July 4, 2021

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The Post-Pandemic Worship Experience

As we return to in-person worship starting on July 4th, some people have been wondering what to expect from an in-person service after more than a year of online worship. With the lifting of statewide COVID-19 restrictions on June 30, there are only a few adjustments to the familiar worship service we all know. On the St. Andrew website and as an insert in your worship folder this Sunday, we will explain the procedures our Worship Planners and Reopening Team have crafted.

Our 8:30 am service will be held indoors in the Sanctuary, and our 11:00 am service will be held outdoors in the Sanctuary of the Firs. Livestream and Zoom options will continue to be offered as they have been throughout the pandemic. We hope that these options allow everyone to continue worshiping in the way that feels safest and most appropriate for them.

Leading Worship Together

Returning to in-p0erson worship serves as a powerful reminder of how many volunteers work together to make worship happen every week. It’s a lot of work, but if we all play our part, everything gets handled without a hiccup.

In particular we are in need of Altar Guild members and Assisting Ministers. No experience is necessary and you will receive all the training you need. We work with your schedule so you can attend your preferred service and still worship with your family or friends.

Please contact Minister of Music & Media Allison Katsufrakis at allisonk@standrewlutheran.com if you have questions or would like to volunteer.

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, July 7, 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 mid-day on Wednesdays in Allison’s email.

Earth Camp Needs “Shadows”

The Earth Camp team needs a couple more people to volunteer as “Shadows” for camp week, July 12-16. The camp will consist of five groups of seven kids, with each group accompanied by two youth “Guides.” The Shadow’s role is to be an adult presence with one of the five groups throughout the week. It’s the easiest volunteer role in Earth Camp! If you’d like to volunteer or have questions about this opportunity, please contact the camp’s program director, Kyler Vogt:

kvogt@standrewlutheran.com.

Quilt Sunday Is July 11, 2021

It’s a little bit later in the summer than normal, but better late than never! Next Sunday, July 11th, at the 8:30 am service, we will continue our tradition of wrapping our high school seniors in handmade quilts. These quilts, made by members of our own Nifty Notters group, are our way of reminding these young adults that no matter where life leads them, the love and prayers of their St. Andrew community go withy them.

Nifty Notters

The Nifty Notters will NOT be meeting on July 3, but all are welcome to join us Saturday, July 17, from 9:00 am-12:30 pm in Fellowship Hall to work on baby quilts for Virginia Garcia Clinic and larger quilts for LWR and Safeplace. All supplies are provided and no experience is needed. Bring a lunch and join us for all or part of the time. If you can’t come on Saturday, we have many cutting and sewing/tying projects that can be done at home. If you have questions, please contact Mary Brown at 503-439-3917 or Pam Farr at 503-626-6657.

Oregon Historical Society Online Exhibits

The Reckoning with Racism group wants to remind you that the Oregon Historical Society has several exhibits online that pertain to their studies of the last year.

The People of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

and

Racing to Change: Oregon’s Civil Rights Years

Both exhibits can be found on the Oregon Historical Society website at https://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/.

Helping the Hungry

Driving around Portland this summer, it’s clear that the hunger and homelessness crisis prompted by COVID-19 continues to trouble many people in our community. The saints of St. Andrew have already shown generosity in offering assistance and that help is still needed. All contributions to the food barrel in our Narthex are delivered to the St. Matthew Food Bank for distribution to people suffering from food insecurity. Thank you for caring for others!

A Rose on the Altar

The rose on the altar this Sunday is in honor of William Anthony LeRoy, the newest grandchild of Becky and Rick LeRoy. William’s parents are Eric and Jessica LeRoy. Congratulations all around to the LeRoy family!

Want to Spend Some Dollars?

