Dear St. Andrew's people,

In the midst of all the focus on the legal battle, it is good to remember what we are all about. I asked Fr. Bob to give a summary of some of the new ministries going on at our church since his arrival. And of course, undergirding it all is the prayer life of the parish and personal growth in the home fellowships (at least five long-term fellowships were active when the Hackendorfs came). -Pat Dague

What an exciting time here at St. Andrew’s in the Valley! With all the news about lawsuits and controversy, I think it might be easy to lose sight of what life is like at our parish. Truth be told, our people are focused on the Gospel and are carrying out a rich variety of effective ministry to the glory of our Lord!

As I write this, our Vacation Bible School is buzzing with 75 children, teens and adults learning about Jesus. (Last year we held the first VBS that the parish had organized in 30 years. This year’s school is about 50% larger than last year’s.) Our theme verse is Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Soon, our AWANA program, a Bible Club for kids, will be kicking off for a second school year. This program, full of fun for kids, is also an intensive systematic approach to learning Scripture. It is a joy to see grade school students memorize God’s Word together.

Our Youth Group is thriving and growing—our youth worship, pray and play together under the direction of a talented, committed Youth Pastor and adult staff.

Our Classical Christian Home School Cooperative will begin their second year with 18 students enrolled. The Co-Op, a kind of “mini-school,” supplements the home-taught curriculum of our students with instruction in Geography, History, Science, Music, Latin and other subjects. Our goal is to raise up a generation of orthodox Christian churchmen who are learned and useful for the Kingdom.

A number of our people are on staff of Evangelical ministries such as Young Life, Campus Crusade, InterVarsity and the local Rescue Mission. Even more of our people provide skilled volunteer services to various parachurch groups in our region.

We are aggressively starting new small group bible studies for youth and adults. During the School Year, sponsor numerous educational opportunities for adults, including two sections of New Testament Greek instruction (we hope to add Biblical Hebrew and other advanced studies in due course). Believe it or not, promoting literacy in the Biblical Languages among lay people has produced much fruit in our parish!

Our biggest challenge is that our facility is often too small to accommodate all the ministry that is happening, but even this reality forces us to be innovative in our approach.

In short, although we are saddened that anyone calling themselves a Bishop would want to shut all this down, our people embody the theme of this year’s VBS: Courage.

Fr. Bob Hackendorf