St. Andrew Presbyterian News

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WORSHIP PENTECOST SUNDAY — IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

And there came suddenly from heaven a sound like the sweeping of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
~Acts 2:2

New voices. Fresh winds of the Spirit. Chaos. And yet, from it, something new and true. And resistance: They’re just drunk! (Acts 2:12). It’s all there in these eras of change. Some days it all feels just so fragile and brittle and unfinished. Truth embedded in our stories is always more complex and nuanced than the ways we talk about it. It can seem easier to just back away than to fail.

But, understood differently, there is nothing new under the sun. This is always the way its been. Let Wilda Gafney have this last word as we spend this last Sunday with her texts: While the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost might have marked the dawn of the Church, it did not mark the dawn of the Holy Spirit. She was there at creation. She is with us now. She always is.

Pentecost Sunday Readings (Year W): Acts 2:1–18 (or Isaiah 44:1–8) † Psalm 104:1–4, 10–15, 27–30 † Romans 8:14–17 † John 14:8–17

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Digging Deeper conversation on Tuesday night. It was wonderful to hear your thoughts and feelings about living with this new reality of COVID-19. If you didn’t get a chance to join us, we’d love to know how you are feeling! Teresa Platin and Andrea Shirey are open to conversations and feedback that we can relay to the rest of the Task Force.

On Tuesday, we learned that one of our congregants tested positive after attending worship on Sunday. Thankfully, they let us know right away. Instead of calling everyone in service, we intentionally informed worship participants through several ways. Scott informed everyone that was at the Elder and Deacon training and Teresa made an announcement at Digging Deeper. Everyone that was at worship last Sunday and possibly exposed that were not in these two groups were called by Andrea or Teresa. We are committed to letting everyone know of possible exposures. Thank you for being flexible in how you receive the message.

We know that this newest variant of COVID is highly contagious! We are continuing to meet as a Task Force to discuss ways to make worshiping together as safe as possible. As you know, though, we cannot ensure or guarantee that people will not be exposed to the virus. We are recommending that everyone, especially if you have additional risk factors that make you vulnerable to severe complications, talk with your healthcare providers about attending worship in person. We have an amazing team that works hard to provide livestreaming of our service each week.

Thank you for protecting and caring for each other by staying home if you are sick.
Thank you for signing the contact tracing sheet and wearing a KN95/N95 mask in the building.
Thank you for your flexibility as new information comes out and we respond with new ways of doing things.

We have a wonderful community, and we will stay a community whether in the St. Andrew church building or viewing our services in the comfort of your home.

We hold these values in high regard:

Being physically and emotionally connected.
Worshiping together regularly.
Predictability.
Stability.
Reasoned, fact-based responses.
Caution and care for the most vulnerable in our community and the broader community.
Sustainable practices that care for staff and volunteers

Thank you all for helping us to stay connected and take care of each other.

St. Andrew Outbreak Task Force

CONNECTIONS WITH ANDREA!

It's Pentecost! Andrea talks about tongues of fire and the many tongues spoken by the apostles of Jesus.

AFTERTALK: YEAR W REFLECTION

We end our season with Year W, the Women’s Lectionary cycle, this Sunday. We’ll return to the Revised Common Lectionary Cycle, Year C on June 12^th. The Worship & the Arts Team would like to offer space to anyone who desires to share reactions and observations in our Aftertalk conversation following Sunday's worship. Please join us in the library beginning about 15 minutes after worship!

IT'S REACH MEAL COALITION TIME!

Renton Meal Coalition Supper - June 12th, 2022

On Sunday, June 12th, St. Andrew and Nativity Lutheran will be partnering to serve the evening meal at the City building on the west edge of the Renton Airport at 300 Rainier Ave N.

If you are interested in helping you can:

Bring food, drop it off at 4:45pm
Dish up the food into boxed meal containers, 4:45pm - 5:30pm
Hand out the boxed meals, 5:30pm - 6:30pm

If you want to donate food, you can bring it to the church the morning of June 12, or to Marie's house by 4:15pm. Craig and Marie will take the food when they go. You can bring your food donation to the city building on Rainier Avenue.

We use masks, gloves and sanitize surfaces while completing our tasks. Please email or contact Marie West-Johnson at crgrie123@yahoo.com or 206-817-8754.

Thanks for all the continued support for our neighbors in need!

