St. Andrew Lutheran Church

1901 62nd Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

Senior Pastor Mark E. Kreemer

E-mail: standrewluth@verizon.net

Phone: (727) 864-3103

Fax: (727) 906-4833

ACTIVITIES / Women / Men / Young at Heart Club / Other Activities

Women

I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.—Joshua 1:9

The mission of the women of St. Andrew Lutheran Church is to “mobilize women to boldly act on their faith in Jesus Christ.”

The women of St. Andrew Lutheran Church form a congregational unit of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and all the women of St. Andrew are members. Non-Lutheran women may be associate members.

The Mary Martha group meets at the church at 9:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month except July and August. The meetings include a light breakfast, a spiritual lesson, and fellowship.

The Service Group meets at the church at 9:30 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month except July and August. The meetings focus on various activities throughout the year and include assembling donated items for layettes and health and school kits or tacking and sewing quilts all of which are shipped once a year to Lutheran World Relief. At Christmas time, they assemble gift boxes of cookies, which are delivered to shut-ins.

The Mary Magdalene group is new to St. Andrew in 2010. This group is for women whose schedules allow evening fellowship.  They meet the third Thursday of each month, except July and August, at 6:30 p.m. at the church.

The Executive Board meets at the church on the fourth Monday of each month at 10 a.m. (except July).

Annually, on a Sunday in the fall, a Thankoffering service is led by the women. On the first Sunday in May they lead the Rachel’s Day service.

Throughout the year, the women collect “pop tops” for the Ronald McDonald House. During the summer months, the church women’s “JUG” is in the narthex to receive any extra coins—our loose change. In 2009 the collected coins were donated to the Carver Heights Ministries in Leesburg, Florida, to support their program “Changing the World, One Child at a Time.”

Suncoast Women’s Organization (SWO)

St. Andrew Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Suncoast Conference of the Florida-Bahamas Synod. The 2009 Suncoast Conference women’s spring gathering was held at St. Andrew, and St. Andrew parishioner Joyce Dieckhaus was elected president.

Florida-Bahamas Synod Women www.fbsynod.com/welca

The women of St. Andrew participate in the annual fall gathering of the Florida-Bahamas Synod women, held at Lake Yale in Leesburg, Florida.

Church Women United (CWU) www.churchwomen.org

Church Women United is a Christian women’s movement, celebrating unity in diversity and working for a world of peace and justice. The women of St. Andrew participate in Church Women United activities in the Tampa Bay area.

Men

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.—John 13:35

The men of St. Andrew formed a men’s ministry group in January 2010.  They meet at noon on the first Saturday of the month at various locations.  The first meeting was held at The Chattaway restaurant.  All men are invited to join this group.

Young at Heart Club

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
—1 John 3:18

The Young at Heart Club was formed in 2009 and became one of St. Andrew’s most active organizations. The club meets at 11:30 a.m. on the last Monday of the month for lunch and a program. Guests are welcome.

Each program has a theme. For St. Patrick’s Day, the menu was predictable, corned beef and cabbage. For its Memorial Day program, St. Andrew’s veterans told their service stories and displayed memorabilia, which included ration books from World War II, and we listened to a compilation of famous radio broadcasts from that war.

Colorful placemats fit for the occasion are made by children from the McMannis Preschool and Child Care Center under the supervision of Mary Ryan, program coordinator, and the food is a cooperative venture.

Other Activities

Other random activities include Christmas caroling, potluck suppers, soup suppers before our weekday Lenten services, cleanup days, the parish picnic, and welcome-back supper for our snowbirds.

© 2011 St. Andrew Lutheran Church