The Lord's Prayer Challenge: A Church Activity for all Ages, Languages, Versions, and Places

During the summer of 2016, the St. Andrew's community is invited to participate in a Parish Lord's Prayer Challenge.  Our youth did a great project writing a Lord's Prayer and we will continue this theme in the coming months.

 

We will be following our sister church, St. Andrew's Church in Arlington, Virginia, who took the Lord's Prayer Challenge last summer. 

http://www.buildfaith.org/2016/04/15/the-lords-prayer-challenge/ 

 

Parishioners of all ages are invited to:

1.   Learn the Lord's Prayer, and/or

2.   Learn the prayer in a different language of version

          http://ministrants.com/lords-prayer-online/ 

3.   Record yourself, your family or friends reciting the prayer in different locations (as you travel, around town, etc.)   Post your video to St. Andrew's Facebook page.  To LIKE us on Facebook and post your video, click this link:

   

Also email or post a still shot reciting the Lord's Prayer to: saec0371@verizon.net.  We will make a collage of the photos on our bulletin board and post the video on our website and Facebook page.

Children are invited to learn the Lord's Prayer by heart.  Adults may challenge themselves to learn the prayer in different languages and versions.  Be creative about the location!

 

We can stay connected even when we are traveling or on vacation as we take this challenge together.  Each week we will send out factoids so that we can all have a deeper understanding of the Lord's Prayer and the discipline of prayer.  On Sunday, September 11 we will celebrate and give awards for the youngest and oldest participants, the most enthusiastic, etc.

 

We learned about this challenge in the announcements on May 15.  This challenge brings spirituality into our homes and daily lives and will weave us together, even when we are traveling apart.  The first "Challenge Tip" will in the June 5 issue of the newsletter.

 

 - The Rev. Travis Greenman

Welcome the newly baptized!

Welcome Christopher Steven Hein, son of Matthew and Ashley Robinson, who was baptized into the Body of Christ on May 15.

St. Andrew's awarded Sixth EPA Energy Star

St. Andrew's has earned the EPA's Energy Star certification for its physical plant for the sixth time. Energy Star is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voluntary program that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect our climate through superior energy efficiency. Energy Star certified buildings and plants meet strict energy performance standards set by EPA. They use less energy, are less expensive to operate, and cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions than their peers. 

St. Andrew's was first recognized as an Energy Star facility in 2009 and was the first Episcopal church to do so and only the thirteenth "House of Worship" in the nation to achieve this status at that time.

"There are many reasons why St Andrew's got involved in this program: decreasing budgets and increasing utility rates being the obvious ones. Ultimately, though, as a church, we felt we had a special calling by God to be the best stewards possible of the gifts he has so richly bestowed on us," said Bob Lord, St. Andrew's parishioner who coordinates the Energy Star effort. "The Energy Star is not an end in itself, but a process and a way to stay the course."

Pentecost is May 15

Pentecost is the Greek name for Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law to Moses at Sinai.  In Christianity, Pentecost is celebrated fifty days after Easter Sunday, hence the name.  The feast is also called "Whitsunday."

In the New Testament, Pentecost was the occasion of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus, as described in Acts 2 (one of the readings for Sunday), and therefore in the Christian liturgical year, it became a feast commemorating this occasion.  For this reason, it is described by some Christians as the "Birthday of the Church."

If we were not having a baptism this Sunday, our altar hangings would be red, symbolizing joy and the fire of the Holy Spirit.  The celebration may depict symbols of the Holy Spirit, such as doves and flames, and symbols of the church such as Noah's Ark and the pomegranate.  A custom that we follow each Pentecost is reading portions of the Acts lesson in multiple foreign languages, recounting the speaking in tongues recorded in Acts.  Marking the festival's importance, in several denominations, including our own, all of the Sundays until Advent are designated the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, etc. Sunday after Pentecost.

Everyone is encouraged to wear red to church this Sunday!

