October 31, 2021
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The Doctrine of Discovery
In 2016, the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA adopted the “Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery.” The Doctrine of Discovery originated with a papal bull in the 15th century and codified both colonialism and religious intolerance into international law. The Doctrine of Discovery created a theological framework that supported racism, colonialism, and the annihilation of Indigenous people. Today it continues to support those evils and injustices
found in our church, U.S. law, and legal interpretation.
We’ll learn more about this important topic—both how it impacted the founding of our country and how it impacts us today—in our special Adult Education class between services on Sunday, October 31. You can ATTEND ANYWHERE. We’ll meet in Fellowship Hall or you can participate via Zoom.
Fall Adult Education Classes
A new semester of adult education offerings will begin next Sunday, November 7. Inspired by a book by Susan Beaumont entitled How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You Are Going, Pastor Susan Kintner will teach “Leading in a Liminal Season” via Zoom at 10:00 am. At the same time, the Reckoning with Racism cohort will teach Part I of their class, “A Journey towards Anti-Racism,” another ATTEND ANYWHERE event. Participants may join this class in person in Fellowship Hall or attend via Zoom.
Midweek Evening Prayer
Throughout the pandemic, Midweek Evening Prayer services have been a regular occurrence on Zoom, but in November they will be taking a little break. Beginning Wednesday, November 3, Centering Prayer will be held on Zoom at 7:00 pm. All are welcome to join in this receptive method of silent prayer.
Beginning December 1, Advent Evening Prayer will be returning, with worship offered in person in the Sanctuary as well as via Zoom.
Pastor Mark’s Upcoming Chi Ro Lectures
This November 12-14, Pastor Mark will be delivering a weekend of lectures titled “Doing Ethics in Extraordinary Times: The Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer” at Central Lutheran Church in Eugene. German pastor and theologian Bonhoeffer is often celebrated as an example of a modern Christian martyr for his participation in a plot to assassinate Hitler, while he himself avoided justifying his actions. What does it mean to “do ethics in extraordinary times”? What does Bonhoeffer’s witness mean for us today?
All lectures will be held in person and via livestream and are free and open to all. Visit www.welcometocentral.org/chi-rho/ to learn more and watch this newsletter for further details to come.
Reformation Sunday
This Sunday, October 31, is a red-letter day for Protestants worldwide, when we mark Reformation Sunday. At St. Andrew, many elect to wear red in celebration. Whether you worship at home or in the Sanctuary, we invite you to wear red this Sunday. We’re happy to be part of a church body that is continually evaluating and reforming itself as we struggle to live out God’s will on Earth.
Welcoming Afghan Refugees
The St. Andrew Sanctuary Team is following news of the wave of refugees from Afghanistan to the United States currently underway. Some 75,000 refugees are now being held, vaccinated, and vetted at US army bases. Salah Ansary, director of the Portland office of Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW)—and himself uprooted from Afghanistan in 1978—said up to 200 Afghans are expected to be resettled in Portland by March 2022.
St. Andrew has a history of responding to such crises. After the fall of Saigon, St. Andrew was among the Lutheran congregations that helped resettle more than 50,000 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. More recently, we worked with LCSNW to provide shelter and support to the Alajrab family from Syria.
The Sanctuary Team has committed itself to updating the congregation on developments and helping to discern our response. LCSNW anticipates need for sponsors and volunteers in the coming months. However, the critical need now is financial support as the Portland office ramps up to staff and resource the program for this new population of refugees. Online donations may be made directly to lcsnw.org by clicking on the “Donate” button,
specifying “Refugee Services,” and indicating “Portland Metro Area” as the preferred office.
If you are interested in volunteering in the future, please contact Bonnie Bliesner at larrybliesner@comcast.net or Cindy Stadel at cstadel@hevanet.com.
Wanted: Your Leftover Halloween Candy
No, you don’t have to eat that leftover Halloween candy all by yourself! Donna Brocker would love to have it for St. Andrew’s Welcome Mug Ministry. Just drop off any leftovers (partial bags are fine) at the church office and Donna will share your treats with newcomers visiting St. Andrew. What a sweet way to make people feel welcome!
Nifty Notters
Join the Nifty Notters Saturday, November 6, and Saturday, November 20, and help us get a head start on quilts for the next Lutheran World Relief Ingathering. We’ll also be working on baby quilts for Virginia Garcia Clinic when we meet from 9:00 am-2:30 pm in Fellowship Hall. We have projects for both people with no experience and those who can sew. You can come for all or part of the time and all supplies are provided. We also have home projects for those unable to participate on Saturdays. We have an ongoing need for people who can cut fabric in 11-inch or 5 ½-inch squares so they can be pieced into quilt tops. If you have questions, please contact Mary Brown at 503-439-3917.
