Reconnect- These are our people!

In coming weeks, as we continue to return and reconnect, we will be sharing the words of our own – the people of St. Andrew!

July 21 – Becky Danninger

The pandemic changed everything including the ways we share our time, talent and treasure with others in need. Those who need our help, including the unborn child, the grieving, the homeless and the Bible student, continue to depend on us. One of the dangers of the pandemic is the possibility that social distance becomes emotional distance from those who need our help. I have worked with other parishioners to continue being active in our ministries during the pandemic.

The Baby Bottle Campaign to benefit Birthchoice is active now through the end of August. I have organized this project for 4 years. For the first two years our Respect Life Committee volunteered to distribute baby bottles one week and collect the bottles filled with donations the next week. The baby bottles were a unique method to create enthusiasm for giving. We received donations of $7000 one year and $10,000 the next. These donations enabled Birthchoice to give an alternative to abortion for mothers who felt their unplanned pregnancy was a crisis. The pandemic has forced us to use virtual baby bottles instead of real bottles for the last two years. It is definitely not as much fun and our donations have decreased. Please see the information about giving elsewhere in this parish announcement.

The Bereavement Ministry works to comfort the sorrowful. Under the leadership of Ann Hart we have continued to organize an annual memorial for the deceased of the past year. I contribute to the ministry by writing sympathy cards to the families of deceased parishioners. The cards extend sympathy from the parishioners of St Andrew and include names and telephone numbers to call for assistance and support in their grief.

The homeless need food and a new opportunity for my husband and I to help was presented to me last October. Tom and I have become a small part of the Brown Bag Ministry. We pick up leftover rolls from Brecotea on Fridays and then package them in individual bags so they can be distributed on Saturday.

The Friday Morning Bible Study has existed for almost 30 years at St. Andrew’s. After our last meeting on March 6, 2020 one of our members, Ginny Lennon, suggested we meet on Zoom. Ginny led us through the technical challenges of installing Zoom on all our devices and getting us comfortable with video conferences. Ginny hosted all the meetings and Marlene Kelsey and I handled the organizational tasks. Our sharing of faith and fellowship has continued on Zoom for the last 16 months.

A few of the ministries I’m involved with could not make the transition from in person to virtual. The Blessing of the child in the womb was held twice each year with help from Steve and Claire Bambara. The Migrant Worker Supper Ministry led by Dave Keith had to be cancelled. I am hopeful these ministries can be resumed soon.

Helping others helped me live a life of purpose during the pandemic. I hope all our parishioners will become active in at least one ministry when we reopen and reconnect. Our participation can transform ourselves, our parish and our community.

Here are links to ministries that Becky has remained active in:

July 9 – Jim Lewis

There are many roles at the church that are “behind the scenes.” One of them is the role of the Sacristan which continued with every Mass that was held – virtually and in person. Many of these folks continued serving in this ministry over the course of the pandemic.
One of our most dedicated Sacristans is Jim Lewis. Jim serves regularly at weekend Masses, daily Masses and Funerals. While there were not many bright spots during the pandemic, Jim did not miss a beat and continued to help us keep liturgy going while keeping himself and others around him safe. This is particularly important to him because he wants to do what he can to keep his newest granddaughter – who is local – healthy and safe.
Jim finds so much joy in seeing the number of folks returning to Mass each weekend, and he is grateful to Father John and Deacon Rich for their encouragement and positivity throughout the pandemic.

As we continue to RECONNECT, let’s say a prayer of thanksgiving for our Sacristans and for all of our Liturgical Ministers who faithfully serve every time there is a liturgy here at St. Andrew. Thank you for serving our community through thick and thin!

June 25 – Charnisky Family

When we asked folks several weeks ago what some positives of the pandemic were for their families many indicated they had increased quiet time, particularly time in prayer and reflection. Several indicated they had even been praying specifically for fellow parishioners. We never know when we pray “generically” for our friends, neighbors, and even fellow parishioners, just who may be in need of those prayers at just that time! This week, meet the Charnisky family. They have been parishioners for several years, facing an extremely challenging health battle. In the very midst of that, Elle has brought inspiration as a member of our Pastoral Council and energy to begin the Walking With Purpose Women’s Ministry to the parish, from their former parish in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Our parish has been truly blessed by families like theirs. And on behalf of the Charniskys, a heartfelt “thank you” for all of the prayers.

