A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST. LUKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

St. Luke United Methodist Heritage Sunday, April 26, 1998.

Sometime in the mid-1930's a small group of people met in the home of Bennie and Mamie Morgan in West Austin. A charter was granted in 1938, and as the group grew, they met in the Old Confederate Home on West Sixth Street, (now the University Gateway Apartments). Then, the group grew some more, and moved to a small house next to Mathews School. Their numbers increased, and a Mrs. Slaughter donated the land for the church to be built where we worship now... 1306 West Lynn. To pay for the materials for what is now the Fellowship Hall, the ladies of the church served lunches in the Courthouse for one dollar - complete meals with dessert and coffee. Most of the labor for construction was done by members, some of it at night by floodlights. This structure was used for the Sanctuary, with Sunday School rooms and office upstairs. The next projects were the Parsonage and the Infant Care Center. Later, in 1958 we built the present Sanctuary. Many talents are reflected in this endeavor, but none more prominent than Toni Silver's beautiful wood carvings. St. Luke members continue to make improvements and additions to our place of worship.

Our grounds are important. The addition of a paved parking lot, basketball court, fenced playground, the sign with the three crosses, and the more recent additions of the Memorial Gardens and the redesigned sidewalk are but a few of the improvements that benefit us and the neighborhood.

Some of the outreach programs that are active or have grown from St. Luke to benefit the general population of the city are: