St Andrew’s Newsletter

July August

Old Home Sunday

We will be having our Old Home Sunday Picnic on Sunday, September 13^th. A sign up sheet for both set up and clean up, as well as one for those who want to bring food, will be available soon.

State of the Building

Summer is a busy time for Building and Grounds. Now that it’s dry enough under the church, Colin has scheduled the electrical work to bring the offices up to date. You’ll notice a garden fairy weeded and trimmed the beds along the G Street side of the building. Eric and another garden fairy keep our lawn mowed. Walt installed the replacement door closer on the breezeway ramp door and we painted the kitchen door (see photos—looks like it’s about the 12th coat of paint!) We’re working on closing up any possible bird entry ways into the church, cleaning and repairing the steeple roof, cleaning the gutters and repairing the Whiteside Room west wall window and surrounding area (all high up-in-the-air work).

Garden (Work) Party

A work party is scheduled for Saturday, August 22^nd. During that time we’ll search out and repair peeling paint on the outside of the building. We’ll also polish up the church and grounds in advance of having guests at Old Home Sunday on September 13^th.

From the Vestry

The Vestry met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, July 15 in the Music Room. Our Treasurer gave us two months of reports (May and June) and, after reviewing them, we found no issues with either ongoing cash flow or budget vs. actual amounts. Both the $40,000 annual donation for the Priest-in-Charge’s compensation and an additional $15,000 for the maintenance fund were received and deposited. We will be spending some money from the maintenance fund for office electrical work (grounding the outlets) which was not budgeted but will be offset by the donation. We also approved rolling over a CD which was earning over 3% into another, more flexible CD rather than returning funds to the checking account. Pledges continue to come in over budget and the Vestry appreciates the financial faithfulness of the congregation.

Laurel made a report regarding our booth at Red White and Boom. Staffing the booth was both physically more demanding than anticipated as well as not affording us any opportunity to talk with people about St. Andrew’s. It was also difficult to get sign-ups as many people had previous commitments on July 4, including some to the Downtown Association itself! Laurel’s recommendation is that we not have a booth next year unless we can both assure staffing and figure out some way of making it more evangelistic or informative.

Fr. Tom brought up the fact that we have a fairly rare outside funeral and reception coming up this Saturday. The Facilities Use Agreement Form we have is for both single-event and ongoing use purposes and is four pages long. Fr. Tom suggested a two-page single-use form, but the Vestry agreed with the Buildings & Grounds committee that the current form was better and had been legally vetted as well as having been approved only last year (2025) so should be used. Fr. Tom agreed to do so. Speaking of events, the Vestry set Sunday, September 13 as “Old Home Sunday” and agreed to invite a past priest, with Fr. Tom’s permission, to preach for that occasion. We also agreed to review the 2026-2027 Parish Events Calendar and establish firm dates for annual events (Old Home Sunday, St. Andrew’s Day, Epiphany Dinner, etc…).

Finally, we continued our conversation regarding the “One Parish One Prisoner” program and whether St. Andrew’s wanted to be a part of it. We began the meeting with a video conference with a representative from the organization that runs the program. We will continue to follow up in answering some questions and decide whether to move forward with a congregational presentation.

From the Priest-in-Charge

I’m writing this note on one of the hottest days of the year, which makes sense as it is mid-July. Here in the office we’re trying to keep as cool as possible while doing the church’s work. Aside from the weekly service bulletins and sermons, what I am mostly doing is planning for the 2026‒27 Program Year. You see, the church, like s school, rarely holds events during the summer. Most people are off doing other things, taking vacations (even from church!) and generally re-creating. Our Puritan heritage frowns on such breaks from work or regular routines, but from the very first chapter of the Bible, God commands that we “remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” This used to mean not doing any work on Sundays—including both jobs and home chores. It was a way of assuring that we don’t get bogged down in work and pretend that our worth as human beings depends solely on our usefulness or productivity. Vacations function the same way, giving us protracted time away from our usual routines and allowing us time to rest and relax, perhaps even to experience new things we had not experienced before.

As many of you are aware, I just returned from attending my 40^th high school reunion in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lisa came with me and we did have a good time, me re-connecting with many people I hadn’t seen in a long time and her simply being away from home and enjoying not having anything to do. I’m also planning on attending the College for Congregational Development session in late August. While not a vacation, it will be a time away and a time to learn and experience things I haven’t yet. I’m also hoping to take some vacation during the fall, but we shall see about that.

