Dear Friends,
Every week, the members and friends of St. Andrew are given the latest news about the life and ministry we share. Attendees at worship receive up-to-date announcements of upcoming events and prayer requests. Facebook friends can also find inspirational reminders and reflections to ponder. Email subscribers receive special messages that may be time-sensitive. And the Welcome Center at church is surrounded by copies of this newsletter and a variety of other materials that call attention to our congregation life and the ministries we support.
In addition to all these, allow me to suggest a visit to mystandrew.org. There you’ll find videos and pictures of our life together along with information about the various ministries of the congregation, our preschool, the church staff, our “Mission, Vision, & Values,” weekly messages, easy ways to give, and much, much more!!
I share this very simple invitation for a few very important reasons. First, it can offer a bigger picture of the work of Christ at St. Andrew than the one you might have if, for example, you only know us through the preschool or your presence at church is primarily for worship. Second, it can help you to see yourself pictured in one or more of the ways through which we celebrate and serve, and maybe even become involved in something you didn’t realize was happening at our church. And, last but not least, it can be a tool for inviting someone in your life to visit us on the web with the hope that what they experience might encourage them to visit us in person and come face to face with people who are aren’t perfect, but are perfectly loved by the God of grace and enjoy the blessings He brings to us here in our church home.
I assure you that there’s way more to the story of St. Andrew than whatever you find on our website, our Facebook page, or in this newsletter. There are countless beautiful experiences of help and hope, generosity of spirit and treasure, comfort and celebration as followers of Jesus gather at New Hampshire Avenue and Norwood Road and then go back out into the world to live and serve as the children of God. But it’s also true that ministry in the digital age allows us to keep each other posted and travel on the information highway to bring the Good News of the One whose journey to a cross ends with an empty tomb and brings new life to all who come to know and believe in Him.
Until we see each other again for worship and service in the remaining days of Lent, let’s keep in touch with each other, with the world in which God has placed us, and with the One whose life, death, and resurrection for us is the best news in all the world.
The Lord be with you+
Pastor Hricko