Dear Friends in Christ,

Are you new? If you are visiting for the first time, if you are re-engaging after a period away, or if you have been coming for a little while, we welcome you in particular! If this describes you, we welcome you for a brief conversation after the service so that clergy and church leaders can say “thank you,” welcome you, and answer any questions you might have.

If you’re visiting, know that this Sunday is not a typical Sunday. However, Rev. Colleen and I sometimes joke that we do not have a “regular” Sunday as there is always something special going on in our community and in the course of worship.

This Sunday, we celebrate All Saints’, a big celebration in our church of our official saints, those saints known to God alone, and the saints that will come. We also commemorate all of the faithful departed over the past year and pray for those who have died in our own lives. We will pray over a beautiful painting with handmade frame by our own Jewel Gould as well as our new memorial garden plat with handmade frame with extensive work done by Jewell, Paul Foley, and our Communications Director, Emily Nein. Thank you!

We also continue our work of family ministry this week and help to teach the children stewardship of resources with the candy tithe! With all of the action, joyful singing, and celebrating, we have, at the center of our morning, the welcoming of two new persons into the life of our community through baptism. It is at the heart of our service and we will all renew the Baptismal Covenant. With everything going on in our lives, in the life of our parish, and in the world, we remember our call to discipleship in these promises and statements of faith. If you want to know what “it” is all about, it is in this covenant.

May God be with you this All Saints’ as we remember God’s call for you and for us as a congregation.

Faithfully yours,

Masks are still required for everyone two and older. We do ask that if you are feeling ill to please stay home and follow along with our online services, which can be found at the links below.

@ 6:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite II

@ 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite I

@ 10:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite II

@ 9:00 p.m. – Compline with St. Phoebe's (via Zoom)

@ 9:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite II (in-person only)

Note: When joining any of our Zoom meetings, please make sure your name is displayed.

2nd Note: If any of the service links above don't work, check our website for updated links.

Note the 3rd: All of our services are also available on our Facebook page.

This Sunday, November 7th, we invite children to bring 1/10 of their candy to the church. We will invite them up during the Offertory or they may place it in the wagon we have before or after the service. For every 10 pieces of candy, we ask the kids to bring in 1 piece. This is a fun practice that also helps us parents limit the sugar just a little bit! It is also an opportunity to begin teaching our children about the biblical principle of stewardship.

Where will all the candy go? We will send it to bellies and minds of our college students to aid their energy levels during papers and exams! If you have a student in college right now, please send their name and address to Colleen.

Contact: Colleen Schiefelbein (colleen@standrews.net)

Are you new to our community? If you've started coming to St. Andrew’s since March 2020, the Invite, Welcome, Connect Commission encourages you to stay after the 10:00 a.m. service this Sunday, November 7th, to meet and greet with Father Will and the Rev. Colleen. This will be an opportunity to learn about St. Andrew's and to ask any questions you may have.

Contact: Betsy Cotten & Martha Turner (welcome@standrews.net)

We have been blessed with beautiful weather days which has allowed for more outside time. I love opening my office window listening to the sounds of children playing on the playground. It helps me remember just how powerful learning through play is for a young child. As the children play, I hear them telling stories, pretending, using their large muscles walking up the slide, pulling pumpkins and friends in the wagons, and enjoying the sounds of being outdoors.

When I think about how a classroom of children grow into a community of learners it is astonishing. At the beginning of the year they are unfamiliar with each other, not sure of routines, and wonder why they need to leave their house to come to us. Familiarity and trust lay the groundwork for a powerful learning community. Plentiful unstructured and structured playtimes create a place where children take chances, make mistakes, discover new things, build relationships, and ask thoughtful questions. This transformation is beginning to happen in our classrooms. It is a beautiful reminder of why play is so important to early learners.

I would like to thank the parents for the offering of their time and talent to make the Trunk or Treat a spectacular event. We all appreciated their creativity! Our students were over the moon excited. Let’s do it again next year!

We have a couple of calendar updates for November. The Handwriting Without Tears ZOOM Parent Presentation will be postponed to January and we will let you know the date as we get closer to January. Also, as much as we wanted to host a school wide Stone Soup event, we don’t think it’s the right time with new COVID cases higher than we would like to see. Thank you for your understanding.

I do have good news about the Christmas Program. We will go on with the show (December 15th-Fish, Puppy, Penguin and December 17th-Frog, Kitten, Lion). Each class will have their own performance during their scheduled music time. This way we do not have to limit family members who want to enjoy the performance. More details will follow as we get closer to the date of the performance.

We feel very blessed to work with such wonderful families. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your child’s educational journey.