Back to the Program Year. I’m sketching out two new things for this year. The first is a response to a subset of people who are clamoring for an occasional “smells and bells” (aka Anglo-Catholic) service. We can’t really do those on Sundays due to several people’s allergies to incense, but we can do them as mid-week Eucharists in celebration of various festivals and saints’ days. I’m thinking about one a month would be good. We would need to coordinate the music and it would take me some preparation time, but if anyone is interested in this, please let me know.

The second thing is to begin what I’m calling “Thursdays with (Fr.) Tom”, a series of six-week Thursday evening seminars focusing on discipleship or, if you will, following Jesus. I’m still finalizing topics, but I’m considering things like Introduction to Christianity, Living our Baptismal Covenant, etc… I’m figuring on doing this on Thursday evenings because the Great Hall is not being used that evening. Let me know if you have some topics you would like me to explore.

I hope you are having a restful summer and look forward to seeing you at church whenever you are in town.

Blessings,

— Fr. Tom+

Coffee Hour Rotation

Beginning Sunday, October 4, we will be moving from a sign-up sheet to a monthly coffee hour hosting rotation. Please see Nancy Olsen or Ronni Enstrom for details. We are still in need of individual Sunday hosts to sign up in the meantime. Thanks in advance!

School Supply Drive

Each year, at the later part of the summer, St. Andrew’s has a school supply drive. The supplies are distributed to schools as far away as Queets, Satsop, Ocosta, and places in between. People can either bring in supplies or contribute cash which we use to purchase more supplies. Actually, cash can be donated throughout the year. Your generous contributions have made a great impact on the students we supply. When there is a need, the people of St. Andrew’s follow their faith and make a difference. God bless to all of you.

Phil MacNealy

Our School Supply Ingathering date will be set and announced soon.

Food Bank Reminder

We are still collecting egg cartons, as well as other items for the food bank, especially protein. Also, remember that milk and butter are in short supply, so things that can be made with just adding water are preferred.

Prayer Chain

If you, a friend, or a family member are in need of prayer, please contact Laurel Sheffield with the details you are comfortable sharing and your request will be passed on to the congregation to be lifted in prayer. Prayer requests will initially go out through the church’s email, but if you want to make sure to receive Laurel’s emails going forward, make sure to add hir email address to your address book!

PRAYER LISTS

The following is a list of people for whom our prayers are asked. For the sick, lonely, and suffering; for those who mourn, and for those who rejoice, and others:

JoAnne A, Mason A, the members of the AA and NA groups, Marsha, Sara, Dom Philip Bernard, Louise B, Ginger H, Mike A, Don & Judy M, Danny S, Maurice F Jr, Paul & Susie T, Dianne M, Muriel, Richard H, Michael R, Debby M, Lorene H, Lisa N, Dennis D, Elaine P, Mike A, Cheyenne B, Don H, Barb S, Dale O, Nichole H, Angela B, Shelley C, Bill E, Casey K, Rodney H, Terry, Shirley.

Those in current military service:

Andrew Roth, Breanne Gunther, Ian Gunther, Nicole Hyde, Jordan Bush, Josh Sindorf,

Madison Sylvester, Brandon Roeseler, Casey Sindorf, Gabriel Calderon.

Prayers for Israel, Gaza, Iran, and the Middle East:

Loving and liberating Creator, send your healing Spirit upon all involved in the current conflict and violence in the Middle East. Comfort those who mourn or who have been harmed by brutality. Stand with those who are fearful. Protect and provide for the powerless and the vulnerable. Inspire a spirit of forbearance and understanding within all and uphold those who even now work for a just and durable peace. In the name of Christ. Amen.

July

Anniversaries: Rob A & Dorothy A-A

Birthdays: Michael C, Kerry T C, Nichole H-D, Joseph C, Donn P C, Dan M C, Alan S C, Linda M

August

Anniversaries: Chris & Shari H, Donn & Annette P, Gunter & Alice B, Phil & Nancy M, the Aberles

Birthdays: Martha C, Gunter B, Andrew C, Mary C, Charlie C, Merry Jo Z, David B, Will B, Mark H

July – August 2026 Newsletter