On October 17th, iACT's Hands on Housing program will have its annual "Raise the Roof" event. Volunteers from religious organizations across the Austin area will paint homes for elderly and disabled members of our community. 

We will start around 8:30 am, with an initial push during the first half of the day and touch-up work in the afternoon. 

To volunteer, please contact jeremyjhicks@gmail.com 

or fill out the Google form at https://forms.gle/uJ49YzfZkAbX1FiSA

The Stewardship Committee is excited to announce that our church will host its 2nd annual talent show in the Sanctuary on Saturday, November 7th at 1:00 PM to help us reach our annual pledge drive goal. We are proud to partner with the Immigrant Support Committee, who will be hosting a Silent Auction in the lobby during the event to raise funds for our immigrant neighbors. Frequent intermissions throughout the afternoon will give everyone time to browse and bid without missing any of the stage performances.

To make the auction a success, the Immigrant Support Committee is seeking donations to fill four tables with unique offerings. They are looking for $50 gift cards to favorite local restaurants and salons, as well as high-quality household items worth approximately $50 that you no longer use. If you have valuable treasures in your home that no longer fit your lifestyle, this is a wonderful opportunity to repurpose them for a great cause. Space is limited to 40 items total, so potential donors are encouraged to act quickly. To donate an item, please email a photo to Ana at pomarana22@gmail.com. She will confirm if your item has been accepted and coordinate drop-off details at the church. Gift card donations are also warmly accepted.

We invite congregants of all ages to share their gifts on stage for our talent show! Last year, we discovered so much hidden talent within our community that we are thrilled to bring it back, hoping for an even bigger turnout. Whether you enjoy singing, playing an instrument, storytelling, comedy, or bringing another unique talent to the stage, it is a wonderful way to celebrate our community while supporting the work we do together. To protect the privacy and safety of all participants, the show will be streamed live via a private Zoom link and made available for later viewing through a secure Google Drive folder. If you would like to perform or volunteer, please contact Mina Rao at minarao1998@gmail.com. We cannot wait to see what you will bring to the stage on November 7th! 

Our overall pledge drive goal is $500,000. To date, we have received $122,576 in pledges from 43 pledgers. Please visit staopen.org/pledging to learn more about pledging and how you can expand hope next year. 

Join us this Sunday as we welcome a friend of St. Andrew's, Garrison Shin, for a dialogue sermon with Babs Miller. In just 23 years, Garrison has come from a Russian orphanage to a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and he is currently pursuing his master’s degree at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service. We are thrilled to have him share his unique story with us.

Join the St. Andrew’s Theater Goers for a wonderful afternoon out on Sunday, October 18, 2026! The outing begins with a 2:00 PM matinee performance of Oklahoma! at the iconic Georgetown Palace, located at 810 South Austin Avenue in Georgetown, TX. Tickets are $38.00 each and must be purchased directly through the Palace Theater box office. Following the show, the group will gather for dinner at 5:30 PM at Blue Corn Harvest (bluecornharvest.com). For more information or questions about the event, please contact Steve Landsman at stevelandsman1@gmail.com or 512-413-4056, or Rachael Davis at rachaelcdavis@gmail.com.

You may know that on Thursday evenings we host our homeless neighbors for dinner where we also offer laundry services and showers. We are excited to announce we will soon be offering navigation services to our guests via partnership with Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center. This will enable our guests to start on the path out of homelessness towards home!

Our guests will be able to connect to a social worker live via an app - unfortunately the Ipad we were planning on using is too old to support this app. So we are asking our congregation, does anone have a gently used Ipad they would be willing to donate?

Please call or text Jennifer Thrift, 414-308-0919 if you can help!

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.



Thursday, October 15th at 5:30: Why church?, Why are we Christian?, Why are we Presbyterian?

Thursday, October 22nd at 5:30:  How do things get done within the Presbyterian and St. Andrew’s structures of decision-making?



These will only be on Zoom.

Join Zoom with this link:

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

Help Keep Wells Branch Beautiful at the future Eastside Nature Park (the land around the church)! Volunteers will participate in a Creek Cleanup or a BioBlitz on the 18th to discover and document local flora and fauna.



