To address the program areas that are important to St. Andrew's as well as our reaction to them, we initiated a congregational self-analysis in 2004. Although the survey was distributed to 1200 families, the return rate was disappointingly low and heavily weighted towards long-term members. The return rate was only 13% with almost 80% of the respondents having attended St. Andrew's for a minimum of 20 years.

Worship at St. Andrew's follows the Presbyterian tradition of giving praise to God through congregational hymns, choral anthems, reading of scripture by lay readers, prayer, preaching and free-will offering. We have been and continue to be blessed with a tradition of powerful, outstanding preaching. St. Andrew's observes the two sacraments of the Presbyterian Church - Baptism and the Lord's Supper or Communion. St. Andrew's also has a Beadle who, in Scottish tradition, is described as a church officer who attends upon the minister.

Congregational cohesion is a concern because of multiple services and the separation of a large balcony area from the main floor of the Sanctuary. As well, the size of St. Andrew's congregation makes it more of a challenge to know one another well.

We value our outstanding music tradition as it enriches our worship life. This has been greatly enhanced this year with a complete overhaul of the organ, the organ chamber and the donation of a superb new concert grand piano. We have an excellent choral component as well as a Bell Choir and Youth Choir, and have recently begun a Youth praise band. Both the Renaissance Singers (a community organization) and the Waterloo Chamber Players (a frequent participant in our services) use St. Andrew's as their home base for practice sessions and concerts. Our Good Friday Service, Anniversary Service, Lessons and Carols Service at Christmas are well known to the community and television audiences for their excellent presentations. Our free mid-week noon-hour recitals, featuring both church members and guests, have had a consistent following for over thirty years.

St. Andrew's has a strong commitment to Pastoral Care and we normally have had one minister who has been specifically designated Minister of Pastoral Care. This Minister has recruited and trained laity for the Pastoral Care program. A previous Minister of Pastoral Care introduced the Stephen Ministry Program to the K-W area. We have trained more than forty Stephen Ministers and eight Stephen Leaders. Twelve Stephen Ministers and one leader are active at the present time. One of the Stephen Ministers acts as a lay Pastoral Visitor to hospitals and long-term care facilities in the area.

St. Andrew's Prayer Group consists of a team of approximately 15 members. Prayers are requested through the Minister, the Church Office and the Pastoral Visitor. The team members offer prayers in their own homes after receiving the first names and a general indication of the request (physical, emotional, psychological) and a prayer intention. Background information is kept private.

We also have a Visitor-in-the-Parish (VIP) program. Some 25 members make individual visits to homebound members and others in Long Term Care facilities on a regular basis. Helping visited members maintain a place in the life of the congregation is vital when other opportunities are limited. Both the VIP Progam and the Prayer Group have support meetings four times a year.

Mission (evangelism, community action and world concerns)

St. Andrew's Covenant includes the following: "We commit ourselves to create a fellowship of love, mutual support and trust, showing openness to and acceptance of all people through our actions and attitudes". There are four main groups that actively implement this Covenant at St. Andrew's: Local Outreach, National/International Outreach, The Women's Missionary Society and the Sunday School.

Our local outreach program has been well documented earlier to show our congregational response to community concerns.

The National/International Outreach Committee is an active voice for Presbyterians Sharing, Presbyterian World Service and Development as well as additional special projects. Our two main projects for the last 10 years have been and continue to be full payment of a teacheršs salary at the Francisco Coll School located at the city dump in Guatemala City, and the Corn Share Project with our partner, Knox Presbyterian Church, Monkton. We have paid for scholarships for some of the graduates of the Francisco Coll School to attend high school and have had our first 2 graduates. The AIDS pandemic in Africa, and the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur Region of Sudan continue to concern us greatly and receive our regular financial support. In 2005, the Committee sponsored the concert "Band Against Aids" with the young people of St. Andrew's and Knox, Waterloo which brought together over 150 youth to raise funds specifically for the General Assembly's World Without Aids campaign. As a congregation we have sponsored a number of refugee families from Central America, Africa and the latest from Afghanistan. Whenever disaster strikes, St. Andrew's is quick to respond, most recently to the hurricane relief in the Caribbean and the southern U.S., earthquake in Afghanistan and the tsunami in Asia. The Committee supports Fair Trade Coffee and Oiko, an ecumenical initiative. In addition to ongoing fundraising, the Committee has two annual offering envelopes, at Easter and Thanksgiving.

In April 2006 St. Andrew's sent a team of 30 volunteers (comprising both members and adherents) to Biloxi, Mississippi to aid in the relief effort after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The Team raised $18,000 to cover the cost of this enormous project as no aspect of the trip was funded by the operating budget. For five days the team worked to gut homes, clean yards, paint, drywall and complete other jobs to help the people of Mississippi to regain hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. Most moving, however, was hearing people's survival stories, and in response blessing them with the love of Christ through the work of our hands and feet.

