November 1, 2020

Time for a Change

It’s that time again—the weekend many of us dread, when we turn our clocks back and darkness clamps down on our day even earlier. The good news is that most of us are able to sleep in until the sun rises. Remember to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed Saturday, October 31, and enjoy one more hour of rest this weekend.

Adult Ed: Job’s Response to Misery

Join Steve Christiansen this Sunday, November 1, at 10:00 am when he resumes his adult education course on the book of Job via Zoom. An incorrect translation has led us to believe that Job was a patient man. Not so, Christiansen explains, but he was persistent and he somehow kept going in spite of the odds. Job’s story is relevant for our time in that it raises many questions about the suffering of the innocent. Please note that the Zoom link to connect to this class is included in your Friday e-mail from St. Andrew.

Not yet receiving emails from St. Andrew? Click on the blue button to join the email list!

EMO Voter’s Guide

If you’ve not yet turned in your ballot yet, it’s time to get busy! Remember that all ballots cast in Oregon are due in drop boxes or at the County Clerk’s office no later than 8:00 pm on Tuesday, November 3. If you need some background information on ballot issues Oregon voters are being asked to approve or reject, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) has produced a guide for people of faith to consider when casting their ballots: https://emoregon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/EMO_Voters_Guide_Fall2020.pdf

Troop 618 Greenery Sales

Despite pandemic separation, St. Andrew’s BSA Scout Troop 618, 5618, and Crew 618 are again selling Christmas greenery for your holiday decorations. Wreaths, garlands, and centerpieces are available, with proceeds going to benefit the Scouts. If you’re interested and would like to see a digital brochure with images and prices, act now by contacting Scout volunteer Amy Harker. All orders are due to her by Monday, November 2. Greenery orders will be delivered to your home the weekend of November 21 and 22.

Thanksgiving is Coming!

The Service Committee is once again sponsoring Thanksgiving meals for Community Action families and we need your help. Community Action works with families on parenting, financial stability, housing, and education. These are families that really need help.

We will not be able to see those food boxes filling the Narthex this year due to COVID-19. Instead, we will be using money donated to Thanksgiving Food Box fund to purchase Winco gift cards for these families.

Last year we were able to donate 75 food boxes, which had a value of $50 each, to families in need. We would like to achieve this goal again this year; that will require $3,750 in donations. If you wish to give online, select designated giving, Thanksgiving Boxes—or you can send a check made out to St. Andrew with Thanksgiving Food Drive in the memo line.

This is a wonderful way to live out our faith, as well as giving a needy family the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with a delicious meal. Please consider helping with a donation of any amount this year. Our deadline for donation is November 15 to give us time to purchase gift cards and get them to these families. Please email or call LuAnn Staul at 503-314-6321, or email or call Linda McDowall at 503-649-5091 with questions.

Dismantling Racism in Our Institutions

Join some members of our “Reckoning with Racism” team this Sunday at 12:30 pm in the worship Zoom room as we watch the Oregon Experience film titled “Oregon’s Black Pioneers” or watch it on your own at https://tinyurl.com/OregonBlackPioneers. Then learn more at Oregon Black Pioneers.

Long before Oregon became a state, black people were in the Far West, some brought as slaves but many others arriving as freemen looking for a new life. They opened boarding houses and stores, worked farms and mined for gold. But white settlers passed discriminatory laws to keep African Americans out or force them to leave.

Pastor Robyn

Help with Rent, Utilities, and Childcare

The director of Family Promise has informed its host coordinators that it has funds available for people needing help paying for childcare, rent, or utilities during this time of extraordinary need. People needing assistance are welcome to call Family Promise at 971-217-8949. Please be aware that these funds need to be used by the end of this calendar year.

PLU Confirmation Scholarship

Last year Pacific Lutheran University expanded its PLU Confirmation Scholarship nationwide so that any student who has been confirmed in an ELCA congregation can receive the $1,500 per year Confirmation Scholarship. This award stacks on top of other PLU scholarships, including those for academic or artistic achievements.

