Cross Currents April 2021

CROSS CURRENTS VOLUME 2021

|

APRIL

| ISSUE 04

Join us for Holy Week and Easter at SAPC! As we enter the journey to the Cross, we hope that you can connect and participate in worship with us.

This year, SAPC will be offering In-Person Indoor and Outdoor opportunities as well as Livestreams of our services. We invite you to join us! Please only sign up for one Indoor Easter Sunday Service so we can accommodate the most worshipers.

Most of our services will stream on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Vimeo. Visit sapctucson.org to register or watch live! *Masks, social distancing, and pre-registration required for In-Person Indoor and Outdoor Events.

HOLY WEEK Maundy Thursday Worship Service 7:00 pm | In-Person & Online Good Friday Worship Service 7:00 pm | In-Person & Online Join us in the journey to the Cross. Our Maundy Thursday Service will feature Traditional Worship and our Chancel Choir. The Good Friday Service will feature Contemporary Worship and our Contemporary Worship Team. Learn more at sapctucson.org.

Palm Sunday Concert In case you missed it, our Palm Sunday Concert streamed online on Sunday, March 28. Please visit sapctucson.org to watch the concert on demand.

EASTER Easter Sunday Worship Services 7:30 am | 9:00 am* | 10:45 am* *Available Live Online Easter Outdoor Worship | 3:00 pm Join us in celebrating the Risen Christ! Please visit sapctucson.org to RSVP and learn more! If you will be attending our In-Person Outdoor Worship at SAPC, we ask that you bring your own chairs, water, and sunscreen.

We also ask that you do not attend if you are experiencing COVID symptoms, have recently been exposed to someone with COVID, or believe yourself to be infectious. Thank you for helping us keep us all safe!

PRAYER VIGIL St. Andrew’s invites everyone to celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior by participating in your own home in an online Easter Prayer Vigil on Saturday, April 3. Sign up in a half-hour slot. Multiple people can sign up in the same slot and individuals can sign up for more than one slot. Let’s share with our Heavenly Father our concerns and our thanksgiving. Visit sapctucson.org to sign up for a time.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Welcome Table Volunteers Needed The Welcome Table is in need of a new volunteer leader and additional volunteer team members.

These are important roles and also a lot of fun!

Contact Gretel at gcwags@comcast.net or Amy at agrover@sapctucson.org.

Office Volunteers Needed Now that we are in the process of re-opening, we are in need of additional volunteers for both the Church Office and the Info Desk in The Gathering Place. The primary tasks will be answering phones, greeting visitors, and office projects as needed. For more information, contact Barbara Souter at taco10@comcast.net or 520-797-2825.

FINANCIAL UPDATE February total revenue $110,883 Monthly revenue required 133,904 Difference ($23,020)

Year to date revenue $317,613 YTD revenue required 379,273 Difference ($61,660)

In Memoriam Sandra Levinson | February 10 Brian Ponikvar | February 20 Don Gatterman | March 7

ADULT MINISTRY The Color of Compromise Book Study There is still a space for YOU! Join us as we continue the conversation on The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. We are offering this book study again to give more opportunities to those who could not join us last summer. We discovered this is an opportunity to listen, learn, and discuss how racism and bias impact our lives, the Church, and the image of God. Education leads to informed action which leads to justice and repair.

Discussions about these topics can be difficult and provoke strong emotions, but as Jesus’ hands and feet, we want to continue the conversation. Lynn Guyot and the Adult Discipleship Team will be leading the discussion.

Here is a testimonial from a participant from our first class on The Color of Compromise: "Participating in the Color of Compromise group has had a tremendous impact on me. I was very unaware of all of the problems with racial justice in our country. Reading the book, The Color of Compromise, was truly eye-opening for me. I was saddened by the way that the white evangelical church has allowed and even encouraged institutional racism. I had never thought about it much before reading the book.

Participating in the discussion has also helped me to become more convicted to want to do something about this problem. It was easy to think that these issues had nothing to do with me.

After hearing the testimonies of our guest speakers, I realized that these problems are also happening right here in Tucson and I was just blind to it until now. I have learned so much about racial injustice and I hope to be able to continue the conversation and actually do something that can have a positive impact. I hope others have been as inspired as I have been throughout this journey." - Heather Brannock Contact Connie at crandall@sapctucson.org to RSVP and Zoom Link.

Faith Uncorked This month we will be meeting on Friday, April 23, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Connie Randall’s gazebo patio. Bring an appetizer to share along with your favorite beverage. Bring a friend and join an encouraging night of being together. Contact Connie at crandall@sapctucson.org to RSVP and get directions.

