St. Paul & St. Andrew's Sermon and Prayercast

"The Kin-dom of Heaven is like a mustard seed... No, wait, it's like yeast mixed into flour... Maybe, it's like buried treasure?  Or a valuable pearl!" Matthew 13This week we're presented with four more puzzling parables. Jesus desperately wants his followers (including us) to understand something about the community, the way of life, that he is calling us into. But it's evidently a bit hard to describe.Jesus uses parables not because they clear everything up, but because they force us to think, and maybe to change. Join us this Sunday as we continue to puzzle through the parables!KPS: Please plan to stay after worship for a fabulous Cook-Out/Eat-In. Feel free to bring a salad, side dish, or dessert to share. Or just yourself!

“He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field’” – Matthew 13:24This week, Jesus tells us another parable about sowing and reaping—but something’s different. Something’s off. The wheat and the weeds look exactly alike! Can you tell them apart? Can you judge which is which? Is that your decision to make?Jesus wasn’t in the business of reinforcing our binaries but disturbing them. We can see all around us the dangers of dividing the world into us versus them, the guilty and the innocent. Jesus knows that humans aren’t so simple. The wheat and the weeds are mixed in our fields. As our church and our community try to embody the justice and compassion of the kin-dom of God, our path will not be free of obstacles. It will not be free of ambiguity or uncertainty. So we must rely on the gracious and liberating God who knows us and loves us deeply.And that is good news!Peace,Jacob

This Sunday's lectionary text is a parable many of us likely know well - the parable of the sower. As I've sat with it this week, I keep thinking about the stories we're part of - the story of this nation, the story of this community at St. Paul and St. Andrew, even the stories we tell ourselves in our own heads - and how all of them shape who and whose we understand ourselves to be.The word "parable" means to overturn, to cast aside. Jesus used them throughout his ministry not to comfort or confirm, but to challenge. Parables are meant to move the hearers to reconsider the status quo, to disrupt complacency, and to invite curiosity around how things might be different.That's work I know this community is about. It's also hard work - it's not easy to find something new in something familiar, on our own. So I'm looking forward to sitting with the parable of the sower together this Sunday and to whatever new ground it might open up for us all.With hope in the power of a disrupting gospel,sally

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30.As Jesus was forming his community in ancient Palestine, his leadership contrasted greatly with the imperial leadership that oppressed his people. To be a leader offering ease and rest, gentleness and humility was radical. This was the marker of a servant leader.As we celebrate the 250th birthday of this country, I am thinking about who we are as a collective and who we ought to strive to be as a world leader. What if we offered the world a Christlike gentleness and humility? What if we posed a light burden on the world instead of the heaviness of imperial might and control? What if?I wish you all a peaceful Independence Day and look forward to exploring the model of Christ with you this Sunday.Blessings,Aurora

“You are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” – Matthew 5:13 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers – tells us – to stay salty. As we celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride this month and this Sunday in particular, it feels like a fitting exhortation. After all, Stonewall was a riot, as they say. But what does that mean for us in this moment? This moment of unrelenting assaults on trans people, continuing genocide, ICE’s ethnic cleansing terror campaign, massive attacks on civil liberties and civil rights, ongoing climate crisis… and so much more.  I found some clues by taking a deep dive into Mark Kurlansky’s history of salt (all 484 pages of it) and reaching for inspiration from the fierce resistance of our queer and trans ancestors. I can’t wait to share it with you! See you Sunday! - Benz

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword." - Matthew 10:34That saying of Jesus has got to be among his most controversial. Really, Jesus? Aren't you our Prince of Peace, who departed from your disciples with the words, "Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you."? And didn't you chastise Peter, saying, "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword?But Jesus was never one to shy away from controversy, and even conflict.At the end of last week's New York Annual Conference meeting, our bishop congratulated us for avoiding contentiousness and disputes. And yes, that made it a welcome respite from some years. But, as we all know, without conflict, there can be no change.And so much in our nation and world today demands change.See you Sunday!KPS: Please stay after for our Potluck "Cook Out/Eat In". Bring a salad, side, drink or dessert to share, if you can. Or just yourself!  

