Dear Friends,

The quiet time is upon us, the time of waiting and watching. It is good for us to have time kept in this way in the church since the world is out there rushing madly toward nothing. The world rushes to buy, buy, and buy for a holiday - a holiday filled with excesses of gifts and food and drink and the pressure to do unnecessary activities in the name of "Christmas Spirit."

We in the church watch and wait for a holy-day to come. Yes, our children too expect Santa Claus to bring gifts. But our children are learning about the journey to Bethlehem, about those who came before Jesus and pointed the way to him. We adults know the immensity of the gift of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh in the form of a baby.

Advent is the time we prepare our hearts to receive this gift. We clear the path to our hearts by removing those things that cause us to stumble. We forgive a slight, we share generously, we pray, we sing out loud for joy! Our joys will be greater on Christmas Eve because of the waiting.

I wish you a quietly joyful Advent season.

God’s peace to you,

Jean

Dear Friends,
A number of years ago St. Andrew's entered into a "PinS" partnership with the Agency of Human Services. Some of you may remember how quite a few children were helped with various small to medium sized needs. Given the current economic climate, I thought it would be a good idea to re-start this partnership. As needs arise the Social Worker, Melissa Cunnington, will contact me and I will present the needs to you or meet some of them through the church discretionary account. Sometime in January or February Melissa will come to church and coffee hour to talk with us about the people we have already served or will serve. This is just another way we at St. Andrew's are reaching out to help our community.
God's blessings,
Jean

Jean,

My name is Melissa Cunnington and I am a social worker for the Division of Children and Families. I work with children and families in need each and every day. The needs of these families vary greatly, and we attempt to utilize community supports to the best of our ability to help them whenever possible. It is through a program known as Partners in Service (PINS) that I was introduced to Rev. Jean A. MacDonald. It is our hope that your congregation will come together to assist the neediest families during difficulty times. If you have any question about me or PINS Rev. Jean A. MacDonald has my contact information. I look forward to working with you and wish you all the best.

Melissa Cunnington, MSW

VESTRY NOTES

Mutual Ministry Retreat

On Saturday, November 22^nd, the Rev. Jean MacDonald and the vestry of St. Andrew’s met with our Diocesan ministry developer, Connie Saeger-Proctor, for a day-long retreat.

Connie challenged us to re-vision our calling and tasks as a vestry and as the body of baptized believers which is St. Andrew’s. The tool we are to use for this re-visioning, or re-purposing, is the use of SMART goals. These are to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable or Realistic and Timely.

We will keep you all updated and included as we move ahead, and ask for your continuing prayers and support. Thank you.

Diane Montague, Sr. Warden

If you are looking for pastoral care please don’t hesitate to contact someone on the Pastoral Care Team:
Sybil Hazen 626-8678, Marion Parks 626-7213, Jocelyn Burrell 748-5247, Lin Hill 467-3308, and Robin Bergman 633-2871. (Sybil and Marion head up this group.)

Pastoral care is the work of the congregation – this is our group of facilitators -- all of us should feel encouraged to send notes or make phone calls when we see the need, particularly at this time where we lack the spiritual guidance of a priest.  We also must remind ourselves to reach out for help when we need it.