August 11, 2022
Hello everyone
It is good to be back. St. Andrew’s is an exciting place to be, a exciting place to work and filled with wonderful, talented and faithful people. It is an honour to work among you. First, I want to say thank you for our holiday. We spent the last four weeks at our cottage just north and east of Parry Sound on Lorimer Lake. It was a great holiday – talking time to relax and read, working on a number of projects and swimming each and every day. Our grandchildren were with us for 9 full days as well and that is always both a delight and a wee bit exhausting. Life is good.
Coming back it is so nice to see the building restoration almost complete – Iona Hall and the kitchen and the washrooms adjacent look amazing. There still is some work occurring on the back stairs at Weber Street but hopefully all will be complete by September. Again a warm word of thank you and appreciation to the congregation for stepping out in faith and enabling the Emergency Warming Centre to be operational here at St. Andrew’s from December to June.
Plans are unfolding for the fall. This week has been busy – a short staff meeting reconnecting with everyone, preparing for a couple of weddings – one in August and one in September, meeting with the Roy Street Task Force and also a meaningful meeting with Cathy Stewart from Creedence with the Governance Task Force. A report will go to session probably in October with plans to share the results of the work done by Creedence with the congregation at a congregational meeting in the fall as well.
Recommendations going forward are to hire Andrew Hight as full time as Family Ministries Coordinator. Part of his responsibility will be the youth group which will add some consistency to that role. Andrew’s plans include inviting congregational members to lead a youth group meeting in an area of their expertise. We are also looking at the possibility of solidifying a position of Engagement Coordinator to encourage re-engagement in the life of the congregation at all levels. These two things together would be a positive step forward.
I am looking forward to the fall and the possibilities that lie ahead. We hope and pray that COVID will be managed in a way that does not disrupt our plans for the fall. I encourage each of you to think about how you might be involved in the church, what gifts you might offer, what ministries you may be excited about.
At the Governance meeting last night we also talked about the importance of clarifying and promoting the vision statement adopted by the session in the fall of 2021. This vision statement was the result of many years of work consulting with the congregation and the session beginning back in 2018. It is a good statement, although somewhat lengthy. Here is a brief summary for you to review. We will be using the vision statement more regularly in worship and in our meetings so that we are all on the same page moving forward.
St. Andrew’s Strategic Plan –adopted by session 2021
'Encountering God, Engaging Jesus — being an outpost of the Kin-dom of God'.
(abridged version)
Encountering God, Engaging Jesus has five launching points:
1. Affirming the history of St. Andrew's as a congregation blessed by strong and inspiring preaching and empowering music in worship including but not limited to the choral scholars, - and, enhancing that ministry by exploring different genres of music and intergenerational worship
2. A strong emphasis on our TV and streaming ministry — indeed trying to expand this in terms of social media — with many churches closing, St. Andrew's has already become and may continue to be a landing place for people whose own church has closed. This includes exploring hybrid ministry options that are not just limited to the worship experience.
3. Building on the strong history of St. Andrew's being a church connected to and serving the most vulnerable people within the immediate community. This includes moving from a 'helping 'paradigm of ministry to a 'listening and solidarity / justice / transformational ' paradigm of ministry as we strive to be an outpost of the kin-dom of God — this will be hard as it means that as a church we will have to address and talk about things like privilege, but we will do so with gentleness and grace. We want to be known for our loving and inclusive actions — a place where people are welcomed, where they belong and where they feel safe St, Andrews will build strong relationships and partnerships with organizations sharing the values of care and concern for the most vulnerable in our community. We will develop the reputation of being a place where love, care and kindness are enacted.
4. Building on the strong history of Christian education - people of all ages are encouraged to join this lifelong journey of both learning and engagement. Learning is not an end in itself. Learning leads to engagement — living out what we have learned in our daily lives. Working together as a congregation encouraging the movement from learning to engagement involves a passionate spirituality as a congregation. We are followers of Jesus – we walk in Jesus’ footsteps.
5. And finally, St. Andrew's will continue to be a pastoral church. We will care for each other by listening to each other, walking with each other through joy and sorrow
Take care everyone. God bless
Rev. Marty Molengraaf (he, him)
Minister, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
54 Queen St. N.
Kitchener, ON
N2H 2H2
Church 519 578-4430 x 221
Cell 226 752-7909