January 2, 2022

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New Adult Ed Classes Begin January 9

With the New Year, we get new Adult Education classes. St. Andrew’s six-week Epiphany term begins between services on Sunday, January 9.

“My Journey: What I’ve Learned Along the Way”

Join Jim Aageson in Fellowship Hall for a class about our life stories as he shares some reflective vignettes from his own life that are intended to prompt others to think about their own experiences. As Jim points out in his description of the class, our life stories “may…enrich the lives of the generations who come after us. They can give life, color, and texture to the family tree. They will be part of our legacies.”

Mental Illness in Our Midst: How Does It Look & How Can We Respond?

Janet Vorvick knows that mental illness affects lots of individuals, some of whom come to church with special needs. What can we do? Janet will explore several types of illness and offer concrete ideas for how to talk to people who suffer from depression, autism, or some other category of illness. She’ll share ideas from other churches, explore what we can learn about mental illness from the Bible and our hymns, and encourage open conversations. Join her in the St. Andrew Room.

All classes begin at 10:00 am and are offered in person. Details about any online offerings are yet to be worked out.

The Roots Launches January 23!

St. Andrew’s brand new Sunday morning children’s program, The Roots, is launching on Sunday, January 23! We will start off at 10:00 am in the Children’s Commons downstairs.

This completely original program is designed with the fun of summer day camps in mind–kids will move through rotations of storytelling, games, art, service, science, and music as they engage with stories from the Bible. The Bible stories we will be teaching have been hand-picked to emphasize our five core values of God care, Earth care, Neighbor care, Community care, and Self care. This program is open to all kids of vaccination age, kindergarten through grade 5. We are so excited and look forward to seeing you all again! 

If you are interested in participating in The Roots as a volunteer, we still need help specifically in leading games/arts and crafts. Contact kvogt@standrewlutheran.com to join the team! 

Welcome, India, Parish Chaplain

St. Andrew is delighted to welcome India Jensen Kerr as our Parish Chaplain. While many in our faith community know India and her family as longtime members, you may not know that she earned her undergraduate degree in Comparative Religious Studies at the University of Oregon, went to seminary at Marylhurst University, and is a current PhD student at Claremont School of Theology in Hebrew Bible. She also has a post-baccalaureate certificate in Women’s Studies from Portland State University.

India served as a volunteer chaplain at Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin for more than three years and has worked and volunteered in social services, as well as volunteering to preach at a nursing home. At St. Andrew, India has served with the RIC Team, worked with Safe and Healthy Congregations, Domestic Violence, and Centering Prayer. She also served as a Eucharistic Minister for years.

In her new role, she will minister to those in crisis; provide and coordinate hospital and home visits; recruit, train, and coordinate Eucharistic Ministers; preach once a month; and provide guidance on self-care and spiritual issues. India can be reached at 503-646-0629, ext. 211, or at india@standrewlutheran.com.

Nifty Notters

This year you’re invited to make a New Year’s resolution to join the Nifty Notters. Come see what we’re doing on Saturday, January 8^th and 29^th between 9:00 am and 2:30 pm in Fellowship Hall. Stay for all or part of the time as we work on quilts for Lutheran World Relief and NW Children’s Outreach. We have projects for all skill levels and no experience is needed. All materials are provided. 

A special thanks goes to Judy Heidinger for her research in finding NW Children’s Outreach after Virginia Garcia Clinic cut back on their need for baby quilts. Also thanks to those who have made some wonderful fabric donations. If you have questions, please contact Mary Brown at 503-439-3917. 

Please note: we will NOT meet on January 1^st or 15^th. 

Thank You, Pastor Susan

As Pastor Susan Kintner eases back into a well-deserved retirement, we thank her for filling the role of Pandemic Pastor at St. Andrew for the past nine months. Thank you for your thoughtful sermons, for recognizing that the pandemic has transported us to a new kind of wilderness, and for guiding us through a liminal time when certainty is rare and our destination largely unknown. God be with you as you explore your creative talents and forge your best future!

Baby Rose

The rose on the altar today celebrates the birth of Ayla Marie Poloahilani Myers, born on December 23 to parents Erik & Dominique. Erik is Sharon Carlson’s youngest son and Ayla is her first grandchild. Welcome, Ayla. Congratulations to one and all!

