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

© 2011 St. Andrew Lutheran Church

WORSHIP / How We Worship / Music / Sacraments / Fellowship / Membership

How We Worship

Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor.—Psalm 29:2

While approaches to worship may differ from one congregation to another, Lutherans hold certain things in common.

The basic pattern for worship among Lutherans is that we gather, we encounter God’s Word, we share a meal at the Lord’s table, and we are sent into the world to proclaim God's Word. However, we do not think about worship so much in terms of what we do because worship is fundamentally about what God is doing and our response to God’s action. Worship is an encounter with God, who saves us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Music

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; —Psalm 66:1-2

Music has always played a major role in the Lutheran worship service.

At St. Andrew Lutheran Church, we feature a church choir in the charge of our music director, Louis C. Potts, and a bell choir, under the direction of parishioner Gary Betts. The church choir practices at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays from September through June. Its members take the summer off. In the winter, its ranks are bolstered by our associate members who spend the winters here.

Think about it like this. God’s Spirit calls us together. God speaks to us through readings from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and through preaching, prayer, and song. God feeds and nourishes us in a saving way. God blesses us and sends us in mission into the world.

The Word proclaimed and the sacraments—Holy Baptism and Holy Communion—are called the means of grace. We believe that Jesus Christ is present in these means through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we describe worship as a “gathering around the means of grace,” which is a way of saying that we trust that God is present with us in baptism, in preaching, and in sharing the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Lutherans believe that God’s presence permeates all of Christian worship.

The cross is the central symbol that marks our worship spaces, and, when Lutherans worship, singing fills the air. Our voices joined in song and our participation in the worship are a witness to our conviction that we are being drawn in to God’s own saving story.

Children are welcome and encouraged to attend our worship service. Bible-related coloring and activity sheets and storybooks are available in the narthex for children to enhance their go-to-church experience. Child care is available during the 10:00 service following the pastor’s special message to the children. 

The church choir is accompanied by Lou on our Allen digital organ, our Knabe grand piano, or our Clavinova electronic keyboard. For the hymn of the day, Gary embellishes Lou's organ accompaniment on his flute. He also plays the clarinet and the piano.

The bell choir practices after the Sunday worship service at the call of Gary. Gary does his own arrangements of its music.

Lou has been organist at St. Andrew United Reformed Church, Sussex, England, and St. Margaret’s (Anglican), Norfolk, England; Peace Lutheran Church, Bermuda; and Church of the Advent, Episcopal, Crestwood, Missouri. He served as organist and choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church, St. Louis, Missouri. He studied organ with Richard J. Helms at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, where he received a bachelor of arts degree, and with Dr. Alexander McCurdy at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey.

Gary was awarded the Linda Montgomery Memorial Musical Scholarship at William Penn High School in New Castle, Delaware, in 1974, and received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, in 1978, and master of music in music education from West Chester University, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1985. He taught vocal and instrumental music in the New Castle County and Sussex County, Delaware, public schools from 1978 to 1989, the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Florida, from 1990 to 1997, and St. Paul Catholic School in St. Petersburg from 2000 to the present.

At St. Paul, he teaches all the music in early childhood 3 through grade 8, including choir, band, bell choir, weekly liturgy, and general music.

Our pastor, Rev. Mark E. Kreemer, has a bachelor’s degree in music education from Ohio State University, and his wife, Veronica, is an accomplished singer.

Sacraments

The Lutheran church celebrates two sacraments:  Baptism and Holy Communion.   These sacraments nurture us in our Christian life.

Baptism

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.—Matthew 28:19

Baptism is the entry rite into Christian faith. It is an act instituted by God, performed using water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whereby the baptized is united with Christ.

Holy Communion

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.—John 6:51

In Holy Communion, also called the Eucharist, Lutherans recall the saving acts of God through Word, bread, and wine and are connected with Christ and with Christians of all times and places. In this sacrament we are fed with the Body and Blood of Christ. 

Holy Communion is offered at St. Andrew Lutheran Church each Sunday during worship. In the Lutheran tradition, if you are baptized and believe that Christ is present at Holy Communion, you may come to the table to receive the sacrament. If you do not wish to take communion, you may come forward for a blessing from the pastor.  Simply cross your arms over your chest.

Fellowship

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.—Acts 2:43

Sunday fellowship is a time of camaraderie and conversation over a cup of coffee and a light refreshment in fellowship hall. Come as a visitor and leave as a friend.

Membership

I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. . . .I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, . . .—John 9:9, 14

Membership is open to all

Welcome packets are available in the narthex for people visiting St. Andrew Lutheran Church for the first time. The packets are one means of establishing a relationship with our church.

New-member classes are conducted by the pastor throughout the year as needed. Contact the pastor if you want to become a member of St. Andrew Lutheran Church

You can become a member through letter of transfer from another Lutheran congregation, through baptism, or through affirmation of faith.

Associate members are people who wish to retain a relationship with St. Andrew Lutheran Church while being members of other congregations. They have all the privileges and duties of membership except voting rights and eligibility for elected office or membership on the congregation council. Many of our associate members are “snowbirds” who are with us during the winter months.

Summarized from   http://www.elca.org