Great news!
The latest addition of St. Andrew's voice is now online. Just click on the link of the home page.
Also, for a listing of our Lenten and Easter services you can click on the "Lent & Easter Services photo" on the home page.
Lent 2014!
An invitation …
Please join us on Sunday, March 2nd for The Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Worship service starts at 10:00 am with a luncheon and Cake Sunday to follow.
If you are able, please bring sandwiches or other finger food items to share for the luncheon.
Please no peanuts, tree nuts or shellfish.
Calling all STARS!
Our STARS will be producing 2 new episodes this week, Sunday, February 23rd.
Please meet on the 2nd floor after worship and Sunday School.
All new actors and friends are welcome.
Meat Pie time …
… it smells very good here!
The ladies are very busy today and tomorrow making individual beef and beef/vegetable pies!
Report on my “Pastors of Excellence” experience
I recently filed a report on my continuing education adventures with my Presbytery. I though I would share that report here as well for those who are interested.
From W. Scott McAndless
Pastors of Excellence
Self Knowledge
Group Work
The Healing Journey
Revealing Lies
Spiritual Practices
Conclusion
Continue reading »
Report on Continuing Education to the Presbytery of Waterloo-Wellington
From W. Scott McAndless
Pastors of Excellence
From January 2013 to January 2014 I had the privilege of participating in the Pastors of Excellence program which is offered by the Ashland Theological Seminary which is based in Ashland, Ohio, USA.
The program included four three-day retreats in January, May and September 2013 and in January of 2014. The program was very formative for me and helped me to develop in my leadership and personal walk in a number of ways – too many to describe in a short report – but I would like to share some of the key parts with the Presbytery.
Self Knowledge
The first retreat was preceded by a battery of tests that were given to all participants. These tests (which are very expensive to obtain on their own) were designed to help us to evaluate our own leadership styles, how we dealt with stress in our lives and ministries, and to identify areas of our life that may be of concern. These results were processed with mentors and in a group environment in a way that established an excellent starting point for the work that we wanted and needed to do.
Group Work
Everything that we learned about ourselves and our tasks throughout the program was processed in a small group led by very competent mentor/leader. We learned that the greatest lack that many clergy face in their lives in ministry is that they do not have a group of peers that they can openly and honestly share their struggles with. This group became a very important influence and encouragement in my life and ministry and will likely continue to be a nourishing part of my life into the future. The personal development in a group situation alone was worth the time and the trouble (and money) to participate in the program and I will value it for a very long time. One of the things that we learned in the program was that , in order to truly believe some of the things that God says about us, we often need to experience that truth within a loving and mutually supportive group environment.
The Healing Journey
A major focus of Pastors of Excellence is on the healing journey that all spiritual leaders are on. We have all been wounded in our lives and we all have ways in which those wound affect our lives and ministries in very detrimental ways. At our second and third retreat we took part in some very meaningful exercises that opened us up so that the Holy Spirit might speak to us about the wounds that we carried and how they are affecting our lives
Revealing Lies
Because we have all been wounded, we have also all come to believe many lies about ourselves, our God and our world. For example, though we may preach and proclaim often that we are loved by God, deep inside we may still believe that we are unlovable because of the wounds that we carry. At our third retreat, in particular, some wonderful exercises and information helped us to identify some of the lies that we secretly believe and to begin to learn some ways to counter those lies and appropriate deeper truths.
Spiritual Practices
Also integral to the work of Pastors of Excellence was learning (or relearning) a number of spiritual practices that will continue to assist me in my spiritual life. We renewed our understanding of such practices as Lectio Divina, other forms of contemplation, breath prayers and examen prayers. I expect to continue to use these practices to deepen my experience of God and walk with God.
Conclusion
I could say many other things about the Pastors of Excellence program. It was very worthwhile. I would not say that I agreed with everything that I was taught and I will no doubt be translating some of what I learned to make it more useful in my Presbyterian context, but I have definitely grown through the experience. I would definitely recommend the program to many of my colleagues.
The program and my group particularly helped to build me up in my confidence in leadership. One example of that is the following:
Over many years, before this program, I had been writing a book, believing that God had given me some very important ideas about Luke's nativity story that needed to be shared. But I had not had the confidence to truly put my book out to the world. It is no coincidence that I finally took the bold step of publishing my book, "Caesar's Census, God's Jubilee," during my year with Pastors of Excellence. I would not claim that the program was the only thing that gave me confidence to do this, but it was definitely a part of the story.
