Are you 80 or older and connected to the St. Andrew's community? We invite you to join us for our upcoming Octo-Plus Virtual Roundtable on Friday, November 13th at 7:00 pm.

Whether you attend services regularly, occasionally, or simply have ties to the St. Andrew's family, you are warmly invited. Our virtual roundtables offer a relaxed space to socialize, share stories, and get to know others who share similar life experiences and wisdom. Spouses and significant others are welcome to join the screen with you as well!

How to Join:

Grab your favorite dinner, snack, or beverage and log on from the comfort of home. 

Zoom Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86895867240?pwd=y9HCsSa94tIYj8DL74SeqgdZrNUMof.1

Meeting ID: 868 9586 7240

Passcode: Octo-plus

For questions or more information, please contact Lynn King at king.lynn11@yahoo.com. We look forward to seeing you online!

This Sunday marks the end of our 2027 stewardship pledge drive! Thanks to this generous community, we have $480,686 pledged by 131 pledgers toward next year's budget goal of $500,000!

If you feel compelled to pledge, it's never too late. Whether you’re pledging for the first time or wishing to maintain your previous pledge, please fill out a pledge card in the foyer or click here for our virtual pledge card. Whoever you are, member or friend, local or remote, you can learn more and pledge online at www.staopen.org/pledging. Thank you for all the ways you support the missions of St. Andrew’s and all the ways you help us Expand Hope!

The Immigrant Support Committee wants to thank all of you for making the Silent Auction so successful!! The donations of items to the silent auction and your participation in bidding on the offerings brought in $1,745, all of which will go to helping immigrants in our community. We couldn't be more appreciative of your help! 

Although we feel a change is coming, we know that people are still afraid to go out, and many have lost much of their household income due to family members who are either in detention or have been deported. We are thankful to the Benevolence Committee, Beth Wiggins and Ana Pomar, interpreters, and Destiny Olson for helping us get the funds distributed to these households.

Hoping for a better future for immigrants in our country! Again, thanks so much!

Immigrant Support Committee  

Join us this Sunday at St. Andrew’s as Rev. Erica Knisely brings the sermon. For Adult Sunday School, you can choose between a class led by Rev. Dr. David Zuniga or Justin McCready’s ongoing study in John (Zoom links for both classes will be included in Sunday's eNewsletter). If you’ve recently started visiting us, you are also cordially invited to a light lunch and Meet the Ministers gathering right after the 11:00 am service in the Sunrise Room—come learn more about St. Andrew’s and help us get to know you!

Make a little merry with us after the late service as we deck the halls! We’ll decorate the sanctuary and our new Christmas trees with ornaments provided. Bring your festive spirit and a little holiday cheer as we make our worship space shine for this special season of hope and light. Many hands make merry work!

You may have questions about what it means to be Presbyterian, from the St. Andrew’s

perspective. How is the church organized and who makes decisions? Using the “101” nomenclature from college introductory courses, Rev. Carol Johnson is offering the following 1-hour classes to help answer these questions.

Tuesday November 17th at noon: Why church? Why are we Christian?, Why are we

Presbyterian?

Tuesday November 24th at noon: How do things get done within the Presbyterian

and St. Andrew’s structure of decision-making

These will only be on zoom.

Join Zoom with this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82881156250?pwd=aiGTeOqxi8PbPoUWn1nTuaGPRab3ds.1

Part of what makes St. Andrew's so special is our care and commitment to the community beyond our walls.

As our summers become dangerously hot, our unhoused neighbors face severe heat with few places to find relief or take a break. In true St. Andrew’s spirit, we want to step up and help.

The Missions Committee is forming a task force to explore and design a proposal for a Cooling Center at St. Andrew's. We are looking for a few operationally minded individuals to help brainstorm and develop this proposal over the next few months.

If you're looking for an impactful, finite commitment, this is a wonderful opportunity to serve. There will be a sign-up sheet available on the lobby welcome table. 

Please join us on the third Monday of each month from 7:00 to 8:15 PM in the Agape Room for an ongoing exploration of Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. Our next meeting will be Monday, November 16th. Our monthly gatherings feature video excerpts, group reflections, and open conversation on applying Tolle's teachings to daily life. Please bring your own copy of the book and read the first chapter in advance. Drop-ins and new participants are always welcome to join at any point.

For questions, contact the Austin Presence Meetup Group Organizer, Joe Linsalata at joe@linsalata1.com or 512-657-9900. To join the Austin Presence Group and to check monthly chapter discussions, go to https://www.meetup.com/austin-presence-group/. You do not need to become a member of this meetup group to participate in this book study at St. Andrews.

Click here to read more details about this event.

What do roots mean to you? The St. Andrew’s Worship Arts Committee invites our congregation and the wider community of artists and creatives to explore this theme through visual art. Artists of all ages and skill levels are welcome. Whether your work is painting, photography, fiber art, mixed media, sculpture, or another form of visual expression, we would love to include your creativity in this community art show.

Exhibition Dates: 12/6/26 – 2/21/27

Submission Deadline: Thursday, 12/3/26

Artwork Delivery: Saturday, 12/5/26, 11:30 - 1:00 to St. Andrew’s

Exhibition Location: St. Andrew’s Art Hallway

Click here for the submission form and more info.

