June 20, 2021

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Preparing for Our Annual Meeting

Annual Meeting of the Congregation
Tuesday, June 22, 2021, 6:30 pm

Once a year the members of the congregation gather to elect new members to the Church Council and to approve the budget for the coming year. We will meet on Tuesday via Zoom.

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, June 23, for social time at 6:30 pm; service at 7:00 pm, when our meditation will come from George Fox, a founder of the Quakers; and Centering Prayer 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.

Celebrating Juneteenth & the End of Slavery

Hallelujah! On Thursday, June 16, President Biden signed legislation declaring June 19th a national holiday. For the first time in our country’s history, federal employees were granted a day off to celebrate the new holiday–and it came a day early, since June 19 falls on a Saturday this year.

June 19^th, also known as Juneteenth, is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that enslaved people were now free. For black people trying to establish a new status, annual celebrations of Juneteenth were times for reassuring one another, for praying, and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas in 1980 and in Oregon last month.

This Juneteenth at 10:00 am, the Oregon Remembrance Project (https://www.oregonremembrance.com/) will be installing a historical marker in Coos Bay remembering the story of the only documented lynching in Oregon, that of Alonzo Tucker in 1902. The St. Andrew Reckoning with Racism cohort invites you to participate in person or via Zoom at 10:00 am on June 19^th. We hope to find reconciliation and communal healing through a sober reflection on history.

Getting Ready to Worship Together

As we prepare to return to in-person worship on July 4, perhaps you’ve been thinking about the role you might play in the services. Interested in reading  the scriptures? Offering the prayers of the people? Serving communion, or lighting the candles?

These are all roles handled by volunteers from the St. Andrew community, and you are invited to participate! 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.

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.

Job Opening for Office Assistant

St. Andrew is looking to hire a part-time office assistant to act as a first point of contact with the congregation and the general public. The person will manage building use and church calendars, scheduling both in-person and Zoom meetings; perform routine data entry, report creation, and updating of databases; proofread both online and print materials; order office, cleaning, and worship supplies; assemble mailings; and print bulletins, as well as support ministry coordinators and the staff.

We’re looking for someone proficient with Microsoft Office applications and the ability to learn new software when required; a person with a positive attitude and excellent interpersonal skills; someone who can organize, set priorities, and exercise sound independent judgment; a person who pays attention to detail and is willing to coordinate multiple projects and respond to changing priorities. Demonstrated competencies in database entry, proofreading, and time management are required.

The person will work 21 hours per week, 8:30 am-4:00 pm, Tuesday through Thursday. For more information, go to

portland.craigslist.org/wsc/ofc/d/beaverton-office-assistant/7337270360.html

Applications should be submitted electronically to the church office (office@standrewlutheran.com) or mailed to  St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 12405 SW Butner Rd, Beaverton, OR 97005, Attn: Carol Harker, by July 1.

Grunewald Guild Class Registration

Registration is now open for summer classes at the Grunewald Guild. A faith community fostering art and creativity along the banks of the Wenatchee River in Washington, the Grunewald Guild is offering a variety of intriguing classes in July, August, and September. Whether you’d like to explore journal making, songwriting, word collage with calligraphy, ceramics, writing, jewelry making and repair, extravagant beadwork, weaving, photography, or other arts, the Guild has a curriculum to nourish your soul and renew your spirit. One class title, “Hand Embroidery: Sinking into Slowness,” reveals the character of this community, which invites makers—whether absolute newcomers or experienced craftspeople—to slow their pace and consider how the process of creation itself can be a grounding force. To learn more, go to: https://grunewald.com/summer-program-2021/.

Filling the Food Barrel

Things are beginning to return to something nearer normal. We learned earlier this week that St. Matthew Lutheran Church is once again accepting packaged and canned food for its food bank. Now that St. Andrew’s doors are unlocked during office hours, feel free to donate non-perishable food to the food barrel in the Narthex. We are resuming deliveries to St. Matt’s and know that there are many hungry people who will benefit from our gifts.

