St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Aspire Newsletter Tuesday, March 11, 2008 Vol. 16 No.1

Holy Week Services will be held each night, Monday to Thursday, from March 17^th to 20^th at 7:00 p.m. in Covenant Chapel. The evening services will tell the story of Christ’s passion through the eyes of the Apostle Paul.

Monday, March 17^th

Saul of Tarsus breathes threats of hatred against the Christians who are defiling the religion he holds precious. Stephen tells the story of Christ’s love. Saul assists in stoning Stephen to death.

Tuesday, March 18^th

Saul heads towards Damascus to continue his persecutions of Christians. On the way to Damascus he is struck blind by the light. Jesus calls Saul into his service. Saul is converted, but now his old friends want to kill him, and the Christians think his conversion is a scam.

Wednesday, March 19^th

Paul is now stuck with the problem of trying to convince his old allies, the righteous church goers, that salvation does not come from fulfilling the law but as a free gift through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thursday, March 20^th

Paul endures through the power of Christ. Paul is given a great vision that sustains him through all his hardship.

On Good Friday the Apostle Paul urges us to put our hope in Christ. Please plan to attend our Holy Week services. All are welcome.

Pastoral Care in Good Hands

At the beginning of February we welcomed the Rev. Janice Hamalainen, Minister of Pastoral Care, to St. Andrew’s. She was swept immediately into the kaleidoscope of meeting people, learning names, attending meetings, and very importantly, visiting in the congregation.

She has spent time exploring the functioning of the V.I.P., the Prayer Group, and the Stephen Ministry and very much appreciates having these fully trained, capable people who are so willing to share in the care of the congregation. For Janice, visiting is a priority, especially with seniors in the congregation, and the church office staff has provided her with a list of shut-ins, and of nursing and retirement home residents. She isn’t too familiar with the city just yet, but with the aid of a map, tries to organize her visits according to address in order to cover as much ground as possible.

Hospital visiting is also a part of her responsibility, but the church needs to be notified if someone is in, or expects to be in hospital, since that information is no longer readily available.

Janice relies as well on the elders to alert her to needs in their districts. It’s an important link in the connectedness of the congregation, and gives her an opportunity to lend support where it is needed.

And are the visits well received? “Oh, yes,” Janice says. “People have been very welcoming and very happy to see someone from the church.”

She hopes to be able to attend meetings of all the groups that come under the umbrella of the Pastoral Council. The Christian Education Committee is a focus at the moment while that group determines what things are working well now and what things need to be changed, both in the younger children’s programs and in the youth group.

“I’m pretty green about the camp,” she admits, “but the committee is dedicated and very keen, and is helping me to learn more about their operation.”

Janice is an early riser and tries to be at the church by 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. “It’s quiet then, and I can get quite a bit done before more people start to arrive. I don’t like to work at home,” she says.

She plans to work on Mondays and will take Friday off, maybe every two weeks, as she enjoys having two days off in a row.

Peter is busy getting things sorted and shipshape at home, plans to do some painting, and then perhaps search out possible volunteer opportunities in the community. Son Murray is enrolled in Grade 10 at Eastwood Collegiate Institute. The family has a much loved collie/border collie cross called Hamish, aged two and a half, who adds much joy to the household.

The family enjoys cross-country skiing and looks forward to exploring local hiking trails once the weather improves. They are also very pleased to be nearer now to friends from the Toronto area and will have the opportunity to get together more often.

Board Of Managers

A Brief Report By Don Upper

On Sunday February 24th the Annual Congregational Meeting approved a 2008 budget which included an anticipated 5% increase in congregational offerings over 2007 and a potential deficit of $43 481 for 2008. Throughout 2007, a definite strengthening of congregational financial support was noted. A deficit of $41 688 had been anticipated for 2007 but we ended the year with a $68 331 surplus primarily due to the fact that we had budgeted for but did not have a second minister during 2007 and we also received a sizable bequest during the year.

There is an anticipated $96 000 increase in expenditures during 2008 primarily due to repairs to areas of the church roof which were not repaired during the major upgrades half a dozen years ago and the need to replace a roof-top air conditioning unit which has failed. In addition, there is the potential for major repairs to or the replacement of the boiler which powers our heating system and some further repairs to our parking area as well as some window upgrades to Knell House. 

The Board of Managers appreciates the ongoing financial support from the congregation, the Women's Association and the Board of Trustees so that we can carry out our responsibilities in maintaining the ministry of St. Andrew's.