Lydia Circle
Lydia Circle will meet Tuesday, November 9, at 1:00 pm in the St. Andrew Room. Our Bible study will be taken from the November issue of Gather magazine. All are welcome and you need not have read the lesson to participate. If you have questions, please contact Mary Brown at 503-439-3917.
Thanksgiving Thanks
He has done marvelous things! Our Thanksgiving Food Drive goal has been met. With the funds in our account from last year and giving this year, we have sufficient funds to purchase $50 Winco gift cards for 75 Community Action families. This will be a welcome gift to families who really need your help. Community Action works with families on parenting, financial stability, housing, and education.
Thank you for your generous gifts! Any additional donations to the Thanksgiving Food Drive fund will be donated to the St. Matthew Food Pantry for feeding anyone in the community who needs food assistance.
Please contact LuAnn Staul (ljstaul@gmail.com, 503-314-6321) or Linda McDowall (mcdowall.ml@gmail.com, 503-649-5091) with questions.
Our Children’s Library Is in the Cloud
Each time I work in the Children’s Library, my appreciation for the wonderful collection Mary Nell Mahler added continues to grow. It’s a library any elementary school would love to have! Our picture book section is especially bountiful. During the pandemic, I’ve tried to think of ways to help you better appreciate and use this beautiful library and wonderful collection of books.
I decided to start putting our collection on the Internet (or in the Cloud ), so you can see what we have and search for items. My goal is to have our more than 5,000-6,000 books uploaded by January 2022. So far, we have only about half of the books uploaded. You can take a peek at what’s there so far by going to: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/standlib. Either click on one of the book covers parading across the screen, or use the search box and search by topic, title, or author. If you want to read more about the book and/or read reviews, click on the LibraryThing or Amazon link at the very bottom of your selected book page.
All of these books, and also the ones I haven’t yet uploaded, are available for checkout. Please just use the book pockets and cards to check out, for now. Eventually, we hope to use electronic checkout.
One problem I’ve encountered is that many times the call numbers showing on the web, do not match the call number spine label which shows where it is located in our library. This is because the uploads automatically assign Library of Congress Dewey Decimal Classification numbers for every book. The Dewey numbers in the nonfiction section are pretty close, but our picture books, early leveled readers, and fiction are in separate sections. If you can’t find a book, just send me a note, and I’ll find it for you. Check the link often as we add more books to the cloud every week.
Barbara Gutzler
Children’s Librarian
Book Review: The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice
This book by Allen Say is found downstairs, but don’t let that stop you. It is an interesting tale about a cartoonist, rather like the author, whose signature, cartoon, and picture will surely make you smile.
Here is a boy who does not do well in school, and while we are never told how bright he is, it does seem he could do better. But all he wants is to be a cartoonist. So he hunts down the master of them all, and convinces him to take him on.
This is what happens. The master has another apprentice, an older boy who maybe does, or does not, like the boy, and is, or is not, better than him at drawing. The pull-tug of these two, the older boy’s interest in dangerous things, the younger boy’s uncertainty about where he should stand, make up this story. The solution makes a rather surprising ending to a very satisfying story and the pictures are quite good.
Pam Farr
Adult Librarian
Ridwell Free Trial
If anyone was intrigued by the Ridwell information presented in “Weekly News” two weeks ago, I can get you a one-month free trial. That would give you two free pickups. Just email me at lizchrishardy@comcast.net.
I have been a Ridwell customer for three months and have already collected a large bag of clear plastic clam shells! For my next pickup, it will only cost me $1 for Ridwell to take them away. They will then go to a company that makes things from the clear plastic.
Liz Hardy
Preparing for All Saints Sunday, November 7, 2021
First Lesson: Wisdom 3:1-9
Second Lesson: Revelation 21:1-6a
Gospel: John 11:32-44
Go to the “Preparing for Worship” webpage for the bulletins, the complete Lectionary, and more.
Bonhoeffer, The Church, and the Climate Question
Pacific Lutheran University invites the public to attend its 16th Annual David & Marilyn Knutson Lecture at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 2, via Zoom. This year’s speaker is James B. Martin-Schramm, professor emeritus of religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
The lecture will begin with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s provocative 1933 essay on “The Church and the Jewish Question” and draw parallels to climate change. Where virulent anti-Semitism was the most important issue facing the church in Bonhoeffer’s day, Martin-Schramm argues Bonhoeffer would have grave concerns about the impacts of climate change on present and future generations. Martin-Schramm explains how Martin Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms shaped Bonhoeffer’s critique of the church and state in his day regarding “the Jewish Question” and ponders how Bonhoeffer might challenge the feeble responses of both the state and the church to the climate crisis. The lecture explores tensions between patriotism and resistance and considers how God is at work in the world today among all who are striving for climate justice.
For detailed information and to register for the free event, go to http://plu.edu/religion/knutson-lecture.