Storytelling from Oregon’s First Ordained Women

For most of the history of the church (Roman Catholic and Protestant), only men were permitted to be ordained and to lead a congregation. For Lutherans, that changed in 1970, when the Lutheran Church in America and American Lutheran Church, predecessors of the ELCA, ordained Elizabeth Platz and Barbara Andrews. Since then, women clergy have steadily broken barriers, but changing the climate has been a decades-long process.

Still, 50 years later, look how far women have come! Today, the ELCA is led by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, 22 women are synodical bishops (of 65 total), and four are seminary presidents. Almost one-third of all ELCA pastors are women.

To hear what it was like for Susan Granata, Joan Beck, Solveig Nilsen-Goodin, and other early women leaders in the Oregon Synod, listen in on their stories:

Saturday, June 26, 7:00 pm

Saturday, July 17, 7:00 pm.

Pastor Robyn Hartwig and Pastor Susan Kintner will share their stories on June 26.

It’s free and online. Click on Register to sign up now and receive the Zoom link.

Implementing a New Social Media Policy

How time flies! On July 27, 2020, as reported in a newsletter article last summer, the ad hoc Social Media Subgroup held its first meeting to develop suggested policy for social media use, processes to implement the policy, and roles and responsibilities for key personnel. The Subgroup held biweekly meetings and delivered a draft policy for Church Council consideration at the October 15, 2020 meeting, where the policy was endorsed and accepted by majority vote. Based on ELCA guidelines, the policy’s Vision for Social Media use says, “St. Andrew Lutheran Church is an ELCA congregation whose “social media presence is one … with congregation members and staff contributing regularly in ways that enhance community and help make connections between members. This helps to make visible the real community that gathers on Sunday morning and during the week, and makes others want to get involved more, or consider joining.”

You can request an electronic or print copy of this nine-page document from the church office. The policy discusses the role of social media within a larger St. Andrew communications strategy and broadly outlines strategy, policy, and implementation guidelines for social media use within a continuously changing environment.

Perhaps the most significant finding by the ad hoc subgroup was the need to clarify the almost universal confusion about the difference between the St. Andrew Facebook page and the St. Andrew Lutheran Church Beaverton Facebook group and how they are to be managed and used. Facebook Pages are designed to be the official profiles for entities (such as St. Andrew), while Facebook Groups are the place for small group communication. For example, the official Grateful Dead Page has 1.9M followers and its posts are internally generated and controlled, while “Deadhead Life” is a private Group of ~82,000 Grateful Dead fans who make an average of 500 posts/day about a variety of topics.

St. Andrew maintains an official Facebook Page that enables our church to create an authentic and public presence on Facebook that is visible to everyone on the internet by default. Only authorized St. Andrew staff can post to the page and these posts contain a limited subset of overall church information and communication.

The St. Andrew Lutheran Church Beaverton Facebook Group was created in December 2008 by a lay member of the congregation to be an “extension of the narthex,” where the congregation could continue their discussions throughout the week. This member continued to be the primary administrator until a few weeks ago. From a St. Andrew perspective, the group was mainly used for outward communication, as well as for fellowship between members. The pandemic led to making the group “private” to allow Zoom and YouTube links to be legally posted by the Parish Manager in accordance with our streaming licenses. Pastor Robyn, who was most familiar with visitors and new members, was the primary person to grant membership to the group and to post some of her own materials.

Implementation of the new social media policy has been slowed by the need to focus on the delivery and expansion of online worship and education, especially during Christmas and Lent, as well as significant changes in clergy and staff. This is about to change!

Formation of Communications Team

In support of the 2021 Key Ministry Support Initiative, I am leading a newly formed Communication Team comprised of Julie Aageson, Carol Harker, and Allison Katsufrakis to implement the social media strategy, update the church website layout and content, and help guide St Andrew into a new “hybrid” era of communication, worship, and education. Look for more use of the St. Andrew Facebook page for official church communication and a renaming of the Facebook group to “Fellowship of St. Andrew Lutheran Church Beaverton” in order to emphasize its independence. Stay tuned for more details in next week’s newsletter.

