'WEDNESDAY NIGHT MEALS' Winter 2017 
at 5:45 p.m. in the Family Life Center
Wednesday Meals - February 2017
February 1, 2017 - Chilli and Potato Bar, Salad, Rolls, Rice Krispy Scotchies
February 8, 2017 - Beef and Broccoli, Rice, Sliced oranges, Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
February 15, 2017 - Swiss Chicken, Stuffing, Green Beans, Rolls, Pineapple Cake
February 22, 2017 - Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread, Chocolate Sheet Cake
 
 PLEASE JOIN US!
Reserve your place today!
Sign-up sheets are available in the Narthex and in the Family Life Center welcome area. Reservations are needed if you intend to come for the meal. The cost? Instead of having a set price for the meal, we are asking that you give what's in your heart. "As you receive by grace, please give by grace." Suggested prices are: $6 for adults age 12 and older, $4 for ages 4-11, and $2 for ages 3 and under. If you are unable to contribute, please give of yourself through service. We welcome persons to help set up and clean up. For more information on our Wednesday Night Meal and Program, please contact Kevin Ward at kjw2517@gmail.com.  

Wednesdays, Room #29 - a new Short-Term Adult Study: Half Truths by Adam Hamilton. Join us at 6:30 p.m. in Room #29.

Wednesdays - "Habla Espanol" - Learn Spanish with Pastor David - 6:30 p.m. in Room #20.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting various volunteer opportunities at Montclaire Elementary School, both on an individual level and a church wide level.  Recently our Administrative Council affirmed Montclaire Elementary as part of our mission field and as one of our "neighbors".  This may seem insignificant, but it is a significant step in claiming these students as our neighbors when we read passages like the Good Samaritan.  Claiming them as our neighbor brings about a certain responsibility to help meet their needs and to allow them to help meet our needs.  It makes relationship building a priority.  

Today I want to highlight the lunch buddy program.  I want to share Pauline Muntz's story with you.  This is Pauline's telling of what the lunch buddy has meant to her over the years.

MONTCLAIRE LUNCH BUDDY PROGRAM There are many children at Montclaire who are in need of someone special in their lives in addition to their own families.  The reasons for their needs are many and varied.  Even children who are not selected to have a Buddy plead and ask how they can get a Buddy. I have been blessed for the past 13 years with 7 lunch buddies, 1 boy and 6 girls. They have been Foster grandchildren to me one lunch period a week. I plan my week with that one day and time most important to me, and I know it is very important to them. These children are very loving to me, they are polite, a lot of fun to be with, interesting to talk with. There have been many situations during these past years that have given me the opportunity to be a help to them. A third grader confided to me that she was not doing well with her reading because she was so nervous because she couldn’t see the words. After one meeting with the Principle, Mrs. Davis, it was just a week or so and my Buddy was reading well wearing glasses. My boy lunch buddy was a victim of “bullying” and shared that with me. When I reported that to Sandy Devoid she was able to help my boy with that problem because she knew the person in charge of those situations in the school system, and the bullying did stop.  One of my Buddies wore an insulin pump just as I do, it was fun  checking  and comparing our blood sugar numbers and then pumping our insulin together.  When the new school year begins the teachers observe the children and determine which children could benefit from having a lunch buddy. I was always happy with who they chose for me. My second Buddy stayed with me for all 5 years, currently I have 2 ten years olds from first grade, now in their  4th year and I am sure I will have them for their 5th year. When this school year started, my Buddies told me that they had decided they should call me Grandma Pauline instead of Miss Pauline. I love my lunch Buddies and the program.       

If you are interested in volunteering to be a lunch buddy at Montclaire, please let us know.  I also encourage you to talk with Pauline in person to hear how this program has had an impact on her spiritual journey.  It is hard not to get excited about the program when talking with her!  

In Christ, 
Kevin 

We have the pleasure of introducing to you Vicki Lawson, our new Office Manager. Vicki comes to St. Andrew's with experience from two other United Methodist Churches as well as a Conference Headquarters. Vicki holds a Journalism degree from the University of South Carolina as well as a host of other certifications and trainings.

