St. Andrews Presbyterian celebrated Reformation Sunday and its Scottish heritage Sunday, October 26, with Kirking of the Tartans.  This tradition began with Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall on April 26,  1941 at New York Avenue Presbyterian church, Washington, D.C.  Its purpose then was to raise funds to aid Scottish churches during World War II.  The idea grew and many congregations now have Kirking services to celebrate the Scots’ religions heritage and historical devotion to God and country.

The St. Andrews Kirking was filled with colorful tartans carried by members as they processed to “Highland Cathedral,” played by wonderful bagpiper Michael Grest and organist Ed Weaver.  The procession was lead by the Beadle, a Scottish tradition, followed by the Chancel choir and then the parade of Tartans.  Every aspect of the service paid tribute to the Celtic heritage from the music to the order of worship.

After the service which ended with a Choral Benediction entitled “Deep Peace” sung by the Chancel Choir and a postlude of “The Rose of Kelvingrove” played by the Piper and the organist, everyone convened to Heffner Hall for a reception of shortbread and drinks.  It was a wonderful day of worship and community.

If you want to check out the descriptions and history in our order or worship for the Kirking of the Tartans, click Kirking of the Tartans copy 2014

What a thrill to read about St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in a national publication.  Our Caring for Creation Committee has accomplished great things and made St. Andrews an example of how to care about God’s creation.

We have our What’s on Wednesday (WOW) Wednesday night, Oc.t 22, and the exciting Kirking of the Tartans celebrates the Scottish heritage of the Presbyterian Church, this Sunday, Oct. 26 at 11 a.m.

WOW (What’s On Wednesday), our church supper/fellowship/education  is back on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.

Worships Arts for the kids starts at 5 p.m. with choir after that, and then at 6 p.m. a great family supper and fellowship.  Sometimes the meal is potluck and sometimes we cater in from local restaurants.  Cost of the catered dinner is $8 for adults, $3 for kids 4-12, kids 3 and under are free, family max is $25

The next WOW is Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. in Heffner Hall. Mary Jane Cornell, our interim minister, will lead us in a Bible study after dinner, and Kristy Ray will entertain the kids.

The meal will be catered by Bambinelli’s.

Please join us and bring a guest.

The Outreach Ministry will host a casual Family Concert and Picnic on the Lawn, featuring local musician Matt Donald, on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 4 to 6 p.m. at St. Andrews. Matt is a singer songwriter and takes inspiration from nature and seeing positives in situations. With this in mind, he will be performing original songs mixed with appropriate cover songs, along with some children’s songs in an Americana style.  A little blues, bluegrass, rock, jazz and folk music all on acoustic six and twelve strings guitars and ukulele.  The music will be upbeat and positive.

Please bring a picnic dinner, chairs and blankets to enjoy the concert. This is a perfect time for low-key fellowship with old and new friends, and an opportunity for kids to dance/run around and burn off post-Halloween sugar while parents and adults can talk and enjoy music, food and fall weather.

Concert will be held in Heffner Hall in case of inclement weather. Contact Outreach with any questions: SAPCoutreach@gmail.com.

Hope to see you there.

WOW has kicked off and been a great way for our intergenerational community to come together, share a meal, and learn from each other. We need volunteers to continue to make this possible. We are looking for someone to order food, to collect money, to join a set-up or clean-up team. We are hoping to create a rotation of volunteers to help to spread the opportunity of helping at WOW. Please contact Kristy Ray through the office at 770-938-2833.

Kim Rometo, a St. Andrews member, and Sandra Levinson, Vice President of Alliance for Children Everywhere (ACE), presented a moving program about ACE and how our donations for Change for Children provide educational and nutritional support for Zambian children through the programs we support there.  Kim’s story was personal and moving as she showed pictures of where she had been, children she had met and how this summer mission trip changed her life.  Also pictures in the photo are the Chairman of ACE, Walt Bryde and his wife Louise, Kim and Sandra, and Treasurers, Barbara and Tom Hugh es.

To find out more about this mission we support with our monthly Change for Children collection, click on C4C, and then explore the ACE website for more information about supporting educational and nutritional needs for orphaned or abandoned children in Zambia.

St. Andrews hosts Community Supported Agricultural (CSA), basically a group of people who pledge support to a farm operation by sharing the risks and benefits of food production.  During each session on Wednesdays a box of fresh, organic and seasonal produce comes to the church to be delivered to individual subscribers.

If you would like to join this session, please contact CSA (Mary Evans) at the office@standrewspresbyterian.org.

For the third year, St. Andrews celebrates the Kirking of the Tartans,  a service of worship that embraces Presbyterian heritage in word and music.

The service is colorful and a wee bit noisy with bagpipes, and everyone is encouraged to wear their clan or family colors, whether Scottish or not.

But the service at Saint Andrews strives to reach beyond just clan . We are not all Presbyterian by name – and we are all not all of the same family lines in heritage – but we are all brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ – and we are all the children of God. That is the blood line that binds all of us together in a clan that has been from the creation.

Come enjoy the bagpipes, the men in kilts and the wonderful celebration of the Presbyterian heritage.

After the service, we will celebrate some more with a shortbread reception. Another Scottish tradition – wonderful buttery shortbread.

This Sunday is World Communion Sunday, a day we join in communion with congregations around the world. We will also celebrate the end of our effort to Pray for the World One Country at a Time. We started this project on January 2, 2011, praying for Afghanistan and ended last Sunday praying for Zimbabwe. This journey symbolized our efforts to show that world peace was in our hands with God’s help. Come celebrate communion, hear some different languages in worship, and keep praying for the World.

Check out the new page on our website with many of the brochures we produced the last three years.

http://standrewspresbyterian.org/praying-for-the-world-one-country-at-a-time/