#15 July Nexus Weekly Newsletter 2020 #15
News from Pastor Denise
Greetings Beloved Family,
We are well into our fifth month of living in the midst of a pandemic, and hoping each day for signs of going back to what we call normalcy or at least a new normal. I hope that we all realize by now that this road to a new normal is going to be bumpy with many curves and twists. It is very likely that we will continue to see reopening plans across the nation take a few steps forward and a couple of steps back. The risks of reopening too soon have already been proven, and it is clear that closing down entities is much easier than reopening entities.
It is not only the business, health and education communities that have been dealing with reopening plans, churches are affected as well. As was mentioned in previous writings, our United Methodist Bishop required that each local church develop a reopening plan. I want to thank Kathy Bowen, Rich Green and Gary Skaar, for their collaboration on the St. Andrew’s Reopening Plan. We have worked diligently to err on the side of personal safety while still maintaining our spiritual call to hospitality and welcoming the stranger.
In the past few weeks, our Reopening Plan has been submitted and approved by the St. Andrew’s Church Council. It has also been submitted and approved for Phase 1, 2 and 3 reopening by our District Superintendent. What this means is that we can allow up to 50 people in the church at a time, along with required safety measures which are not-negotiable.
While this is great news that our plan is approved, we are not yet ready to reopen. We are still waiting for no-touch hand sanitizers to be delivered as well as the UV light stations that we have ordered to sanitize the sanctuary and other rooms of the church. We also have some in-house training on the new safety guidelines that have to take place.
Our tentative plan is that we once again open our doors to in-person worship on Sept 13th, 2020. To be clear, this date is subject to revision as pandemic conditions evolve. In the meantime, the South Sound Coop will continue online worship through August. The Coop will meet during August to determine next steps for online worship.
As we begin reopening the church building to welcome you and your families back to worshipping together in-person, there are many questions as to what returning to church will look like. I invite you to view the full text of the St. Andrew’s Reopening Plan 2020 on the church website at www.laceysaumc.com.
We will continue this discussion, please feel free to contact me or any of the members of the Reopening Plan team if you have any questions.
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Denise
Aloha Church Drive Thru
Join Pastor Denise on Sunday, August 2nd @ 12:30pm for another drive thru celebration to see your smiling faces. Our last one was so heartwarming and well participated in that we thought it was fitting to do this again.
We will have a Hawaiian theme this time, so wear your favorite shirt or Hawaiian lei. We will give you your 6 month giving report, a Nexus and a couple of other goodies we are working on.
We will be collecting donations for our Preschool during this event. To open this year we will be experiencing some unexpected costs. If you are wanting to support our wonderful program that reaches out to 60 families each year you can write a check to the church and mark it “Preschool” in the memo line.
We can’t wait to see you!
4 Ways to Connect
Sunday Morning Worship 10 am on St. Andrew’s UMC Facebook or the South Sound YouTube Channel (you can view past Sunday services on this YouTube channel as well):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVuK2rdwK2sYlJIKeiNCWfA
Tuesday Morning Prayer Group @ 9:00am Go to www.fumcoly.com Online Faith Formation Morning Prayer
Wednesday Afternoon Lectionary Class @ 2:00 pm Join Pastor Denise as we discuss the upcoming scripture for Sunday. Please call the church office with help joining this group.
Thursday Morning Bread of Life 10:30 am Contact the church for the zoom link (360-491-2030) or send us an email and we will send it to you. Church email is: saumc@comcast.net
Online Worship Connect Card
For Those Who Join in Online Sunday Worship
If you have been watching the South Sound Church Cooperative Sunday worship services online, please remember to fill out a digital Connect Card! You can find the link to each Sunday's Connect Card on the www.laceysaumc.com website.
Filling out a Connect Card helps the St. Andrew’s staff know who is able to connect to the church online and who may need additional help.
We also invite you to fill in your prayer requests online. Let those who are struggling during this time know that you are thinking of them.
Thank you!
Pastor Denise
Matching Grant Available for St. Andrew’s Preschool
Some of you may be aware that since 1972, St. Andrew’s has operated a preschool. It was initially set up as an extended Sunday School for members of the church and has always been open to the community. Many of our current church members have previously taught at the preschool, or can share memories of their children attending our preschool. Our playground is the result of a gift made by one of our early preschool teachers.
Over the years, our Preschool has continued to gain the support of our church and our community. We are blessed that each year, we’ve been able to provide scholarships to either low-income families or families in need. Each year, we’ve been able to hold down our costs and to meet our budget and teaching goals, even though all of our advertising remains word of mouth.
