St. Andrew's United Methodist Church

Greetings! Grace and Peace to you in the name of Christ our Lord.

As we enter the beautiful autumn season, we also enter the season in which we conduct our annual pledge campaign.

A parishioner once complained that Christianity is one continual request to give, give, give. His pastor replied: “Thank you sir, for the finest definition of Christianity I have ever heard. That’s the way it all began. God gave. In fact, God gave God’s only Son. In addition, God’s Son gave. Jesus gave His life on the cross that we may have life. His disciples gave. They left their homes and businesses to devote themselves full-time to Christ as proclaimers of the Good News. All but one of the twelve disciples literally gave his life for Christ.

I guess that the parishioner was right. Christianity is about giving. It’s about giving with purpose, and stewardship is the purposeful use and conservation of all of God’s gifts. Stewardship is not just a material practice, it is a spiritual practice. Read more......

In Mission and Ministry with you,  Pastor Denise

Highlights and Happenings

FORKids Food Program – It is so exciting to watch the first packing of ForKids bags of the year.  Thank you to everyone who helped with this big job!  We are once again collecting supplies and monetary donations to supply weekend meal bags for the children of Olympic View Elementary who are in need of food for the weekends. If you want to be a part of this wonderful outreach program please grab a red bag from the hallway and buy any of the items listed on the flyer attached to the bag. If it’s easier for you, you can write a check to St. Andrew’s and in the memo line write FORKids and we will purchase the food for you. Thank you for your consideration in this outreach project.

Senior Citizens Breakfast – On October 19^th at the Red Lion in Olympia from 10:00-12:30. Come out and help support the senior services in Lacey. For information on the breakfast please talk with Virgil Clarkson.

Prayers for our Military – We invite you to pray for members of our church family serving in the military. If you have a family member in the armed services, please send their name, rank and branch to the church so that we may list the person on our prayer list.

Resource Directory - As the contact person for the NOW team; we are creating a church wide resource directory. I am requesting the names of all contact persons in the congregation who have a role in supporting the church through various duties, activities and projects: Such as: Officer and all other activities inside and outside of the church. I.e. Rich Green –Lay-Leader, Barbara Ullman- Quilters, Paul Duncan- Worship Leader and Music Ministry, Contact Kathy Bowen at the church or Barbara Clarkson 360-481-1775. Thank you for your help ! ~Barbara Clarkson

Prayer Chain - The Prayer Chain at St. Andrew’s is being reborn. We will have a get together the 1st week of November to get organized. If this is for you or if you have questions please contact Kathy in the office @ 360-491-2030.  Carol Nichols will be leading this.

Church Bazaar - Mark your calendars for November 23 & 24. We will be selling baked goods, jams, candies, quilts & what not’s. Please get in touch with Jan Green or Robin Eagen if you are able to volunteer or have something in mind that you would like to donate.

Pledge Sunday - We will have one worship service on Sunday, October 27th @ 10:00am to celebrate our Pledge Campaign. After worship we will have a Lasagna and garlic bread luncheon. If you are able, will you please bring a salad or dessert to share. Please contact Robin Eagen with any questions.

Pot Pies – There is an order form on the bulletin board if you would like to order a chicken pot pie or a beef pot pie. Last day to order pies is November 27^th. Contact Robin if you have any questions.

Mission Opportunities

Trustees Projects - If you have a spare couple of hours, we have several projects that will be posted on the bulletin boards that we would love your help with. Simply leave us a note so we know it’s complete.

St. Benedict’s Community Dinner –Saturday, September 28^th @ 3:00 p.m.  -This is held at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church. St. Andrew’s takes turns cooking and everyone helps serve. In conjunction with St. Benedict’s Episcopal (910 Bowker Street, Lacey) we serve a hot meal for the homeless and low-income people in our community. Come help set-up, serve, clean-up. If you would like for information please contact Rich Green (360) 943-9290.

Habitat Lunches – Did you know that St. Andrew’s provides lunch once a month for folks who build houses for people in need? Yep that’s right…. Just once a month! We are looking for your help to sign up to bring a main dish, a salad, a dessert or an accompanying side dish on the 4^th Wednesday of each month. It’s only once a month and is a great outreach to share the love the St. Andrew’s has for our community. There is a sign-up sheet on the Bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall or you can talk to Dorothy Tyler (360-456-1864) for more information.

Small Group Meetings

Bread of Life – Join as we share faith stories and our spiritual journey every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the Choir Room at church.

Singles Luncheon Group – meets 3^rd Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is September 18^th @ 12:30pm at Jim Bob’s Chuck Wagon.  For ALL singles (widowed, never been married, divorced, separated, etc.)    Contact: Lois Brighten 

Quilters - Our September meeting was spent exploring projects and planning for the next few months. Some beautiful fabrics and patterns have been donated which challenges and motivates our creativity. We’ll be making Comfort Quilts, Fund Raiser Quilts, Table Toppers and, well, who knows what else we’ll do.

Come to join us on the 4th Tuesday in October. We start at 10:00, have a potluck lunch and fellowship and end around 2:00 - Join us and help in this SAUMC ministry.  ~ Barbara Ullmann 360-491-2693