Learning Opportunities
Trailside Thursdays in Lent
Breaking Bread: Legacy of The Last Supper: Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at H. J.’s or livestreamed on Facebook, Youtube, and St. Andrew’s website. A six-part series about the historical, cultural, and scriptural contexts of the Last Supper’s significance and its connection to the broader Christian narrative. Join us for worship at 5:30 and dinner at 6 p.m.
Children and Families
Children’s Thursday Night Lenten Program: Weekly Lenten classes at HJ’s to help kids begin a spiritual practice in Lent. Come for informal worship at 5:30 and dinner at 6 p.m.
Parent Gathering: This group will use the St. Andrew’s Lenten daily devotion booklet for conversation and reflection. Come for informal worship at 5:30 and dinner at 6 p.m.
Nursery Care will be provided on Thursday evenings during Trailside.
Youth
Youth Group Lenten Study: On Sundays from 4 to 5 p.m. at HJ’s Youth and Community Center, youth will discuss Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent, reflecting on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings.
20s & 30s
Vestry Liaison Christina Santiago Turner will lead small group conversations at HJ’s following a Lenten guide, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Lent, from professor, podcast host, and New York Times bestselling author Kate Bowler. Worship begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner and conversation at 6 p.m. If you’re a young adult who wants to connect with other young adults at St. A’s, email Christina at christinasantiagotv@gmail.com to sign up.
Adult
Baptismal Promises in Action: A Lenten Study Group
Wednesdays (Feb. 21 to March 20), 10-11:30 a.m. at H.J.’s conference room and Zoom
In this five-week Lenten small group study, we will discuss how our baptismal promises encourage us to follow Christ’s example in our relationships, communities, and the world. We will use the book, Will You?, to guide our conversations. The book offers daily reflections, examples of evangelism in action, and an invitation to think in new ways about the promises we make to God, each other, and ourselves in baptism. Copies of the book will be available in the church office by Feb. 18. Please contact Cathy Moseley (cathymoseley7@gmail.com) for more information.
Tools for Spiritual Practice
The Good Book Club
The Good Book Club is reading Revelation until March 10, a work encouraging readers to turn away from the destructive powers of evil and empire and seek God’s power of healing and justice instead. Starting March 10, the Good Book Club will read though much of Genesis. Daily summaries come by email or text. To sign up, contact Fr. John (frjohn@standrewkc.org).
Daily Prayer
A Morning at the Office – daily audio Morning Prayer from Forward Movement, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Forward Day By Day – daily reflections available in a printed pamphlet you can pick up at St. Andrew’s or as a podcast.
Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer from Mission St. Clare, with readings and music provided.
Prayer Apps
Prayer apps for your phone: There are many apps available, all with different strengths and weaknesses. Most of them are named “Daily Office,” which makes it tricky to sort them out. So, here are a couple suggestions:
Daily Office (Common Prayer Where You Are): This app gives you abbreviated Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) with an option to read the Scripture appointed for that day. This app gives you a good feel for the Daily Office; it has a lot of options but isn’t too complicated.
Daily Prayer App (A Guide to Spiritual Rhythm): This app is loosely based on the BCP Daily Office but with a streamlined experience. It’s beautiful and very simple to use.
Mission St. Clare (Praying the Daily Office): An app version of the website mentioned above.
Hallow: a simple, easy-to-use mobile app that helps us foster a relationship with God and the peace of prayer through guided prayer and meditation. Hallow is a simple way to create a daily, personal retreat each morning for you in your home.
Musical Offerings
Mid-Week Lenten Recitals
Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m.
February 21; Dr. Thomas R. Vozzella, Organ – Director of Music and Organist, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
February 28: Dr. Kenneth Walker, Organ – Director of Music and Organist, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
March 6: Lauren Auge, Soprano – Alto Section Leader and Assistant Choral Director, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
March 13: Dr. Kurt Knecht, Organ – Organist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
March 20: Dr. Elisa Bickers, Organ – Assistant Director of Music and Organist, Village Presbyterian Church
Musica Vocale
Sunday, March 17, 2024, 3:00 PM
Bridges to Britian, and Beyond, Exploring the connections to the British isles
Dr. Jay Carter, Conductor
Arnold Epley, Artistic Advisor
Reception to follow
No Tickets Required
The Music of Gabriel Fauré
Sunday, March 24, 5:00 PM
featuring his beloved Requiem and lesser-known choral music with Chamber orchestra
Dr. Thomas R. Vozzella, Conductor
Dr. Jan Kraybill, Organist
Bach Aria Soloists
Saturday, April 20, 7:30 PM
This joyous Finale to BAS’ 24th Concert Season features Dr. Elisa Williams Bickers, BAS’ organist/harpsichordist
and the great sonatas from Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms.
Purchase Discounted Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/basspri
Community
Serve Opportunities
2/17: Loads of Love with St. James
2/28: Food Pantry with St. James
3/1: Serving Lunch with Nourish KC
3/6: Hygiene Pantry with St. James
3/13: Food Pantry with St. James
3/16: Loads of Love with St. James
3/27: Food Pantry with St. James
Contact Sarah Tepikian (sarah@standrewkc.org) for more information.