The Women's Missionary Society is a strong and integral part of St. Andrew's. The group focuses on mission studies and regularly has guest speakers who increase awareness and understanding of world problems. The Collection Fund is sent directly to WMS headquarters at National Church Headquarters but this group also raises additional funds to be spent at their own discretion for local, national and international projects.

The Church School has, for a number of years, had the "Read with a Mission" project which involves having the children find sponsorship for the number of books that they read plus also soliciting donations. In 2005 funds went to the Bhil region in India and in 2006 funds were earmarked for wheelchairs for a Ghanaian Rehabilitation Center.

St. Andrew's Camp Kummoniwannago is a Christian based non-denominational summer day camp held for 8 weeks in the Laurel Creek Conservation area. Each summer approximately 700 camper weeks accommodate campers ages 5-15 most of whom are from the community. Congregational and community sponsorship is available for children requiring financial assistance. Children with special needs are welcome to participate. The camp hires a Director and 2 Assistant Directors plus 20 youth each year to staff the camp both from within the congregation and from the community. Camp K celebrated its 10th year in 2004.

Our St. Andrew's web site has many features and has been active for over 10 years. It includes: the Sunday morning Order of Service and Bulletin (three days in advance of each service); weekly listing of upcoming church events; St. Andrew's newsletter, the A-Spire; an archive of sermons (some as audio files); our church history and opportunities for outreach in the local community and beyond. Starting in the Fall of 2006 a video of the weekly choral anthem and sermon is posted on YouTube.

Christian Education and Youth Ministries

At St. Andrew's, Christian Education is intended for members of all ages as a lifelong process of learning. The Church School Ministry begins in the nursery and extends to the youth.

The Workshop Rotation Program (9:30 a.m. service) involves children in grades 1 to 6. Each Sunday a child attends 1 of 5 different themed rooms: Temple, Odeon, Sing Psalms Room, Martha's Kitchen and the Potter's House. The same story is taught for the 3 to 4 week rotation but in a different context. This enables the child to learn and remember the story better even if he/she is not present every Sunday. The children also participate in 'Children at the Lord's Table' on scheduled Communion Sundays.

Starting in the fall of 2005, members of the Communicant class complete four modules. They are given a "passport" to keep track of which units they have completed and when the passport is full, the youth will proceed to their profession of faith and become a communicant member. This may be completed in 1 year or may take longer depending upon the individual.

There is an active Youth class of approximately 30, who range in ages 13-18 or the end of Grade 12. They meet regularly on Sunday morning with their leaders to continue their Christian education. Since the fall of 2005, the youth have a newly decorated furnished room to call home. The youth are also very active in the church helping in the nursery and workshop rotation, as well as leading some worship services. Friday evening "Sportsbreak" is an opportunity for the youth to meet for sports activities as well as Bible study.

Outside of Sunday morning the youth ministry involves youth in Grades 6 to 12. This group are quite actively involved with events such as: Band against AIDS, Stewart Awards Dinner, painting murals, Camp Kummoniwannago, etc. In 2006 the youth attended the following: a 2-day annual retreat at Crieff Hills, "Canada Youth 2006" in St. Catharines, Ontario, "Acquire the Fire" in Hamilton, Ontario as well as "Overflow" in Waterloo Region. Parents are encouraged to support and provide leadership with youth events and so far the response has been very positive.

Church School occurs all year round at St. Andrew's. Last summer's program "Fiesta" was very well attended by a regular group of children who met with leaders in the Temple. This summer's theme is "Avalanche Ranch".

For adults, the bi-annual Agnes Stock Enrichment program brings outstanding visiting clergy and lay leaders to a weekend of theme workshops and lectures. The Rev. Thomas Long, well-known author of "Beyond the Worship Wars", will be our guest in this year. Since 1997 the bi-annual Donley Educational Weekend provides a combination of workshops for youth leaders and church school teachers. We at St. Andrew's recognize the need for continued development of adult Christian education programs.

Over many years, the clergy and lay membership of St. Andrew's have served and continue to serve on National, Synod and Presbytery Committees. A major contribution to the denomination has been in hosting the 75th, 100th and 125th General Assemblies. St. Andrew's also served on a team of community churches who hosted the General Assembly in 1995. Members of St. Andrew's are assisting the Presbytery of Waterloo-Wellington with the hosting of the 2007 General Assembly.

As is apparent from our financial statement, (see Church Information, page 39), St Andrew's income and expenses reflect the fact that we are a large congregation. Consequently, this requires a healthy income to administer a church of our size and provide us with sufficient funds to fulfill our vision.

In 1998, we entered into a fundraising campaign entitled "Responding in Faith". We encouraged the use of PAC, (pre-authorized chequing plan), with some success. We have undertaken a new worship initiative "I am Called to Serve God" as well as a new five year fundraising campaign entitled "A Legacy for our Future: Building a Great Church for our Children's Children". We all need to recommit ourselves to the needs of regular and consistent stewardship.