After accepting the position Vicki wrote, "I am very excited to be joining the staff of this dynamic church. I look forward to serving you and helping you shine your light to this community. Godspeed."

We are still working out the exact starting date, but Vicki will probably be joining us the second week of November. Come by and introduce yourself. We will have more information later. In the meantime keep Vicki in your prayers as she prepares to serve the church in this new capacity. 

By Kevin Ward

One morning in early June, St. Andrew's had two Discovery Place employees walk through our doors and ask to speak to whoever oversees our "outreach" ministries.  Sandy Devoid and I ended up sitting and having a 30 minute conversation with them.  They started off the conversation by saying "We have a new program we want to start in the community, and when we have knocked on the doors and spoken to Monclaire Elementary School across the street, 100% of the response was that we needed to speak to St. Andrew's UMC about hosting the program.  You have the reputation in the community of being a community church that welcomes everyone."  

Wow, what a great reputation to have as a church.  I hope that each day we strive to continue to live out this reputation in bigger ways.  Since my job shifted to include outreach ministries, I have had some wonderful conversations with folks about potential ways we can be a light to our neighborhood.  

The first of these programs you may have read about in the Charlotte Observer this morning.  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/10/07/5225198/pnc-bank-county-libraries-team.html#.VDQ7fb5TTZQ

This vocabulary pilot program is being led by Discovery Place, Charlotte Library System, and the Community School of the Arts.  The main goal of the program is to prepare students for elementary school so they do not start school already behind their peers.  We as a church believe this is a great program and we are thrilled to be a part of this program!  Every Wednesday morning, we will have upwards of 100-125 folks at our church as a part of this program.  We get the chance to be a light to our community!  

There are several ways that we can be a part of this program.  
1. Thursday, October 9th, is a community kick off for the program being held here at St. Andrew's UMC.  We would love to have members of the church here as hosts.  We want to do more than just open our doors, we want to show these families radical hospitality!  If you are interested in coming to help welcome this group in our church, please email me at youth@standrewsumc.com.
2. Starting Wednesday morning, October 15th, this program will be at our church on a weekly basis.  We would love to have folks that serve as hosts each week, helping the program with whatever need may arise.  There is also a snack portion to this program. It would would be great if we could provide the snack as a church each week.  If you are interested in helping host this group or to provide a snack one week, please let me know!

The second "being a light to our neighborhood" event we are having is our Annual Halloween Bash.  We will have rooms set up as trick or treating stations, lots of games in the FLC, and food for families who want to bring their children to a safe location for trick or treating.  Last year we welcomed over 350 folks into our church. This is a great way to get to know our neighbors and provide a safe environment for neighborhood children.  If you are interested in helping with this event, please see me or Ruth Mauldin to volunteer!  If you cannot help that evening, please consider providing candy for our trick or treating stations!

The final way we can continue to be a "light to the neighborhood" that I would like to share with you is our continuing partnership with Montclaire Elementary School.  Here are a few ways we are already working toward supporting Montclaire Elementary.  
We are lucky to be able to open our doors for their fall and spring music programs and their graduation ceremony.  We are honored to be a part of the Montclaire Freedom School program in the summers.  We have volunteers who go over and are lunch buddies with kids during the school year.  We have taken baked goods over to the teachers for teacher appreciation week.  

I have been in conversations with Nancy (the Community in School's staff) about ways that we can increase our support of the school.  There are some great things we have planned and some great ways for you to be involved.  We are also open to any or your ideas!

I ask you to pray for each of these areas.  Pray for the folks leading each program.  Pray for the students who are involved in each program.  Pray for the families of the students involved.  Most importantly, pray about how God may want you personal to be a light to the neighborhood through one of these programs.  

St. Andrew's UMC has the reputation of being a community church and I pray that we will continue to live out that reputation each day.  

