus - for example – are all stories that aren’t in the other gospels.
4. St Luke was committed to gender equality. He mentioned women more than the other gospels. And he included the leadership roles they had; roles that are very quickly brushed under the carpet today by misogynistic, sexist proponents of male only leadership.
5. St Luke records Jesus’ first sermon as a life manifesto, when he read from Isaiah 61_ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners and the oppressed, recovery of sight for the blind, and the year of God’s favour.’
6. St Luke is now remembered as the patron saint of doctors and artists.
Doctors after the apostle Paul referred to him as the “beloved Physician” in Col 4:14. And artists after legend has it that he painted (or wrote) the first Christian icon on a tabletop in Jesus’ family home while Mary told him the story of Jesus.
(Luke is depicted painting here at St Luke’s; on the triptych by our altar, and in the paintings on the pillars either side of the chancel.
7. St Luke is also represented by a winged ox, which comes from one of the four faces of the cherubim in Ezekiel. This is also represented in various places in our church; in the stained glass window, on the font and on every choir folder
St Luke: Our Parton Saint. The non-religious, researcher, inclusive, artist, writer, compassionate, doctor, winged ox.
A saint I could believe in. A welcome and happy affiliation.
If you are signed up to receive emails from ST Luke’s, last week you will have received a letter about our gift day this year.
Something to the tune of:
We don’t often talk about money, but did you know that our outgoings currently average more than £20,000 per month? That’s about a quarter of a million pounds per year to do what we do as we do it now. Without any significant frills or excess.
We’d like to do more!
This year, on St Luke’s Day we are asking for two things: A one-off gift and a regular gift.
The one-off gift will help us create a pot for hospitality. Somebody once said that St Luke’s could be a ‘living room for West Holloway’. We’d love to host more for ourselves and the wider community.
We’ll use this fund to help with food and admin, comms and comfortable furniture.
The regular gift is that we’re asking you to be a St Luke’s Angel.
If you don’t already, can you start a monthly donation?
If you do already, can you up your donation?
This year rising costs have created a £15,000 gap in our finances, and without more angels the recurring shortfall will continue.
Regular giving, whatever the amount, makes a real difference, and it will us help plan our 2027 budget with confidence.
In our discussions running up to St Luke’s Day, and in advance of our letter our letter last week, discussions between myself, Martin, our wardens Jacqui and Rosie, and our treasurer David, some questions arose:
- How do we talk about money?
- How much should people be giving?
- What do we do about the elephant in the room?
The elephant in the room, in the words of David our treasurer was:
“To use a footballing metaphor, Paul, in nine months from now, when your interim contract ends, will you still be our manager next season?”
This is also one of the recurring themes in the responses to the questionnaire that some of you have filled out in the last month.
So, I’ll start with that:
My position here is in discussion as we speak.
There are four parties of decision makers.
1 – The PCC here at St Luke’s,
2 – Bishop Rod and his team who represent the Diocese of London.
3 – The patron CPAS (who are currently suspended for the interim)
4 – Me.
The general feeling (I emphasise the word feeling because nothing is decided) from the PCC, the Diocese and me, is that it would be good for me to continue past the end of my contract. And there is a plan afoot to swap our patron for one more aligned with our values. News on this to come.
If you feel that this is not a good direction of travel, then you should voice your concerns to the wardens or Martin soon. Before it’s too late.
For context: I came to St Luke’s as an interim minister for three years, not just because that’s how long the position was, but because that’s all I felt able to commit to.
I had spent twenty-four years at my last church and wasn’t emotionally able to make an indefinite commitment. St Luke’s, the diocese, and the patron had their own issues. One being that the vicarage is uninhabitable due to subsidence. This made making a three-year contract with me living in my own house in South London a win all round. All parties had a way out.
As my time at St Luke’s has progressed, I have felt loved and able to love.
I have felt at home, and the church appears to feel at home with me.
All may not be well, but much is well.
And the Diocese are making happy noises.
The issue of where I live will continue if I stay because either Emily (my wife) or I will have to commute between Holloway and Deptford. Most likely me!
This will have an impact on whether that makes me a suitable candidate as your vicar ongoing. Again, news and decisions to come.
The other questions:
- How do we talk about money at church?