The Confirmation Scholarship form must be completed and submitted by a church official (pastor, youth leader, etc.) before the student’s high school graduation. PLU is a private liberal arts Lutheran university in Parkland, WA, that was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890.

Preparing for Next Sunday

Men’s Book Club Reading List Update

Please note this update for the Men’s Book Club: Gary Grafwallner requests that members of the group please read The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown, edited by Catherine Burns instead of his original selection for January 2021 (The Tattoist of Auschwitz). A reviewer for the Daily Mail says, “All These Wonders is a compelling read, by turns uplifting, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive. If there is a real hero of the book, it is surely the human spirit, which, time and again, transcends whatever life throws at it.”

Date	Book	Host
November 9	Strip Tease, by Carl Hiassen	Ted Miller
December 14	Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump	Tim Holte
January 11	The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown, edited by Catherin Burns	Gary Grafwallner
February 8	News of the World, by Paule0e Jiles	Dan Fako
March 8	Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi	Larry Bliesner

The Men’s Book Club meets on the second Monday of the month via Zoom. If you’d like more information about the group, please contact Gary Grafwallner. To receive the Zoom link for each meeting, please contact the respective host.

Collins Summit: Shalom in Divided Times

What does shalom and unity look like in 2020, when racial unrest, political tensions, and COVID-19 have impacted nearly every aspect of our lives? This year at its Collins Summit, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is asking
how we bring our whole selves to the table and stay engaged in light of our differences, not in spite of them.

The Summit will include a lecture from Lisa Sharon Harper, founder and president of FreedomRoad.us and one of today’s leading voices on the topics of poverty, racial and gender justice, and transformational civic engagement.

Register now for the virtual event to be held Wednesday, November 18.

St. Andrew’s Pandemic Protocols

1. Call or email ahead to arrange building access (even if you have a key).
2. Sign in at the table in the Narthex.
3. Wash your hands or use the provided hand sanitzer after signing in.
4. Wear a mask the entire time you are in the building.

With a third wave of infections sweeping the country, with the advent of flu season and cold temperatures that keep people inside, and with loving care for all members of our community so wearied by this pandemic, it’s more important now than ever to do all we can to protect ourselves and keep each other safe. Stay the course. Maintain the discipline that’s been effective so far.

Please note that the church building remains locked. Even if you have a key, we ask that you call or e-mail the church office to arrange access in advance of coming to St. Andrew. This allows us to monitor occupancy and prevent people from inadvertently interfering with others who need to come to the building to do their work. Please don’t assume you will be the only person inside. Staff continue to adjust their hours to prevent the spread of infection, while providing for online worship means that people are working in the building much of Saturday and Sunday.

When you do visit the building, we ask you to follow the protocols. Put on a mask before you even open the door, sign in at the round table in the Narthex, indicating what rooms you plan to visit, wash your hands, keep your mask on (covering both your mouth and nose) the entire time you’re inside, and remember to sign out at the time you leave. Use your own pen at the sign-in register or take a clean one from the left receptacle and deposit it in the used cup on the right.

We want you to have access to our libraries, to your mailboxes, and to the sacristy to prepare for worship. Individual Nifty Notters have worked in Fellowship Hall to finish projects. But our ministry groups are meeting online because it is so much safer. Be vigilant. Stay well! When we’re able to reopen, we want to welcome each and every one of you back inside the St. Andrew building!

Children’s Sermon: The Oregon White Oak

Editor’s Note: Each week for the next five weeks, you’ll see the previous Sunday’s Children’s Sermon reprinted in Weekly News.

Good morning, boys and girls. My name is Eric Luttrell. Today I will be offering the first of five children’s sermons presented by our Community Carbon yard science team about some special native plants. Native plants are special. They developed in our regional environment, with plants and animals evolving together to develop mutually beneficial relationships. Insects, birds, and mammals evolved interacting with a very large variety of plants, eating those plants and helping those plants with pollination and see dispersal.

