Hello, friends of St. Andrew’s. I am looking forward to serving our church in a new role as the chair of the Congregational Life Team. The CLT encourages relationship building. We welcome visitors to our church with a gift, follow up with contact, maintain the prayer chain, provide coffee and snacks for the social hour, and sponsor other events through the year. Have you enjoyed one of the annual ice cream socials during the social hour after worship? One of the members of the Congregational Life Team came up with the idea. We didn’t know how folks would feel about ice cream sundaes at 10:30 in the morning, but thank goodness we took the risk. There was not a single scoop of ice cream left over, but there were lots of happy smiles.
On November 8, the CLT will support congregations from all across our Presbytery as we provide coffee. We are especially honored to be hosting this event, as this will be the first all in-person meeting in several years. Just 10 days after this, St. Andrew’s is excited to be offering an incredible concert featuring acclaimed musicians Erin McKibben, Natasha Kislenko, and Tim Accurso. After the concert, the Congregational Life Team will be organizing a dessert reception.
Even though I have mentioned just a few of the special events that the Congregational Life Team helps to make possible, the weekly coffee service after worship every Sunday is one of our most important contributions to bringing us all together as a congregation. I know that time is precious, especially on Sundays, which is typically a “free” day in many households. On occasion I have found myself rushing out to my car after church, without even a goodbye. But when we don’t stay for the coffee time, we are really missing out on an opportunity for community building. So, please, whenever possible, stick around, say hi, catch up with folks you haven’t seen in a while, meet new people. Sure, we make great coffee – but it’s really about building community with one another.
Ann Padden-Rubin, Chair of CLT