Over the past several years we’ve seen an increase in the number of military families participating in our program. In the first half of 2020, military families made up 50% of our attendees. We recognize that years of engagement with our community have resulted in a strong bond of trust in our church. We are thankful for our Preschool Director Kathy Bowen and her staff. Our strong community presence would not be possible without Kathy’s leadership and the dedication of her teachers.
Just recently, St. Andrew’s UMC applied for and was awarded a matching grant from the PNW Annual Conference Fund for Families. This grant will be used to support our St. Andrew’s Preschool program.
This matching grant means that for every $2.00 that our church raises, the Annual Conference will contribute an additional dollar up to $1000.
In these rapidly changing times, what a blessing of stability these funds can be to our Preschool program. The timing is especially helpful to us as this grant will help our preschool mitigate the reopening costs associated with the pandemic. We anticipate an increase in expenses not only for materials but also for at least one additional preschool staff member.
I want to ask your help in meeting our goal of raising $2000 so that we might have the full benefit of the grant. I invite you to prayerfully consider a financial gift to our Preschool so that we might continue to help families in our church and in our community. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Pastor Denise
Lectionary Study
Greetings All,
Join Pastor Denise:
Lectionary Study Group
Have you ever wanted to comment on one of my sermons, or wanted to know why I focused on one area at the expense of another area? Have you ever been interested in learning more about the context of a particular biblical story? Well, I am interested in your comments.
I am holding a Lectionary Study Group via zoom. We would get together each week to look at the text that will be preached on the coming Sunday. The class time would be one hour.
If you are interested in attending, let’s plan to get together every Wednesday at 2:00 pm. Please call the office for the Zoom link.
All are invited, and I hope to see you.
Pastor Denise
Happy Birthday to:
1-Virginia Berney
5-Pastor Denise Roberts
8-Sandra Dlugosz
9-Daryl Mills
10-Dottie Simonsen
11-John Shiveley
17-Connie Reed
24-Mary Jean Grimes
25-Terri Tyler
29- Sally Bush
31-Duane Ullmann
Happy Anniversary –
9 - Chris & Jessica Byers
22-Dennis & Jeanie Taylor
Prayer Requests
You are invited to call in your prayer request to the church office (360-491-2030) or to any time of the day or evening. If you get an answering machine, please leave the request or your name and telephone number.
Please pray for God’s peace & presence St. Andrew’s Families:
—Dave Reed —Jackie Hinchcliffe
—Vi Statler —Lillian Carr
—Tom Lund —Carol Nichols
—Mary Novy —Jim Martin
—Barbara Hawley —Phil & Pat Latimer
—Dr. John Britcher —Bea Aho
—Bill Bush —Sumi Atkins
—Sara Lyon —Jerry McKusker
—Greg Leppert —Dolores Todd
—Donna Brooke —Lois Brighten
—The Family of Don Sattelberg
—The Family of Richard Hinchcliffe
Update on Members
Donna Brooke - She is doing well but still in great pain. She hopes to get a pain pump and to move to an apt. in August. (As reported by Pastor Denise)
Lois Brighten - Lois is home resting in her own homw.
Bea Aho - Bea has gone back to her apartment.
If you have spoken with someone that needs prayers, please call the church office and fill us in so that we can get it out to the congregation. (360-491-2030)
Cooperative Youth Ministry
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to you God in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NRSV
Dear Co-Op Youth & Families,
We hope this message finds you well. While we know this summer hasn't been what any of us hoped or planned for, we have been proud of all the ways you've been reaching out to each other with phone calls, social media, care package deliveries and more. Your resilience in the face of turmoil is a gift. We also know that many of your are struggling spiritually and mentally with this prolonged season of uncertainty physically separated from friends and loved ones and anxious about what the future holds.
We wanted to let you know that your youth ministry team has been praying for you all every day and seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in discerning how best to serve you in this time. We know that many of you would like to gather together again in person. At this time we do not know when it will be possible to do so but know that we are actively developing plans that we will be presenting to our District Superintendent for ways that we may be able to safely gather in the coming months.
Until that time we would love the opportunity to spend some time together virtually and so…
You're Invited to a Virtual Campfire!
Sunday July 26, 1:30pm-3:00pm
https://greaternw.zoom.us/j/96194737224
Bring yourself, a s'more or other camp snack and be ready to play some Bible trivia games, pray together & laugh together.
If you have a special talent you've been working on these past few months we invite you to share that as well!
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