Questions? artgallery@staopen.org

The Earth Care Committee will meet on Sunday, November 29, in the Sunrise Room immediately following the second service. Join us as we start planning our upcoming Earth Day program. Everyone is welcome to attend, and feel free to bring your lunch along.

As we head into Cold Weather Shelter season, we will be having more opportunities to interact with people experiencing homelessness. At times, staff, volunteers, and ministry leaders may encounter individuals experiencing significant stress, trauma, emotional distress, or crisis. Knowing how to respond with compassion while maintaining healthy boundaries and safety is essential.

Please join us November 29th from 12:15-2:30 for this informative training presented by Sarah Weier, LPC, former Chief Operations Officer, Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center.

The Healthy Living Bulletin Board is back by our former congregational nurse, Donna Rutherford. Stop by and select timely, professional articles for living a healthy life and share with family and friends.

December can be a difficult month for many of us. You may be too busy or distracted by gift-buying, travel, gatherings or just the craziness all around us. Or you may be lonely during the holiday season. And many of us will be seeking a deeper connection with God. 

This year we will offer a community meditation series to find moments of hope, joy, love, and gratitude in our daily lives. We will slow down, wait and prepare our hearts for wonder. Come together for a (drop-in) four-week Advent meditation series on Monday nights beginning November 30 from 5:45 to 6:45.  

As we gather, we will briefly share where we are in our lives, hear music from Melinda Brooks, and meditate for 25 minutes. The meditation will begin with a reading from the 13th-century mystic, Meister Eckhart, and end with a time to share out of the silence. Gather in the Welcome Room (using the side door) or by Zoom (tinyurl.com/AdventMeditationSAPC). Someone will be at the door to let you in until 6:00. Please let us know if you think you might attend in person so we can ensure that the space we plan to use is large enough-- kathleenburnside@gmail.com.

We will need to make another one using my email address for the upcoming events page of the website. Kathleen also made a flyer we can modify and use for an image. I will forward that next. 

It’s time to get St. Andrew’s ready for Christmas! This is a great time to get together for the fall-winter clean-up at St. Andrews, meeting and working with others.

Please set aside a few hours (or even half an hour if you can) on Saturday, December 5 from 9:30 to 3:30, to help with the many tasks that will make our church its most welcoming.

We’ll have a list of jobs you can help with, from painting and cleaning to landscaping and repairs. There is something for every skill level, it’s satisfying to get immediate results, and you have a chance to build community or meet new people. 

You may want to bring work gloves or paint clothes, but certainly bring your St. Andrews spirit! Donuts and coffee will be provided, and consider coming early for the breakfast tacos and conversation at the First Saturday Breakfast at 8:30! A pizza lunch will be provided for our work crew.

Bruce Jones, and the Buildings and Grounds Committee

There will be a meeting of the congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Sunday, November 29, 2026, during the 11:00 service. The purpose of the meeting is to elect a ruling elder to fill an unexpired term. The nominating committee is proposing Sandy Beck for this role, who has served in this capacity before. 

Nominations also may come from the floor. Elders elected will be ordained and/or installed during a subsequent Sunday service.

Where: Bates Recital Hall

2406 Robert Dedman Drive

Austin TX, 78712

When:

Sunday, December 6, 2026 - 04:00 PM

Ticket Info:

Purchase your own ticket @

https://music.utexas.edu/events/6113-butler-holiday-concert

Coupon code: SAINTANDREWS

Dinner after the concert:

P.F. Changs Jollyville

Please contact:

RSVP to Steve Landsman to ensure seating at stevelandsman1@gmail.com or

512-413-4056

Thursday, November 19th - How to Grieve, Decorate, and Deep Fry Your Turkey.

As fall begins and the holidays begin to stack up, you may find yourself wishing you could go into hibernation until after Valentine’s Day. In this webinar, we will discuss how to survive the holidays with a broken heart by sifting out what is important and making a plan that works for you.

REGISTER HERE 

Conversations on Grief is offered the 3rd Thursday of each month from 11am-12 pm. You’re welcome to attend one, several or all webinars. Click here for additional information and registration links!  

Future topics: Thursday, December 17th - Anxiety: An Unexpected Element of Grief

Please call the Hospice Austin Bereavement Department at 512-342-4700 if you have any questions or would like more information. 

November's Book of the Month is Rest Is Resistance (2022), a 'manifesto' by Tricia Hersey, founder of the community wellness-minded Nap Ministry. Hersey, seemingly taking a page from the book of Ono/Lennon, comes to the table with Epicurean yin-over-yang values: She makes some noteworthy historical and social/cultural connections, and the repertoire here is one of rich source material.

In four parts: 'REST!', 'DREAM!', 'RESIST!', and 'IMAGINE!', we explore rest as an observance of that bodily temple, versus the 'grind culture' that reflects capitalism and white supremacy and, historically, slavery. Hersey champions the body/Spirit as a site of liberation and the "foundation for love and reclamation", deserving of physical, spiritual, and psychological rest – and characterizes capitalism as theft of imagination, time, pleasures, hobbies, and leisure – whereby rest affords (or is afforded by) community care, imagination, liberation, and self-love. "How can we access pleasure, joy, and liberation if we are too tired to experience it?"  

Check out the grocery store bulk aisle for just the right amount of spices, nuts, candy,

dried fruit and peanut butter!