April 11, 2021

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Women in the Gospels

How do the interactions that Jesus has with women in the New Testament help us understand Jesus better? Do these stories reveal more about what the Bible has to say regarding discipleship, friendship, oppression, and even the church’s role in the world today?

Join seminarian Karen Klingelhafer via Zoom at 10:00 am Sunday, April 18, when she begins her five-week Adult Education class, Women in the Gospels. During the five-week class, she will explore the story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28), the story of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:21-43), the story of Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:5-2:52), the woman caught in adultery (John 8:2-11), as well as the role women play in the death and resurrection stories across the Gospels.

Church Doors Are Open!

Oh, happy day! St. Andrew is opening its Narthex doors this coming Tuesday, April 13, after 13 months of highly restricted access to the church building.

You will now be able to come and go during regular church office hours, 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Tuesday-Friday. A corps of Narthex Greeters is standing by to welcome and assist you and to remind you that many pandemic protocols remain in place.

Step by step, we progress toward the goal of offering in-person worship again. We hope to do so beginning in July—depending greatly on the status of coronavirus activity and the public’s willingness to continue to follow safety protocols. Stay tuned!

Checking In with Friends

It has been challenging this past year to keep in touch with those we used to meet in the narthex or over coffee. Who do you miss seeing? St. Andrew’s MACG Core Team and Caring Ministries Team invite you to be a part of an effort to make contact with as many members of our faith community as we can over the course of a week. Please join us on Sunday, April 18,from 2:00-4:00 pm via the regular Zoom worship link as we kick off a reboot of last year’s “Let’s Talk, Let’s Listen” campaign. You will hear some tips about what to do and receive a list of names of folks to contact. We will then spend an hour or so contacting as many people as we can. You may use the time to make phone calls, write e-mails, or write notes to those on your list. When we come back together, we will celebrate the contacts we made and share any overall trends that we discovered. What does our community want our leaders to know? Finally, everyone will be invited to contact the rest of the people on their list sometime in the week ahead.

Please note: We will NOT

• Ask for money;
• Ask for or share private information unless we are asked to do so;
• Offer to solve the world’s problems.

But we WILL

• Check in with as many people as possible;
• Share general trends with appropriate leaders;
• Enjoy making contact with people we haven’t seen in person for a while.

If you’d like to be a part of this, but can’t join us on the 18^th, please send an e-mail to Pat Christiansen (patchristiansen@comcast.net).

St. Andrew’s MACG Core Team and Caring Ministries Team

Men’s Book Club Members Consider a Fish

This isn’t a book about fishing on the Rogue River, but, yes, the men’s book club is reading about fish this month and about one fish in particular. What source of protein did Vikings rely on as they sailed west to Greenland and the New World? What was the staple of the medieval diet? According to the Amazon description of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, by Mark Kurlansky, “Cod is the reason the Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could.” In his exploration of centuries of cod history, Kurlansky shares recipes, as well as a tragic story of environmental failure, pondering the question: “Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world’s folly?”

The Men’s Book Club will meet via Zoom at 7:00 pm on Monday, April 12. Contact Tim Holte if you’d like to join the conversation.

Future Reading:
May 10:      Educated, by Tara Westover
Host: Eric Luttrell

June 14:      The Ghostway, by Tony Hillerman
Host: Ted Miller

July 12:       A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
Host: Tim Holte

St. Andrew’s NCAA Tourney Winners

We have a couple of perennial challengers and one dark horse in the winners’ circle following the NCAA Tournament this year. Congratulations to first-place winner Ken Reiner, our dark horse, and to Paul Navarre (second place), and Pastor Mark (third place). Well-played, gentlemen!

Spirituality Book Group News

The Spirituality Book Group will meet via Zoom on Sunday, April 18, at 3:00 pm to discuss Isabel Allende’s novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, which follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, searching for safety and a place to call home. Mary Smith will lead the discussion.

The Zoom link will be sent to everyone on the Spirituality Book Group e-mail list a few days before the meeting. If you’re not on that list but would like to join the discussion, please contact Mary Smith at dbits1@gmail.com.

