St. Andrew United Methodist Church

Great news for the St Andrew Market and the families it serves!

Our Kids Ministry team is transforming Fellowship Hall in preparation for next week’s Kids Camp! Beginning on Monday, June 15, our halls will be filled with excited campers as they embark on the Snowball Mountain Challenge. Through powerful stories of courage and hope, children will learn to draw strength from their faith. With a unique winter-themed experience, this camp will bring both joy and meaning as kids discover the truth of Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” To celebrate an incredible week of camp, we invite everyone to join us on Sunday, June 21 at 11:45 a.m. for a Family Patio Picnic. There will be a grilled lunch, Kona Ice, and snow tubing fun for all ages.

Rev. Mark’s Weekly Note:

Dear St. Andrew Family,

Last week, we began our new series, Faith for the Rest of Us: Everything We Hoped Was True, by exploring what it means to say that Jesus is the face of God. If Jesus reveals the nature and character of God, then perhaps God is more compassionate, inclusive, and beautiful than many of us were taught to imagine.
This Sunday, we’ll consider another possibility: What if God is closer than we think?

Many of us grew up imagining God as distant and entirely transcendent—somewhere above us, beyond us, outside our present reality, unaffected by our experiences.

Yet Jesus says the kingdom of God is already among us (Luke 17). And the Apostle Paul proclaims that God is so close to us that “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17).
What if the spiritual life is not about searching to find God somewhere else, but awakening to the presence of God already here? What if every person, every creature, every moment of beauty, every expression of love, and every act of justice is taking place within a reality that is already infused with the presence of God?

The Kentucky poet and farmer Wendell Berry once wrote, “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” The early 20th century poet Caryll Houselander put it another way: “Everything that lives is holy, because everything lives in God.”

Mystics and contemplatives across the centuries have long insisted that the world is not divided between the sacred and secular, the spiritual and physical, the holy and the profane. There is only one reality. Our greatest challenge is not finding God somewhere else but learning to see the God who has been present with us everywhere, always.

Join us this Sunday as we continue our journey toward a more beautiful and spacious faith. I’ll be preaching at all three services: 8, 9, and 10:45 am.

Be well, be blessed, and abide in love.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Mark

There are still spaces available for VBS Seniors, June 23–25! Watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUIhEADGrHE
Register using this link: https://gostandrew.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3496631

Senior VBS Promo 2026 Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Rev. Mark’s Weekly Note:

Dear St. Andrew Family,

While in Rome earlier this week, Lori and I made a visit to the Campo de’ Fiori (the “Field of Flowers”) to stand before the monument of Giordano Bruno, a figure I wrote about in my last book, Life After God. Bruno has long been a quiet hero of mine.

In 1600, he was executed in that very square after years of imprisonment. His crime? Among other things, he dared to imagine a universe larger than the one his church was willing to accept. He believed the stars were suns, that worlds beyond our own might exist, and that truth need not fear discovery. History has vindicated many of his insights, but in his own day there was no room for them.

At the base of his monument is an inscription dedicated to the century Bruno foresaw and to the place where his death became “a beacon of freedom.” The inscription reads:

“A BRUNO – IL SECOLO DA LUI DIVINATO – QUI DOVE IL ROGO ARSE”

In English, this translates to:

"To Bruno – the age he predicted – here where the fire burned.”

Bruno was burned at the stake.

I’ve always been moved by Bruno’s witness that truth has a way of outliving fear, and that future generations often see what the present cannot.

As I stood there this week, I thought about how many people today find themselves in a similar place—not because they are astronomers or philosophers, but because they are asking honest questions about faith. Too often, they have been told there is no room for their doubts, their curiosity, their evolving understanding, or their experience of the world.

Yet perhaps the problem is not that faith has become too small for us. Perhaps it is that we have inherited versions of faith that were too small to begin with.

This Sunday we begin a new series called “Faith for the Rest of Us: Everything We Hoped Was True.” What if the more beautiful and spacious faith you were quietly hoping for is the one that was there all along? Over four weeks, we'll explore a vision of Christianity for doubters, dreamers, and the deconstructed—for anyone who has wondered if there might be a faith with more room to breathe. Together we'll consider the God we see in Jesus, a reality without dividing lines, a belonging that leaves no one out, and a faith that is less about believing the right things and more about becoming the people we were created to be.

This Sunday's message is titled "Jesus is the Face of God" based on scripture from John 14:8–11 and Colossians 1:15–20.

For many people, the greatest obstacle to faith is not Jesus—it is the image of God they were handed. A God who is distant, angry, exclusionary, or impossible to reconcile with the love revealed in Christ. But what if Jesus is not merely one revelation of God among many? What if Jesus is the clearest picture of who God has always been?

As the Apostle Paul writes, Christ is "the image of the invisible God."

If you have ever struggled to believe in God, perhaps the place to begin is not with abstract doctrines or theological arguments, but with the person of Jesus himself.

I hope you'll join us as we begin this journey together. I’ll be preaching at all three Sunday services: 8, 9, and 10:30 am.

Until then, may you find the courage to ask honest questions, the freedom to seek deeper truths, and the grace to trust that God's love is wider than we often imagine.

Be well, be blessed, and abide in love.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Mark

Many thanks to Alison Mangas from our Wellbeing Committee for today’s presentation on the history of labyrinths and using labyrinths as a spiritual tool for wellbeing, and to Bill Hamaker for guiding participants in walking the St. Andrew Labyrinth. All are welcome to walk the labyrinth at the southwest corner of our campus at any time.

How to Use the Labyrinth
Preparation: Begin with intention. Enter quietly, perhaps carrying a question, prayer, or simply openness to God's presence.
The Journey In: Walk slowly and mindfully toward the center, releasing worries and distractions. This represents letting go and preparing to receive what may unfold or emerge as you walk.
The Center: Pause in the heart of the labyrinth for prayer, meditation, or simply being present with God. Listen for guidance or rest in divine love.
The Journey Out: Walk the same path back, carrying insights, peace, or renewed purpose into the world.

The labyrinth welcomes all spiritual traditions and can be walked for quiet, discernment, clarity, or simply as a form of moving prayer. There's no "right" way to walk it, only your authentic spiritual experience unfolding with each step.

Summer months mean additional outdoor projects under the direction of our Facilities team, including the request by many for additional accessible ramps. The crew has made great progress on this project in two days!