Dear Friends in Christ,

Happy Birthday! Pentecost is often celebrated as the birth of the Church, when the Holy Spirit came into the church and becomes our advocate with Christ. We will celebrate this Sunday with some regathering, with red (the color of the Holy Spirit), with baptism, and with the Holy Eucharist.

The journey to regathering continues and we are well on our way and delighted to learn of the good news for health metrics in our area. Please see below for some details on what to expect as it will not be the same as when we left for a period of time.

Still, we are starting again and seeing St. Andrew’s and our mission in a new light. At our birthday, we begin a new year with new opportunities. We may begin to mark this Sunday as a turning point in our lives together. We meet with joyful expectation, curious minds, and patient hearts for what the future holds.

Remember that with birthdays we sometimes experience growing pains. We will recognize and be blessed with varying levels of not only comfort, but the new ways in which we now see the world. I know firsthand that some of our youngest members may have even grown inches since you last saw them. We too have grown and changed in different ways. Be gentle with each other and approach our worship and interactions with loving expectation.

With so much trauma and discord, it is particularly important to celebrate and mark moments of jubilation. This weekend is one of those times. Let us celebrate and let the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, embrace and lift us up in this time in our lives.

When you are ready and able, we look forward to see you and I always look forward to worshiping with you, One Together!

Faithfully yours,

@ 6:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite II

@ 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite II

@ 9:00 a.m. – Bible Study (mtg: 142 074 0872 | pwd: CMrCxTkf488)

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

@ 11:00 a.m. – Coffee Hour (mtg: 863 4884 3653 | pwd: 163336)

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

@ 9:30 a.m. – Morning Prayer Service

@ 10:30 a.m. – Bible Study (mtg: 856 9253 7645 | pwd: 856550)

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.

It's expected to be hot this Sunday, so if you plan on attending the Outdoor Service, we recommend wearing summer clothing and bringing an umbrella for shade. Also, it's Pentecost, so wear red!

When registering for a service, please use the drop-down box on the second page to indicate if you are a parishioner (by choosing Adult or Youth/Child) or a volunteer for that Sunday (by choosing Worship Team). This is extremely important, please do not skip.

If you don’t receive a confirmation email after you register, you are not registered. If you have to cancel, please email Emily (emily@standrews.net).

Contact: Emily Nein (emily@standrews.net)

Sunday School classes will meet outside this Sunday, and every other Sunday at 11:00 a.m. until the end of the term (June 6th), weather permitting. If classes can’t meet in person, they will take place on Zoom.

If your child hasn't registered for Sunday School yet, they can do so here.

Contact: Stacey Peters (formation@standrews.net)

In line with the CDC, the Diocese has provided some major updates this past week to our regathering status. As of May 28th, most of the decisions surrounding our regathering will be at the parish level. Here are some main updates:

Worship: We are encouraged to monitor health metrics in our area and make decisions based upon them. We are in the “yellow” zone with 2.6 cases per 100,000 in Fairfax County! The transmission rate is extremely low, which does not mean we let our guard down entirely, but that risk levels are very low. In this zone, we are encouraged to mask while indoors, knowing that many people in our congregation are at different levels of vaccination status. Some of us are unable to receive a vaccination and for some, the vaccination will not be effective due to other health factors. This Sunday, May 23rd, we will worship indoors at 8:00 a.m. and outdoors with Holy Baptism at 10:00 a.m. Masks will not be required outdoors. For the time being, we will wear masks indoors. Social distancing will continue to be in effect for both indoor and outdoor events.

Music: We are permitted to sing both indoors and outdoors. Our music team is working on regathering and we look forward to praising God together with singing and music! For the time being, we will sing in masks indoors.

Fellowship: We have greater flexibility with our ability to have fellowship and your fellowship commission is at work.

Eucharist: We will have Eucharist this week, Pentecost, and it is our mindset to offer it every week. While we still have social distancing, we will need additional volunteers as ushers to help make this happen, with 3 at the 10:00 a.m. service. Please email worship@standrews.net if you are willing/able to help. Eucharist will be in one kind, meaning we will continue to refrain from the common cup and will be distributing bread only at this point. It is within our theological understanding that if you receive either the bread or the wine, then you have received the fullness of the Eucharist. This is not a new practice, but it is a long-held practice and believe within our tradition. This is currently one of the remaining requirements from the Diocese.

This week, please note that Eucharist will be dropped into your hand by the priest. The priest will use hand sanitizer before Communion and will re-sanitize if hands touch. Your clergy are 100% vaccinated.

