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"LEAD LIKE ANDREW"
Membership Newsletter
Brotherhood of St. Andrew
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Welcome to Our Bi-weekly Newsletter
Volume 70, "LEAD LIKE ANDREW"
It's a quick-read, multi-topic news channel for members to see what is going on, what is planned, and what successes from the previous weeks.
Please share news, tidbits, or notices of upcoming events in your area so we may include them. We also value your feedback on this newsletter and how we may better serve you. Don't hesitate to contact
Dr. Roy Benavides (email Roy)
Jeff Butcher (email Jeff)
or Tom Welch (email Tom).
Submission consideration deadline is
Monday at 8 a.m. for the week of release.
Please share this newsletter with others
in your parish or community.
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The Brotherhood of St. Andrew and
the Daughters of the King
IN SPIRITUAL UNITY
for National Day of Prayer
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Scripture Selection:
LIFT UP THE WORD - LIGHT UP THE WORLD
For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him. ~2 Samuel 22:29-31
Prayer:
Daughters and Brothers together, let us pray during these times of trouble and worry to seek God's light in the darkness. In the presence of evil and harm, we ask for God's protection. In a world impacted by sadness, anger, and strife, we seek strength and courage to shield the weak and the innocent. In a world ravaged by war, unbridled tyranny, and hunger, we urge our Brothers and Daughters to seek refuge in God, our mighty protector, to listen and to pray without ceasing. We appeal for the better angels among us. We seek the Holy Spirit in helping us be kind, compassionate, caring, and gracious to all who need sanctuary and security. We ask for these petitions and prayers in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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The Brotherhood of St. Andrew's
Annual Sweepstakes Campaign
Number two of the now-annual Brotherhood of Saint Andrew Kingdom Builder Sweepstakes has arrived. Kind of exciting, too! Your ticket packet should have arrived in the mail by now. (If you haven't received it, call the National Office at 502-450-5640.) All you do is sell your tickets and return the completed stubs with the funds by postmark of midnight, May 15, 2024, to the National Office. The monies raised will advance God's Kingdom through BStA's seven mission ministries: Discipleship & Mentoring; Restorative Justice (Prison); Scouting & Youth; Veterans; Racial Reconciliation, Recovery; and Social Justice.
The Live Drawing will occur over ZOOM on Monday, May 20 at 8 p.m. EST. (Please note that the letter with the tickets was incorrectly printed with May 29 as the drawing date.) Five winners drawn will receive five percent of the total amount raised after printing, mailing, and marketing expenses. This year, the Stewardship and Generosity Commission will reward the chapter of each of the top three salespeople. The chapter will receive Brotherhood merchandise credit towards any inventory item(s) in the following denominations: $150-1st Place, $125-2nd Place, and $100-3rd Place.
If you have not received your tickets or need more tickets, questions, or assistance, call the National Office at 502-450-5640.
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Monthly Webinar
May 1st, 2024
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COMING MAY 1st
HUMAN TRAFFICKING UPDATE
National Study Pending
Fr. Brian McVey
Reverend Brian McVey '90, an Episcopal priest by way of a financial broker, has become a leading advocate in the fight to abolish human trafficking, working alongside his parishioners and other activists to rescue victims, support survivors, educate the public, and lobby all levels of governmental and ecclesiastical power.
Call it indentured servitude, call it human trafficking, or call it slavery, as McVey does.
His advocacy has even garnered the attention of Canterbury and Rome: McVey was tapped to be one of 20 members of the ecumenical Consultation on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, held at the Vatican in November 2014.
For additional information: https://www.hsc.edu/brian-mcvey-90
Our monthly webinars are always on the first Wednesday of each month at 8 pm/Eastern.
Here's the link:
BStA Monthly Webinar Link
In Case You Missed Previous webinars,
here are some recent ones:
BISHOP JEFF W. FISHER
Bro. Jeff Fisher, Bishop Suffragan in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and the bishop for the east region of the diocese Webinar Presentation April 3rd.
TOPIC:
LINK: "WHAT MEN WANT TO HEAR"
Understanding Alzheimer’s and Dementia
Craig Coleman, Program Manager
Alzheimer's Association
replay can be found here
January webinar featuring Rev. Can. Scott Gunn,
Executive Director of Forward Movement
Click here for a replay
February webinar with Rev. Matthew S.C. Olver
Executive Director and Publisher
The Living Church
Click here for a replay
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From the Director’s Chair
By Tom Welch
Jump on in. The water’s fine!
As one could imagine, seminarians can get caught up in any number of theological discussions, often without seeing the forest for the trees. I am always taken by the story of the eunuch, Philip and the chariot ride in the eighth chapter of Acts that ends with “the spirit of the Lord whisking Philip away.” Philip was involved with reading from Isaiah, bringing it into the “here and now” to the eunuch. The eunuch “wanted someone to teach him.” As they rode, on hearing the good news of Christ and the Kingdom, the eunuch wanted to be baptized right away. And, in just a couple of minutes, “he came up out of the water” and before he knows it, Philip is gone. The eunuch got to tell all about his new life in Christ. It didn’t involve months and months of classes, just a moment of new birth for the asking.
