Set me as a seal upon your heart,

  as a seal upon your arm,

for love is strong as death,

  jealousy[a] is fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

  the very flame of the Lord.

Many waters cannot quench love,

  neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

  all the wealth of his house,

  he would be utterly despised.

- Song of Solomon 8:6-7

This past week, interfaith clergy gathered in person and online, carrying a message of love from each of our traditions. We responded to an unfortunate incident of graffiti in Burke, which contained anti-Semitic and racist language. We are called to love the young person who allegedly wrote the material, yet we hear echoes of a message impressed upon this person. Our response as Christians (as Episcopalians) is love.

We stand with our interfaith neighbors of varying beliefs within our own Baptismal Covenant to "respect the dignity of every human being." As we hear in Scripture, nothing is stronger than love and we profess a Savior who conquered death itself with love. 

We are always called to profess Christ's love and be that love in our daily lives. I look forward to gathering this weekend, as we do each and every weekend, in love to celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Let us all continue to share Christ's love with the world.

Faithfully yours, 

Saturday, March 22nd

@ 6:00 p.m. – Healing Eucharist

Sunday, March 23rd

@ 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist: Rite I

@ 9:00 a.m. - Bible Study

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

@ 11:30 a.m. - Sunday School

@ 11:30 a.m. - Adult Forum: From Shadows to Light

@ 5:00 p.m. - Lenten Soup Suppers

Wednesday, March 26th

9:30 a.m. - Holy Eucharist: Rite II

10:30 a.m. - Bible Study



Links to our online services and Bible Studies are available on our website.

Prelude - "O Gott du Frommer Gott" partita (J. S. Bach, 1685-1750) 

Opening - Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days (Hymn 142)

Sequence - Rock of Ages (Hymn 685)

Offertory - O God, Our Faithful God (J. S. Bach)

Communion - Just As I Am, Without One Plea (LEVAS 137)

Closing - Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (Hymn 690)

Postlude - Fantasia: To B-A-C-H (Franz Liszt, 1811-1886)

Celebrate the first day of spring with St Andrew’s friends at West Springfield Panera on Thursday, March 20th at 9:30 a.m. Have a tasty beverage and welcome in the new season!

Please stop by the West Springfield Panera (Rolling and Old Keene Mill Rds) on your way to work, or stay and have coffee and a bagel. Be it 5 minutes or an hour, we’d love to see you for some fellowship on Friday, March 21st, between 7:00 and 8:30 a.m.! Plans are to make this a regular occurrence.

Celebrate Women's History Month with a tour of the Lucy Burns Museum at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. Join us on Saturday, March 29th, and 11:00 a.m. for a free self-guided tour, and then lunch at Bunnyman Brewing Cafe onsite. A guided cellblock tour is optional for $5, payable onsite. RSVP to by Monday, March 24th.

Our Lent Soup Supper series is back! This year, we have a theme (other than tasty soup) entitled Testimonies of Faith. Please sign up to bring soups and other items here (http://tiny.cc/soup25). We will hear from parishioners about their experiences of faith and witness of God’s grace in our lives. Inevitably, we will reflect upon our own lives and see God’s grace and the presence of Jesus more clearly. We will be hearing from:

March 23rd – Youth of the parish

March 30th – Donna Osthaus

April 6th - Pam Rozelsky

Suppers will be held every Sunday night in Lent (March 9th through April 6th) from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall.

Our forum hour series, held after the 10:00 a.m. service, will focus on the six questions in our baptismal liturgy, with three renouncing evil and three turning towards Christ.

Our next session will be on March 23rd with Dr. John Allan Knight, J.D., Ph.D., in the conversation of renouncing evil. On March 30th, we invite William Thompson, a spiritual Ignatian retreat leader, to continue our conversation. On April 6th, we will turn towards Christ as we come closer to the celebration of the Resurrection. 