We’re talking about Thrivent Choice Dollars.  You do not need to be a Thrivent member to help identify St. Andrew activities that might benefit from extra funds. Interested? We will meet on Sunday, July 18, in Fellowship Hall at (or before) 10:00 am to learn more about Choice Dollars. Many of us don’t know much about this and now we have a chance to learn, ask questions, and help discern what we would like to support in the next 12 months.

We missed having meetings since 2018 but the money has come in each year and has recently been sent to the ministries designated in 2018 to receive them. We will review past decisions as we prepare to choose where we want to go from here. The more input, the better we can consider how to best use money coming in the next 12 months.

Thrivent members who are designating choice dollars will have the opportunity to vote on suggestions at this meeting. Please join us to determine how to spend those dollars on behalf of St. Andrew ministries.

Climate Change on The Other Side of the Hill

Almost all of us who attend St. Andrew live in an urban environment, where we’ve already experienced unprecedented temperatures surpassing 112 degrees Fahrenheit in this summer of 2021. In the fall of 2020, we lived under skies turned orange by wildfires and sheltered inside to escape poor air quality.

But Oregon is a big state and home to many rural communities that have likewise been affected by climate change. The documentary The Other Side of the Hill explores the rural community of Lakeview. About 6 hours south from Portland by car, Lakeview is in the center part of our state, east of Medford and within miles of the California border.

Interfaith Power & Light invites everyone to watch the film between July 10-25 to discover some rural perspectives on a changing climate. Beginning July 1, you are invited to register here to watch the film at your convenience on July 10 and through July 25.

Mental Health Tips from the Caring Ministry Team

Many sources have used the word “transition” to describe where we are as we gradually come out of the pandemic. In Pastor Susan’s sermon on June 26, she described the unresolved grief we are carrying with us into the transition, stating “We’re tender.” She encouraged us to listen, observe, pay attention, ponder, pray, witness, care and reflect. It was a call to slow down and mark this time of transition by taking the time to discover what we’ve learned. Her comments reminded me of the work of David Kessler, an internationally known author on the topic of healing and loss. In 2018 I had the opportunity to attend his workshop which was based on material for his most recent book entitled, Finding Meaning. One phrase that stuck with me is that grief does not require a lot of time but it does require what he calls “dedicated time.”

The “Our Pandemic Year” video that Carol Harker, Allison Katsufrakis, and their contributors put together is a beautiful example of making “dedicated time” for our grief as we move ahead. It honors the losses we have shared as a community while acknowledging the strengths we have discovered. I was aware of a variety of memories and emotions as the images of so many people and events over the past 16 months invited me into “dedicated time.” It reflected some of our pandemic journey as a community and also raised memories unique to my individual journey. Perhaps your experience of watching it was similar. By taking the time to pause and reflect, we create the opportunity to be present to the organic process of loss and healing. When we “dedicate” time (even a few minutes) to acknowledge and reflect on our grief, it is invited to move through us, creating space for varied feelings and new possibilities.

Michelle Sinn

For Reflection

• In what ways do you give “dedicated time” to present or past grief? Who is one person with whom you feel safe sharing grief?
• How might you embrace Pastor Susan’s invitation to listen, observe, pay attention, ponder, pray, witness, care and reflect as we continue to move forward?

“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

When Lazarus wrote this poem in 1883, immigrants were entering the United States in great numbers, including Italians, French, Greeks, and Russian-Jewish refugees, among others. And sure enough, “The New Colossus” is itself a multicultural amalgam: an Italian sonnet written by a Jewish-Ameri8can woman, celebrating a statue forged in France, contrasting it with one in ancient Greece. She is unarmed, a light in one hand a a votive table in the other. Such tablets were common in ancient Greece for inscribing prayers, or in any case aspirations–and on this particular table is the date the United States formally broke free from English rule: July 4, 1776. It’s as if she says, We aspire to be free–now come, all you who yearn for freedom.