Read more about the Elle’s story as profiled by the Duke Cancer Institute here.

June 4 – The Bhatt Family

Throughout the Pandemic some families made great efforts to maintain involvement in the parish. One fantastic example of this is the Bhatt Family. In particular, Marion, who lost her job at the beginning of the Pandemic, was integral at a complete overhaul in the check-out system of our parish Library which made it accessible even during a Pandemic . And, Josh, a busy high schooler, contributed beautifully sharing his talent for flute playing during our parish Sunday liturgies. Read below in their own words about their experiences during the Pandemic and how they managed to continue working in ministry.

Josh Bhatt

When the pandemic hit, I went from being a super busy high school student to having nothing on my schedule. The isolation and lack of activities were really difficult, and while a virtual church experience was better than nothing, it still felt like something was missing. Prior to the pandemic, I had played flute at Mass every week, and without that, Mass felt a little empty. As soon as in-person Mass started again, I asked Mr. Greg, the music director, if I could continue to play flute. He was happy to add my playing to the music liturgy, especially without the presence of a choir at the time. This gave me a sense of purpose during a time in which I really needed one. It was touching to see how my playing affected members of the congregation; in particular, one person told me that a family member of hers was in the hospital, and my playing brought her a sense of peace and happiness. Also, the social interaction among Mr. Greg, the various cantors, and me provided a sense of normalcy and community in a time of uncertainty. The support I received from Mr. Greg and Father John made me feel like my small act of service was truly making a difference. In this way, playing flute at Mass reminded me of the significance of service to God and helped me through the difficulties of the pandemic. As we continue to open more fully, I look forward to Teen Choir. Before the pandemic, we met weekly to create music together. During quarantine, Mrs. Hajnalka and Mr. Greg put together multiple virtual Teen Choir videos, and Mrs. Hajnalka even visited each member’s home to remind us of the church’s gratitude for our participation. This meant a lot to me, but I still miss hearing a choir singing behind me. I can’t wait to have that experience again.

Marion Bhatt

At the beginning of the pandemic, I lost my job. With the extra time I had, I began working on a project that had been on my mind ever since I became the church librarian–creating an online catalog for our library. It was exciting to make the many resources we have—over 2,500 books, videos and audio recordings easily accessible. Ann Bourgeois, St. Andrew’s faithful former librarian, Father John, Deacon Rich, the church staff, many volunteers and even a librarian over at Cary Presbyterian Church helped make this project possible. I was touched by how everyone was so supportive. It was also nice to get together with people and develop a tool that could benefit the church community. Also, it seemed that everyone involved enjoyed getting out and doing something together. We learned so much from each other!

A bright spot for my family was eliminating unnecessary tasks and spending more time together. We saw how much family and our faith meant to us. We started praying a decade of the rosary together after dinner. Now, ask me about the downside and challenge–SPENDING MORE TIME TOGETHER! My two older sons were supposed to go off to college Fall 2020, so with the pandemic, we all had to get used to the situation that was not what we pictured our lives to look like–but then again, whose life did look the way she expected at that time? During my zoom Bible studies I would listen to my friends talk about feeling isolated and being kept away from loved ones. I would realize the blessing of the extra time I was getting with my young adult sons, even if secretly I wished for just a night or two, in which I could hide somewhere away from everyone.

Virtual became the way! For a few months, we attended church around our TV in our living room. I was grateful to Father John, Deacon Rich, Greg, and all of the people making Mass at St. Andrews possible. I met with Bible study friends, library volunteers and members of the Living Rosary via zoom. It was very comforting to know that we were all still connected, but we longed for the day that we could see people in person again. That day did come and made me realize how much I appreciated all aspects of the church.

I’m looking forward to so many things as St. Andrews more fully opens. For one thing, I am looking forward to more people using the library. We have had people use our new services and resources throughout the pandemic, but with more people coming to church, I am hoping that even more people will check out the library! We have services now where volunteers will pull books for parishioners so that all the parishioners need to do is go to a designated shelf for pick-up! Also, for those parishioners who are shut in, we even have volunteers who will drop books off at their homes. We have a special topic section, a new books section, new looks to our youth and pastoral care sections, and so much more! There’s a QR code that allows patrons to access the online catalog with ease, but for those people who prefer to use the sign out binder, they can still do that too. More exciting plans are in the works for the library, but I will leave that a surprise.

