August 22, 2021

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Mask Mandate Returns

COVID is running rampant in Oregon. Please note that St. Andrew now requires EVERYONE—even vaccinated individuals—to wear a mask inside the building. Disposable masks are available at the Narthex entry if you need them. And, remember, we’ve already shown a good bit of discipline in the face of this virus and we can do this to protect each other and especially to protect our children who are not yet able to receive the vaccine. Masking is a profound and visible sign of our commitment to neighbor and community care.

If you are feeling more apprehensive about worshiping in the Sanctuary, as always, make the decision that is best for you and your household. Thankfully, we have a variety of worship options. 11:00 am worship in the Sanctuary of the Firs makes use of our outdoor space, and we are blessed with a talented team of technology wizards who make remote worship possible.

Wednesday Evening Prayer

Midweek Evening Prayer Services will continue to be offered through the summer months via Zoom. Meditations will be drawn from Devotional Classics. All are welcome this Wednesday, August 25 for social time at 6:45 pm and service at 7:00 pm. Centering Prayer follows at 7:30 pm. Participate in all or part of our scheduled time together. Look for links to this worship service at midday on Wednesdays in Allison’s email.

Western Farm Workers’ Fiesta

The Western Farm Workers’ Association is celebrating its 33rd anniversary, and you’re invited! They would like to recognize the help that St. Andrew has provided over the years in its September donations of warm clothes and cash support.

The free event, which includes dinner and a Mexican fiesta complete with music and dance performances, is this Saturday, August 21 from 6:00 pm—8:00 pm at Calvary Lutheran Church in Hillsboro. They ask that our members sit together at a reserved table for us. If you would like to attend, please call Fran or Ted Miller at 503-641-6519.

Guest Preacher Tim Overton-Harris

As Pastor Mark’s sabbatical continues, we welcome the Rev. Tim Overton-Harris, Columbia district superintendent of the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church, to the pulpit this Sunday. More than a year ago Overton-Harris blogged about a theological quandary: whether and why to reopen churches in the midst of a pandemic. Go to www.umoi.org/blogdetail/13997649 to read his thoughtful essay and be certain to check out his words for us this weekend.

Introducing: The Roots!

With the start of the school year comes something very exciting in our children’s ministry! This year we are launching an entirely new Sunday morning children’s program: The Roots! This program is designed to live into our vision for children’s ministry by emphasizing our core values and increasing the percentage of our congregation that is involved in ministering to our kids. It takes a village!

Check out the insert in this newsletter to read about the origin of this program, its name, its goals, and how you can be a part of it by leading 15 minutes once every six weeks—a total of only one hour over the whole school year!

Kyler Vogt,
Children & Youth Minister

Sock It to Me – Outside In

Once again we have an opportunity to demonstrate Community and Neighbor Care by improving the lives of young people in our city. Since 1968, the Outside In has transformed lives by helping break the cycles of chronic homelessness, poverty, and poor health among Portland’s LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, those experiencing homelessness, and the underserved.

Currently, the Outside In is in high need of socks. Please consider contributing to this request by purchasing new men’s and women’s socks and bringing them to church between July 25 and August 29. There will be a barrel in the Narthex and the socks will be delivered to Outside In at the end of August. Both staff and clients of Outside In appreciate this congregation for all of our support over the past years and send their thanks once again for your contributions.

Service Committee

Welcome, Johanna

Please welcome our newest employee, Johanna Land, who is working Tuesday-Thursday as St. Andrew’s office assistant. You can reach Johanna by emailing office@standrewlutheran.com or calling the church phone: 503-646-0629.

We’re delighted that Johanna has joined our team! Please continue to send prayer and calendar requests, as well as material for the church newsletter, to the church office. Johanna will take care of you or forward your information appropriately.

And do stop by during Johanna’s work hours to say “Hi” and to introduce yourself.

Leadership Training Planned for September

MACG will hold a two-day Leadership Training Institute in September. More details will be coming soon, but for now, please save the dates: Saturday, September 18, and Saturday, September 25, 10:00 am–4:00 pm, at Spirit of Grace in Beaverton.