Contact: Tami Phillips (preschool@standrews.net)

The health metrics on our area continue to improve and there is even more possibility to help contain the virus with the approval of vaccines against COVID-19 for those ages 5-11. Each week you will notice that we consistently report on specific data that tracks the impact of COVID-19 in Fairfax. You will see transmission rate, some data related to hospitalization/death, and vaccination rate. The three main sources used are the Brown School of Public Health (www.globalepidemics.org), the CDC, and the Fairfax County Health Department.

According to the Brown School of Public Health, we remain in yellow zone (second lowest) with 6.6 cases per 100k on average over the past 7 days. This is 1.6 cases away from the “green” zone which indicates we are “on track for containment.” This is another decrease from last week. According to the CDC, there was a total of 49.24 cases per 100k over the past 7 days, which drops us to a lower category of transmission in the yellow or “moderate” transmission zone. This is good news!

Over the past 7 days there were a total of 23 hospitalizations and 0 deaths in Fairfax County. This is down 8 percent from the last 7 day period. 2.87% of ICU beds were used this past 7 day period and 2.69% of hospital beds were used in the same period.

According to the CDC, 81.7% of those ages 12 and older are considered fully vaccinated in Fairfax County which is 69.4% of the total population. According to the Fairfax County Health Department, 83.1% of residents 18 and older (70.2% of total population) have received at least 1 dose. 76% of people ages 18 and older (64.1% of total population) in Fairfax County are considered fully vaccinated. We continue to see an increase in vaccination rate in Fairfax and we will potentially have different metrics with the eligibility of children ages 5-11 next week.

We continue to encourage you to receive a vaccine. For children ages 5-11, consult your pediatrician if you have questions. You might wonder how to receive a vaccine for your child in this age group. You can visit the Virginia Department of Health Vaccine Scheduler. Mass vaccination sites are mostly up and running for this age group, but it may be a little while until your pediatrician or local pharmacy has them.

Are you eligible for a booster shot yet? You can always ask your doctor and you can check on the CDC website.

Contact: The Rev. Will Packard (will@standrews.net)

The Youth Choir is on its way back! As these are stressful and unknown times for everyone and such a commitment should come with ample information, the next step in the project will be a parent interest meeting, held over Zoom on Tuesday, November 9th, at 7:30 p.m. (meeting link). The meeting will also be recorded for those who can't make it. In the meantime, any questions or interest can be directed to Interim Organist and Choirmaster Gabe Simerson or to Gabe and to Marietta Grundlehner, Youth Choir leader, at youthchoir@standrews.net. The more the merrier; we'd love to hear from you or your children!

Contact: Gabe Simerson (gabe@standrews.net)

Saturday, November 13th, from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. If you're not able to go to the Crop Walk, you can still help get ECHO stocked up for the holiday season. We'll have a contactless, drive-through drop-off in our front parking lot. Scouts from our BSA Troop 1849 will deliver your contributions to ECHO. The Scouts are calling this "Stuff Woody's Van"; which sounds like a friendly challenge!

Food Items include: Box Potatoes, Flour, Jelly, Sugar, Tortillas, Bag Beans, Bag Rice, Pancake Syrup, Maseca Type Flour, Juice—Large Cans or Bottles, Healthy Snacks (e.g. raisins, nuts, etc.), Crackers, Can Soup, Coffee

Non-Food Items include: Laundry Detergent, Razors, Deodorant, Dish Liquid Detergent (e.g. Dawn), Children’s Cold/Flu/Pain Medicine, Hand/Body Lotion, Sanitary Napkins, Diapers Size 5, Diapers Size 6, Toilet Paper, Band-Aids

ECHO's complete food list is here.

Contact: Woody Browne (outreach@standrews.net)

In the absence of the annual large Burke/Fairfax CROP Walk, we are having our own St. Andrew's CROP Walk as a joint fellowship/outreach event.

We will hold a walk around Lake Royal (approx. 1.9 miles around) at 5216 Pommeroy Dr. in Fairfax on Saturday, November 13th, at 10:00 a.m. We will meet at the entrance off of Pommeroy Dr. at 9:45 a.m.

We will also be collecting non-perishable items for ECHO since the Burke walk typically provided donations to ECHO. We will have a box at St. Andrew's to collect items and they can also be dropped off at Lake Royal.

There is no rain date - so we will walk rain or shine. Please sign up to be on our official CROP Walk team. We would love more team members, but registering is not necessary to walk! If you are not able to join us, please consider making a small donation at the link above.

Contact: Elaine Runkel (crop@standrews.net)

We will not be collecting food for our Thanksgiving Baskets again this year, but we are asking for monetary donations in order to buy gift cards for families who are affiliated with ECHO. We hope to help more than the 12 families we normally support.

If you would like to donate, please mail in a check made out to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church with “Thanksgiving Baskets” on the memo line. The deadline for donations is Sunday, November 14th.

Contact: Amy Braun (thanksgiving@standrews.net)

Join us after the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday, November 14th, for an Adult Forum led by the Rev. Lloyd A. "Tony" Lewis, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus.