Overall, I found through both the pandemic and my ministries, that I am truly blessed. The amount of love and service that so many people put into our church–in ways I didn’t even know existed–to make it truly the body of Christ, is nothing short of a miracle. The people of St. Andrew’s don’t just go to church, but they live the lives of prayerful Christians who love God and their neighbor. No pandemic could take that away.

May 28- Terri Bradburn

When we were able to return to in-person Mass last summer, a parish “CLEAN TEAM” was quickly established who carefully sanitized in the Church between each Mass. Without this dedicated group of folks, in-person Mass would not have been possible at that time.

One very dedicated Clean Team member is Terry Bradburn.
Terry and her husband, Greg, were relatively new parishioners when the Pandemic started during Lent of 2020. When the call went out for participation on the Clean Team when in-person Masses resumed in early June, Terry gladly answered the call to serve. Each week while cleaning the pews between Masses (and she often served after multiple Masses), Terry prayed for those who would be coming to sit in the pews. She turned a relatively simple act of charity into an act of prayer.

Terry has also gotten involved as part of the Usher team during the Pandemic. She says that the folks she has met in these two ministries reflect Emmanuel- God is with us- back to her. What a blessing to have felt God’s presence in this special way during a very difficult time.

What is she looking forward to as we return and reconnect? She can’t wait for the numbers of the hymns we will be singing during Mass to be posted again so she can pre-read the words we will be singing when she comes into Church. And she can’t wait to sing with our choir again. She reflects that singing heals our minds, and bodies, and spirits.

Thanks, Terry, for playing such an integral part in making in-person worship possible!!

May 21 – Bev Vasko

During the past year, many folks have very faithfully been Liturgical Ministers. We are truly grateful to God for all of these folks. This week, we want to highlight one person who you may recognize because she has faithfully been a reader many weeks during the pandemic: Beverly Vasko.
Below she shares her experience:

What has it meant to you to continue being active as a reader during the Pandemic?|At the beginning of the Covid I was not scheduled to read for quite a while. I love the Word of God and this down time gave me more time to spend in the Word. When the opportunity presented itself for me to be a Covid reader I was overjoyed as I love proclaiming God’s Word.

What’s a pandemic bright spot?
One of my other great loves is doing home bound ministry which I have been doing for more than 36 years. It broke my heart when we had complete closure and confinement and I could no longer bring Jesus to these folks and especially to a senior retirement home where I volunteer. The senior living home was closed to visitors from March till the end of October. When it opened for us to do ministry again I was overjoyed.

What has been a challenge you faced during the pandemic?
Doing ministry out and about during the pandemic was a challenge for me. However, one of my favorite songs is “Be Not Afraid,” and that has been my guide whether lectoring and or visiting the senior home with the virus still present. I know God is with me when I am out doing His work, so I could not be afraid.
It was also very hard for me when I saw the drastic physical changes the pandemic caused many of these special people I serve via homebound ministry. I volunteered to go in to the senior home weekly until the conditions improved and others felt safe in going back. The happiness these folks have when Eucharist is brought to them fills my heart with joy. We Catholics take too much for granted. Being able to receive in person was one of the greatest gifts I, personally, have received in the midst of this pandemic.

What do you look forward to as we more fully reopen and reconnect here at St. Andrews?
As we return to fully reopen and reconnect, I look forward to being able to touch, hug and/or embrace one another in Christian fashion in person and in being able to walk up to the altar with my brothers and sisters to receive Jesus, then being able to go back to the pew to give honor and glory to our God as a family. I have totally disliked the procedure of receiving and then going out the door!
I also can’t wait to hear our beautiful choir sing again!

Anything else you’d like to share about this experience?
This experience makes me even more grateful than ever for Fr. John and Deacon Rich, who no matter what, go into the hospital and homes to bring the sacraments and expose themselves constantly to the virus. They were made more available for St. Andrew parishioners than many other churches. They deserve a special round of applause and gratitude from us all who benefited from their sacrifice.