Signup at:

https://www.wellsbranchmud.com/community-resources/calendar/2898

Starting October 19th, 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 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.

Save the date for our annual Fall Backyard Cookout on Sunday, October 25th! Plan to stick around immediately following the 11:00 service for a wonderful afternoon of great food and community connection. We’ll be grilling fresh hamburgers and hot dogs, alongside delicious vegetarian options, so there is sure to be something for everyone. Events like this take a team to make happen, and we are currently looking for volunteers to help with shopping, setup, serving, and cleanup. If you are able to lend a hand and serve our church family, please reach out to Steve Landsman at stevelandsman1@gmail.com. We can't wait to see you there!

St. Andrew’s Food Pantry, like many others, wants to supply our customers with nutritious food. That is easily done with the usual staples of canned vegetables, fruits, and meats, rice, pasta, dry beans, bread, and shelf stable milk.

However, fresh produce packs a tastier version of canned produce and is welcomed by many customers. We try to get all of our fresh produce, both vegetables and fruits, from Central Texas Food Bank since the cost of these items from HEB can be prohibitive, especially with the quantities we need. We ordered 3762 pounds of produce for both August pantries and 3782 pounds of produce for both September pantries.

St. Andrew’s organic garden provided 11 pounds of produce and herbs in August and 5 pounds of herbs and jalapenos in September. That doesn’t sound like much, but that’s the hottest time of year and most gardens are suffering. So far this year the organic garden has given us 315 pounds of produce and herbs.

Surprisingly (thanks to Jennifer’s pantry Facebook page), we are beginning to get small produce donations from local gardeners. Victor (Janelle’s son-in-law) donates gorgeous butternut squash, tomatoes, and okra. Linda (also a St. Andrew’s garden volunteer) specializes in herbs. Adrienne, who is a Saturday pantry volunteer, is supplying us with rosemary and marjoram from her garden. Rachel gives us bouquets of basil and occasionally a few cucumbers.

Food pantry will be thrilled if these backyard gardeners will continue to remember us in the coming cool crop season.

This section now has multiple ways to donate. One, by check. Write “Food Pantry” or “Homeless Outreach” on the memo line. Two, PayPal button at the church website, www.staopen.org. Three, bring canned food donations to Sunday services. Children coming for the puppet show pick up the items and put them in the baskets by the altar. Four, purchase items from St. Andrew’s Food Pantry Amazon Wishlist. The COME volunteers and our customers thank you for your generosity.

Our Book of the Month is, Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. It’s a difficult read whether you are a descendant of the conqueror or the conquered. An Indigenous Peoples’ History turns history upside down. It dispels the depiction of Indigenous Peoples portrayed in western movies and the sanitized history of the Age of Explorers. It is the untold story of the genocide of Indigenous Peoples, who inhabited North American long before Europeans arrived in the United States. Dunbar-Ortiz portrays the reality of settler colonization and genocide of countless native people. She also reminds the reader that after hundreds of generations, Indigenous Nations are still part of the United States. She ends the book with a plea for the government to honor its treaties made with Indigenous nations by restoring all sacred sites and all stolen sacred items and human remains. She also encourages the payment of sufficient reparations for reconstruction and expansion of Native nations.  

Check your tires! 

Keeping your tires inflated to the right pressure helps them last longer, even adding thousands of miles to their life. Rotating your tires every 5,000 to 8,000 miles (get an alignment if necessary) helps you avoid uneven wear and also extends their life.

A single tire underinflated by about 8 psi can increase fuel consumption by up to 4%.

With good reason, holiday seasons are among the most emotionally difficult times for people who have experienced the death of a loved one. Holidays may be difficult no matter what you try to do or where you go. Be gentle with yourself.

Join us on Thursday, November 5 th from 7-8:30 pm for an evening of support and guidance as we approach the difficult holiday season. This free program will take place on Zoom and includes a short presentation and panel discussion. We look forward to spending the evening with you.

Register Here

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