Shining the Light

Dear St. Andrew's Community,

The iconic 1969 Crosby, Stills and Nash song “Teach your Children” speaks to difficulty in the sharing of love between parents traumatized by the Great Depression and World War II, and their children seeking a better world. The song also captures the younger generation’s view (as captured in the following rearranged lyrics):

Some 50 years later, we face a similar situation – a world that is becoming more and more difficult to live in because of insults to our Lord’s creation. We have become reliant on technologies that threaten our environment, wreak havoc on our climate, and promote social inequities and increasing hardship.

This is the burden that we bequeath to our children and their children. Thus, while we teach them what we know about both the technical and moral aspects of addressing climate change and its effects on our planet, let’s not overlook the opportunity to seek wisdom from our youth.

Children and parents, please discuss Creation Care in your homes, and teach each other well. Then share your Creation Care ideas, dreams, and actions with Ms. Mallory for inclusion in the next edition of the St. Andrew’s The Net. In addition, The Net will feature the exciting rain garden project idea that you and Ms. Mallory are working on.

Bob McCabe

10:00 a.m. Choral and Family Eucharist

Duty officer January 29 - Feb. 4: Bob Len

Each Wednesday at 8:30pm members of St. Andrew's meet via this Zoom Compline link for a brief service of contemplative nighttime prayers. All are welcome to join. For those who do not have a copy of the Book of Comon Prayer at home, you may download this Compline booklet.

Early Christians began splintering into smaller factions based on whichever charismatic leader had baptized them. Paul cautioned against this, and urged them to unite around Jesus, in whose name they all were baptized. Rev. Rachel Rickenbaker urges the same for us today, to avoid labeling ourselves and others in lieu of trying to understand each other. Instead, label yourself and others as people Jesus loves.

We will have one worship service on January 29 at 10am followed by our annual meeting where we will elect new vestry members, hear updates about the state of the parish, and look ahead to the coming year.

You can read the Annual Report here. Copies will also be available Sunday.

On Sunday, we will elect three candidates to join the vestry for three-year terms. The 2023 vestry candidates are:

Dana Madsen has been a member of St. Andrews since 2014. He was initially drawn to the community by its welcoming and caring character. He has seen this time and again, whether on Sunday mornings, at Shrine Mont, helping with Christmas tree sales, or in his prior treasurer role. Dana lives in Arlington with his wife, Jen. He applies his cyber security background and experience as a former Air Force officer in his career as a senior executive. Dana’s hobbies include running, computers, and history.

Hello, I'm Sarah Wronsky. I live in the Donaldson Run neighborhood with my husband Michael and our two children Hylah (8) and Eli (5). I am excited for the opportunity to serve our church and community. By day, I am a space lawyer at Amazon supporting its launch of a satellite constellation into lower Earth orbit. I like to spend my free time playing with our kids/driving our kids somewhere/doing other kid wrangling. I also enjoy musicals and DIY house projects. 

Here we are at Wicked!

Is there something you do at home or at school that helps us take care of the earth? Do you recycle, or have a compost bin? What else can we do to help mother nature? We’d love to hear your ideas! Send them to Ms. Mallory or the Parish Administrator, Emily for publication in the next edition of The Net.

Are you seeking to deepen your faith journey in the Episcopal Church? Join Brandon Nonnemaker for a series of conversations in which we will discuss baptismal covenant, scripture & history, worship, the mission of God, and more. These sessions are open to all but may be especially appropriate for those who are new to the Episcopal Church or those who wish to be confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church.

Sessions will begin on Sunday, February 26, and run through Sunday, April 2. We will meet from 9:00-9:45 am in the undercroft. To participate, please email Brandon by February 15 so that a book may be purchased for you.

This Saturday, January 28th, between 10 am and 3 pm, the St. Andrew”s Players will begin work building the set of our spring production, Whistle Down the Wind. Before things go up, quite a few things need to come down and/or be relocated. Anyone able to lend a helping hand is welcome.  If you can bring along your own gloves and tools, even better. Pizza will be served at 12:30 pm to our volunteers. Come join us and learn a little more about this exciting musical. Community service hours available to students.

The 11th Annual Empty Bowls will take place on Sunday February 12 at St. Andrew's. This community fundraiser luncheon will have two seatings, 11:30am and 12:45pm. Tickets are $45 each. Email Mary Youman for tickets.

Whatever your musical skill level, don't hesitate. Reach out to Brandon via email or catch him after a service for more details. 

For our Glorious Companions meeting on Wednesday, February 1, at 10:30 am in the Lounge, we’ll read pages 96-118 in our book—Paul Among the People by Sarah Ruden.

We need volunteers for Coffee Hour. Please sign up outside of Dorota's office or using Sign-up Genius.

This week we pray for: Henry Schmidt, Paul and Kate Bayes, the people of Haiti, the people of Ukraine, the Meade family, the Gibbons family, Curtis and Betty Powers, Noe Henriquez and Gretchen Cox.

Would you like to add a name to the prayer list? If so, please email the church office with your request. Names will be kept on the prayer list for about a month unless otherwise specified, and will be published weekly in Shining the Light.   

If you are able to drive the donations to AFAC for a contactless delivery, please sign-up here.

Here is a list of items AFAC accepts.