By Dan Hester

When the crepe myrtles start to bloom, I know that the end of summer is approaching. As I start to turn towards fall planning, I thought that an overview of the ministry of St. Andrew's was worthwhile to write.

Almost a year ago our long range planning committee, the Joel Committee, submitted to the Administrative Council its report concerning where God was leading St. Andrew's UMC. The Council has since then been considering, prioritizing, and acting on that report. In short, the Council prioritized 8 items on which to focus its attention. Some of the items are visionary. Some are very practical. Here they are in order of priority as set by the Council with my own commentary.

1. Disciple Development. This emphasis calls each person and each group within the church to consider how they are offering Christ to people, and deepening the Christian walk of existing disciples. I often think of this with the baseball analogy of advancing base runners.

2. Hospitality. This goal asks St. Andrew's to model the welcome of Christ. Hospitality is also welcoming the stranger and recognizing that the stranger brings blessings and gifts. In true biblical hospitality the roles of guest and host often switch.

3. Be a Light to the Neighborhood. This visionary goal is biblically rooted in the call of Israel to be a light to the nations, and the teaching of Jesus to not hide your light under a bushel. This goal is also rooted in St. Andrew's origin and history in this neighborhood.

As a matter of priority, the Council drew a line in pencil here. The top three goals are the most substantial, challenging, and promising avenues for ministry. Rather than try to accomplish everything at once, the Council chose to focus on the top three. The following five goals are still before the council. These get discussed and prayed for. They are not on a back burner, but they do get viewed through the lens of the top three.

4. Emphasize Seniors. Our elders continue to grow in faith and have gifts to offer for the ministry of the Church. Multi-generational ministry, health and wellness, transportation, and the homebound are all areas of interest for St. Andrew's and its seniors.

5. Missions. Our local and international outreach has been and will continue to be a strength and pillar of St. Andrew's. Missions are not only a means to fulfill the will of Christ, but missions are also a way of proving faithful witness to an unbelieving world.

6. Emphasize Youth. Our aim here is not to keep youth ministry in a silo unto itself, but to integrate our future leaders now. Our youth are also in the position to combine several of our overall goals such as mission, neighborhood involvement, and disciple development.

7. Multi-generational Ministry. Discipleship has always involved mentoring relationships. Plus, nothing keeps one young like working with children and youth. This item highlights the mutual benefits available to all age-groups when we plan and conduct ministries together.

8. Emphasizing Family Through Baptism. Baptism joins us in Christ and helps us know the best sense of what it means to be family, both through biology and through faith. In an age of broken, abusive, and atypical family structures, the Church can provide a holy sense of belonging, nurture, and growth for everyone, no matter what the biological family background. 

I invite you and whatever groups you may be a part of in the church to consider how you might direct your efforts with these goals and intentions of St. Andrew's. 

Here are some pictures from today!  Sorry, it has been difficult to get updates typed this year!

St. Andrew's United Methodist Church will host its Annual Music Camp August 11 - 15 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  The kids will learn, rehearse and perform a musical as well as take classes on instruments.  The musical is "It's Cool in the Furnace", the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  The lessons they learn will stay with them for a lifetime.  This is an exciting week in our church and we hope you will be a part of it. 

We need volunteers.  We need participants.  Items we need donated are:  10 muffin mixes, 4 dozen cookies (no nuts), 24 individually packaged potato chips, 1 box of Cheerios, 3 pkgs of turkey pepperoni, Large bags of Popped Corn, 1 box of Ritz Crackers, mini marshmallows, 10 oz box of raisins, 2 boxes of Teddy Grahams, Styrofoam Plates 250 ct-8 inch round, 300 large napkins, 2 pkgs of Coffee filters (100 ct), 10 oranges and apples, 2 -8 oz blocks of cheese, 3 lb bag of baby carrots,  watermelon, celery stalks, 2 8 oz of cream cheese, instant lemonade for 136 servings, 80 9 oz plastic cups.  For more information or to sign up, volunteer or donate an item please contact the church office, Gayle Smith or Ruth Maudlin.  Items can be dropped off in the Narthex.