Don’t miss this terrific opportunity to learn how using organizing principles can strengthen relationships, build community, and work for common good in our community. Look for more information next week, but please contact any member of St. Andrew’s MACG Core Team if you have questions: Pat Christiansen, Larry Bliesner, Lynn Santelmann, Scott Taylor, Bob Stadel, Jan Smith, and Victoria Kovalenko.

Preparing for Sunday, August 22, 2021

Tim Overton-Harris will preach.
Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20
Gospel: John 6:56-69

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

ELCA Summer School

The ELCA’s Advocacy Summer School has already begun, but you can still register for the final three sessions and learn how to become more effective in addressing the justice issues that fuel your passion. Please go to https://tinyurl.com/tjzdzucp to learn more and to register for future sessions. The next session will be held Wednesday, August 25, at 11:00 am Pacific time. Please note that you must register separately for each week’s offering.

Time to Collect School Supplies for Lutheran World Relief

Education is one of the strongest tools a community has for breaking the cycle of poverty. Even better results occur when we can ensure that girls attend school in places where their access to education is not a priority. Lutheran World Relief (LWR) school kits contain essential supplies to help children learn in the face of serious obstacles.

With many retailers currently offering back-to-school sales, now is the time to help us stock up on supplies for LWR School Kits. Our goal is to collect enough supplies to fill 75-100 school kits by early September.

We need the following supplies for each School Kit:

70-sheet spiral bound notebooks (4 per kit)
1 box (16– or 24-count) crayons
1 pencil sharpener
30-centimeter ruler (1 per kit)
1 pair blunt scissors
5 unsharpened No. 2 pencils with erasers
5 black or blue pens
2 ½ inch eraser (1 per kit)

Thank you for your generous donations.

St. Andrew Service Committee

Organ Scholarship Applications Due

Please note that applications for the St. Andrew Foundation’s church organ scholarship are due no later than Monday, October 4. To address the critical shortage of church organists, the fund awards $800 towards organ lessons with a recognized organ teacher. Applicants from age 13 through 30 are invited to apply. Go to the Foundation page on our church website and scroll to the Organ Lesson Scholarship Fund section to download the 2021 Scholarship Announcement and Application. Applicants from a variety of faith traditions are encouraged to apply.

A Book Sale’s Coming: It’s Time To Prune Your Collection!

Give me your tired, your broken, your worn-out volumes
Waiting for new homes,
The unwanted books of your o’er-flowing shelves.
Give these, the books, undesired unto me,
There’ll be a sale, to give them all new homes!

Yes, there’s gonna be a book sale, scheduled for Sunday, November 28, and we need all your cast-off and no-longer-desired books to sell. Simply put your donations in the boxes on the floor of the Adult Library or on the counter, if bending is hard for you. You can bring in magazines, too, children’s books, history, fiction, whatever you think you’re ready to pass on. This is a used book sale to make money for our church libraries, not the Annie Bloom sale we’ve held in years past.

Pam Farr
Adult Librarian

The Chapel Oak

Don Nearhood continues to send us his lovely photos of plants living on our campus. This is a small Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana). At five years old it is only about two feet tall but looking healthy.
This particular tree has several names: the Chapel Oak, the Coming Home to Earth Oregon White Oak, and the Preschool Oak. Charissa White and her preschoolers (known as the Oak Room) nurtured the sapling as it grew in a pot in their classroom through the winter of 2015-2016. In the spring of 2016, the class planted the tree on the slope below the garden beds, with a ring of black stones placed around the baby tree. Each stone had one word written on it: Charity, Inspire, Dream, Friends, Trust, Believe.

If anyone remembers nurturing this tree or would like to help it survive and grow, please contact Don Nearhood or Carol Harker.

I Am My Story

This year, The Immigrant Story plans to go live with four musicians and four stories of survival on one unforgettable
night, Saturday, September 11, at 7:00 pm. The event will be held at the Alex L. Parks Performing Arts Center, 9000 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy.

With storytellers from Burundi, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Syria, the program focuses on first-person tales of courage and fortitude. These stories of resilience in the face of unimaginable atrocities of war and genocide offer hope and inspiration at a time when we need them most.

The program will begin with a performance by renowned viola player Dijana Ihas, a professor at Pacific University who survived the war in Bosnia and was a member of the Sarajevo String Quartet, which played more than 200 concerts during the Siege of Sarajevo. She will be joined by three musicians from the Oregon Symphony.

