Order of Saint Luke

Order of Saint Luke
	Logo of the Order of Saint Luke featuring symbols of the sacraments
Abbreviation	OSL
Formation	1946; 78 years ago
Founder	Romey Pitt Marshall
Founded at	Methodist Building, New York City
Type	Religious Order
Purpose	A religious order in the Wesleyan tradition dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.
Region served	United States, Singapore, Philippines
Abbot	Elizabeth (Sue) Moore
Publication	Doxology, Sacramental Life, The Font
Website	saint-luke.net
Formerly called	Brotherhood of Saint Luke

The Order of Saint Luke (OSL) is a religious order begun within the Methodist Church in the United States that is dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.^[1]

As a Christian religious order, it is a dispersed community of men and women, lay and clergy, from many different denominations, seeking to live the sacramental life. "Membership in The Order is open to persons of all Christian denominations who seek to live the sacramental life in accordance with our Rule of Life and Service, in community with and acceptance of their brothers and sisters in the Order."

The Order gathers annually in mid-October for several days of worship, fellowship, and administration.

The Order proclaims itself as Wesleyan and Lukan in its spirituality, Methodist in its origins, sacramental in its practice, and ecumenical in its outlook.

History

The Order of St Luke was founded in 1946 in the former Methodist Church and, until 2012, held the status of Affiliate Organization with the Section on Worship of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. The Order was formed under the leadership of the Rev. R. P. Marshall, a former editor of the Christian Advocate. It was dedicated to the cause of liturgical renewal, and led the way in a serious liturgical awakening across the Methodist Church and much of post-war Protestantism.

A maturing comprehension of liturgical renewal in an ecumenical era has become the guiding vision of members within the Order, just as it has become a dawning concern in the minds of many persons in the Church presently outside the Order. Recent evidence of this emerging vision may be seen in the design of the official worship books of many denominations.
The additional emphasis of directed spiritual formation, adopted in 1980, sets the direction in which the Order believes itself called.
While it will shun doctrinaire positions, the Order is dedicated to the task of breaking down the barriers of historical ignorance, theological sectarianism and liturgical illiteracy in the Church. The Order has no special revelation about the future of the emerging ecumenical consensus, but will do what it can to encourage the people called Christian to look outward and work toward the greater Church which God is surely gathering for Christ' s sake from a broken Christendom.^[2]

OSL Publications

A major ministry of the Order of Saint Luke is OSL Publications. This ministry specializes in providing printed resources for those who lead worship and scholarly resources for those interested in liturgical matters.

Publications include resources on liturgy, church architecture, prayer, theology, worship, spirituality, sacraments, and music.

OSL publishes three periodicals:

Doxology - This is the annual journal with contributions from writers in the areas of liturgical and sacramental scholarship. It is a "juried" or "refereed" journal which offers a service to the academic world as well as those who are involved in the active practice of ministry in its many contexts.
Sacramental Life - This journal is published four times a year. It is designed to provide theologically sound reports of developments from across the church-at-large. Rather than have a theoretical or scholarly approach, the articles and liturgical aids have been practically proven and have grown out of the experiences of people "in the trenches."
The Font - A once every two months in-house paper helping members to keep current on what is happening with their brothers and sisters around the world.

Leadership

General Officers

Current Abbot- Sister Elizabeth Sue Moore (Invested on Oct 19, 2016)
(most recent) Former abbot - Brother Daniel T. Benedict
Prior-General - Brother George Crisp
Chancellor-General - Sister Jeanette Block
Provincial-General - Sister Heather Josselyn-Cranson

Appointed Officers

Chaplain-General: Sr. Alice Kay Lovelace
Webscribe: Br. French Ball
Pastoral Care Officer: Br. David Eichelberger
Companion for Inquirers and New Members: Br. Jim DuFriend
Sacramental Life editor: Br. Jonathan Hehn
Font Editor: Sr. Cynthia Astle
Daily Office Revision Team leader: Br. Dwight W. Vogel
Prior for Life-vowed Members: Br. Frank Coates
Immediate Past Chancellor-General: Br. Scott Alford

Chapters

The Order of St. Luke maintains 15 active chapters and associations. While most are geographic, two chapters conduct meeting and business primarily or solely online. Chapters are led by chapter Priors and appointed officers.

North America

California-Pacific Chapter, with a subchapter located in Claremont, CA
East Ohio Chapter
Eastern PA Chapter
Illinois Great Rivers Chapter
New Jersey Chapter
Perkins School of Theology Chapter
Hoyt Hickman Memorial Chapter (Western and Central Pennsylvania)
St. Francis Chapter (West Ohio)
Trinity Chapter (North Texas)
Upper New York Chapter
Koinonia Chapter (Alabama)

Asia

Philippines Chapter
Charles Mosebrook Chapter (Philippines)
Singapore Association

Non-Geographic

Dayspring Chapter (using conference calls, non-geographical)
Cyber Chapter (email and Facebook, non-geographical)

Habit

The habit of the Order of St. Luke is voluntary. If worn, it includes:

a white alb of unspecified style
a red rope cincture knotted on the left side (optional)
a red scapular with the OSL logo
an OSL patch attached to the left sleeve of the alb

Many members also choose to wear a pectoral cross that bears the OSL logo. Novices are authorized to wear the alb and red cincture, and are given the scapular upon taking temporary vows.^[3]

References

^ "The Order of Saint Luke". 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014. The following description of The Order comes from our mission statement: A religious order in the United Methodist Church dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.
^ "The Order of Saint Luke: About Us". 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
^ "Habit of the Order". Habit. Order of St. Luke. Retrieved 28 April 2020.^{[dead link]}

External links

Official site
The Rule of Life and Service at the Wayback Machine (archived April 29, 2017)
Customary at the Wayback Machine (archived April 29, 2017)

[1] "The Order of Saint Luke". 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014. The following description of The Order comes from our mission statement: A religious order in the United Methodist Church dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.

[2] "The Order of Saint Luke: About Us". 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2019.

[3] "Habit of the Order". Habit. Order of St. Luke. Retrieved 28 April 2020.^{[dead link]}

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