Special Worship
Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, February 14, 7 a.m., 12 p.m., and 7 p.m.
Ashes to Go at Charlie Hooper’s in Brookside – Wednesday from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Taizé Worship
Tuesdays (February 27 and March 26) at 6 p.m.
Join us for Taizé worship at St. Andrew’s, which includes prayer, simple music, a time for silence, and inspirational readings. Song refrains are sung many times over as a prayer of the heart.
Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 24, a single service at 9:30 a.m. beginning at HJ’s Youth and Community Center.
We’ll combine our morning services, gathering at 9:30 a.m. in HJ’s parking lot for the Blessing of the Palms. Then, led by members of the Kansas City St. Andrew Pipes & Drums, we’ll walk with Jesus as he rides a donkey to the church entrance. We’ll also experience a scriptural and musical presentation of the Stations of the Cross before sharing Holy Communion. (In case of inclement weather, the Palm Sunday procession will begin in the Jewell Room.)
Holy Week
Monday in Holy Week
March 25 at noon in the chapel
Tuesday in Holy Week
March 26 at 6 p.m. Taizé worship in the chancel
Wednesday in Holy Week
March 27 at noon in the chapel
Maundy Thursday Agapé, Worship, and All-Night Watch
Thursday, March 28 at 5:30 p.m. and continuing through the night.
5:30 p.m. – The Agapé is an ancient feast of love. Ours is a reception featuring special finger-foods from the Holy Land in preparation for Maundy Thursday’s worship.
7 p.m. – The Maundy Thursday Eucharist commemorates the Last Supper. We remember Jesus taking the bread and wine, declaring them to be his Body and Blood, and giving himself for his disciples. As he washed the feet of his friends before dinner, so we will wash each other’s feet during worship. Doing so, we live out Jesus’ commandment to love by serving others.
All night – Following the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, you’re invited to pray during an all-night watch with Jesus in the chapel decorated as the Garden of Gethsemane. This powerful time of devotion begins when our worship ends and concludes with the noon Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Individuals keep watch in the chapel in hour-long shifts. It’s our response to Jesus’ question to the sleeping disciples, “Could you not stay awake one hour? Watch and pray…” (Mark 14:38).
A security guard will be posted at the church door throughout the night. Look for the Maundy Thursday Watch sign-up board in the church’s entryway, or email Mary Sanders to sign up.
Good Friday Stations of the Cross
Friday, March 29 at 12 p.m.
On Good Friday, we’ll gather in the church to walk the Stations of the Cross. It’s an opportunity to meditate on our Lord’s suffering as we symbolically follow in his footsteps along Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow. At stations marked by shadow boxes, we’ll remember the 14 most significant events of Jesus’ journey, beginning in the chapel with the judgment by Pontius Pilate, continuing along the side aisles around the nave, and concluding in the columbarium with Jesus’ death and burial. Within each box hangs a photographic interpretation of the event each station represents.
Good Friday Solemn Liturgy
Friday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
We’ll offer the Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday. This service is like no other – a time to put ourselves face to face with the cross, the instrument of bloody death and ultimate salvation, and contemplate the deep mystery of God’s own sacrifice for us.
Holy Saturday Prayers
Saturday, March 30 at 9 a.m.
We’ll mark the time our Lord’s body lay in the tomb and his followers mourned what they thought was the end of hope and promise. This very brief service in the chancel (where the choir sits) includes just a few readings and prayers. (After this service, the church will be prepared for Easter.)
The Easter Vigil
Saturday, March 30, at 8 p.m.
As the sun sets, come celebrate Christ’s journey from death to resurrection with the Easter Vigil. This is Christianity’s most ancient worship, and its power to tell the story of our faith is still astounding. We begin outside, under the porte-cochere, kindling a new fire to symbolize how the evil of the cross can’t extinguish God’s light; and from this fire, we light the Paschal candle. The congregation then follows this holy light into the darkened church, after which a series of Old Testament readings tells the story of salvation from creation through the prophets. Then we baptize new Christians and reaffirm our baptismal vows, remembering our own passage from death to life in Christ. The congregation sits in darkened silence for a few minutes until a noise breaks through (symbolizing the earthquake that opened the tomb) and the lights come on, revealing the altar and cross adorned in flowers! Suddenly, it’s Easter, and God’s light and life have once again conquered the power of sin and death. From there, the celebration continues with the first Eucharist of Easter.
Easter Day
Sunday, March 31 at 8 and 10:15 a.m.
We’ll welcome this happy morning with our Festival Eucharists of Easter, complete with a chamber orchestra. An Easter egg hunt for the kids will follow the second service, about 11:30 a.m. The “alleluias” will return (including the chance for all of us to sing the Hallelujah Chorus) as we celebrate the joy of Christ’s resurrection and the joy we know in our own new lives – foretastes of the eternal life Jesus has won for us.
St. Andrew’s Podcast
Weekly messages from Sunday worship and Trailside Thursdays. Listen on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, or Anchor.fm.