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” - Matthew 9:37-38Every summer as a kid, my mom would load our family in the car in the early morning and we’d go blueberry picking. She had a whole system - a belt around our waist holding a plastic ice cream bucket at our hips, and rows upon rows of bushes waiting to be harvested. We became masters of the craft, positioning our hips under our outstretched hands so that as we pulled berries off branch they fell precisely into the container. We'd spend the morning like this, gathering ripe berries and eating almost as many as we picked, until the heat of the day sent us home with stained fingers and full buckets, the berries headed to the freezer to last us through the following July.I found myself thinking about those summers as I read this week's gospel text. Harvesting is hard work, but it is also deeply satisfying work. It is work connected to the land, to seasons, to community, and to the simple delight of gathering at its peak what has been patiently growing for so long.In a world where so much human labor is exploited or abused, where the work for justice can feel endless and exhausting, Jesus' words invite the questions: What are we laboring for? What are we harvesting?This Sunday we'll explore what it means to become co-laborers in God’s harvest, and how Jesus calls ordinary, imperfect people - people very much like you and like me - back to the work we were made for.Looking forward to being with you Sunday,Sally

Friends,We're carrying a lot right now. There is so much hurt in our lives, in our communities, and in the world. This Sunday, we'll gather with a gospel story that invites us to look honestly at that reality and to consider what healing might require of us. We'll also hear the ancient invitation to return to the Lord. Returning to God is part of how we heal. We come back to the Source of life and love. We are renewed, and we are drawn toward wholeness.  We need that.We'll be joined by the wonderful Citrus Singers, whose music will help lead us in worship, and we'll share Holy Communion together. If you're carrying worry, grief, weariness, or simply the weight of these days, I hope you'll come and make some space for prayer, song, reflection, and connection.As always, there is a place for you.Toward wholeness together,Lea

Then God said, ‘Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness…So God created humans in God’s own image, in the divine image, God created them… – Genesis 1:26-27Friends,It is always a bit of a mystery and a miracle to me the ways the suggested texts of Revised Common Lectionary manage to speak to the specific moments or contexts in which they land on any given Sunday.This Sunday, the lectionary points us to the beginning, to the creation narrative found in Genesis 1, where we are assured of our infinite and inviolable worth and value as humans, not because of what we do or produce or because of our holiness or perfection, but simply because of whose we are – God’s beloved children.At a time when we can’t seem to escape the reality of constant assaults on human dignity in our current political, economic, and technological environments, how might we root into this assurance in ways that transform ourselves and the world?On Sunday, we will recognize Peace with Justice Sunday in our United Methodist tradition. It is a Sunday that reminds us that the pursuit of peace requires faithful action.As I sit writing this, people being held at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in New Jersey are in their 6th day of a hunger strike, demanding improved conditions, humane treatment and freedom. In a letter signed by more than 300 detainees, they have detailed egregious violations of their human and civil rights, not only legally and administratively, but through the physical violence of unsanitary living conditions, spoiled and infested food, and lack of sufficient medical care.It is a moment that calls for faithful action.Come Sunday, we’ll reflect together about what faithful action might look like in our own lives, and in the life of our community. In the meantime, scroll down to the section “Delaney Hall Support” for a list of ways you can begin pursuing peace now.Peace and Love,AndreaP.S. This Sunday we will also recognize the graduating high school seniors of our community and enjoy some celebratory cake during coffee hour. Come be a part of the blessing we will offer them as they close this leg of their journey and look to the next!