Future Reading:

May 16: This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger
Discussion Leader: Susan Reiser

June 13: Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
Discussion Leader: Barbara Gutzler

July 18: The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segovia
Discussion Leader: Sharon Fako

Your 2020 Giving Statement

Our new giving platform does not have a print feature for each account. Don’t worry. Simply send your request to the Financial Secretaries at financial-secretary@standrewlutheran.com and you will receive your statement via e-mail.

We understand how important your request is during tax season. Since Financial Secretaries are volunteers, we’ll reply within 7 days or as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Within your own account, you can continue to look online at both your giving history and your Year-to-Date donations. Beginning next January, we will complete a mass e-mail distribution for each individual contribution statement by February 1.

Thank you for your continued support of the Ministry and Mission of St. Andrew Lutheran Church.

Blessings,
Financial Secretaries of SALC‘

Wednesday Evening Prayer

Midweek Prayer Services continue into the Easter season this Wednesday, April 14, with a new service emphasizing creation’s song of praise to God. Drawing on elements from All Creation Sings, our service combines prayer, song, and meditations from the writings of well-known lovers of creation. Look for links to this worship service at mid-day on Wednesdays in Allison’s e-mail.

Habitat’s Hope Builder Breakfast

You are invited to join us for this year’s Habitat for Humanity event, which is being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the upheaval the past year has wrought, the building of homes for hard-working families, who are in many cases living in unsafe, unhealthy, and unaffordable housing, goes on. The keynote speaker for our 2021 event is TV journalist, former news anchor, and international orrespondent Ann Curry.

Join us on Wednesday, April 28, at 8:00 am. Register for free at Bit.ly/HopeBuilder 2021. If you have questions, please contact Dan Fako at dan43theman@comcast.net. or 503-626-3414.

April Movie Night: My Octopus Teacher

Since April 22 is Earth Day, our Movie Night on Friday, April 23, will feature a film that shows a beautiful confluence of people and nature: My Octopus Teacher. This documentary was shot in a kelp forest in South Africa and introduces the viewer to the flora and fauna to be found there. In particular, we meet a very special octopus and watch her interactions with the diver. As Craig, the diver expressed, “What she taught me to feel is that you’re a part of this place, not just a visitor.”

Stream the documentary on Netflix and then meet with your St. Andrew friends on Zoom on Friday, April 23, at 7:00 pm. Bring out the popcorn, gather round your computer screen, and let’s talk about what we liked and didn’t like about this movie. You’ll find the Movie Night Zoom link in Carol Harker’s “Weekly News” e-mail on Friday, April 23. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Smith.

Soil Survey

The St Andrew Community Carbon Yard Science team has been exploring gardening strategies that many of us can do to improve the environment. One focus of our work has been to establish soil gardens as a means to store carbon in the soil, reducing the carbon in the atmosphere.

As we enter the gardening season we would like to learn more about your experience with developing soil gardens. Next week we will be sending a survey link to congregation members. Please take a take a few minutes to complete the survey so the Community Carbon Yard Science team knows where to focus its efforts this year.

Carol Harker, Eric Luttrell, LuAnn Staul
and the St. Andrew Community Carbon Team

What Choir Is This?

Many of us have been delighted over the last few weeks to hear a local choir augmenting our online worship services. The Madrigal Singers is an auditioned ensemble of 22 singers from Sunset High School. With the pandemic making musical performances difficult at best, their director, Christopher Rust, contacted local faith communities to offer recordings from the group for use during worship as a community service approved by the school principal. If you’d like to thank the Madrigal Singers for their generous gift, please send e-mails to Allison at allisonk@standrewlutheran.com and she will pass them on to the ensemble.

Butterfly Thanks!

Hallelujah! Blessed by the children at St. Andrew, our Easter banners were adorned with symbols of spring, hope, and resurrection this past Sunday.

Thank you, all you talented kids, for painting and pasting, drawing and coloring lots of butterflies to emerge on this glorious day! We saw pom poms on wings, googly eyes, and glittering gold foil used creatively to symbolize new life and the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. You made us smile and renewed our hope. Thank you!