Tom Mehlhorn, Chair
Communications Team

New Library Books at St. Andrew

Nonfiction
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home, by Rhoda Janzen
Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian, by Paul Knitter
Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, by Jon Meacham
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana E. Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson
Rage, by Bob Woodward

Fiction
The Mountains Sing, by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
The Seagull, by Ann Cleeves
The Winter Soldier, by Daniel Mason

Camp Lutherwood Is Hiring

June 23-August 17
Starting Salary for Summer: $2,890

Deepen your faith and sense of adventure while growing personally and professionally. Visit Camp Lutherwood online to learn more: www.lutherwoodoregon.org/employment. If you have questions, please contact the camp office for more information. Call 541-998-6444 or email jobs@lutherwoodoregon.org.

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 Al Miles (cousin)	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Mary Brown
Family and friends of Howard Black (Dan’s friend)	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Dan & Sharon Fako
Family and friends of Chuck Hinton (relative)	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Dan & Sharon Fako0
Family and friends of Charles Covington	Peace and God’s comfort at his death	Gordon Teifel
Carol Grover (sister)	Peaceful passing	Nan Thompson
Ann Landmark (cousin)	Compassionate care as she enters hospice	Bev Briggs
Nan Thompson	Acceptance and strength	Nan Thompson
Carl (cousin) and family	Comfort and strength	Carol Hogan
Carl’s newborn grandson	Healing after lung/heart surgery	Carol Hogan
Bob Carlson (uncle)	Healing and recovery from surgery	Carol Hogan
Gary Grafwallner	Healing of his left eye from Bell’s palsy	Gary Grafwallner
Dan Fako	Pain relief	Sharon Fako
Marlene Maxwell	Continued healing	Bruce Maxwell
Mary Brown	Successful knee replacement surgery (June 30)	Bob & Mary Brown
Susan Reiser	Successful knee replacement surgery (June 30)	John & Susan Reiser
Everyone affected by COVID-19	Strength and support	Staff
Those impacted by racial injustice	Care in times of pain, violence, and crisis	Staff
All those confined to their homes	Assurance of God’s presence Mareline Barnes, Dave Bumgardner, Jean Fredrickson, Tara Harper, Douglas Hooke, Betty Horst, Dorothy Moore, Phyllis Morris, Ed Pacey, Helen Rogers, Dave & Sharon Roth, Margie Schindele	Staff
All who are imprisoned	Peace and strength	Staff
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Holy Trinity Catholic Church	Blessings on their work	Staff
St. Stephen Lutheran Church (Gladstone, OR) Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (Lake Oswego, OR)	Serving with us in the Oregon Synod	Staff
Masjid Abu Bakr (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, June 27, 2021

First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 141
Second Reading: Acts 13:13-26
Gospel: Luke 1:57-80

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, June 20

8:30 am	Livestream Worship with Communion	YouTube
9:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
11:00 am	Zoom Worship with Communion	Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom

Monday, June 21

6:00 pm

Troop 618 Meeting

east parking lot

Tuesday, June 22

7:30 am	Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study	Elmer’s Restaurant at 158th
7:30 am	Women’s Sunrise Spirituality Group	Elmer’s Restaurant at 158th
10:00 am	T’ai Chi	Fellowship Hall
12:15 pm	Community Carbon Leadership Meeting	Library
6:30 pm	Annual Meeting of the Congregation	Zoom

Wednesday, June 23 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

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

Thursday, June 24

12:00 pm	Team Ministry Meeting	Chapel/Library
7:00 pm	IT Meeting	Zoom
7:00 pm	Council Meeting	Zoom

Friday, June 25

10:00 am

T’ai Chi

Fellowship Hall

Sunday, June 27

8:30 am	Livestream Worship with Communion	YouTube
9:30 am	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
11:00 am	Zoom Worship with Communion	Zoom
12:00 pm	Virtual Coffee Time	Zoom
12:30 pm	Earth Camp Leadership Meeting	Patio

Connecting to Worship

Ways to Give: Thank you for supporting our ministries!

Thank you for supporting the ministries of St. Andrew!