Wednesday, September 25, 2024
It has been a great start to the fall. A couple weeks ago we had the church picnic where almost 100 people gathered despite the cool and cloudy day. Church attendance has been up, the choir is doing wonderfully well, and church school programming is underway. The Thrift Shop operated by the WA is open again, and we had a very successful Doors Open event where 30 volunteers from the church provided hospitality to 281 visitors. Even more, our outreach team is planning two events this coming weekend - the Journey for Hope supporting PWS and D and the Schneider Male chorus on September 30 in support of the Food Bank.
Behind all of this we have a wonderful volunteer corps and staff. Although some of the staff are relatively new (Delia and Kaitlyn) they are fitting in very well and doing excellent work. It all bodes well for the future.
As a staff and particularly now with Kaitlyn I have often talked about the DNA of St. Andrew’s. I am not sure when it formed, but during the tenure of Finn Stewart and Grant MacDonald that DNA was strongly entrenched. It has to do with meeting the needs in the community and being a hospitable and welcoming congregation. I believe it was Finn Stewart who often said ‘if you see a need in the community, plug it’. That mandate has never really changed. We may do it differently today by working with community partners and listening attentively to the voiced needs expressed by community members, but nonetheless the DNA of the congregation is to care for the people in the immediate community.
I know I have only been here for a very short three years. But my work among you has reinforced what I have known for over 30 years - that this congregation knows what it means to be a downtown church offering care and hospitality. Partnering with congregations like St. Peter’s and Nexus and hopefully others in the future will help to enhance that care, hospitality and inclusion - indeed doing so is a beautiful extension of St Andrew’s DNA.
Blessings on all of you today and in the days ahead,
Rev. Marty Molengraaf (he, him)
Minister, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church