YOUTH MINISTRY Youth Group We have moved back inside for our High School Youth Group on Tuesdays in the Boondocks and Middle School Youth Group on Wednesdays in Friendship Hall. We are still practicing distancing, wearing masks, and we recommend that you still bring a water bottle due to no accessible water fountains.

Forest Home We are gearing up for Forest Home Summer Camp 2021. This year we have an online sign-up open to all current 5th graders- exiting 12th graders. Spots fill up quickly so make sure you register as soon as possible.

Summer camp is July 4-9; the cost this year is $495.

Payments should be made monthly of $111.25 following a $50 deposit. Scholarships and sibling discounts are available. Learn more at sapcyouth.com.

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY VBS is happening!

In-person June 14-18 (must have completed Kindergarten to attend in person) Online June 29-July 2 (all ages) Registration opens April 6! (March 28 for SAPC Kids!)

At Treasured VBS, kids will discover they’re priceless to God. Treasured is filled with incredible Bible-learning experiences kids see, hear, and touch. Sciency-Fun Gizmos, team-building games, cool Bible songs, and tasty treats are just a few of the standout activities that help faith flow into real life.

Changes to VBS this year: We will follow the CDC guidelines at the time of VBS. Smaller classes and fewer students.

Must have completed kindergarten to attend in person.

Parents will drop off and pick up at the curb.

Masks will be worn by everyone on campus.

For more information, visit sapctucson.org/kids or contact Shelly Akins at sakins@sapctucson.org.

CALL IN WORSHIP Did you know we have worship options for those not comfortable with or without access to technology? If you, or someone you know, would prefer to listen to our live stream via phone, rather than online or in person, please check out our Call In Worship! Just call (844) 470-5750 anytime to sign up to receive a call when we go live!

DICK KAMPA MISSIONARY CARE FUND

Dick Kampa Missionary Care Fund Dick had a heart and passion for missions. Involved with the St. Andrew’s mission activity for many years, he chaired and served on the Committee, organized mission trips, and traveled to visit missionaries throughout the world. He not only was dedicated to missionaries currently supported by the church, but was always on the look-out for new unfunded missionary efforts to support. Today, largely due to Dick’s early encouragement and leadership, St. Andrew’s is known for its robust mission activities.

Dick was aware of the sacrifices that many of these missionary families make in order to serve God and make His Word known throughout the world. He was always an advocate for their work and their special circumstances. After he passed away in January, the Mission Committee established a special fund in Dick’s memory focused on the personal needs of missionaries such as emergency travel for a death in the family, medical needs, etc.

This fund—Dick Kampa Missionary Care Fund—falls under the auspices of the Mission Committee but is separately funded with donations in Dick’s memory. To make your memorial gift, write a check to St. Andrew’s with a notation for this fund.

MOMENT FOR MISSION Cross Streets Community Homeless Program Southside Presbyterian Church For over 25 years the Cross Streets Homeless Program has served those in need in our local Barrio of Ochoa, Tucson. Our volunteers provide: 700 meals, 70 showers, 240 pieces of clothing, and 16 haircuts each week. Unique to the program are our mealtime prayers and beautiful music played in our dining room.

At the beginning of 2020, we hired Amanda Pablo as our chef and kitchen manager. Amanda had been a guest in the past receiving food, clothing, and showers; now she is a credentialed chef and has been leading us through this pandemic.

Amanda’s hiring coincided with the opening of our new well-equipped commercial kitchen and largebeautiful dining room which abruptly had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Closing the program due to COVID was not in Amanda’s vocabulary. She said that her brothers and sisters of the streets were starving and needed hot nutritious meals. To be safe, meals were prepared with more precautions being taken in our kitchen and served in disposable containers in the parking lot with requirements for social distancing and masks. For over ten months this worked until COVID-19 numbers increased dangerously high and again we said, “It is time to shut down.”

Amanda, working with the Community Food Bank, found a means to prepare “Grab and Go” bag lunches. We did not shut down but further increased our kitchen protocols to reduce the potential COVID-19 exposure even more.

It would have been easier to close our program, but Amanda is correct, we must be there for our brothers and sisters of the streets. As of March 1, 2021, we are again serving hot, nutritious meals.

Thank you, Amanda, for your strength, vision, talents, and commitment.

Thank you, St. Andrew's, for supporting the Cross Streets Community Homeless Program through these very difficult times.

Photos (1) Amanda “Blessed”, (2) Tommy and Ivy Guests who live at the bridge down the street, (3) A volunteer in full protective PPE, (4) Indian Taco, typical of what is served.