Love in Action
1 John 3:18-19
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so that we will be confident when we stand before God.
I have always thought of St. Andrew as a love-in-action church. We have many opportunities to serve and share the love of Christ. Within the church, we serve through the choir, Sunday School, event setup and cleanup, office help, Stephen Ministry, audio-visual teams, and communion service.
We also volunteer to serve our community. We serve the Blackwell Elementary community by supplying breakfast and snack items for students. The UMM helps pay for lunches for families who are no longer able to provide them. We also help meet needs for teachers and staff—items they would otherwise have to purchase themselves—and we sponsor the annual first-grade field trip to the pumpkin patch.
We host Family Promise participants for two weeks each year. They stay in the Keheley Center, and we provide meals and fellowship while they learn to manage their finances, look for employment, and save toward an apartment. This is one of the few programs in the county that keeps families together.
The entire church community works with the UMM and UWF during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter to provide food and gifts for more than 100 people. We also offer VBS for more than 100 children every summer, along with countless other events in which we have the opportunity to participate.
These ministries are not easy. Behind the scenes, staff and volunteers are planning, organizing, and inviting others to serve. Each event requires financial support, donated items, and willing hands. Some of these events need as many as 100 volunteers.
Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, and that kind of love asks something of us. It calls us back to the promise we made when we joined St. Andrew: to support the church with our “prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.” Find your place to serve, and show God’s love in action.
Paula Heiney