Changes to A-Spire

We are in the midst of transition with A-Spire, and this interim issue is an attempt to make you aware of some of the things that are happening at St. Andrew's, hoping that you will be able to take part in some or all of them.

We're still experimenting, so there are sure to be other changes to the paper along the way. Please bear with us until we have been able to rectify any inadequacies.

                                Jan Ashton

                                 Editor, A-Spire

Seeking New Chair 

Don Upper has reluctantly agreed to stay on as interim chair of the Board of Managers until a replacement can be found. Don has been Board Chair for the past nine years and a Board member since 1993. Other members of the Board include Carla Bechtel, Renee Biewenga-Hyams, Kathy Enstone, John Gould, and Jim Krampien. The Board would welcome a few more members, especially with skills in the areas of office management and property maintenance.

Stewart Awards

The annual Stewart Awards Dinner will take place on Tuesday, May 6^th. For 34 years St. Andrew’s has honoured secondary school teachers who have been nominated by their peers because of their outstanding contribution as educators.

Members of the congregation are welcome to attend. The dinner itself is an excellent one, planned and executed by Jackie Van Trigt. Tickets are $22.00 and will be on sale in the church office shortly.

Church School Bonanza “Absolutely thrilled!” is how Co-Chair Tracy Blair described the Christian Education Committee’s reaction to the response for help. A recent appeal for church school teachers, and people to assist with the youth activities generated a wealth of offers.

A change in personnel left the committee short of teachers, so they decided to set forth the needs and hope for the best. Caring parents and other concerned individuals immediately stepped up to the plate.

Martha Fergusson, who, a number of years ago, was responsible for Christian Education at St. Andrew’s has been planning the Workshop Rotation lessons and that process is going well. She has committed teachers scheduled up until the end of May, and lessons prepared as well.

The Friday night young people’s program has been expanded somewhat to include younger teens. Cordelia Sturtevant offered to lead a Bible study for high school youth from 6:30 until 7:30, as well as meeting with that group on Sunday mornings. She has lots of material and ideas, and lessons, which she has written herself, are planned up until the end of April. Cordelia is a concurrent education student at Wilfred Laurier University in Brantford.

Four parents share the games segment of the Friday night activities. They are Doug Blair, Dean Fergusson, Rob Johnston and Ron Watson.

Terry Sturtevant has assumed the responsibility for teaching the Communicants’ Class and is enjoying it very much.

An Easter Sunrise Service will take place March 25^th, Easter Sunday, at 7:30 a.m. in the chapel. Lauren Blair is planning the service and many of the young people will take part. Following is a light breakfast.

The committee has met with the Rev. Janice Hamalainen, who will help them to focus on the most important issues. It will take time before everything is in place, and the C.E. Committee has organized itself strategically. The administrative arm will look after the website, make sure registrations are up to date, and attend to long range planning. The program side of the committee will ultimately be divided into a youth component and a children’s component.

One of the things the committee is hoping to facilitate is a wider integration of ages for some of the activities with the goal of encouraging the older groups to help and encourage the younger ones.

Currently serving on the Christian Education Committee are Tracy Blair and Diana Watson (co-chairs), Jan Blackburn, Lauren Blair, Martha Fergusson, Heather Ingram-Smith, Rob Johnston, Judy Jones, Jennie Kalbfleisch, Katherine MacDonald, Jane Moses, Terry Sturtevant, Sandra Wall, and Shelley Wiens.

Photo Directory Coming!

The New St. Andrew’s Photo Directory is coming! Please be patient….

Producing the directory ourselves has turned out to be just a bit more challenging than anticipated, but project coordinator Donna Hodgkinson has brought her considerable determination to bear and the end is in sight.

Kathy Pegelo has spent hours editing the photos in order to achieve an acceptable likeness. Shelley Wiens of our church office staff has been very helpful in incorporating those pictures into the church data base.

The second part of the project, and one that is very time consuming, is to try to update the list of church members and adherents. Sandy Elliott, Sue Shane, and Jan Ashton have worked with Donna to make corrections and locate people whose addresses have changed. Ruth Guthrie and a team of volunteers have devoted hours to phoning for information.

So it is taking longer than was first predicted, but certainly, the directory will be ready this spring.