More on “Leading in a Liminal Season”
Discernment is the faithful practice of listening and sifting to determine the next step. As disciples one primary place to listen is scripture, as well as neighbors, creation, and tradition. In this three-week class we will practice discernment with three parables of Jesus, using the Kaleidoscope Bible Study Model, which includes Mutual Invitation and Respectful Communication Guidelines. This class is designed for you to attend one session or two or all three. We will be on Zoom; please bring your bible.
Pastor Susan
Earth Care Kiosk
You’ll find a new fixture in the Narthex and you should check it out. Members of the Community Carbon/Earth Care Team are highlighting best practices for you to consider as they continue to work to protect our planet by educating others.
One panel of the rotating kiosk showcases St. Andrew’s Reformation Earth Garden and the native plants incorporated there. You’ll find lists and descriptions of plants, nursery sources, and lots of photos to entice you to add some of these natives to your own landscape.
Another panel highlights the Soil Your Undies challenge and our own experiment undertaken during this past summer’s Earth Camp. This is a great project to do with children and a fun way to learn about soil vitality.
And the third panel (in development) offers ideas for reducing reliance on single-use plastic. We offer reprints of all the articles we did just before the pandemic hit and other
useful handouts.
More is coming, so plan to stop by the kiosk often. Two articles of particular interest right now focus on “The Good of Leaves” and “Why You Should Do Your Spring Planting in the Fall.” Pick up copies!
St. Andrew and the Scouts
For almost 50 years, St. Andrew has had a mutually beneficial relationship with the Boy Scouts of America, renamed Scouts BSA when girls were invited to enter the ranks a few years ago. St. Andrew has three BSA units today:
- Scouts BSA Boys’ Troop 618 (ages 11-17); chartered ~1972
- Scouts BSA Girls’ Troop 5618 (ages 11-17); chartered in 2020
- Venturing Crew 618 (coed, ages 14-20); chartered in 2019
The BSA operates Scouting by chartering local organizations, such as churches, clubs, civic associations, or educational organizations to implement the Scouting program for youth within their communities. The chartering organization owns the assets and liability for the BSA units. Units are led entirely by volunteers appointed by the chartering organization, who are supported by local councils using both paid professional Scouters and volunteers. Our troops at St. Andrew are organized within BSA’s Cascade Pacific Council, which approves charters.
Per the BSA Charter, units have the following organizational structure overseeing the youth Scout leadership and must abide by both the BSA and chartered organization’s guidelines and rules of operation.
- Scouting Executive (the president or CEO of the chartered organization): Scott Taylor, council president
- COR: Chartered Organization Representative (appointed by the Scouting Executive annually): Gordon Teifel, church member
- Troop Committee Chair (established by COR and BSA unit leadership): Jay Locke, troop parent
- Scoutmasters (for each unit): Keith Covington, Troop 618, Cynda Machuca, Troop 5618; Chris Shortell, Crew 618, all troop parents
And St. Andrew appointed an additional person to act as liaison with our Troop units.
- Council Scout Liaison (appointed by St. Andrew Council): Dwight Jerde, council member
Each year, the Church Council must renew St. Andrew’s charters with our BSA units, and it is time to do that again this year. However, given a shifting landscape, the Council is seeking feedback, insights, questions, comments, and viewpoints from interested members of the congregation.
Why are we asking specifically for congregation input?
- The BSA filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2020, largely as a result of sex abuse court judgments against the BSA, local councils, and units. More than 83,000 unique claims were filed by the November 16, 2020 filing deadline for abuse claims.
- Organizations that sponsored BSA units are currently NOT included in the bankruptcy plan deal and may be sued by claimants, as chartering organizations legally own liability for the operations of BSA units.
To be clear, there have been no abuse claims associated with BSA Troop 618 or any of the St. Andrew BSA units. These units are respected as being exceptionally well run and have a solid history of youth protection.
It is also clear that St. Andrew would be liable for any claims filed through our current charter agreement, just as the church would be liable for sex abuse claims arising from its own Children & Youth Ministry.
What we need to decide is how to continue to support our BSA units going forward. Do we sign new charters for 2022? Do we offer a facility use agreement instead, allowing the Scouts the use of our space without signing charters? The Oregon Synod and ELCA require each individual church to make its own decision and do not offer any liability protection for us. The congregation does have liability insurance, which includes specific limits for sex abuse/molestation coverage (which we purchase; this is not provided by the ELCA or Oregon Synod). The BSA also will provide primary liability insurance coverage for the charter organization as part of the BSA charter agreement.
Recently the United Methodist Church decided that it will no longer allow individual churches to charter Scout units. Current charters between Methodist churches and BSA units are being extended through March 2022 so Scout units have time to enter into new charter relationships that will allow them to continue to function.
