Newsletter: Welcome to June!

We’re getting ready for the Summer Slowdown. This will be the last week with Tuesday Bible Study and the various Thursday morning activities. We’ll take a break from these in June, July & August and restart again in September. We’ll also be taking a break from the 8am Sunday Service through July as many of us will be away on holidays that month.

Care Home Ministry

We’ll be visiting Harrison Pointe today, May 25th, at 2pm, and then will be at Harrison Landing on Wednesday, May 31st at 2pm. In June, we’ll be at Harrison Landing on the Wednesday the 14th at 2pm and at Harrison Pointe on Thursday the 22nd, also at 2pm. All are welcome to come and help us sing and pray with the residents!

A Message from the Wardens…

St Andrew’s has been operating relatively smoothly so far in 2023, especially with the help of many in the congregation. We had a good turn out a couple of weeks ago for a building maintenance day and we managed to clean out several closets and rooms.  Our outside garden and grass cutting teams have been hard at work, getting the grounds looking good for summer.  As our building is over 40 years old, we are always seeming to have to repair something.  For example, we had to have several of our building door locks repined, as many were having difficulty getting their keys to work, just due to years of use.

While most of our operations are running smoothly, we do have one major problem.  With Joanie Markwart moving last October, we lost our Parish Administrator.  Joanie worked tirelessly for us, 3 days a week.  She was the glue that held all the volunteers and our operations together.  Joanie answered all the questions the office received from the congregation, renters and potential renters, repair people and newcomers.  She also was our communication coordinator making sure everyone knew of upcoming events and what was happening around the church.

Over the last six months we have unsuccessfully tried to replace her by more use of the office volunteers.  Unfortunately the problem is that each of our volunteers, while they do a great job, are only at the church for 1 day a week. It is hard for them to fill the overall administration role.  What has resulted is that Rev. Andrew Halladay has ended up acting as the coordinator.  When people come to the office, he is the person everyone asks questions to.  Of course he is only too willing to try to help but it means that he is working many more hours than is expected, (remember he is only paid to work 70% of a full-time position or about 28 to 30 hours per week.)

It is both the little things that get forgotten, such as being in contact with the irrigation company who sets up the system in the spring, or checking back with someone who has shown interest in becoming a member of the church, to the more time-consuming things like the newsletter, service preparation, social media updates and congregational communications.  Joanie being a member of the congregation and at church most Sundays was able to manage to be our parish administrator and communications coordinator as well.

The Wardens and Parish Council have determined that we can’t continue to operate in our present manner and are actively trying to hire a new Parish Administrator and Communications Coordinator.  We would ideally like to find someone who would also be able to fill a role with our Family Ministry, helping to sustain and grow our activities with our younger families.

We believe that you and your contacts, are the best way for us to find a suitable person. If you know anyone who you think might be a fit, please let us know.  We will be posting a job description soon.

Financially, so far this year, the church has been able to keep our expenditures in line with our budget, even with ever increasing costs.  However revenues are about 12% lower than we expected, including a 6% drop in regular donations.  This has resulted in our revenues being lower than our expenses by $13,740 after the first 4 months of the year.  One of the major reasons for this difference is that we had to pay our annual building insurance of $11,337.

Revenues do not come in evenly during the year and are dependent on the timing of various donations, from memorial gifts to regular givings. Please take a moment to review your donation plan for 2023, for it is only with your support, that we will be able to return our revenues to the expected amounts, over the rest of the year.

One concern we do have is that we have not been paying for a Parish Administrator, so far this year, and with our plan to return to a salaried person, we will have to ensure that our revenues are sustainable and at least meet our 2023 budget. 

Finally, later this year, we would like to start to look at the next phase of our building rebuild, which will include new flooring and painting in the offices and lounge as well as the bathrooms.  We have not estimated this cost yet, but we will need at least an additional $20,000 in the building fund before we can start the project, hopefully in 2024.

Thank-you for your help and support and may God bless each of you.

Respectfully submitted.

Stuart Allan, People’s Warden

Cathy Barnes, Vicar’s Warden 

Family Picnic at the Lake

Coming soon is our next Family Service which will be at the Lake this time!

If possible, please let us know if you are coming so we have enough food and supplies.

Here are the details…

Theme: Gathering together to celebrate Pentecost!

Date: Saturday, June 3

Time: Lake/Beach is open at 2:00 pm – Activities start at 4:30 with BBQ to follow.

Location: Lorie & Dwight’s home, 2039 Carol Road, Lindell Beach (Cultus Lake).

(Drive Columbia Valley Road past Cultus Lake town and campgrounds. Turn RIGHT just before the ‘General Store’ sign at the end of Maple Bay campground. Drive down Lindell Avenue to 10th Street, turn LEFT and drive across Carol Road into our driveway. We will help direct parking. Call 604-217-6966 if needed.)

Bring: Lawn chairs, sun wear/screen, friends & family

Looking forward to being together with water & woods, fire & fun and YOU!

As always, please let me know if you or anyone you know would like a visit from the clergy!

Love from,

Andrew