Four Churches Project 

The long-awaited Feasibility Study report concerning the Four Churches Project is expected to be ready in April. This project is investigating the potential use of properties belonging to St. Andrew's, St. Peter's, Trinity and Zion to offer a variety of services for the downtown community while providing a source of income to help maintain the ministry of these churches in their current locations. Sometime late in April or early May, a meeting to review this report will be held here at St. Andrew's which will also be attended by members of Zion.

It is anticipated that this meeting will take place following our Sunday morning service at about 11:45 am. It is important that members and adherents of St. Andrew's attend this meeting to receive the information.

We may be asked to make significant decisions regarding our property but not at this meeting. This is an information meeting only and a chance to ask questions. Watch for an announcement in the weekly bulletin about the date.

Got A Great Recipe??

Camp Kummoniwannago is collecting recipes for a forthcoming fundraiser that staff will work on over the summer.

Please bring your wonderful recipes to the church and drop them into the Camp K mailbox.

Just a few guidelines:

**Recipes should perhaps be on the easy side, rather than those 20 step creations that are a bit daunting.

**Recipes should perhaps be ones that you enjoy making and eating.

**Recipes should perhaps be ones that have some “kid” appeal.

Thanks for your help.

New Weekend Custodian

The Board of managers has recently welcomed

Peter Scherrer as our new weekend custodial person. Peter replaces James Mathiang who has recently completed his Pharmaceutical Technician certification and has now moved to Calgary, Alberta.

Stephen Ministry Update

By Allen Stouffer

St. Andrew’s Stephen Ministers continue to serve their care receivers and broaden their own training. In January several attended an excellent workshop by the Elder Abuse Team of Waterloo Regional Committee on Elder Abuse at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Contingents from several Stephen Ministry groups in the region filled the hall. Following a general introduction to the surprising dimensions of Canada’s elder abuse problem, the team demonstrated an effective reconciliation method with the case of an alcoholic son who had abused his elderly mother by taking a large sum of money from her bank account without permission to help his failing business. The team’s dramatic presentation used the extralegal “healing circle” First Nations often employ to settle serious problems, sometimes even those potentially legal in nature. The St. Andrew’s group found the workshop very informative respecting both the prevalence of elder abuse and a redemptive, non-legal way to deal with it.

Recent St. Andrew’s members may not know that this is a Stephen Ministry congregation. Stephen Ministry serves those experiencing a personal crisis or turbulent period in their lives—a devastating job loss, family breakdown or divorce, bereavement, hospitalization, terminal illness, or spiritual uncertainty. At such moments people often need a sympathetic ear or a supportive shoulder. St. Andrew’s Stephen Ministers consists of a group of caring and trained volunteers that has served in this capacity for fifteen years. They are always ready to help.

Recently, during St. Andrew’s time of transition, the Stephen Ministry program was somewhat hampered in its work. Identifying those needing help was the core of the problem. Previously the Rev. William Johnston, who did much pastoral counseling at St. Andrew’s, handled this function. His departure left a large gap. Fortunately the Rev. Janice Hamalainen’s arrival will remedy this deficiency. She met with the Stephen Ministers at their March 5^th meeting and assured them of her eagerness to share in their work. Having had no previous Stephen Ministry experience, Rev. Hamalainen intends to take training later this spring to prepare for playing a vital role in the Stephen Ministry program. Wendie Kirk and her corps of care givers enthusiastically anticipate Rev. Hamalainen’s help.

In the meantime if you know someone needing a trained and caring person to walk with them through a personal storm, as part of St. Andrew’s faith community there is something you can do. Ask the person’s permission to share his or her need with someone who can help. Assure them that their information will remain confidential. If they agree, contact Rev Hamalainen or Stephen Ministry leader Wendie Kirk at the church office. You could make a great difference in someone’s life.

New Treasurer For Board

By Don Upper

A new church treasurer has been appointed replacing Carl Symondson who has stepped down after serving in this position for the past two years. We thank Carl for his service as church treasurer and member of the Board of Managers.

Our new treasurer, Evelyn Snieder, has been an adherent at St. Andrew's for almost 20 years. In the past, she has volunteered her services in the Church School and at Camp Kummoniwannago. She has also participated in Bible study courses offered at St. Andrew's over the years.

She is currently employed as Manager of Accounts Receivable at Hazco Environmental Services in Kitchener. Evelyn is currently completing her Certified General Accountants Designation-Level One. We are very pleased that Evelyn has agreed to join us on the Board of Managers.