“Among the disciples were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.”  - Luke 8:2-3Friends,What a joy it is to be back in NYC and worshipping with you all this Sunday! I grew up at St. Paul & St. Andrew, and you will always be my church family. This community nurtured and encouraged me, teaching me from an early age to live out my faith and put love into action. Those values have led me to mission work as a young adult.Together this Sunday, we will learn from Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna—women named in Luke's gospel. Their lives and hearts were transformed through Jesus’s ministry to the extent that they decided to leave their homes and travel with him. By supporting his work through their time, resources, and other gifts, they made it possible for many others to experience the same transformation and liberation they found in Jesus.As a United Methodist Missionary serving in Colombia since 2017, I’ve met many women like Mary, Joanna, and Susanna whose lives have been transformed and who are now working to ensure younger generations have those same opportunities. On this Pentecost Sunday, as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church universal, we will hear more stories of transformation, teamwork, and faith, remembering that fertile ground can nourish seeds even in unlikely places.Amor y paz,Hannah Reasoner

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8Friends,This Sunday, we mark the Ascension, the day forty days after Easter when, according to Luke’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, the risen Christ is taken up into heaven.In both tellings of the story, the disciples are called to become witnesses — to carry forward the story of Jesus’s life, his execution at the hands of empire, and his resurrection by the power of God. It is no small thing to bear witness in a world where empire so often seeks to suppress, distort, or control the stories that threaten its power.Perhaps that is why the disciples are told not to stand staring into the sky, but to return to the work of living, proclaiming, and embodying another way.This Sunday, we are honored to welcome theologian, author, and speaker Kat Armas to St. Paul & St. Andrew. Kat’s work explores how faith can resist systems of injustice and imagine more liberative ways of being. She is the author of Abuelita Faith, Sacred Belonging, and Liturgies for Resisting Empire — a book many in our Connect & Care groups have been engaging together this season.Kat will guest preach at our 11:00 AM worship service and will join us afterward, at 12:15 PM, for a moderated conversation on Liturgies for Resisting Empire. Together, we’ll reflect on how spiritual practice can ground movements for justice, nurture belonging, and help us reimagine faith beyond the logic of empire as we live into our call to be witnesses.We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful Sunday of worship, conversation, and collective reflection — and we encourage you to invite a friend.See you there!Pastor Andrea

"Some of the people then joined Paul and became believers, including... a woman named Damaris." - Acts 17:34Nearly every chapter in the Acts of the Apostles speaks of women disciples and apostles, including this mention of Damaris, who joins Paul as he departs from the city of Athens. By my count, this includes more than a dozen individual women who are lifted up and named, plus another dozen references to groups of women. How did a movement so filled with faithful women become so quickly dominated by men?This Sunday we'll celebrate 'Mothers and Others Day', a chance to lift up, remember, and honor the women who have played a crucial role in the life of St Paul & St Andrew, and/or a central role in your life. We don't know anything much about Damaris, but I can think of so many 'mothers of the church' who have given birth and life to my faith during my time here. And I am very grateful.See you Sunday,K

"The people were constrained from donating any more, because what they had already given was more than enough to finish the work." - Exodus 36In Exodus, we read the strange tale how during the building of the Tabernacle, all the people are asked to donate what they can to the effort, and soon their generosity overwhelms the workers. 'We have enough!' they say to Moses. 'Make them stop giving!'After forty-plus years of ministry, I can't tell you how unlikely this story feels to me. Any yet, witnessing the outpouring of support by all of you towards the restoration of our 129-year-old roof, I feel a little like Moses. You have given so much! Unbelievable. But look at the result: we have raised nearly enough to finish the project! I know you have not given so generously because you are so deeply devoted to the beauty of Spanish tile roofs. Rather, you understand what restoring our enormous roof will mean for the mission and ministry that happens underneath that roof.And if I can't shout 'Stop!' quite yet, I can certainly say 'Thank you.' You are inspiring.Gratefully,K

“Then Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ ” - John 20:27I always thought the passage of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to the disciples was fascinating, and so funny that we, as many generations of readers, gave Thomas a nickname enshrining his doubt. Really, Thomas just wanted the same proof of resurrection the other disciples got.The thing I love about this story is actually what keeps me believing in Jesus. He gave Thomas what he needed to believe. Jesus knew Thomas needed closeness, to see and touch his wounds; so he met Thomas where he was. And personally, the knowledge that Jesus is willing to come close and to meet us where we are, is what I need to believe.I hope Thomas doesn’t mind his nickname. Because to me, Thomas is the one who teaches us what it means for belief to be born. This Eastertide, ask for what you need. May we find our needs met in love, in community, in faith.See you Sunday,Sarah