Teamwork made MayFest a success!

MayFest was billed as a "special Sunday in May" and it exceeded all expectations due to unbelievable teamwork.

MayFest was envisioned in early April and became a reality on May 1 thanks to the Parish Life Team supported by the Hospitality Team, the staff, clergy and over 80 volunteers. In our bulletin and newsletter requests, we asked for 60 volunteers to do a little job to create a huge event and that is exactly what happened! We got 20 more volunteers than we asked for - amazing!

Last August our interim rector, David Perkins, began telling the congregation of the power of teamwork and the necessity of recruiting volunteers. He stressed recruiting, rather than just waiting for parishioners to volunteer - well, MayFest is the proof of the power of loving, generous and willing volunteers.

The next time you are recruited or see a request for volunteers, jump on board! And thank David for opening our eyes to the power, love, energy and talent within our parish.

 - Jackie Legg Wash

Welcome the newly baptized!

Join us in welcoming the newest members of the Body of Christ who were baptized at St. Andrew's on May 1 - 
Thomas Nathan Taylor
Molly Joy Taylor
Thomas Nathan Taylor, Jr.
John Hardy Whitley, IV

Visit our Facebook page to see more pictures from this great day!

Youth Sunday left St. Andrew's parishioners awed

On April 24, we had a remarkable Sunday as we saw our youth participate in all facets of the 10:30 a.m. service.  Youth Sunday gives our youth the opportunity to experience a variety of roles in Sunday worship and encourages them to consider these ministries now and in the future. It also inspires the congregation as they witness our exceptional youth leading and expresses their love of and support for them.

We GIVE THANKS for:

• 50 nonperishable items, collected in thanksgiving of our youth, which will support food pantries at THRIVE and St. Paul’s
• 30 acolytes who were recognized for their 139 years of faithful service
• 21 youth who participated as greeters, ushers, acolytes, readers, leaders, and homilist
• 15 different roles that were filled by our youth at the service
• 3 new altar hangings that were created by our youth and donated to be used at future services
• 1 inspirational message from senior, Maggie Mahloy, which was joyfully received by all
• 1 new addition to Youth Sunday – the youth wrote their own community Lord’s Prayer

For this and so much more, we REJOICE for a perfect Youth Sunday that left our parishioners awed!

- Harper Lewis, Youth Director

Looking out my window - May 3

Jesuit scholar, John Haughey, wrote of the events recorded in Acts 2, the giving of the Spirit on The Day of Pentecost:

“Pentecost was a jail break!  What had bound them was now loosened.  Their dancing feet, marveling tongues, and exuberant hearts were the evidence that bound (people) men were now free.  Free from what?  From the images that they had entertained about themselves.” … “The joy of the Kingdom belongs to those to whom it has been given to inhale the truth about themselves….”  [John Haughey, The Conspiracy of God: The Holy Spirit in Men. (New York: Doubleday, 1973), pp. 92-93.]

As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday on May 15, I am praying that we all will take a deep breath and inhale more of the truth about ourselves.  Then, let’s all stage a jail break – escape from the limiting images that keep us confined in a less-than-fully-abundant living out of our relationship with God.

How have others labeled you in ways that you’ve unwittingly accepted, ways that are not true to who you are?  How have our sins and failures caused us to mislabel ourselves as well?  How have we missed the gifts the Spirit has so freely built into our psyches?

Jesus had a much higher estimate of his friends than did they.  And, he persisted in expecting more of them than they expected of themselves.  He persisted in leading them into a larger view of themselves and their lives.  And, Jesus still is at it with all of us.

Would you dare pray with me in preparation for this Pentecost Sunday?

“Risen Christ, break me out of the jail that my self-definitions have locked me into.  Keep stretching me toward a larger vision of who I am and what I am on this planet to be and do.  Release your Spirit in me and take me there, in spite of my fear and resistance.  I will follow.”

Peace,

Fr. David Perkins