Lydia Circle

Lydia Circle will meet Tuesday, July 13, from 1:00-3:00 pm in the St. Andrew Room. This month’s Bible study is the second of a three-part series entitled “Just L.I.F.E. (Liberation is for everyone),” taken from the July Gather magazine. It is inspired by Jesus’ proclamations, ‘if the Son make you free, you will be free indeed” [John 8:36] and “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly” [John 1:10]. This month’s session delves into “just truth.” All are welcome and you need not to have read the study to take part.

Book Report: Dying to Meet You, by Kate Klise

This book is found in the children’s library, but don’t let that stop you. It is one cute book, loaded with puns. If you are an old house/host and laughter fan, this is your book. It’s a nice fast read, even if you’re a kid, so check it out and put a smile on your face.

Pam Farr
Librarian

Beaked Hazelnut

On one of his frequent walks out and about church property, Don Nearhood recently took this photo of a Beaked Hazelnut. This West Coast native is recognized by the long green husks over the hazelnuts that certainly look like beaks!

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 Gary Howard	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Deb Howard
Family and friends of Bobby Larson’s mother	Peace and God’s comfort at her death	Bobbie Larson
Family and friends of Carol Grover	Peace and God’s comfort at her death	Nan Thompson
Adam McQueen’s father	Compassionate care, peace, and comfort in hospice	Adam McQueen
Ann Landmark (cousin)	Compassionate care as she enters hospice	Bev Briggs
Nan Thompson	Acceptance and strength	Nan Thompson
Gary Grafwallner	Healing of his left eye from Bell’s palsy	Gary Grafwallner
Sue Cahlander	Smooth recovery from a surgical procedure	Jan & Sue Cahlander Smith
Michaela (grandchild)	Successful surgery and comfortable recovery	Jan & Sue Cahlander Smith
Carol Means	Effective treatment	Staff
Dan Fako	Pain relief	Sharon Fako
Marlene Maxwell	Continued healing	Bruce Maxwell
William Anthony LeRoy and parents Eric & Jessica LeRoy	Thanksgiving and praise at William’s birth	Rick & Becky LeRoy
Mary Brown	Healing and quick recovery after surgery	Bob & Mary Brown
Susan Reiser	Successful knee replacement surgery (July 6)	John & Susan Reiser
Lee Anne & Brian Knapp	God’s blessings during a time of transition	Lee Anne Knapp
Those threatened by wildfires	Protection and safety	Staff
Those impacted by racial injustice	Care in times of pain, violence, and crisis	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
West Linn Lutheran Church (West Linn, OR) Community of Hope Lutheran Church (Wilsonville, OR) Faith Lutheran (Albany, OR) Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (Albany, OR) Grace Lutheran Church (Corvallis, OR)	Serving with us in the Oregon Synod	Staff
Masjid Omar Farooq (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

Preparing for Sunday, July 11, 2021

Reading: Amos 7:7-15

Gospel: Mark 6:14-29

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

Highlights for the Week

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

Sunday, July 4

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

Monday, July 5

6:00 pm

Troop 618 Meeting

east parking lot

Tuesday, July 6

7:00 am	Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study	Elmer’s Restaurant at 158th
7:00 am	Women’s Sunrise Spirituality Group	Elmer’s Restaurant at 158th
10:00 am	T’ai Chi	Fellowship Hall
10:00 am	Meals on Wheels/Loave and Fishes	Off Site
7:00 pm	MACG Meeting	St. Andrew Room

Wednesday, July 7 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

6:45 pm	Informal Gathering Time	Zoom
7:00 pm	Wednesday Evening Prayer	Zoom
7:30 pm	Centering Prayer	Zoom

Thursday, July 8

12:30 pm

Team Ministry Meeting

Chapel/Library

Friday, July 9

10:00 am	T’ai Chi	Fellowship Hall
6:15 pm	High School Youth at Superplay Bowl	Beaverton

Sunday, July 11

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

Thank You to Our New Council Members

Connecting to Worship

Ways to Give: Thank you for supporting our ministries!