Clergy and other church leaders may only participate in Pastors of Excellence by being nominated by a past participant. If anyone is particularly interested in participating in this program, I would be happy to speak with them and potentially to nominate them. Going forward, Ashland is planning to hold the program at one of its satellite sites in Detroit Michigan which may well make it easier for Canadian clergy to participate.
Did you know …
… that our new Director of Music, Corey, has begun a music blog? You can find her blog under the Church tab, titled Music Blog. Corey plans to write about the music we here each week, sharing the stories behind the pieces and what the hymns mean, as well as many other interesting musical news!
Here is this week's blog:
Continue reading »
Here is this week's blog:
Hello and Welcome!
Published: January 26th 2014
Hello!Welcome to the new St. Andrew's Hespeler Presbyterian Music Blog.
Here I hope to keep you up to date on what is happening musically at St. Andrew's and let you know a little bit more about the music we are doing each week.
Right now I am excited to be getting to know all the different music groups you have here as well as the congregation. I would like to encourage you to come say hi to me, especially if you think you may like to be involved musically in some way at the church. St. Andrew's is full of different tastes musically speaking and I'm excited to explore all those different musical voice with you in praise and worship.
- Corey
Gold? Silver?
It's a Gold Party!
January 16, 2014, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the foyer,
January 16, 2014, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the foyer,
St. Andrew's Hespeler
This is a reminder of the Gold Party on Thurs., January 16th, sponsored by the Athalie Read Group. Gather all your unwanted gold and silver jewellery, flatware, watches, etc. and drop in to the Church foyer between 5 and 8 pm. You will have your items appraised and you are free to accept or reject the offer. If you accept, you will be paid in cash. You keep the money and the Athalie Read group will get a commission from the company which will be donated to Share the Warmth campaign.
Please RSVP to Betty Clarke at [email protected] or 519-658-9574. We look forward to seeing you for this fun event. If you are unable to attend, a member from our group would be happy to pick up any items you wish to sell. We will get an appraisal and call you.
The Beauty of Winter!
Some people may not like our winter weather this winter, but it sure is beautiful!
More winter photos have been sent in to share with you. Please don't hesitate to send yours to me as well. Thanks, Joni jsmith@standrewshesepeler
During the month of December I have been collecting Sermon suggestions and questions from the people of St. Andrew's Hespeler Presbyterian Church. During January I will be putting all of the suggestions up on a big board so that the congregation may vote on them and I will preach the top four starting on February 9.
Here are the suggestions so far in the order received:
1. Sex Education (I assume that the expectation is not that I sexually educate the congregation but rather talk about the place of sex ed. in society).
2. One can deal with love or hate; but how does one deal with indifference?
3. The origin and history of the Apostle's Creed.
4. Why do good things happen to bad people?
5. How do you encourage your adult children who've left home to continue going to church and to teach their children the faith?
6. Why don't we hear about Jesus from his birth to when he was an adult? There is about a 30 year gap. What kind of teenager do you think he was?
7. Do we welcome the Gay community to the church?
8. Strong Women of the Bible
This could be very interesting!
The window for suggestions is closing soon (Dec 31) and I would be very happy to receive more. People of St. Andrew's can make suggestions by responding to this post, by dropping of a suggestion in the box at the church tomorrow or in whatever way is most convenient for you! Don't delay!!
Scott
Continue reading »
Here are the suggestions so far in the order received:
1. Sex Education (I assume that the expectation is not that I sexually educate the congregation but rather talk about the place of sex ed. in society).
2. One can deal with love or hate; but how does one deal with indifference?
3. The origin and history of the Apostle's Creed.
4. Why do good things happen to bad people?
5. How do you encourage your adult children who've left home to continue going to church and to teach their children the faith?
6. Why don't we hear about Jesus from his birth to when he was an adult? There is about a 30 year gap. What kind of teenager do you think he was?
7. Do we welcome the Gay community to the church?
8. Strong Women of the Bible
This could be very interesting!
The window for suggestions is closing soon (Dec 31) and I would be very happy to receive more. People of St. Andrew's can make suggestions by responding to this post, by dropping of a suggestion in the box at the church tomorrow or in whatever way is most convenient for you! Don't delay!!
Scott
Family Winter Fun!
Feeding the birds and having fun skating!
