St. Andrew's Children's and Family Ministries |
|
Dear Families,
I was lucky enough to spend last weekend with colleagues at Camp Stevens (which I will tell you more about next week). I am so thankful St. Andrew’s supports my need to both rest and grow, and it got me thinking about gifts and gratitude—how we offer and accept both, and how we pass this knowledge along to our children.
In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote, “This is our work, to discover what we can give. Isn’t this the purpose of education, to learn the nature of your own gifts and how to use them for good in the world?” For a lot of us, this is a work in progress, and we are still somewhere on the journey discovering or refining the answer.
But no matter where we are on the continuum, I think part of our work as parents is to help our children begin that same journey. There is no one way to go about it. A safe and accepting environment for them to explore, try, sometimes fail, and try again is a great start.
Giving and gratitude go hand in hand, especially when we are serving others. At our last Family Day of Service, I saw kids making this connection. While serving, kids discovered that some folks don’t have enough to eat, and this helped engender gratitude for what most of us take for granted.
|
|
Almighty God;
you give seed for us to sow,
and bread for us to eat;
make us thankful for what we have received;
make us rich to do those generous things
which supply your people’s needs;
so all the world may give you thanks and glory.
Amen.
|
|
In serving others we extend the gift of our hands and time, while at the same time receiving the gifts of community and welcome from those we serve. The Thanksgiving video St. Andrew’s did last year is a great illustration of this give and take. It is a never-ending circle in which we all win (in the video at 1:50 our neighbor, Ricardo, talks about how we all win).
The opportunity to serve others, and the opportunity to be in a reciprocal relationship of gift and gratitude is one of the most meaningful gifts we can give our children. If you are available this Saturday at 4 pm, you can join us for this quarter’s official Family Day of Service, when we will get together to do just that. If you can’t make it Saturday, there are opportunities next week as well (but if you come Saturday, kids get to wear their costumes!:). You can read more about this opportunity below, or you can RSVP here. I hope to see you Saturday, or on the playground.
With deep gratitude for you all,
-Erin
|
|
This Week in Sunday School
This week Jesus teaches us the most important commandment. You can support our children by asking them to retell the story. Don't miss next week when we tell the Parable of the Sower.
To make sure you are in the know about all things Sunday School, including this year's enrichment opportunities, please register. Even if you're not sure you can make it on a regular basis, registration helps us plan and keep your children in the loop for special activities. You can fill out online registration here or you can print out this PDF and give it to me at church.
|
|
|
|
Important Dates
-
November 6: 10:00 Animal Skit (see below)
-
Saturday Oct. 29: 4:00pm Family Day of Service. Kids encouraged to wear costumes. (Please Note New Date!).
-
November 13: Feast of St. Andrew and Ingathering No Sunday School
- 12/9-10: Good News Festival + Bishop Curry
|
|
|
|
Family Day of Service Saturday, October 29th
(wear your costume!)
4:00 pm
|
Our quarterly Family Day of Service has changed dates to align with our Gratitude Parties. Please join us in the parish hall to pack toiletry kits for our neighbors who come to Showers of Blessing each week. Costumes welcomed and encouraged!
|
|
If you can, please bring new men’s & women’s socks, underwear and/or tennis shoes. Feel free to bring your favorite beverage and appetizer to share. Click here to RSVP. Contact me if you have questions. If you can't attend this one, there are also Gratitude parties this Thursday, November 1st, and November 5th. Please use the same link to RSVP.
|
|
|
|
Last Chance! We Need Animals
November 6, 10:00 am
Is your child dressing up as an octopus this Halloween? Or a dinosaur, a butterfly, or any other animal? We need kids dressed as animals for a short presentation in church on November 6th. They can come with their own costume or we have some sheep and other costumes available they can wear. We are looking for lots of animals so please let me know if your child can participate (and if you need a costume).
|
|
|
|
Cultivating Hearts of Gratitude
"I was never sure if my ongoing morning ritual “armed” me for the day or “opened” me to it, but I do know that it made a difference: I carried less resentment, less anger, even less fear. As e. e. cummings wrote, I found that “the eyes of my eyes were opened” once I began to scavenge the days for gratefulness, for what was good."
-Mary Lee Wile
|
|
|
|
Worship
(Masks Recommended)
Sundays, 8 & 10 am
|
If you can't join us in the nave for the 8 or 10 am service, click here to join our livestream worship. If the livestream is unsuccessful, there will be a recorded version posted to the website on Tuesday of the following week. Click here to access this week's bulletin. If you enjoy participating in this new version of online worship, make sure you hit the thumbs-up button below the video or leave a comment!
|
|
Grateful for kittens and guys like this. |
|
|
|
|
The eScrip online mall features your favorite retailers and donates a portion of your purchases back to St. Andrew's.
|
|
St. Andrew's earns up to 7% of your Amazon.com purchases when you shop via the link above or on our website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