My sermon today is about our native Oregon Oak trees. I am standing here beside Faith, one of two Oregon Oak trees that we recently planted. We are calling the second oak tree Hope. These trees will be the large canopy trees of our Reformation Earth Garden. As they mature, these canopy trees will shade large areas of understory trees and shrubs. We are lucky that we have this large area around our church to plant oaks, as they would become too big for planting in the yards around your house.

To give you an idea about how big Oregon Oak trees can get, this is a photo of an Oregon Oak tree in LuAnn Staul’s yard, so large that not all of it fits in the photo. That’s me standing next to it. This tree is five feet in diameter, about 50 feet tall, and about 300 years old. 300 years ago, when this tree was a sapling like Faith, our United States was just a small colony of the United Kingdom, consisting of 13 sub-colonies located right along the eastern shore of North America. At that time, there would have been no white Europeans in Oregon for at least 50 more years, which was also the time that we declared independence from that United Kingdom.

Oaks of this size and age will be the direct ancestors of many generations of oak trees in an oak grove of many acres. I call them Grandparent Trees. The trees descending from the grandparent trees depended upon someone planting their seeds — what we call acorns. Who does the planting of those acorns? Squirrels. Squirrels like to dig holes and bury acorns for food for next winter. And, amazingly, they remember where they buried those acorns. They remember most of them. If they forget, those acorns will sprout and grow into new oak trees. This means that the oaks and squirrels have a symbiotic relationship—a relationship of mutual benefit. The oaks feed the squirrels and the squirrels plant the oak seeds.

Now why, specifically are we planting Oregon Oaks? Scientists have discovered that oaks in general are the most important trees upon which caterpillars feed. Caterpillars are the larval stages of butterflies and other insects that feed on tree leaves. And millions and millions and millions of caterpillars are collected every spring by adult songbirds to feed their baby chicks. And the best oak trees for hosting caterpillars are native oak trees, and Oregon Oak is our native oak tree.

While our newly planted Faith and Hope look like tall sticks now, when the young children in our church are in high school, they will be 25 to 35 feet tall, as tall as the back side of the sanctuary. Now it will take some time for our two small oak trees to grow large enough to supply lots and lots of caterpillars for baby birds. While we are waiting, the next best trees for caterpillars are native willow trees. And, lucky for us, we have several hundred native willows in the wetland on our property.

Besides caterpillars to feed baby birds, what else do oaks provide for wildlife? Acorns. All kinds of animals eat acorns—squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and deer.

In Oregon and California, the indigenous people (Indians) ate lots of acorns as a nutritious source of fats and carbohydrates. They would leach out the bitter tannins in the acorns, grind them into flour, and make a kind of bread. Since Oregon Oaks were the most common tree in the Willamette Valley (with millions of trees), and since the long-lived oaks had lots of acorns (millions and millions of acorns), acorns were an important native food source along with fish, meat, berries, and mushrooms.

Faith and Hope are the first of many trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses that we will plant in this area around me just outside our back patio. We intend to call this area our Reformation Earth Garden. With time, this garden will be the home of more than 40 different varieties of native plants. And because most of these 40 new varieties are different from the many, many varieties of native plants currently found in our wetland and forest, we are greatly expanding the diversity of our local ecosystem.

We will be planting these native plants as part of our responsibility to improve our environment for all living creatures. With time, we hope that this garden will become part of what Douglas Tallamy in his book Nature’s Best Hope calls America’s Homegrown National Park, with a variety of native plants in every yard.

Eric Luttrell

St. Andrew’s Online Book Fair

Seize these days, November 3-7, and support one of St. Andrew’s treasures—our libraries. For five days this coming week, you can shop online at Annie Bloom’s Books, indicate your purchases should benefit St. Andrew, and the bookstore will return 20 percent of the proceeds to our new library leadership team of Pam Farr and Barbara Gutzler so they can purchase new titles for our children’s and adult collections.

You can participate even without an internet connection. Simply call Annie Bloom’s at 503-246-0053 and tell the clerk to credit your purchase to St. Andrew.