Members of St. Andrew’s Congregation Council want your input before making their decision. You are invited to provide feedback through any of the following three channels:
- Email Scouts@standrewlutheran.com with your questions, concerns, comments.
- Fill out a Google Form (which you can do anonymously).
- Talk to Council President Scott Taylor, Council Member Barton Robison, or Council Scout
Liaison Dwight Jerde.
We value our partnership with Scouts BSA, support the youth our units serve, and seek to protect the well-being of St. Andrew Lutheran Church going forward. We ask that you not take this discussion onto Facebook, and that you share your views no later than Friday, November 12, via any or all of the three channels identified above.
In Need of Prayers…
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.
| Family and friends of Dick and Janet | Peace and God’s comfort at their deaths | Carol Hogan |
| Kay (mother) | Comfort, peace and God’s love as death nears | Linda Olshausen |
| Phyllis Vachal | Comfort and pain relief | Larry Vachal |
| Chris Entrikin | Healing and recovery | Jerry Entrikin |
| Maverick Dixon (unborn nephew) | Complete healing in the womb | AJ & Rebecca Uecker |
| Grunewald Guild staff and teachers | Support and wisdom | Susan Kintner |
| Sunriver Christian Fellowship (Sunriver, OR) | Serving with us in the Oregon Synod | Staff |
| Congregation Ahavath Achim (Portland, OR) | Blessings on our interfaith partners | Staff |
| Individual friends and loved ones in need of prayer | Whatever they most need; say their names in your heart or aloud | Everyone |
Highlights for the Week
Go to the complete online church calendar for the most up-to-date information.
Sunday, October 31
| 8:30 am | Worship with Communion (masks required) Livestream Worship with Communion |
Sanctuary YouTube |
| 10:00 am | Adult Education Special Topic: The Doctrine of Discovery | Fellowship Hall and via Zoom |
| 10:00 am | Children’s Ministry with Donna Brocker | Children’s Library |
| 10:00 am | Confirmation (for grades 6-8) | Library and via Zoom |
| 10:00 am | High School Youth Group | Youth Room |
| 10:30 am | Virtual Coffee Time | Zoom |
| 11:00 am | Worship with Communion (masks required) Zoom Worship with Communion |
Sanctuary Zoom |
| 12:00 pm | Virtual Coffee Time | Zoom |
Monday, November 1
| 6:00 pm | Scout Troop 618 Meeting | East Parking Lot |
Tuesday, November 2
| 7:00 am | Sunrise Women | Elmer’s Restaurant on 158th (1250 Waterhouse Ave) |
| 7:00 am | Men’s Gathering & Bible Study | Elmer’s Restaurant on 158th (1250 Waterhouse Ave) |
| 10:00 am | T’ai Chi | Fellowship Hall |
| 10:00 am | Meals on Wheels/Loaves and Fishes | Offsite |
| 10:00 am | Worship Planners Meeting | Library |
| 7:00 pm | MACG Meeting | St. Andrew Room |
Wednesday, November 3 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm
| 10:00 am | Yoga Class | Fellowship Hall |
| 10:00 am | Reopening Team Meeting | Library |
| 12:30 pm | Bonhoeffer Seminar | via Zoom |
| 6:00 pm | Bells of Grace Rehearsal | Sanctuary |
| 6:45 pm | Informal Gathering Time | Zoom |
| 7:00 pm | Centering Prayer | Zoom |
| 7:00 pm | Wednesday Night Youth Hangout | Youth Room |
| 7:30 pm | Sanctuary Choir | Sanctuary |
Thursday, November 4
| 9:30 am | Seekers of the Heart of God Bible Study | St. Andrew Room |
| 12:00 pm | Team Ministry Meeting | Chapel/Adult Library |
| 2:30 pm | Communications Team Meeting | via Zoom |
| 7:00 pm | Executive (Council) Committee Meeting | St. Andrew Room and via Zoom |
Friday, November 5
| 10:00 am | T’ai Chi | Fellowship Hall |
Saturday, November 5
| 9:00 am | Nifty Notters | Fellowship Hall |
Sunday, November 7 – All Saints Sunday
| 8:30 am | Worship with Communion (masks required) Livestream Worship with Communion |
Sanctuary YouTube |
| 10:00 am | Adult Education: A Journey Towards Anti-Racism, Part 1 | Fellowship Hall and via Zoom |
| 10:00 am | Adult Education: Leading in a Liminal Season | via Zoom |
| 10:00 am | Children’s Ministry with Donna Brocker | Children’s Library |
| 10:00 am | Confirmation (for grades 6-8) | Adult Library |
| 10:00 am | High School Youth Group | Youth Room |
| 10:30 am | Virtual Coffee Time | Zoom |
| 11:00 am | Worship with Communion (masks required) Zoom Worship with Communion |
Sanctuary Zoom |
| 12:00 pm | Virtual Coffee Time | Zoom |