In Matthew's Gospel, resurrection happens multiple times, for multiple sets of people!First, of course, for Jesus. Before the story even starts, before the women get to the tomb, before the angel opens the tomb, Jesus is already up. Jesus is already gone.Resurrection then comes to Mary Magdalene and 'the other Mary' (how would you like to be known through the centuries as the 'other Mary'?). While they are on their way to share with the disciples the strange news of the empty tomb, Jesus himself confronts them! At first they fall down, and then they rise with a new message. A message of amazing hope.Resurrection even happens for the Roman soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the tomb! At the appearance of a rather startling angel, the soldiers fall down as though dead. But then they rise to bring a dangerous word to the authorities - the person we were supposed to guard is gone!And we know, because the risen Jesus promises it, resurrection will soon come to the disciples. It will come, even to those who denied and deserted him.They question for us this Easter is this: Where is our resurrection?K

“The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” — Matthew 21:9Palm Sunday is sometimes framed as a victory parade—a foreshadowing of resurrection. And it’s true that in the Roman Empire, palms symbolized conquest and power.But in Jesus’s Jewish context, palms meant something else.They were part of Sukkot, a harvest festival rooted in prayer—prayer for rain, for sustenance, for life. “Hosanna” was not a victory cry. It was a plea:Save us.Lately, every time a news alert lights up my phone, I find myself echoing that ancient prayer:Hosanna. Save us.We are being drained by empire.Quench our parched land.Quench our parched bodies.Quench our parched spirits.These are hard times. But as David Billings wrote in his devotional this morning, “the hard times are not the end times…I gain hope from those who rage against the brutality and injustice of it all. I gain hope from those whose rage is made manifest in the streets.”Palm Sunday is not just a parade. It is a protest—hope entering the city not on a warhorse, but on a humble donkey.On Sunday, we will gather to remember.See you there,Pastor Andrea

As Lazarus emerged from the tomb, Jesus told the crowd, "Unbind him, and set him free." - John 11:44If it has meaning, resurrection is always a collective experience. We are all involved in the process of moving beyond the fear of death, and the denial of death, even the worship of death, into God's powerful way of loving and living.We see this in the story of Ezekiel in the valley, this story that has been accompanying our experience of Lent this year. Ezekiel prophesies to the dry bones, but the knitting of flesh to flesh and the coming of ruach (Hebrew for breath, wind, spirit) is something the people experience together. Until they "stand on their feet, a vast community"!We see it in the story of the raising of Lazarus. When news comes to Jesus of the death of his friend, his disciples determine to go to Bethany with him, an extremely risky thing to do, given that Jesus has twice narrowly escaped getting stoned to death in that same area. And when Jesus asks Lazarus's sisters to show him the tomb, the whole community of women comes along to assist and to witness.We see it in ourselves. If resurrection only happens to me, without you, it's not resurrection. And if it happens just to Jesus and not to me, I'm not sure I'm that interested.We rise together, or not at all,K

Hi Friends,For more than 40 years, a woman named Sally Winey has been repairing old teddy bears that people send to her from across the country. These bears arrive worn thin, missing eyes, with torn seams and fading fur. But to the people who send them, they aren’t just toys. As Sally says, “That bear’s been with them through everything.”Instead of discarding them, she carefully takes them apart, mends what has been damaged, replaces what has been lost, and gently stitches them back together so they can be held again. It made me think about the worn places in our own lives, the relationships that fray, the parts of ourselves that grow tired or feel a little scattered. This Sunday, we’ll reflect on Psalm 23 and the promise that God is quietly, patiently at work restoring what has been worn down and depleted. I hope you’ll join us!With you in the work of restoration,Pastor Lea

Friends,You may have caught on that John chapter 4, the story of the encounter of Jesus with a Samaritan woman at a well, is a favorite of mine, since I reference it nearly every Communion Sunday.The truth is, I come to that story to drink, rather than preach. I need the idea that Jesus offers us living, spring-fed spiritual water, rather than the stagnant water of a well. I come to Jesus to be refreshed and inspired.I come because, in the middle of a dry spell, I need something that will quench my thirst.I can't guarantee that I will come up with a sermon worth listening to this Sunday, but I look forward to sitting with you beside the well. Maybe together we will find something for our parched spirits.K

"Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil..." Matthew 4:1The devil is clever. Devil in Greek is διαβόλου (diabolos), one who 'throws-across', or 'casts-through'; in other words, one with the ability and the will to distract us, tempt us, test our resolve. Matthew's gospel describes three temptations. Jesus is tempted by money (or physical needs), safety, and power. But Jesus understands that the devil can't (and won't) deliver on these things, and if he could, those things would come at a cost.I hate to judge (not really, that's one of my temptations), but I feel that too many of our fellow Christians have taken the devil's deal. And that makes it all the more important to stick with Jesus. Because his time of trial is ours, as well.Love you,K

Dear Friends,This Sunday, we’ll gather at the threshold of Transfiguration, a moment in the church year that invites us to look up and around, to notice what’s shining.  We’re invited to remember that the holy happens here, too, even in our messed up, hurting world.  We, as followers of Christ, work hard to stay alert to what is breaking in our world.  And there is so much.  But faith also calls us to remain open to the radiant and even strange ways that God shows up and shines among us. We want our faith to make some space for that mystery, for that magic, too. We need it. So come, open to the ache of the world, but also to the transporting, transfiguring experience of awe. I hope you’ll join us.With hope for holy surprises!Pastor Lea

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt becomes tasteless, can it be salty again?" - Matthew 5:13Friends,In the collection of sayings we call the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us away from blandness, challenges us to resist tastelessness. As people of faith, as companions of Jesus, we may be moved to do and say things that rub some people the wrong way. And that can lead to trouble. So, it's a challenge to stay salty, to live in the light, rather than retreat to the safer shadows.One thing about salt: it doesn't take much to make a real difference. See you Sunday. Stay safe. Stay salty.K

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8Friends, These days, I find myself asking the question often, “How are we to be in times like these? " And surely I’m not alone in asking this.This week’s lectionary brings us to a passage in Micah that maybe some of you know well. I take heart in Micah’s words, because I imagine the peoples’ questions that prompted such a response as this. But I’m not sure the answer stands alone.Before God tells the people to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly,” God widens their vision—calling the mountains as witnesses and inviting them into a deeper story of who they are and where they come from. What might this remembering of the place of God’s people in the wider web of creation and in the long river of time -past, present and future- have to teach us about the moment we’re in today? I’m looking forward to digging into it together on Sunday, Sally

Please join Pastor K Karpen in a moment of prayer, from the January 25, 2026 service at St. Paul & St. Andrew in New York City.

"Immediately, they left their nets and followed Jesus" - Matthew 4:20Friends,Those words from the gospels are so familiar. Jesus gathers disciples, and they 'follow' him.This week, I would love to consider a different understanding of the word we translate follow. The Greek word ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheo) can mean 'to follow' -- but a different, and maybe better translation, would be simply: 'to come with, or to accompany.'Why do I care? As I think about my own walk with Jesus, what I believe I need at this point in my life is a little company, a little support, a bit of consolation for the moments I just want to throw up my hands in despair. Help me, Jesus. Accompany me, and let me accompany you.See you Sunday!K

Please join Pastor K Karpen in a moment of prayer, from the January 18, 2026 service.

He said to them, "Come and see.” — John 1:39Friends,In this week’s gospel text, Jesus encounters a couple of strangers. They’ve been hearing the chatter—about Jesus, about who people think he is—and they’re curious.Noticing that curiosity, Jesus extends a simple invitation: “Come and see.”He doesn’t tell them what they’re supposed to think or believe. He doesn’t try to persuade or control.Come and see, he says.It’s as if he’s whispering, I trust you—and you can trust yourselves.This invitation is a marked departure from the rhetoric of empire, which demands compliance, obedience, and conformity, and so often denies the divine wisdom—the image of God—already alive within each of us.We’ll explore this invitation to discipleship together later this morning.Come and see.Peace and love,Pastor Andrea

Join Pastor Andrea Steinkamp in a moment of prayer from the January 11, 2026 service. Thank you for joining us today. 