There are probably many of you who saw on Easter Sunday some you’d not seen in church before, perhaps maybe even the Easter Vigil. Churches pick up most of their new members in the weeks and few months after such a service. The key that brings them back those additional visits almost universally involves them having a sense of belonging. That belonging is what drives Brothers Andrew. Men have become the largest minority group in the church today. Think about it. What gives any of us a sense of belonging is a comradery we have with others who have the same struggles and hopes. That’s part of what makes the “yes” so easy AFTER men have attended a few of the Brotherhood meetings.
Sometimes I think we are slow to “make the ask” in growing our ministry. Part of growing a ministry involves caring for the ones we have now. We have seven areas of ministry, all of which involve caring for our current members and providing a time and space to let others see the personal growth that comes from such group fellowship of prayer, study and service. We don’t have to complicate it with months and months of teaching. It’s a simple as sharing with a potential new member, “these are some of my dearest friends. I’d like you to get to know them better and see what I mean.” The eunuch confessed “how am I to learn if I don’t have someone to teach me?” What’s keeping you from making the ask? Jump on in. You’ll both find that the water’s fine.
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Introduction to Discipleship Continues
By Darron Kendrick,
VP of Discipleship and Mentoring
Discipleship, like many things, begins at home. How are we being disciples in our chapter and in our parishes? We are certainly being helpful, respectful, and generous, or else we wouldn’t be Brothers of St. Andrew!
At baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit. We’ve talked about the promises others made for us (if we were infants), and that we ourselves later make or confirm as we grow older. The gifts of that same Holy Spirit are with us and develop as we grow: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of God (from Isaiah 11:2, St Augustine’s Prayer Book, p. 23). Being disciples of Jesus also helps us develop these gifts, often in ways that we may never have imagined.
In our time we may feel, as other generations have before us, that we see a growing darkness in our world and in the people who live outside our reach. But we can reach those we fear or secretly despise--not by hating or with confrontation, but by practicing our mission of prayer and developing our gifts. From these gifts we receive the fruits of the Spirit: Self-control, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Love (Galatians 5:22). Begin growing these fruits at home, with our Brothers and in our Churches, show the light of Jesus in your service, study and in your prayers. Disciples will come, the light will shine. We are here to bring that!
If anyone of you Brothers is interested in being part of the ministry of Discipleship and Mentoring, please drop me a note. I would love to hear from you. Contact me at disciple.mentor@brothersandrew.net.
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SCRIPTURAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS
VP Dick Hooper and the Membership Committee of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew have an addition devotion for the Stations of the Cross. This is service is in addition to our Devotional Handbook. It is timely and well done. We urge chapters to include this service with your routine devotions during your time together as Brothers Andrew. The Power Point and Service is available on the Prayer page of the BStA website or you can download the guide here.
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REMINDER:
MINISTRY DUES renewal time is NOW
It is never too late to remain in good standing!
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RENEW HERE!
or mail with check to the National Office at
620 South Third Street Suite 203, Louisville, KY 40202
Annual Ministry Dues are:
Senior Member (men age 21 & older) -- $50
Junior Member (youth under 21) -- $10
Associate Member (women) -- $25
or
become a Life Member for one-time ministry dues of at least $1,000
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JOIN US IN PRAYER EACH WEEK
Mid-Week
Mid-Day
"12:00 Central Time"
Prayers
Join us...
What better way to level set during the middle of the week? We will hold a weekly Wednesday noon (CDT) prayer time over ZOOM that is open to all brothers and guests. Let's pray for the Brotherhood, for our Brothers, and even share some stories of how Prayer has impacted you or someone you know!
We can all spare 20 minutes in prayer. It's like stopping at the faith service station to fill your prayer tank!
Please join us every week when you can to recharge your prayer batteries!
The Zoom link for Mid-Day Prayers can be accessed by clicking here.
Copy and paste this Zoom link into your calendar so you can join us for 20 minutes
every Wednesday at 1 pm EST/noon CST/11 am MST/10 am PST!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89341488609
If you'd like to help lead, pick an empty date and contact roy.benavides@brothersandrew.net
It's simple...we already have the script made out (in our devotional handbook or the Book of Common Prayer)!
Prayer Leaders Schedule: Click Here
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Ministry News!
Scouting and Youth
Racial Reconciliation
Social Justice
Veterans
Recovery
Restorative Justice
Discipleship and Mentoring
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We need stories from Chapters and Ministries
Kathy Copas, our editor, would like to include more news of chapter events and ministry meetings or events. If you have something to share, please send it to
editor@brothersandrew.net
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Prayer Requests
If you have a personal prayer request, please contact (502) 450-5640 to submit your requests.
Learn to Pray the Anglican Rosary
PRAY THE ANGLICAN ROSARY
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Some Current Reading by Brothers
Signs of Life: Nurturing Spiritual Growth in Your Church
by Jay Sidebotham
by Susan Mettes, David Kinnaman - foreword, et al.
Peace in the Last Third of Life:
A Handbook of Hope for Boomers
by
Paul F. M. Zahl
What are you currently Reading? Do you have any book recommendations?
Does your chapter have a book study?
Write to us and give us the title and author so we can share it with your Brothers!
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This newsletter was made possible thanks to your generous financial support.
Thanks so much!
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Podcast Suggestions
Brothers looking to grow spiritually may find Podcasts from Forward Movement as a strategy to add to their “rule of life,” enhance their walk or drive time, or add to their daily or weekly study and prayer. The following link is to Forward Movement Podcast, which gives you several options to add to your podcast app.
Click Here for Podcast from Forward Movement
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