We’re so excited to welcome you to Realm Connect! Right now, we’re focused on supporting our group leaders. But, if you’re ready to learn this new tool, please reach out by emailing realm@standrews.net or signing up for a "Creating a Profile" training.

Getting started is easy, but we also know that learning new technology can sometimes feel overwhelming. You are not alone in this. The Realm Roll Out Team (Sarah, Emily, Michelle, and Betsy C.) is here to personalize your experience, answer your questions, and ensure that you feel completely confident and comfortable. We’re walking through this together, group by group, to ensure everyone gets the support they need.

You can sign up for a training session here: http://tiny.cc/realmconnectreg.

Celebrate your loved ones, past and present, with a donation to the Flower Guild this Easter. The Easter Flower envelopes are now available on the bulletin board next to the Church Office. Please fill out your envelope and return it, with your donation ($25 requested), to Emily’s desk (look for the ducks) in the office by Sunday, April 13th. Flowers will be available for pick up after the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday, April 27th. 

Relay for Life is the signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. This year’s Relay for Life is on Saturday, April 26th, at Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA.

Team Believe is a team of amazing, St. Andrew’s women who have all had our lives touched by cancer ourselves or someone close to us. If you are a cancer survivor and you wish to walk the survivor's lap with us, or if you would like to become a member, we would love for you to attend! We are having an organizational meeting on March 26th in the conference room. We will be discussing our April 5th yard sale at Lake Braddock and planning for the April 26th event.

If you have any questions, please contact us at teambelieve@standrews.net.

Attention all green thumbs. The property resource commission (PRC) is sponsoring an official gardening group to help maintain and beautify the grounds. Sharon Gould has volunteered to lead the group and we would like to get a good size group so that it isn't a burden on anyone's time. Please contact the me if you are interested

Join Deacon Susie and the St. Phoebe School in the Diocese of Virginia for Compline online at 8:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday. Compline is an ancient Episcopal Service and is prayed at the end of the day. We are grateful to our Deacons for inviting us into this online space.

Please find information and a link to the service (on Zoom) here: https://virtual-chapel.com/2025/03/02/an-order-for-compline-week-of-march-2

Items currently needed at ECHO:

• Canned meats and fish
• Dried Beans
• Bagged Rice
• Condiments like mayonnaise and ketchup
• Children’s toothbrushes (almost always in short supply)

Please join us in the Parish Hall for a cup of coffee and some intergenerational fellowship time after the 10:00 a.m. service each Sunday, before Sunday School/Adult Forum. 

If you enjoy having goodies with your coffee (or tea) each week, we rely on volunteers to provide these snacks!

If you would like to provide some baked goods, crackers, fresh fruit, etc. please sign up here: http://tiny.cc/3avjzz.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Pre-K & K and Nursery classes, which care for our youngest members every Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (or 10:00 to 11:15 if there is no Sunday School). While we have a paid staff member in each class, we need an additional volunteer helper to ensure the safety and well-being of all the children. Teenagers (14+) can earn service hours for their time. If you'd like to volunteer, please sign up here: http://tiny.cc/babywatch-win25 (Jan. to Mar. dates).

Your financial gifts to St. Andrew’s are of vital importance to support our ongoing ministries and our outreach to the most vulnerable among us. Please continue to offer your faithful gifts by:

• Mailing your check to our church office (6509 Sydenstricker Rd, Burke, VA 22015)
• Hand delivering cash or checks to the church mailbox (cash or check should be sealed in an envelope marked with your name)
• Using your bank’s online bill-pay feature
• Using St. Andrew’s online giving feature. You will be asked to provide your email address, an amount, date of gift, whether it is one-time or recurring, and a fund. In the fund box, you can click the arrow at the right-hand side to see the drop-down menu (the current options are Pledge and Plate Offering). The next page will give you the option of paying via your bank or debit/credit card. Please note that St. Andrew’s will pay fees on these transactions and you will be asked if you would like to increase your donation to offset these fees.

emily@standrews.net | www.standrews.net

(703) 455-2500