If you’re hungry for some satisfying reading over the upcoming months, but don’t know where to start, check out Mary Nell Mahler’s list of some suggested titles below. You’ll see a copy of the book cover on Annie Bloom’s website and you can click on that to read more about the book.

Please remember that you need not limit your shopping to this list, however; the bookstore will use the total amount of your purchase to figure the 20 percent credit it returns to St. Andrew.

So grab a warm beverage and snuggle in to do some shopping at https://www.annieblooms.com/st-andrews-book-fair.

Suggested Titles for Your Consideration:

YA All of Us with Wings, by Michelle Ruiz Keil
F All This Could be Yours, by Jami Attenberg
F American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins
NF America’s Religious Wars, by Kathleen M. Sands
SS,F And I Do Not Forgive You, by Amber Sparks
H And Then You Die of Dysentery, by Lauren Reeves
NF The Art of Ramona Quimby, by Anna Katz
P,MG The Beadworkers, by Beth Piatote
F The Beekeeper of Aleppo, by Christy Lefteri
CPB A Big Bed for Little Snow, by Grace Lin
F,H The Big Finish, by Brooke Fossey
F Big Summer, by Jennifer Weiner
CPB Birdsong, by Julie Flett
CPB The Birth of Jesus: A Christmas Pop-Up, by Agostino Traini
CPB Bitty Brown Babe, by Deborah LeFalle & Keisha Morris
F The Boy from the Woods, by Harlan Coben
F Chosen Ones, by Veronica Roth
F The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin
C Countdown to Christmas, by Mary Manz Simon
C Crossing on Time, by David Macaulay
NF The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, by Sue Monk Kidd
F Disappearing Earth, by Julia Phillips
C Double Bass Blues, by Andrea Loney
F Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
F The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
F Erasing Memory: A MacNeice Mystery, by Scott Thornley
F Faithful Place, by Tana French
F The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
C,F Here in the Real World, by Sara Pennypacker
Bio His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, by Jon Meacham
NF Keys to Bonhoeffer’s Haus, by Laura Fabrycky
CPB Little Mole Finds Hope, by Glenys Nellist
F Long Bright River, by Liz Moore
CPB Love Is…, by Diane Adams
F The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel
C The Night of His Birth, by Katherine Paterson
F The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich
F On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong
NF Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, by David McCullough
F Red at the Bone, by Jacqueline Woodson
F Redhead by the Side of the Road, by Anne Tyler
F Royal Holiday, by Jasmine Guillory
NF Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir, by Ruth Reichl
CPB The Star in the Christmas Play, by Lynne Marie
CPB Summer Song, by Kevin Henkes
CPB This Is the Church, by Sarah Raymond Cunningham
F A Time for Mercy, by John Grisham
NF Trees in Trouble: Wildfires, Infestations, and Climate Change, by Daniel Mathews
NF When the Heart Waits, by Sue Monk Kidd
CPB Where the Best Stories Hide, by Roman Yasiejko
F With the Fire on High, by Elizabeth Acevedo
C,NF The World of the Old Testament: A Curious Kid’s Guide to the Bible’s Most Ancient Stories, by Marc Olson

Key:
Bio: Biography
C: Children’s Book
CPB: Children’s Picture Book
F: Fic8on
H: Humor
NF: Nonfic8on
P,MG: Poetry, Mixed Genre
SS: Short Stories
YA: Young Adult

