St. Andrew. Conne ions. Presbyterian Church MINISTER'S MUSINGS. Prayer for the World

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1 St. Andrew Presbyterian Church Conne ions August Volume 28 Number 6 MINISTER'S MUSINGS Editor s Note: When Anne wrote this article, the Walk 4 Water was still being planned for Sept. 18th. Since the walk will not be held this year the paragraph describing it has been removed. It is substituted with a short reference in italics to the alternate fundraising effort. Summer is winding down and school will start soon. My sabbatical time is coming to a close and we are about to kick off a new year in the life of the church. I want to thank our elders and deacons who stepped up to care for the precious members of this congregation. Your labor and prayers are greatly appreciated! Thank you as well to Jane Odell and Edd Breeden for offering pastoral leadership to our congregation. Finally, a big thanks to Pamela for faithfully holding down the fort and keeping communication flowing during this time!! All are invited to our Spaghetti and Bingo Night on August 18. This is a wonderful evening of food and fellowship followed by the fun of BINGO! August 28 marks the annual joint meeting of Session and Deacons. We will have a potluck at 6:00 followed by a short joint meeting at 7:00 before the two boards break for their respective meetings. I will be back from Sabbatical and moderating this meeting as we gear up for all the fall activities. Another item planned for the rest of the year is the Fund a Latrine fundraiser for Santa Cruz al Salvador s project to provide money for composting latrines in a very rural section of El Salvador. Please see the article on the Inspirations, Reflections page. Prayer for the World Gracious God, we are grateful to be part of your amazing story of love and service manifested in Jesus Christ. Allow us to be open to your guiding Spirit, that we may serve you in the world. Amen. 2

2 HEART LINE ADULT EDUCATION Dr. Susan Mahan Please pray for these members and friends: Don Adkins Dixie Gansel Sharole Atley Pat Lindstrom Bob Bell Eileen Mihm Lori Burkett Frank Mihm Bob Carlisle Olin Ottem Doris Carlisle Judy Smith Helen Cooke Carolyn Souther Doré Corder Doree Steinmann Patrick Cummins Tim Welch Sue Dunn Donna Allshouse (David s mother) Jan Hunter (Peg Ogg s daughter) Andrea (Dee St. Clair s daughter) Louise (June Ray s daughter) Steve and Denny (Edie Rittue s nephews) Dennis Watts OUTREACH Jan Maack The shower ministry is going well. The portable showers are present during the time that St. Andrew members bring hygiene items for the Manna Ministry at Resurrection Church every Saturday. We are still looking for volunteers to help us with this ministry. Please see Matt Walker or anyone on the Outreach Committee if you are interested. Thank you. 2 Hubler Hall 9:00 10:00 a.m.,. Adult Education will commence on September 16 at 9:00 a.m. in Hubler Hall. We will begin the year with a study of the Book of Isaiah from the Old Testament. The Book of Isaiah was a big part of the thinking and worship of Jewish society at the time of Jesus. It contains some of their greatest hopes for their nation. It also presents images of the kinds of messiahs different groups were expecting. Come and join us for interesting discussion. No prior knowledge of the Bible is needed. Bring your Bible if you have one. We also have Bibles for use during class. Contact Susan Mahan with any questions or concerns. Stmahan181@gmail.com or ENRICHMENT NOTES Carol Finchum & Shari Gallegos, Co-Chairs Worship and Education are two vital areas of a congregation and the responsibility of the Enrichment Committee. Worship includes planning special worship services, creating themes for worship, changing paraments, flowers, special music, Liturgical celebrations Pentecost, Maundy Thursday. Education encompasses school, Adult Education, Bible Studies, Advent festival, and curriculum selection. The Enrichment Committee is back from our summer break! We meet the first Tuesday of the month at the church from 7:00 to 8:15 pm. We will be preparing for the upcoming seasons and would love for you to join us. Come check us out! Hope to see you August 7 th at 7:00 pm. 2

3 NURTURE NOTES Cathy Zimel 2 Photos from the June 2nd Progressive Dinner at the lovely homes of Sharon Willoughby and Mohan and Ramilla Phillip Time for our annual Spaghetti and Bingo Night! On Saturday, August 18 we will gather in Hubler Hall at 5:30 for a scrumptious dinner of green salad, warm garlic bread, homemade secret recipe spaghetti with meatballs, and sweet desserts. After dinner we will all play Bingo, vying for brand new prizes that everyone will want to win! This is truly an evening for all ages. A new event for St Andrew is planned for, September 2 after worship. Everyone is invited to a Courtyard Gathering, this time celebrating Pastor Anne s return. Your Nurture Committee will provide light appetizers and sweets for you to enjoy. This will be a wonderful time to catch up with friends and, also, to make new friends after church We hope the Courtyard Gathering will become a regular event, to be hosted by other St Andrew committees. Please mark your calendars for September 2 and plan to join us for our Courtyard Gathering. Looking to the future, our Annual Church Picnic will be on September 30 this year. You definitely won t want to miss this popular inter-generational event! 3

4 AUGUST BIRTHDAYS 8 Cheryl Foden 9 Chris Lindstrom 11 Louis Maack 17 John Newton 18 Parker McAnelly Mary Millar 19 Lorena Russo 21 Doris Carlisle Frank Mihm Lyle Silldorff 23 Lois Holcomb Patsy Silldorff 27 Wilma Gawthrop Ray Souther 29 Greg Adkins Jada Allshouse 31 Coty Catlin Stephanie Maack SOMETHING TO PONDER A letter from the Post Office! We don't know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter department who understands LOVE. Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought that we could, so she dictated these words: Dear God, will you please take care of my dog? Abbey died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I'm happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey & Meredith, addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, When a Pet Dies. Taped to the inside front cover, in its opened envelope, was the letter we had written to God. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note: Dear Meredith, Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I'm sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love. Love, God 4

