Notice an improvement?
Our fantastic painting team continues their work! The church has now been fully pressure-washed, and the front entrance stucco is painted. More work to be accomplished on Saturday and Monday! (More pictures at the bottom of this memo.)

Saint Andrew's-in-the-Valley
Thursday MEMO
September 23, 2010

Services for Sunday, September 26th, will be at 8 and 10 AM. Duane Dale will be preaching, reflecting on possible implications of the scripture readings on our care and tending of our building. Both services will be followed by coffee hour and a slide show and discussion. As we move forward in addressing maintenance issues, the Vestry and the Facilities Planning Committee are eager to be in open conversation with the parish. We hope you will be able to join for the discussion.

Saint Andrew's Presence at the Sandwich Fair, October 9th through 11th. For many years we have been trying to take advantage of the public visibility and fund-raising capacity of this hugely popular area event with a table at the Sandwich Fair. Thanks to Gretchen Behr-Svendsen's efforts, we have at long last succeeded! We will have a table in the "Farmers' Market" section.

Gretchen has been working heroically, largely on her own, growing gorgeous Indian corn, shallots, colorful gourds, and pumpkins on her family farm, for which we are enormously grateful. Carol Tubman has been busy canning relishes and jams, and Val May will be contributing her famous dog biscuits. But NOW it's time for the Parish as a whole to step up to the plate!

Our table will need to be staffed by two or three workers (you!) working in 3 1/2 hour shifts. We will need a set-up team from 4:30 to 6:30 on Friday Oct. 8th, then workers for morning, midday, and afternoon shifts on Saturday, the 9th, Sunday, the 10th, and Monday, the 11th. In exchange for your work, you will have access to a free pass to Fair the day you work. We will be located very near the back entrance, which will give us LOTS of visibility, even to hundreds (thousands?) of folks who are not necessarily "doing" the Farmers' Market.

It promises to be a lot of good community fun, and a fabulous way for us to raise money for Saint Andrew's. It is also a wonderful evangelical opportunity, as we share our gratitude for the world around us and the fruits of the harvest and offer healthy, beautiful, down-to-earth products. If we can be successful this year, we can expand next year.

How to sign up: Call the office and leave a message (603-323-8515). Email the office (office@standrewsinthevalley.org). Call Gretchen directly at 323-7459. Don't be surprised if you get a phone call! We really will need strong parish participation.

Initial Safe Church training session coming up: Safe Church training is required of all church members who do home visits or work with children, as well as all church staff, Vestry wardens, and treasurers. It is encouraged for all other Vestry members and interested parishioners.
The up-coming dates are October 2nd, at St. Paul's, in Lancaster, and November 20th, at St. Thomas, in Dover. Please contact our church office to register.

Readings for Sunday: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15, Psalm 91:1-6, 14-161 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31

Food for thought from poet Mary Oliver (as we continue to reflect on the life of bees):

HUM
What is this dark hum among the roses?
The bees have gone simple, sipping,
that's all. What did you expect? Sophistication?
They're small creatures and they are
filling their bodies with sweetness, how could they not
moan in happiness? The little worker bee lives, I have read, about three weeks.
Is that long? Long enough, I suppose, to understand
that life is a blessing. I have found them -- haven't you?--
stopped in the very cups of the flowers, their wings
a little tattered -- so much flying about, to the hive,
then out into the world, then back, and perhaps dancing,
should the task be to be a scout -- sweet, dancing bee.
I think there isn't anything in this world I don't
admire. If there is, I don't know what it is. I
haven't met it yet. Nor expect to. The bee is small,
and since I wear glasses, so I can see the traffic and
read books, I have to
take them off and bend close to study and
understand what is happening. It's not heard, it's in fact
as instructive as anything I have ever studied. Plus, too,
it's love almost too fierce to endure, the bee
nuzzling like that in the blouse
of the rose. And the fragrance, and the honey, and of course
the sun, the purely pure sun, shining, all the while, over
all of us.

And the promised shots of a few of our worker bees:







Frank power washes the altar window wall.














A diligent worker (who?) makes sure that ALL surfaces get sealed.











George scrubs grime off the front of the church.













See you in church!
Blessings,
Heidi+