Giving to a Designated Fund

During Advent, several St. Andrew people donated additional funds to support the Giving Tree project for Barnes Elementary families and immigrant families in need. Thank you for your most generous support! Your expression of Christian love has had an enormous impact on families struggling to make ends meet.

How does the church’s Finance Team manage donations to St. Andrew? The team works collectively to make sure contributions are handled properly. The Financial Secretaries receive and record income from contributing members and other sources, ensure all receipts are disbursed to the appropriate funds, and prepare a report of individual giving at the end of the calendar year. The Treasurers keep the books of account of the congregation, receive records of receipts from the Financial Secretaries, disburse funds, and provide a report to the Church Council each month.

It’s common for donors to specify that a portion of their contribution go to the Mortgage Fund, with another portion going to the Ministry & Mission Fund. If money donated to the church is not designated, it goes automatically to the Ministry & Mission fund to support ongoing operations.

In addition, donors can direct their contributions to an array of different initiatives—the COVID Fund, a fund for IT Equipment, the PIPE Fund (for property improvement and repair), Lutheran Disaster Relief, etc. Throughout the year, other funds are identified as part of the Service Committee’s work to support local agencies helping people in our community. Our faith community typically collects socks (Outside In) for homeless teens in September, school supplies (Lutheran World Relief) June-October, warm winter clothing (Western Farm Workers) in September, household items (Community Warehouse) in January, and so forth. You’ll find a complete calendar of Service Committee projects online. All of them accept cash donations as well as in-kind contributions.

Whenever possible, the Financial Secretaries request that parishioners support a particular project at the same time that the Service Committee is focused on that initiative. If you’re over 70, though, and must take a Required Minimum Distribution from your retirement account, that might not work, since this is something that is typically done at the end of the calendar year. If you’d like your contribution to go somewhere other than the Ministry & Mission Fund, simply identify the account you want your donation to support by selecting the appropriate drop-down option of designated funds on our website or writing it in the comment line on your check.

St. Andrew people have a history of generous giving to support our Ministry & Mission and, right now, many are focusing their gifts to pay down the mortgage, too. We anticipate that the current Hope for All campaign to retire the mortgage will succeed and that the mortgage will be paid off in time for the congregation’s 70^th anniversary in 2023.

For Christians who strive to live as God wants, giving is one way we show love for our most marginalized neighbors. We give joyfully to ensure people have food on their tables and all those necessities that allow them to live in dignity. We give when disaster strikes. We give to support agencies working on behalf of refugees or people facing homelessness. Whether modest or magnified, we thank you for your gifts!

The

An Opportunity

The Service Committee is in need of volunteers to work at Clothes for Kids, previously known as the Beaverton Clothes Closet. The area of need is on Wednesdays from 2:15-4:30 & 4:15-6:30. Jobs include sorting donated clothes, making phone calls for appointment reminders, and working with a small number of families as they select clothing. It would be helpful if we could provide someone who speaks Spanish, but it is not necessary. This is a ministry that St. Andrew has participated in for several years. We had to take a break during COVID, but now we are trying to fulfill a need within our community once again. If interested or you have questions, please contact Bonnie Bliesner @ larrybliesner@comcast.net or call 503-830-7001.

Thank you for your interest and your service.

Taking Down the Greens

Your help is needed next Saturday, January 8, at 10:00am for putting away the Christmas decorations and taking down the greens.  Thank you in advance!

I would like to thank those who helped to hang the greens and decorations: The Harker Family, Susan Werner-Reiser, Ed Fransen, Roger & Pat Sandquist, Judy Montague, Pam Jelineo, Allison Katsufrakis, Tim Holte, Pastor Mark, Rick LeRoy, Larry Vachal, Scott Taylor, and anyone else. We had such a good turnout and so much fun!