Dear Friends,I hope you’ll join us for worship this Sunday as we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, a day centered on water, grace, and belovedness.We'll have the joy of baptizing AJ Palma Gil and Nora Howse, welcoming them into the family of faith and surrounding them with our prayers, promises, and love. As we witness their baptisms, we’ll share in the sacrament that reminds us who we are and whose we are.It'll be a special, hope-filled morning, grounding us again in God’s love that meets us just as we are.I hope to see you there!With grace,Pastor Lea

"And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way." Matthew 2:12Happy New Year! A new year gives us a chance to think through the road we've been traveling and consider whether we might change direction. That's true for my life, and it's true of our communal life as well.The magi are the stars (!) of the Epiphany story. But the real gift they bring to the Holy Family is to reconsider the road they were planning to take, choosing resistance rather than capitulation. Choosing Jesus over Herod. A life-saving decision for Jesus! And a life-changing decision for those of us who call ourselves Christians.Looking forward to spending a choice-filled new year with you,K

On this Christmas, we pause to remember that the light shines in the darkness—and the darkness does not overcome it. Whether you are feeling full of joy, carrying quiet grief, or simply catching your breath in the midst of a busy season, we offer this word of hope and peace to you. May the love made known in Christ meet you exactly where you are today. 

On this Christmas, we pause to remember that the light shines in the darkness—and the darkness does not overcome it. Whether you are feeling full of joy, carrying quiet grief, or simply catching your breath in the midst of a busy season, we offer this word of hope and peace to you. May the love made known in Christ meet you exactly where you are today. 

Dear Friends,This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a season that starts not in bright lights and carols, but in the dark. It begins with tremors and shadows, with stars falling and the ground beneath us shifting.Guided by Mark’s gospel, we’ll listen for signs and portents, for the eerie syzygy of a world in upheaval and the unsettling beauty that comes when the familiar order begins to crack. In this uncertainty, we may just glimpse the nearness of God.We’ll gather to keep watch, to let our eyes adjust to the dimness where the Holy is already drawing near, to find hope flickering at the edge of endings and beginnings.Join us this Sunday, as we hold onto hope in the shadows.Until then, have a very Happy Thanksgiving and know that I am  grateful to wait and watch with you,Pastor Lea

Please join Pastor Andrea Steinkamp in a moment of prayer from the November 30, 2025 service.

Dear Friends,This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a season that starts not in bright lights and carols, but in the dark. It begins with tremors and shadows, with stars falling and the ground beneath us shifting.Guided by Mark’s gospel, we’ll listen for signs and portents, for the eerie syzygy of a world in upheaval and the unsettling beauty that comes when the familiar order begins to crack. In this uncertainty, we may just glimpse the nearness of God.We’ll gather to keep watch, to let our eyes adjust to the dimness where the Holy is already drawing near, to find hope flickering at the edge of endings and beginnings.Join us this Sunday, as we hold onto hope in the shadows.Until then, have a very Happy Thanksgiving and know that I am  grateful to wait and watch with you,Pastor Lea

Please join Pastor Lea Matthews in a moment of prayer from the November 23, 2025 service.

‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?' Matthew 25:44It occurs to me that some of the most caring and generous people I know don't understand how unusual they are. They go through life with a natural sensitivity to what is going on around them. And not responding to an opportunity to give, seems unthinkable to them.Now that I think about it, I actually know a lot of people like that! So many are part of our faith community. That is one of the things that make St Paul & St Andrew so amazing!This Sunday we will all have a chance to help keep the amazing going. Please bring your pledge card with you (or grab the one in your bulletin), as we share in our Love in Action Pledge Campaign for 2026!  Gratefully,K

At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.  On November 23, Vicki Clark shares with the congregation.

At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.  On November 16, Jessica Tulloch shares with the congregation.

Please join seminary intern Sarah Patlan in a moment of prayer (from the November 16, 2025 service).