Other considerations: It will take some time to adjust and re-enter into our ministries. We look forward to seeing each other and please know that wherever you are worshiping, in person, outdoors, indoors, or online, that we are all together.

If you have not had a chance to complete our survey, please do so:

This Sunday, May 23rd, is Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Sunday. We give thanks for the dedication of our volunteers who have participated in the formation of our youngest preschool age children up through our high school youth over the 2020-21 year. Thank you for sharing the love of Christ through this wonderful ministry!

Contact: Stacey Peters and Christie Dasher (formation@standrews.net)

Our next outdoor Messy Church will be this Sunday, May 23rd, at 3:30 p.m. in the church parking lot. Each family gets their own table! We will be marked and socially distant. Registration is now open.

If you don’t receive a confirmation email after you register, you are not registered. If you have to cancel, please email Emily (emily@standrews.net).

Contact: Amy Dutton (amy@standrews.net)

We will gather for fellowship online at 11:00 a.m. and then at 11:15 a.m. we will have a brief presentation on our regathering status and share some preliminary results from the survey. We have many activities in person and will record this session in addition to having other opportunities to ask questions. Updates to our regathering status will continue and we will need to host other avenues to ask questions. If you are able to join us online, we look forward to seeing you. We also look forward to seeing you if you will be in person this week.

If you have a friend or family member who died while serving their country, please send their name to Emily by Thursday, May 27th. We wish to include these men and women in our service on Sunday, May 29th.

Contact: Emily Nein (emily@standrews.net)

The Stewardship Committee is asking for volunteers to plan for year-round stewardship to help St. Andrew’s plan for its future. Stewardship is an excellent way to get involved in the community for now and for years to come. We are looking for creative ideas and individuals interested to build our stewardship campaign. Skills needed: Strong communications and collaborative skills, desire to help others, and interest in making a difference. You don’t need a degree in accounting or economics, just a desire to help plan for the future!

Last year’s campaign was a wonderful success, especially given the challenges of COVID. Please contact Brian Jones or Karan Wright if you would like to be part of the Stewardship Committee.

Contact: Brian Jones & Karan Wright (stewardship@standrews.net)

Vacation Bible School (July 26th-30th) is our camp for kids ages 3½ to rising 4th graders. We start each morning at 9:00 a.m. and spend the day making crafts, playing, and listening to Bible stories until pick-up at 12:00 p.m. Classes will mostly take place outside, each class in a different area each day. Cost is $30/child ($65 family max). Money & registration due by June 30th.

This year will be smaller than previous camps, with a cap of 50 campers. So, if you want to join us this summer, sign up now.

Depending on what is recommended (for schools) at the time of VBS, masks may be required. We will let you know before camp starts.

Registration is now open.

If you don’t receive a confirmation email after you register, you are not registered. If you have to cancel, please email Emily (emily@standrews.net). Registration and payment are due by June 30th.

Contact: Amy Dutton (amy@standrews.net)

Father Will would like to meet with each and every one of our parishioners. Now that the weather is warmer, both virtual and in-person outdoor options will be offered.

A Sign-Up Genius has been created, so pick a time that works best for you/your family and sign up here to schedule a meeting.

We hope you take advantage of this time to meet and chat with our Priest-in-Charge.

Contact: Jen Koerner and Woody Browne (fellowship@standrews.net)

Congratulations to everyone graduating this summer! Graduate Sunday is June 6th this year, and we would love to know about your accomplishments and what your future plans are. So, if you are graduating this summer, please email Emily with your name, your parents’ names, where you are graduating from, where you are going next, what you majored in, and a photo. Due date: Sunday, May 30, 2021.

Contact: Emily Nein (emily@standrews.net)

1st Quarter 2021 contributions statements will be emailed this week. If you do not want to receive your statement via email or if your preferred email address has changed, please contact Michelle.

Contact: Michelle Ramsdell (michelle@standrews.net)

Get your St. Andrew's Masks - We have a limited number of masks still available! Right now we have the following sizes: Adult Small-Medium, Adult Large, Youth Small-Medium, Youth Large. Contact Vestry member Woody Browne to confirm we still have your size and reserve one today. When they're gone, they're gone!

Contact: Woody Browne (fellowship@standrews.net)

Contact: Michelle Ramsdell (michelle@standrews.net)

Please keep these members of our community in your prayers: 

Contact: Deborah England (prayer@standrews.net)