Please join the PW in the Meeting Room at 10 a.m. on April 20th for Bible Study, fellowship and refreshments. They are currently studying the book of Hebrews. Contact Jackie Harper with questions or for more information

“Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction manual and everyone sometimes needs help in supporting and teaching their children.”    -Sarah “Say” Spencer

Building Families is based in Clinton, South Carolina out of Thornwell, formerly known as Thornwell Home for Children. At Saint Andrews, we donate office space to Sarah “Say” Spencer, a Supervisor and Family Specialist for the Building Families Program. As a Family Specialist, Say visits families with children of all ages for up to 14 weeks; their program offers practical hands-on tools to improve children’s behavior and help reduce parents’ stress.

Say is a Licensed Clinical Social-Worker and has been with Building Families for almost 4 years. She wanted to work with families in our area, and Building Families is a great fit for her combination of gifts and training. She loves working with both parents and kids and strives to make the family sessions fun and meaningful. She believes that the strategies she teaches families are true prevention work, which is rare, since most families only seek help once they are experiencing more serious difficulties.  She also teaches workshops and an 8-week parenting series.

Say and the other specialists in our area are always looking to spread the word about this great ministry. One way we can help is to introduce Say to people in the community who work with children and families, who could refer people to Building Families.   She, along with the other two Specialists in Atlanta cover Roswell, Tucker, Lilburn and the surrounding areas.  Please contact Sarah “Say” Spencer for information.

Storm water pollution is one of the biggest problems facing water resources throughout metropolitan areas across the United States. The storm water pollution problem is especially critical in the Atlanta area because 98 percent of our drinking water comes from surface water sources.

What we all do matters! Typical storm water pollutants that are improperly dumped down storm drains and enter our rivers include motor oil, antifreeze, paint, pesticides. Also, runoff from yards (fertilizers, trash, yard debris and dirt) are contributors.

• One of the most common pollutants found in storm drains and creeks is detergent from washing cars.
• It is illegal to dump wastewater or water containing soaps, cleaning products, or grease and oil into streets or storm drains.
• Landscaping can help reduce storm water runoff.
• Pick up after your pet.

You can learn about your watershed at the Environmental Protection Agency’s web site: Surf Your Watershed

Source: DeKalb County: Keep it Clean, Because We’re All Downstream!

 We join with other Presbyterian congregations participating in the One Great Hour of Sharing Special Offering (PC USA) that supports the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and the Self-Development of People programs which serve individuals and communities in need with safety, sustenance and hope

The average American family takes home almost 1500 plastic shopping bags per year. Many of these bags find their way into the natural environment where they are mistaken for food and consumed, harming both land and marine animals. Plastic bags do not biodegrade, instead they photo-degrade, breaking apart into smaller and smaller pieces over time. These tiny pieces of plastic pollute our soil, waterways, and oceans and are especially dangerous for filter-feeding marine life. It’s time to get serious about plastic bags! Please make a plan so that you’ll always have reusable bags with you when shopping. More information can be found here. If you haven’t seen the recent video of plastic in the ocean near Bali, you can find it here.

Mission Project: All Adults and Youth are invited to join us at the Atlanta Furniture Bank on March 25th. We will be building furniture for Please bring $20 per person to cover the cost of the furniture we are going to build. We will leave the church at 12:30, after having lunch at the baby shower and will return at 4:30 p.m RSVP to Mike or Kim Rometo if you plan to join us.

Youth: Will be singing in Worship this Sunday, March 18th. Meet in the choir room at 9:00 a.m.  – Youth Choir will also meet for rehearsal at 5:00 p.m. At 6:00 p.m. the youth will be preparing for the Easter Egg Hunt in the High School Youth Room.

This Sunday is the last Sunday to donate candy for the Easter Egg Hunt. Please bring donations to the narthex. All candy should be individually wrapped; small items such as stickers are also welcome. The egg hunt will be held on Saturday March 31st at 10:00 am. Toddlers-5th Graders will meet at 10:00 a.m. in Heffner Hall for Easter crafts, stories and egg-hunts divided by age.

How many times have you eaten at or gotten take-out from a restaurant and been handed a straw and a plastic-wrapped packet of plastic utensils?  Did you actually need them?

Plastic forks, knives, spoons and straws may be convenient, but they’re wreaking havoc on our environment, especially our oceans. In fact, six million tons of non-durable plastics are discarded every year and only 15% of it is recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, or worse, in our oceans, where it threatens over 700 marine species with dangers such as entanglement, pollution, and ingestion.  The unfortunate truth is that, even if many more of us recycled plastics, especially the non-durable kind, it would not be enough. In order to solve the non-durable plastic conundrum, a major reduction of our consumption needs to happen, and soon.  “By taking steps to minimize everyday plastics in our lives, we can crush plastic at the source and give marine life a fighting chance,” says Nil Zacharias, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of One Green Planet.

So what specifically can we do? Before heading out the door, we can grab a metal or other reusable knife, fork or spoon for our purse or briefcase. Some companies even make compact utensil sets and reusable straws to carry around. It’s that easy! By bringing our own utensils and/or straws, we can refuse the ubiquitous plastic ones. And if anyone questions why we have a fork in your bag, just tell them it’s to save the lives of millions of marine animals. Maybe they’ll even be inspired to do the same!

Adapted from: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-you-can-stop-single-use-plastic-waste/

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