"When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones ...Jesus said, 'As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another.'" Luke 21:5-6That's not a great lectionary text to show up as we're celebrating the start of the big roof project! But it is another reminder that it's not our lovely and quirky building that matters, but the vital work of love that the building makes possible. It feels right, this time of year, to take a pause in the challenging task of fundraising for our capital campaign in order to focus on making sure that vital work of love can continue in 2026. It takes each of us contributing what we can: in time, in money, in prayers, in showing up, and witnessing to the power of God's love!See you Sunday,K

At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.  On November 9, Hector Pagan and Nylee Pagan share with the congregation.

"Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question…" - Luke 20:27-28Friends,Long before I was a pastor, I had a job that involved working alongside lawyers as they navigated lawsuits and prepared for depositions and trials. My role often involved drafting examination questions about the financial issues of the case, based on the reams and reams of documents we had reviewed and analyzed.There was a very important rule when drafting these questions: never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to. It was a way of controlling the narrative and protecting our client from surprises that might hurt their case.In this week’s gospel reading from Luke, Jesus is approached by a group of Sadducees who do just that. They ask him a question they’re sure they already know the answer to - a question they’re certain will expose the absurdity of his beliefs and humiliate him in front of the crowd.But by the end of the interaction, after Jesus flips the script, as he so often does, pointing his audience not to the ways and understandings of the world, but rather to the mysteries of God, it is not Jesus’ beliefs that end up sounding absurd, but rather the question laid before him.This week’s text has me wondering - what are the things I think I know that might be getting in the way of my faith? What are the things I think I know that are pointing me to despair, rather than hope, to animosity, rather than love? And what are the questions I’m afraid to ask - because I sense the answers might call me to release the illusions of control that bring such false comfort?Will you come and wonder with me this Sunday?With hope,Pastor Andrea

Friends,I’ve been thinking quite a bit about silence lately - and wrestling with my yearning for it at a time when silencing seems to be the objective of so many authoritarian powers. Like most things, silence isn’t good or bad in and of itself. It can be both generative and destructive, both holy and sinful.This Sunday in worship, we’ll reflect together on the silences that emerge from wonder and awe, from presence and attentiveness. We’ll consider when we are called to raise our voices and when we are called to bring silence into loud and restless places.After the service, I hope you’ll stay for Art Making for All - an opportunity for our community to nurture connection, practice presence, and perhaps give expression to what words cannot hold. We’ll be printmaking with found objects, so dig through your cupboards, closets, junk drawers, and recycling bins for anything that won’t mind getting a little paint on it.Let’s see what beauty emerges through playful exploration together!See you Sunday,Pastor Andrea

Friends,Finally, the season has come! I’m not thinking of the lovely Autumn weather that has indeed shown up, after a sizzling September and a too hot early October. And I’m not talking about the election season, God knows.I’m speaking of the beloved annual pledge season, celebrated this time of year throughout Christendom. At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.This Sunday, we will kick off our 'Love in Action 2025 Campaign'. Yay!! Yes, it's about faithfully funding the work of the church. And it's also about deciding what each of us can bring to this community to help make real the daily miracle of enacting love!Looking forward,K

Dear Friends,So much of life depends on how we show up for one another, and just as importantly, how we allow others to show up for us. This week in worship, we’ll reflect on what it means to live that kind of mutual care: to lend what we can, to ask when we need, and to trust that God’s abundance flows through our shared courage.Come join us Sunday, as we explore how, even in small and ordinary ways, we can keep compassion and hope flowing in our community.With gratitude for our shared life,Pastor Lea

"There is joy in the presence of the angels whenever one who is lost finds their way." - Luke 15:10Friends,This week's Gospel passage is all about joy, and the need to never give up on anyone. Jesus is always getting criticized for spending time with the sorts of people nobody else wanted or cared about. Spending time because he understands that everyone matters to God. Every soul is of sacred worth. Every single person has the potential to increase our joy.May that joy fill our lives this Sunday, as we welcome many new members, hear amazing news about our capital campaign, and gather after worship to eat and enJOY each other!With joy for each of you,Pastor K