Chapel Oak

Don Nearhood continues to send us his lovely photos of plants living on our campus. This is a small Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana). At five years old it is only about two feet tall but looking healthy. This particular tree has several names: the Chapel Oak, the Coming Home to Earth Oregon White Oak, and the Preschool Oak. Charissa White and her preschoolers (known as the Oak Room) nurtured the sapling as it grew in a pot in their classroom through the winter of 2015-2016. In the spring of 2016, the class planted the tree on the slope below the garden beds, with a ring of black stones placed around the baby tree. Each stone had one word written on it: Charity, Inspire, Dream, Friends, Trust, Believe.

If anyone remembers nurturing this tree or would like to help it survive and grow, please contact Don Nearhood or Carol Harker.

New Books in the Library

Fiction
One by One by Ruth Ware
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
Esther’s Gift by Jan Karon
Faithful Place by Tana French
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Fiction on CD
Sycamore Row, by John Grisham

Nonfiction
Framing Immigrants: News Coverage, Public Opinion, and Policy by Chris Haynes, Jennifer Merolla, and S. Karthick Ramakrishnan
The Gifting God: A Trinitarian Ethics of Excess by Stephen H. Webb

Biography/Memoir
Educated by Tara Westover
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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 infants Tucker and Bennet	Peace and God’s comfort at their deaths	Laura Geczy-Haskins (cousin)
Phyllis Morris	Peace and comfort in hospice care	Staff
Karlene	Peace and comfort	Linda Fransen
Amy Marks (friend) and her husband Mark	Comfort, guidance, and strength	Bob & Judy Scholz
Maria Navarre	Comfort and encouragement	Lynn Santelmann
Kay (mother)	Accurate diagnosis and treatment	Linda Olshausen
Bernie Dwigans (father)	Accurate diagnosis and healing	Carol Hogan
Grandson of friend, Pat	Successful surgery	Linda Fransen
Lisajoy Sachs	Comfort, healing, and recovery	Sue Cahlender
Carol Hogan	Healing and recovery	Staff
Maverick Dixon (unborn nephew)	Complete healing in the womb	AJ & Rebecca Uecker
Those fighting or threatened by wildfires	Protection and safety	Staff
People of Haiti	Help and recovery	Staff
People of Afghanistan	Safety and security	Staff
Those facing ongoing illness or distress: Tandy Brooks, Dave Bumgardner, Vic Claar, Gary Grafwallner, Ian MacDonald, Gary Magnuson, Hugh Mason Brian McKiernan, Carol Means, Ed Pacey, Corky Poppert, Jolie Reyna, Nan Thompson, Shane Throckmorton, Gary Tubb	Healing and assurance of God’s presence	Staff
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton	Wisdom and discernment	Staff
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America	Blessings on our ministry	Staff
Portland Taiwan Lutheran Church	Strength and wisdom	Staff
Faith Lutheran Church (Junction City, OR) Faith Lutheran Church (Roseburg, OR)	Serving with us in the Oregon Synod	Staff
Congregation Shaarie Torah (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, August 22

8:30 am	Worship with Communion Livestream Worship with Communion	Sanctuary YouTube
10:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
11:00 am	Worship with Communion Zoom Worship with Communion	Sanctuary of the Firs Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom

Monday, August 23

6:00 pm

Troop 618 Meeting

Garden Parking Lot

Tuesday, August 17

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
12:15 pm	Community Carbon Leadership Meeting	Library or across from the Community Garden, depending on the weather

Wednesday, August 18 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

10:00 am	Yoga (both Chair Yoga & Floor Yoga)	Fellowship Hall
6:45 pm	Informal Gathering Time	Zoom
7:00 pm	Wednesday Evening Prayer	Zoom
7:30 pm	Centering Prayer	Zoom

Thursday, August 19

12:00 pm	Team Ministry Meeting	Chapel, Library
7:00 pm	Council Meeting	St. Andrew Room (also Zoom)
7:00 pm	IT Meeting	Offsite

Friday, August 20

10:00 am

T’ai Chi

Fellowship Hall

Saturday, August 21

9:00 am

Nifty Notters