5 Inspirations, Reflections Marian Langdon Let s Fund a Latrine At the first planning meeting, with no one able to coordinate this year s September Walk4Water, it was necessary to arrive at an alternative way to fund composting latrines in El Salvador. After many discussions and s, Fund a Latrine was adopted as the proposed choice. The fundraiser will not have a time deadline of September but will go through the second half of All seven Santa Cruz al Salvador churches could participate if their Session/Councils approve this solution. Donors will be encouraged to donate checks, payable to Santa Cruz al Salvador, or cash (with full name included) in increments of $25. Each $25 donation will represent 1/28 th of an Ecko latrine (estimated cost/unit=$700). Donations can also be made on line at the SCaS website: Donations of $25 or more will trigger a year-end acknowledgement for tax purposes from Santa Cruz al Salvador through the organization s accounting software. Donations of any amount paid through the website will also result in a year-end acknowledgment. Member churches have received an 11 by 17 foam-backed enlarged photo of an Ecko latrine and a set of post-its. St. Andrew Presbyterian was the second member church to choose this as their El Salvador latrine fundraiser, and it is likely that most, if not all, of the other five will also wish to accept this proposal. To start, the form contains 28 post-its, one per grid. Each $25 donation causes one of the post-its to be removed, slowly revealing the side of the latrine. The first photo shows the latrine after $50 has been donated, the second after $700 has been donated. Editor s note: as of 7/15/18, with $650 in additional donations, all remaining post-its have been removed and the first latrine is funded! As a result, our next fundraising for latrine #2 will be in September. We have some money already raised for it. Thank you, members of St. Andrew your generosity is gratefully accepted. Composting latrines are very beneficial to rural communities with little electricity or plumbing facilities. In addition to the privacy and sanitation aspects, the end result is the production of fertilizer for crops. Since 2016, Santa Cruz al Salvador has funded 40+ latrines, or 50% of the final goal of one composting latrine for each of the 83 families in the two communities receiving them. Members of El Pilar and Bendición de Dios have been instrumental in the latrines construction, operation and upkeep. All this comes with an associated strong sense of purpose, accomplishment and pride. With SCaS funding and local participation by members of the community in El Salvador, this is a win-win project, and we appreciate your support. To the right is a very recent photo of one of the recipients of an Ecko latrine with her son. 5

6 AUGUST WORSHIP SERVERS If your schedule has changed please find someone to replace you and let the office know. BIBLE STUDY 5th Flowers-Orchids Greeter-Dee St. Clair Liturgist-Sharon Allshouse Host-David & Sharon Allshouse 12th Flowers-Orchids Greeter-Janet Maack Liturgist-Jane Odell Host- Jacque Welch 19th Flowers-Orchids Greeter-Linda Bell Liturgist-Linda Walker Host-Janet Maack 26th Flowers- Orchids Greeter-Mary & Tim Griffin Liturgist-Lorena Russo Host-Jacque Welch Bible Study group begins on September 17 th and the book will be God s Promise: I Am with You, by Amy Poling Sutherlun. It takes readers on a journey through scripture to consider circumstances in which God articulated God s promise of presence. You will see anew that God offered these words of profound comfort and commitment to individuals and communities for the time of the patriarchs to that of the prophets; from the judges to the kings; before, during, and after the exile; into the New Testament and beyond, to the end of the age. If you would like to join the group books are $ Please let the office know by August 13 th to order. Newsletter Deadline Articles for the September newsletter must be submitted by August 15. 6

7 AUGUST 2018 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 10:30 a.m. Worship Communion IDD 6:30-9:30 4 IDD 6:30-9: Outreach 11: CASA Stocking Meeting IDD 5-9 AA 8:00 pm Enrichment 7:00 PM Prayer Shawl 4:00 IDD 6:30-9:30 IDD 6:30-9:30 12 LUNCH CLUSTER 1 & 2 IDD AA 8:00 pm 14 Operations 2:00 15 Nurture 10: IDD 6:30-9:30 pm 18 BINGO/ SPAGHETTI NIGHT 5:30 pm IDD 6:30-9:30 pm CASA Stocking Meeting IDD 5-9 AA 8:00 pm Prayer Shawl 4:00 IDD 6:30-9:30 pm IDD 6:30-9:30 pm 26 SUPPER CLUSTER 2-4:00 Ralph & Sally Griffin 27 AA 8:00 pm 28 Session & Deacons Dinner & Meeting 6:00 PM IDD 5-9 IDD-Inglesia De Dios Nesting Church Service Times 7

8 St. Andrew Presbyterian Church 9850 Monroe Avenue Aptos, CA (831) Please rush Time-Dated Material July 30, 2018 Church Staff: Rev. Anne McAnelly, Pastor Dr. Don Adkins, Music Director Dr. Susan Mahan, Adult Educator Pamela Spurgeon, Office Manager José Godinez, Custodian Newsletter Staff: Editors: Marian Langdon, Cathy Zimel, Irma Andrews and Judy Zscheile Production: Pamela Spurgeon, Dixie Gansel, Janet Maack, and Judy Zscheile Newsletter Deadline: All articles and items for the newsletter are due in the church office the 15th day of the month prior to the month they will appear for newsletter items: 8