May 14 – David Uy

During Lent last year, a small group of parishioners and staff worked quickly to make virtual Mass a reality. Since then, thousands of folks have depended on our weekly live-stream to participate in the Mass that could not join us in person. This week, we want to highlight the person behind the “magic” every week: David Uy.
Here he shares his experience:

It has meant a great deal to me to serve as the eyes and ears for all of you to our parish liturgical services and to provide Children’s Liturgy of the Word and other special messages from Father Durbin and others in our Parish during the pandemic.

Before March of 2020, I never would have thought that my video cameras would have been allowed in our church and that my video editing skills would have been useful for keeping us connected together, especially during the darkest days of our lockdown and allowing our parish to reach out to the rest of the world.

The pandemic has brought several changes to St Andrew’s that I am happy to see. The internet has finally arrived in our church sanctuary, which was necessary for being able to live stream our Masses. At the start of the lockdown, the closest internet to our church was in the parish offices across the courtyard making live streaming technically impossible. With the internet now in place along with a newly installed camera, the parish staff and volunteers are able to live stream services whenever they need it.

One of the bright spots to come out of this pandemic is while we were unable to all come into church, we as a church were able to reconnect with those parishioners who were homebound and unable to join us and share in the liturgy even before the pandemic. Even though we shared the Eucharist with them, there was no way to share the liturgy until the pandemic.

As restrictions are eased and our pews open up to more people, I look forward to seeing all of us returning regularly to celebrate the liturgy together. It has been wonderful to see more and more of you returning to St. Andrew’s happy, safe and in good health.

May 7 – COVID Positives

We had hundreds of folks complete our Reconnect Survey! We asked, “What positives came out of COVID?” For some, this was a difficult, maybe even painful, question. For others, many positive experiences resulted from being forced to slow down and stay home. As we continue to reconnect, let’s enjoy sharing the good that God has provided so many of us over this past year. View many responses in the image below.

April 30 – Carlos Martinez

This week we read the beautiful words of parishioner Carlos Martinez. He shares his COVID experience as he journeyed through Holy Week last year and then his desperate longing for the Eucharist – his “weekly connection to Jesus.” Do you feel like Carlos? He says he will never take the Eucharist for granted again…

As I reflect over the past year, I continue to see this Covid experience as a condensed history of the church in modern time. As the pandemic began, we were all asked to quarantine within our homes and all things came to a halt including Mass. The Mass had become a cornerstone in my life and without it I found myself wondering as our ancestors did through the desert in search for what comes next as we progressed in our Lenten journey. After wondering spiritually for a while news came that mass would begin to be televised and the weekly messages posted by you were feeding my soul like manna from heaven that fed the Israelites during the Exodus. I do not usually show much emotion but as the Easter week masses were celebrated last year, I found myself suddenly racked with emotion and weeping as I listened to the readings and the homilies. For the first time I understood the connection between the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter vigil masses and truly appreciated the sacrifice Christ made for our sins, my sins. Just as the disciples fled and hid out of fear after the crucifixion of Christ, we were hiding out of fear of Covid and for a long time not realizing the gift that was been given to us. A chance to get closer to god. And as the weeks went on the church began to rise again. Just as the early Christians were worshipping in their homes hiding from the Romans, we were in our homes hiding from Covid but the number of us watching had grown. I discovered many of our friends and neighbors who never attended Mass at St Andrews were now watching the St. Andrews televised Mass. As the weeks progressed, I found weekly televised worship rewarding but yet something was still missing the “Eucharist”. That weekly connection to Jesus that I had taken for granted all these years had turned into a hunger that I had not experienced in the past. Sure, I had missed receiving the eucharist in the past for various reasons like, illness, vacations or sadly being too busy to spend time with Christ. But not receiving the Eucharist was different this time I was not the one hiding from God. Last Lent after hiding behind locked doors like the disciples I was happy to venture outside and experience the Eucharist again just like driving up to the window of the fast-food restaurant. The darkness was coming to an end and the light of the church was starting to shine once again. As we began having in person mass the light was getting brighter although fewer in number, I could see the faithful being fed spiritually and assist with mass. As time progressed the numbers attending mass have grown and as we “Reinvented Lent” the numbers in attendance at mass grew to the point where we had to direct attendees to alternative locations to participate in the mass. In reality my Lenten experience was reinvented last year. As the pandemic begins to come to an end, I have learned from my Metanoia experience and will never take the Mass or the eucharist for granted again. Thank you for helping to enlighten me.