A Prayer for the Week

Precious Lord,
thank you for blessing me
so that I may bless others.
Amen.

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 Ken Hasen (sister’s brother-in-law)	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Jennifer Trom
Clay, Christopher, and Donevan Gustafson	Safety and spiritual renewal	Debi Gustafson
Jan Luttrell	Healing and recovery from a painful fall	Eric Luttrell
Gary Grafwallner	Healing and recovery from Bell’s palsy	Gary Grafwallner
Carol Means and Nan Thompson	Effective cancer treatment	Carol Means and Nan Thompson
Loren (great niece)	Successful treatment, healing, and recovery	Larry & Phyllis Vachal
Everyone affected by COVID-19	Strength and support	Staff
Health care workers	Strength, courage, protection, and support	Staff
Madeleine (granddaughter)	Thanksgiving she’s finished her first round of chemo and strength for her journey home	Mary Smith
Carol Hogan	Thanksgiving for good test results	Carol Hogan
Mark & Joselle Gallis Hall	Healthy pregnancy and safe delivery	Mary Nell Mahler
Victims of hate crimes or gun violence	Protection and peace	Staff
Federal and state lawmakers	Discernment and courage to face national challenges	Staff
St. Andrew Council Executive Committee Staff	Wisdom and discernment	Staff
Karen Klingelhafer, Kyler Vogt, and all seminarians	Encouragement and support	Staff
India Jensen Kerr and all theology students	Encouragment and support	Staff
St. Andrew Foundation	Blessings on their ministry	Staff
Central Lutheran Church (Portland, OR) Grace Lutheran Mission (Portland, OR)	Serving with us in the Oregon Synod	Staff
Masjid as-Sabr (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

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Preparing for Sunday

April 18, 2021

First Reading: Acts 3: 12-19
Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48

Go to the “Preparing for Worship” webpage for the bulletins, the complete Lectionary, and more.

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Highlights for the Week

Go to the complete online church calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Sunday, April 11

8:30 am	Livestream Worship with Communion	YouTube
9:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
10:00 am	Sunday School	via Zoom
10:00 am	Confirmation	via Zoom
10:00 am	High School Youth Group	via Zoom
10:00 am	Adult Education with Karen Klingelhafer: Women in the Gospels	via Zoom
11:00 am	Zoom Worship with Communion	Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
12:30 pm	Earth Camp Planning Meeting	via Zoom

Monday, April 12

7:00 pm

Men’s Book Club

Zoom

Tuesday, April 13

9:00 am	Facility Management Team Meeting	Zoom
10:00 am	T’ai Chi	former Bales Thriftway on Cornell Rd.
1:30 pm	Service Committee	Zoom
6:00 pm	HR Meeting	Zoom
7:00 pm	Finance Meeting	Zoom

Wednesday, April 14 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

10:00 am	Reopening Committee Meeting	Zoom
6:00 pm	Sanctuary Team Meeting	Zoom
6:00 pm	Handbell Ensemble Rehearsal	Zoom
6:30 pm	Informal Gathering Time	Zoom
7:00 pm	Evening Prayer	Zoom
7:00 pm	High School Youth Hangout	Zoom
7:30 pm	Centering Prayer	Zoom

Thursday, April 15

12:00 pm	Staff Meeting	Zoom
2:30 pm	Communications Meeting	Zoom
7:00 pm	Council Meeting	Zoom

Friday, April 16

10:00 am

T’ai Chi

former Bales Thriftway on Cornell Rd

Sunday, April 18

8:30 am	Livestream Worship with Communion	YouTube
9:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
10:00 am	Sunday School	Zoom
10:00 am	Confirmation	Zoom
10:00 am	High School Youth Group	Zoom
10:00 am	Adult Education: Women in the Gospels	Zoom
11:00 am	Zoom Worship with Communion	Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
2:00 pm	MACG Call Coordinating Meeting	Zoom
3:00 pm	Spirituality Book Group	Zoom

Connecting to Worship

Ways to Give: Thank you for supporting our ministries!