- How much should people give?
I don’t like talking about money because:
1 - Money makes people funny. It’s like alcohol. It’s a good thing, but it’s very easy to love and overconsume. And that causes no end of problems.
2 - My own thoughts appear contradictory. They offer a mixed message. So, I find myself in that awkward place where I have said both too much too strongly and not enough too gently at the same time.
For example:
I stand fully by Paul’s exhortation in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor 9:7): “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”.
If you remember nothing else from my talk today, I ask that you remember this.
I think this is also the point of the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis. God was happy with Abel’s offering but not Cain’s because Abel’s offering was heartfelt and Cain’s was obligation.
That said – mixed message alert - I do believe in feeling responsible and taking responsibility. Most of us wouldn’t go to a restaurant and expect others to pick up the tab. We would expect to split the bill.
I feel a bit like that with church. Meaning - if we can pay our way we should. It’d be wrong not to!
In the Old Testament there is a book called Malachi where, in Ch3, God asks the people ”Why do you rob me by not bringing your tithes?” A tithe was 10% of their produce. They were expected to give to God.
In my church background, tithing your full 10% to church was an expectation. I do not expect that of anyone today, but I do believe that aiming to give away 10% of your income is a good thing. I believe that it is good for our own souls, and good for our world. Choosing to give is one of the most personally freeing things we can do. And I have found truth in Paul’s exhortation in Acts 20:35 reminding us of the words of Jesus that “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. This is not recorded in the gospels as words of Jesus, but it does sound like the kind of thing he would have said, and St Luke recorded it, so it must carry some authenticity.
All that said. We do not want people to feel responsible to pick up the bill or pay for church if they are already stretched. We do not want people to have to pay to worship at St Luke’s. Worship is free. There is no obligation or judgement.
Mixed message!
In the UK, most churches cover 70-95% of their costs from congregational giving, with the rest coming from grants and historic legacies. At my Previous church, where we had a similar turnover to St Luke’s, our income from giving was about 90% of our expenditure. Here at St Luke’s it’s more like 30%, with 70% coming from rentals and grants (rentals from St Francis and regular hirers, and grants from Cloudesley). This makes us uncommonly privileged as a church, living, in effect, as trust-fund kids, off the proceeds of others. I don’t think we need feel guilty about this, but having previously been in a church where it was ‘pay up or shut down’, and regular talk of sacrificial giving was par for that course, I do think we should be awake to our unique situation and not withhold from giving generously. And I think we should look at our hearts, and our giving to our church as a principle of our faith, for the health of our souls and as an opportunity to extend our generosity further into different parts of our community.
As well as giving money people give in other ways too. Time, prayer and friendship are priceless. We can’t talk about giving without recognising this.
If you are not feeling financially stretched and would like to know how much to give, why not start by thinking about what place St Luke’s holds in your heart? There is point in the book of Acts (Ch 16) when St Luke, whilst travelling with Paul, changes his narrative from ‘they’ did this and ‘they’ did that to ‘we’ did this and ‘we’ did that. It marks the moment he felt included and responsible, when he bought in. Do you refer to St Luke’s as ‘we’ or ‘they/you’? If it’s ‘we’ then you really should be contributing regularly, taking a share in the bill. I’ll leave the maths with you. If it’s ‘they/you’ then why not set a goal to give something when you are here. Many years ago I set myself the aim of contributing the cost of a cinema ticket every time I visited other churches. Why not think of something that makes sense to you?
To end I’d like to say two things:
1 – I saw my old church finance manager at a party last night. She is good and godly woman. I mentioned that I was speaking on money today and asked for her advice. She immediately responded: “do not make comparisons”.
‘They that compare themselves are not wise’ said the Apostle Paul (2 Cor 10:12)
My experience is that if you start comparing, you start splitting. So, give without judgement. When it comes to giving, said Jesus: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Mat 6:3)
2 Lastly - As I held my place here at St Luke’s in prayer over the last week or so, I was struck by the title of the last episode of the first season of blue lights, on iPlayer:
“Love the one you are with”.
What does loving St Luke’s mean?
For me: does it mean staying or going? For now, loving looks like staying on for next season.
What does loving St Luke’s look like for you?
And what does that mean for your giving?