In Need of Prayers…

Family and friends of Patty Werner (sister-in-law)	Peace and God’s comfort at her death	Susan Werner Reiser
Carole Harmon and her family	Peace, comfort, and support as she is in hospice care	Pastor Robyn Hartwig
Jim Smith (brother-in-law) and his family	Peace, comfort, and support as Jim is in hospice care	Mary Smith
Margie Lee (wife)	Strength, comfort, and healing	Robert May
Liz Andersen	Correct diaggnosis, effective treatment, and healing	Liz Andersen
James & Tammy Vogt, Audrey Vogt and Brenna Vogt (parents & sisters)	Healing and recovery from COVID-19	Kyler Vogt
Peter Kindem (uncle)	Healing and recovery from lung transplant	Megan Webber
Debbie (daughter’s friend)	Healing and recovery from open heart surgery	Joanne Zenger
Jane Quigg (sister)	Healing and recovery from hip replacement	Eric & Jan Luttrell
Ellie Prink (aunt)	Healing and recovery for multiple health issues	Carol Hogan
Elaine May	Healing and recovery from knee replacement surgery	Staff
Our nation	Integrity of the election	Staff
The American people	Patience, calm, and safety as we await election results	Staff
Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar Oregon Synod and Staff	Strength and wisdom	Staff
Refugees and Immigrants	Acceptance, safety, and just treatment	Staff
Military Personnel, especially Justina Hailey Hope Brocker, Evan Dahlquist, Dawson Dethlefs, Neil Fiegenbaum, and Jerami Reyna	Courage and protection	Staff
Grace Lutheran Church (Enterprise, OR) Nativity Lutheran Church (Bend, OR)	Serving with us in the Oregon Synod	Staff
Beit Haverim (Lake Oswego, OR)	Blessings on our interfaith partners	Staff

If you know someone in need of prayers, please contact the church office by phone at 503-646-0629 or email office@standrewlutheran.com Tuesday-Friday, prayerchain@standrewlutheran.com Saturday-Monday.

Wednesday Evening Meditation

Our midweek Prayer Services continue into the fall on Wednesday nights via Zoom. The service will focus on our role in creation, with music, prayer, meditations, and scripture.

     6:30 pm:  Informal Gathering Time
     7:00 pm:  Wednesday Evening Prayer
     7:30 pm:  Centering Prayer

Join us for any or all of these events. The connection link is sent out Wednesday afternoons, so please watch for it.

Worship Plan

Looking ahead to the coming seasons of the church, the Worship Planning Committee is announcing that current worship practices will continue through Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.

To review, St. Andrew offers livestream worship via YouTube at 8:30 am on Sundays, with worship broadcast via Zoom at 11:00 am. Both services include the opportunity to share in remote Communion. Adult Education classes and gatherings for children, Confirmation students, and high school youth are all offered via Zoom, as is Wednesday Evening Prayer.

People without internet connection are able to listen to a recording of Sunday worship by calling 503-643-9416. Please see “Connecting to Worship at St. Andrew” for details.

Highlights for the Week

Check the church calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Sunday, November 1, All Saints Sunday

8:30 am	Livestream Worship	YouTube
9:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
10:00 am	Sunday School (age 3 – 5th Grade)	Zoom
10:00 am	Confirmation (6th – 8th Grade)	Zoom
10:00 am	High School Youth Group	Zoom
10:00 am	Adult Education:  The Misery of Job	Zoom
11:00 am	Online Worship	Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
12:30 pm	Viewing of “Oregon’s Black Pioneers” (with Reckoning with Racism chort)	Zoom

Tuesday, November 3

10:00 am	T’ai Chi	former Bales Thriftway on Cornell Rd
10::00 am	Worship Planners Meeting	Zoom

Wednesday, November 4 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

12:30 pm	Bonhoeffer Seminar	Zoom
6:00 pm	Handbell Ensemble Rehearsal	Sanctuary
6:30 pm	Informal Gathering Time	Zoom
7:00 pm	High School Youth Game Night	Zoom
7:00 pm	Wednesday Evening Prayer	Zoom
7:30 pm	Centering Prayer	Zoom

Thursday, November 5

12:00 pm	Team Ministry Meeting	Zoom
7:00 pm	Executive Committee Meeting	Zoom

Friday, November 6

10:00 am

T’ai Chi

former Bales Thriftway on Cornell Rd

Sunday, November 8, Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

8:30 am	Livestream Worship	YouTube
9:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
10:00 am	Sunday School (age 3 – 5th Grade)	Zoom
10:00 am	Confirmation (6th – 8th Grade)	Zoom
10:00 am	High School Youth Group	Zoom
10:00 am	Adult Education:  The Political Responsibility of the Church	Zoom
11:00 am	Online Worship	Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom

Connecting to Worship

Ways to Give