St. Andrew's Lutheran Church

Dear Friends,

For the last year and a half, many of us have been blessed by the services of our Visitation Pastor, the Rev. Christian McMullan.  Pastor McMullan has been a valued colleague of mine for many years and he has been a great assistance to me during his time at St. Andrew's, especially around the Christmas and Easter seasons.  Since Pastor McMullan has been working on his doctorate with the hope of finding a Universtiy teaching position and since his teaching position was a role of adjunct faculty, a position which is not always renewed, we entered into an agreement with Pastor McMullan realizing that this was likely not a long term arrangement.  Since the attached letter was composed, Pastor McMullan now has the opportunity to serve as full time Interim Pastor at St. James Lutheran in Limerick.  We wish him God's rich blessings as he begins this exciting challenge in ministry.
So far as a plan for future visitation is concerned, we have no immediate plan to replace…

Holy and Living God, You continue to confound  our expectations and surprise us with your redeeming power in our lives.  Come among us, risen Lord.  Reveal yourself to us that we may know with confidence that nothing in all creation, not even death, can separate us from your love.  In Jesus' name.  Amen. A word of thanks to all of you who offered your hearts and hands and voices to a deeply moving Holy Week and a joy filled celebration of the Resurrection.  It was exciting to see an increase in attendance at special services throughout Lent and Holy Week this year, especially among those who are newer to our faith community. Many hearts were touched and lives were lifted up through the celebrations of this past week. We are truly blessed. Continue to pray for those who were unable to be with us on Sunday, the sick, the struggling, the hospitalized, the homebound, and the dying.  Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, especially those who …

Dear Friends,     If you were not able to join us for worship this past Sunday, you missed a truly moving , breathtaking, deeply dramatic presentation of  the Passion of our Lord.  We want to thank our music director, John Rea, who wrote and produced the play, including some beautiful new compositions (and some pretty good material from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We certainly want to thank all of our choirs for their hard work and dedication.  Your support of this performance and your confidence in carrying out your varied tasks is  the glue that brings all of it together in such a profound way. Each year many people are blessed by this profound proclamation of the Gospel.  Thank you!     This Thursday at 7:30 we begin our journey from despair to hope, from darkness to light, from death to life.  Here is our worship schedule for Holy Week: Maundy Thursday – 7:30 PM Tonight we are reminded that our life of discipleship is a life of forgiveness and servanthood.…

Dear Friends,
Warmer temperatures, plants beginning to break through the earth, and the start of a new baseball season are all welcome signs of spring, new life, and the marvels of our Creator.  This Sunday's Gospel is also a glimpse of the Easter proclamation ahead, a reminder of Christ's powerful presence in our lives, and a poignant reminder that death does not get the final word even when it sometimes feels that way.  As I prepare for this weekend and for a Bible Study at noontime today, I invite you to read this weekend's Gospel text in advance with a few questions to think about along the way.  The Gospel is John 11:1-45 (the only text that we will focus upon this weekend)
1. Why do you think that Jesus did not go immediately to help Lazarus? 2. How would you describe the words of Thomas in this text? 3. When Mary and Martha address Jesus upon his arrival, are they using words of anger or words of faith?  Why do you think this? 4. What do you learn about Jesus from his wo…