Happy New Year and much gratitude,
Tammy Piscitelli

New in the Adult Library

We can barely keep up with Pam Farr as she stocks St. Andrew’s Adult Library with lots of new books. Here are some of the latest:

Fiction

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate

Gray Mountain, John Grisham

Edge of Eternity, Ken Follett

Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver

West with Giraffes, Lynda Rutledge

Non-Fiction

Keys to Bonhoeffer’s House, Laura M. Fabrycky

The Last Days of the Incas, Kim Macquarie

Dispatches, Michael Herr

Separated by the Border: A Birth Mother, A Foster Mother, & a Migrant Child’s 3,000-Mile Journey, Gena Thomas

Preparing for next Sunday, January 9, 2021

Baptism of Our Lord

Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7
Gospel: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

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

Resolving to Become Smarter about Plastic

Several people on St. Andrew’s Earth Care Team have made it their mission to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics. According to data from 2010, each person in the U.S. discards more than 225 pounds of plastic a year and much of it ends up polluting the environment for all living beings. Plastic is everywhere, including the food chain that humans depend on for sustenance. A recent study carried out by scientists at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and the World Wildlife Fund showed that “each of us consumes about 5 grams of [micro] plastic each week. In short, it is as if every week we are eating a credit card.”

But, there are increasingly more alternatives to plastic packaging and Portland is an area rich with resources to investigate. Liz Hardy recently put together a list of retail stores that help people make the transition to a plastic-free lifestyle, as well as a sampling of online options and some excellent online resources. Pick up a handout from the Earth Care Kiosk in the Narthex and make 2022 the year you reduce the single-use plastic in your life.

The Work of Christmas

Howard Washington Thurman was an American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader. A prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in several social justice movements. Thurman died in 1981.

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 Bruce Maxwell	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Marlene Maxwell & Staff
Family and friends of Carl Cash, especially his wife Sydney (niece) and their 2 young children	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Judy Deal
Warren McAlpine	Successful knee surgery (January 4)	Donna McAlpine
Joyce Bianucci (sister)	Successful surgery (January 5)	Judy Scholz
Dan Bianucci	Strength and support	Judy Scholz
Erica (niece)	Strength and recovery	Kelly Wise
Ethel Ritchey	Healing and recovery from hip surgery	Staff
Amy Fiegenbaum	Healing and recovery	Ed and Linda Fransen
Dr. Cara Steinkeler	Strength as she supports dying COVID patients and their families	Gary & Gail Grafwallner
Ayla Marie Poloahilani Myers (grandchild)	Blessings on her birth	Sharon Carlson
The homeless	Shelter, protection, and hope	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
First Lutheran Church (Astoria, OR) Peace Lutheran Church (Astoria, OR)	Serving with us in the Oregon Synod	Staff
Islamic Center of Portland (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, January 2, Second Sunday of Christmas

8:30 am	Worship with Communion (masks required)	Sanctuary and YouTube
10:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
11:00 am	Worship with Communion (masks required)	Sanctuary and Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
12:00 pm	Scouts Tree Recycling	East Parking Lot

Monday, January 3

6:00 pm

Scout Troop 618 Meeting

Fellowship Hall, St. Andrew Room

Tuesday, January 4

7:00 am	Men’s Gathering and Bible Study	Elmer’s Restaurant (1250 NW Waterhouse Ave)
7:00 am	Sunrise Women	Elmer’s Restaurant (1250 NW Waterhouse Ave)
10:00 am	Meals on Wheels / Loaves and Fishes	Off Site
10:00 am	Worship Planners Meeting	Library
10:00 am	Tai Chi	Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm	MACG Meeting	St. Andrew Room

Wednesday, January 5 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

Thursday, January 6

12:00 pm	Team Ministry Meeting	Chapel/Library
7:00 pm	Executive (Council) Committee Meeting	via Zoom

Friday, January 7

10:00 am Tai Chi

Fellowship Hall

Saturday, January 8

8:00 am	Scouts Tree Recycling	East Parking Lot
9:00 am	Nifty Notters	Fellowship Hall

Sunday, January 9 – Baptism of Jesus

8:30 am	Worship with Communion (masks required)	Sanctuary and YouTube
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
10:00 am	Adult Ed: Mental Illness in Our Midst: How Does It Look and How Can We Respond?	St. Andrew Room
10:00 am	Adult Ed: My Journey: What I’ve Learned Along the Way, and What Difference Does It Make	Fellowship Hall
10:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
11:00 am	Worship with Communion (masks required)	Sanctuary and Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
12:00 pm	Scouts Tree Recycling	East Parkin Lot

Connecting to Worship