Lloyd Alexander (“Tony”) Lewis, Jr. was born in Washington, DC, and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating from Trinity College with an AB in classics, he entered Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) and was ordained a deacon and priest in 1972. He has served in parishes in New York, Connecticut, and Washington, DC.

In 1978 he was elected to the faculty of VTS, and in 1985 Yale University conferred on him a PhD in New Testament Studies. From 1991 through 2000 he was the Dean of George Mercer Memorial School of Theology, and Bishop’s Deputy for Education in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. He is a Canon Theologian to the Bishops of Long Island. Upon his return to the VTS faculty in 2000, he was named Molly Laird Downs Professor of New Testament Studies, a position he held until his retirement in December 2012.

Contact: The Rev. Will Packard (will@standrews.net)

On Sunday, November 21st, at 5:00 p.m., we will continue our celebration of our patronal feast with a Choral Evensong for St. Andrew's Day. One of the crown jewels of our Anglican musical patrimony, evensong (essentially choral Evening Prayer) is almost entirely sung by the choir, punctuated by prayer and congregational hymns.

This service will feature the music of living Scottish composers alongside choral standards and favorite evening hymns, in the meditative glow of candlelight. We'd love to have a full church to celebrate our parish and our patron, and to raise the roof on hymns, so mark your calendars!

You can see what music will be included and indicate if you are coming on our Facebook Event page.

Contact: Gabe Simerson (gabe@standrews.net)

We will be hosting a Messy Church on Sunday, November 28th at 3:00 p.m. This is the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, so make your plans accordingly. We will have a short, kid-friendly service and story and then each family will make an advent wreath to use this advent season. Registration for this event is now open.

Contact: Amy Dutton (amy@standrews.net)

ECHO collects new toys for children ages 0 to 15 and displays them in a cheerfully decorated, store-like setting where ECHO clients may come in by appointment to choose appropriate gifts for their children. We are excited to have our clients do their own shopping again this year while keeping safety first in this time of a pandemic. We seek donations of new toys (not gift-wrapped) from Friday, October 15th to Tuesday, December 7th at our donation door at 7205 Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield, on weekdays between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., or Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Also, we will have a Wishlist on Amazon; the easiest way to access it is from our web page (www.echo-inc.org). Questions should be directed to echoholidayshop@gmail.com.

Note: This is a different outreach program from our annual FACETS Giving Tree. Information about the Giving Tree will be available in a couple of weeks.

God calls all of us to share our time, our talents and our financial resources. When we reach out and help others, we are doing God's work and we grow spiritually. What a joy, honor, and privilege it is to give back through a gift to the endowment fund; benefiting the church to continue its many ministries to do all good works well into the future.

In recognition of our 50th Anniversary and looking back at our good works over the years, it was made possible through your generous donations, stewardship and constant oversight to your donations.

Now it's time to plan ahead, beyond our 50th Anniversary and look to the future of possibilities. You can be a major link as we adapt to the unprecedented needs of our church and community.

A gift to the Endowment Fund provides a permanent resource for supporting the mission and programs of our parish. Unlike an annual pledge, earnings from contributions to the Endowment Fund provide for the needs of the church beyond day-to-day operations, such as program expansion and capital improvements. Contributions to the Endowment Fund are often made through your estate but can be contributed at any time. Gifts to the Endowment Fund may be in the form of cash, retirement accounts, annuities, securities, trust, will, life insurance, or property.

Now is the time to have a serious discussion about your legacy gifts with your family, financial planner, attorney, and St. Andrew's.

For more information, you may contact members of the St. Andrew's Endowment Board consisting of Pete Kirkham, Endowment Board Chairman; members David Nies, Alice Redman, Pam Rozelsky, and John Robinson.

Thank you for supporting the future of St. Andrew's through the Endowment Fund.

Contact: Pete Kirkham (endowment@standrews.net)

Friends of Music and Arts is back! Please mark your calendar for the season opener on Sunday, December 19th, at 4:00 p.m. in the Nave – an afternoon of Celtic music by Karen Ashbrook and Friends. Karen and her husband, Paul Oort, were a highlight of our virtual Christmas Eve worship last year, and we’re excited to have them back this holiday season for an in-person concert. Karen is world renown as an Irish hammered dulcimer player, and she also plays the Irish flute and pennywhistle. Paul performs on harp guitar, 10-string cittern, mandolin, and musette accordion. They’ll be joined by another vocalist, details to be determined. In the spirit of giving, this will be a fundraiser for both ECHO and FACETS. Watch this space for more information.

Contact: Gabe Simerson (foma@standrews.net)

Contact: Michelle Ramsdell (michelle@standrews.net)

Please keep these members of our community in your prayers: 

Contact: Deborah England (prayer@standrews.net)