We welcome you to gather with us as we indulge the deep human need for musical expression. Music has a unique ability to meet us where we are. It can contain any human emotion it meets: sadness, inspiration, grief, joy, anger, or wonder as the world around us changes rapidly.

Zoltan Kodaly’s Esti Dal finds a soldier cold and alone. Harry T. Burleigh’s My Lord What a Morning meets despair with hope. Ola Gjeilo’s lush setting of Ubi Caritas reminds us of the strength we create when gathering with others: “...From a sincere heart, let us love one another.” Sarah Quartel’s arrangement of How Can I Keep From Singing? sums up how we feel as a choir. Arthur Sullivan, Heinrich Schütz, Abbie Betinis, and Susan Brumfield are among the other composers who offer us solace through their music.

Get Tickets Here
Masks and proof of Covid vaccination/negative test result required.
Tickets also available at the door.

FREE COVID HOME TESTS ARE BACK

We're now eligible to receive 8 more Covid home tests, so if you're interested go over to the USPS site (or just click on the image) and fill out the form -- it takes less than a minute!

BEHIND THE SCENES IS BACK!

This week, we review St. Andrew's long history with REACH (Renton Ecumenical Association of Churches).

BRIDGE MINISTRIES SUNDAY CELEBRATION ON JUNE 26!

On Sunday, June 26th, St. Andrew will again be hosting our friends from Bridge Disability Ministries for their Sunday Celebration, continuing at St. Andrew tradition since 2009. Worship that Sunday will begin at 11 AM (note the change of time for that Sunday only) and will include a delicious meal prepared by St. Andy’s Gals. Because our guests represent a very vulnerable population, we will follow a strict set of safety protocols. We will have more information on that as we get closer to the date. We are asking everyone to sign up, even if you’re just planning to attend. Use the QR code to the right to go to our sign-in and volunteer sheet.sign up.

RENEW YOUR BACKGROUND CHECK

We take the safety of our St. Andrew community seriously. As just one layer of our behavioral policy protections, we conduct background checks for all Elders, Deacons, office volunteers, staff members, and everyone who volunteers with children and youth. If this pertains to you, please fill out the background check form located on the table in the lobby. Submit it to Carolynn Yahoudy directly or put it in the Communications Coordinator mailbox in the office. Envelopes are available in the lobby if you would prefer an extra level of privacy for returning the form.

DIGGING DEEPER DIGS DEEP!

If you haven't stopped by our Tuesday night discussions yet, or haven't been back in a while, there's no time like the present!

Topics change, and sometimes we just improvise or tell stories, but we always have a great time and think you will, too! Meetings are always held on Tuesdays, from 7 pm to about 8 pm, and reminders are sent out each week containing the Zoom Meeting Link. ALL ARE WELCOME!

How To Join the Zoom: You can click directly on this link. If that doesn't work, the meeting ID is 849 1392 2160 and the password is GoDig. Look for the Tuesday afternoon reminder where you'll find the link again.

WEDNESDAY MIDDAY PRAYER

Wednesday Midday Prayer
The middle of the week
The middle of the day.
A time to stop and sing and pray.

This service of prayer will begin on Facebook Live at 12:15 on Wednesdays, on the St. Andrew Facebook page, and will be around twenty minutes, offering a psalm of the day, one other scripture, short meditation, and prayers of thanksgiving and intercession. Join us! Come and find a quiet center.

And if you miss it, the recording will be on our Facebook page shortly after the conclusion for viewing. Please look for the Wednesday email with more details!

If you have items for the calendar, newsletter or worship aid, please send them to communications@standrewpc.org by Wednesday at noon. Thanks!

If you want to know what else is going on, you can always find our calendar online on the website.

ST. ANDREW PRAYERS

As we begin to re-enter the world and return to in-person worship, it is all the more important to hold one another close in prayer. We continue to collect prayers from one another in a variety of ways. Here's one: Follow this link to send an email to Patti Warden who will collect our joys and concerns and send them out according to our typical pattern to the St. Andrew Prayers email list.

Happy birthday to Carolynn Yahoudy on June 5, and birthday twins Frank Sickinger and Marie West-Johnson on June 9!

LOOKING FOR A PAST NEWSLETTER?

Have you found yourself trying to remember what time that meeting was...what the location (or Zoom code!) was for that conversation you wanted to join...or just wanted to read that article again? If so, you can always find a link to our newsletter archives on the church website. Have a look!

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