We also welcome David Neeb to the Board of Managers. Dave is a long time member at St. Andrew's whose knowledge and experience will be a valuable asset to the Board.

PLEASE HELP!!

This year St. Andrew’s will deliver six inch pots of tulips to our shut-in members wherever possible, on Easter Sunday. But your help is needed. Please take the time to pick up a plant or two after the morning service and deliver it to someone who isn’t able to get out to church.

After years of mounting a living cross of lilies in the sanctuary for Easter, the Kirk Session has decided to replace the live blooms with artificial ones. The strong fragrance is a serious issue for people with allergies, and consideration for that played a large part in the decision. As well, nursing homes, hospitals and retirement facilities will no longer allow those particular plants. Potted tulips will be an acceptable substitute for the annual Easter flowers.

If a lot of people offer to help, the load is shared, and the deliveries don’t all fall on the shoulders of a faithful few.

You can brighten someone’s day by taking the time to deliver this Easter remembrance to one of our shut-ins. Thanks for your help!

Annual Fish Fry

The ever popular fish fry will be held at St. Andrew’s on Monday, May 26^th this year.

Camp Kummoniwannago staff will be on hand to set up, serve, and clean up for this important fundraiser. Proceeds from the dinner go to help in the operation of the day camp.

Camp K is also looking for recipe donations for a project that they will be working on during the summer. Recipes can be dropped off for Amanda Harrington, Camp Director. She has a mailbox slot in the church office.

Can You Make A Cuppa?

Many of us look forward to that time of fellowship after the Sunday morning service, a chance to visit with friends, catch up on news, and so on. And that hot cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of juice is very welcome.

We’re grateful to Jan Blackburn and Lori Kusturok for organizing that wonderful coffee service for the last three years. They have been faithful and efficient, making sure that there was always a team assembled for each week.

But now it’s up to us to carry on. Four volunteers are needed to prepare, serve and clean-up each week. Everything you need is in the main kitchen, and instructions are provided.

Please sign up in the church office or in Iona Hall on Sundays.

Worthy Fundraiser

The Waterloo Regional Police Male Chorus will present a concert at St. Andrew’s on Tuesday, April 22^nd at 7:30 p.m.

The event is sponsored by the National-International Outreach Committee, which is seeking to raise funds to support health projects in rural villages in Northern India.

The 53 member chorus is a non-profit organization which was formed as a public relations vehicle for the Police Services. The group performs at a wide variety of events, including fundraisers like our own.

Membership is open to men of good character in the community, and the cohesive group thoroughly enjoys performing in a variety of settings.

The concert will be a good one, so plan ahead and get your ticket now. Admission is $10.00 per ticket.

Camp K Gearing Up For Summer

Registration began for Camp Kummoniwannago the last week of January, and already, the forms are starting to come in, reports Camp Director Amanda Harrington.

“We’re in the process of hiring staff now,” says Amanda, “and I am still looking for someone to be our one-on-one counsellor for campers who have special needs, as well as a person who has a current life guarding certificate.”

Camp K is taking part in a Summer Camp Fair that is being hosted by the Waterloo Region Children’s Museum on March 24^th. The fair showcases what the region has to offer in summer day camps and programs for children, so this is good exposure for the camp. Advertising has started as well.

Members of the Women’s Association served at a reception for the induction of the Reverend Janice Hamalainen. Shown are: Olive Fraser, Roberta Hoy, Yolande Hiba, Donna Hodgkinson, Mary Johnston, and Nancy Dobson.

Noon Hour Recitals - Spring 2008

April 2^nd Annette Haas singer and songwriter

April 9^th Damien Lirette piano

April 16^th Larry Moser clarinet

Ron Dolynchuk viola

Peter Bald piano

April 23^rd Sarah Cardwell oboe

Ann-Marie MacDairmid piano

April 30 Darryl Cremasco piano

Katie Gannon violin

May 7^th Wendy Wagler flute

Klement Hambourg violin

Boyd McDonald piano

May 14^th Ron Dolynchuk violin

Peter Bald piano

May 21^st Huron Heights Senior Concert Band

Directed by Robert Houghton

May 28^th Ann-Marie MacDairmid organ

June 4^th Wendy Wagler flute

Beth Ann de Sousa piano

June 11^th Andreas Thiel piano

Admission free - Lunch available for $4.50 or bring your own