To all the faithful at St. Andrew’s,
2024 has been pretty good for us as a community. We have expanded our ministry footprint with a major interest in helping feed the hungry in our area. To this end we are supporting the food pantry at First Presbyterian through volunteer support, collections of cereal and financial support. I am so proud of you St. Andrew’s for sensing God’s call to support neighbors in need.
We continued our practice of regularly meeting to delve into Scripture and discuss our spiritual health. We read the book “Sailboat Church” and had some wonderful conversations about the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If you have never attended our 9am Bible study, give it a try. We have been investigating our prayer life, learning about faith and prayerfully seeking Christ in our lives both as individuals and as a community.
Behind the scenes I have been doing a bunch of visits. Lately many members have experienced hospitalization and hardship. These visits have proven again and again to be a blessing both to those I visit and to myself. If you could coordinate your hospital stays to overlap at the same hospital that would help my scheduling immensely (kidding!).
We have a big summer series coming up. The challenge from our Bishop Elect Foster to educate our congregations on Evangelism, Discipleship and Financial Stewardship. We are going to start with discipleship which I have been thinking about for a while. It’ll be great you should come to church ALL SUMMER LONG.
There are projects in various levels of “shovel readiness” we have considered improvements to front and back yards of the church as the work of our Memorial Committee’s plans continue.
We worshipped our way through Lent and Easter, hosted our annual Egg Hunt and had a wonderfully successful Produce Sale. Kathy DeMaio, Karen Conlon and myself attended our Synod Assembly on Long Island and elected a new bishop, I am very excited for the ministry of Bishop Elect Foster. She brings an enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm to the synod office.
As you know personally this season has been a challenge for me with my father becoming ill. My appreciation for your prayers and support CANNOT be put into words. When I told Sue what was going on she immediately looked at me and said, “if you need to get on a place, just go.” Sue your words and actions have been so encouraging to me and they are reflective of the words and actions of others. Thank you all for your prayers and words of sincerity.
Thank you for being the most loving, kind and faithful communities I have ever worked with, I am humbled by the call to be your pastor and your friend.
Pastor Dave