RENEW YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
Church Is far more than the people who go there,
Friendliness is important. Friendly means being with people you feel comfortable with and who understands your concerns. St. Andrew’s
is home to the same diversity you will see throughout Miami. Many of our members come from other faiths — from Roman Catholic,
Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian and others. All are welcome here.
St. Andrew’s is made up of a wide variety of people: families, married couples, middle-aged adults, kids, singles, teens, grandparents,
professionals, wage earners, business owners and young adults. You’ll probably see someone you know. If not, there will be someone here you can relate to!
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church invites you to be ignored If that’s what you prefer. How do you expect to be greeted when you walk into a new church? We’ll be sure to meet your expectations, whatever they are. A first time visit to a new church can test even the most comfortable and well-grounded person’s social skills. For many it can reawaken feelings of inadequacy and awkwardness they thought they conquered in high school.
You probably don’t want be ignored, but at the same time you don’t want to be swarmed over by greeters who will vanish within seconds and whose names you’ll promptly forget. You do want to feel comfortable. But most important, you want to find out if you really belong there and whether you should return.
When you visit St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church you’ll feel comfortable because the people you find here are people
like yourself — friendly and genuine. They’ve come to reconnect with their spiritual selves in an environment that respects and embraces our faith’s traditions and practices within the context of today’s cultural, social and family realities. The dress code, for example, is whatever they feel comfortable in for worship. Feel free to leave your hat at home, and save your tie for the office. Here, in our easy-going, no-hassle, small-church community, you’ll get the chance to step away from the hustle and bustle that characterizes life in teeming Miami-Dade County, take a deep breath and quietly and comfortably reconnect with God.
If that’s the kind of church you’re looking for, visit St. Andrew’s this Sunday. When you enter, you can be sure that you’ve found what you’ve been seeking.
Is Your Child Spiritually Prepared For What Lies Ahead?
You can help prepare your child now for those events they will inevitably face in the years ahead. Those big and small events that can overwhelm a child or an adult unprepared for them -- the loss of a loved one, a major disappointment, or even a family move, for example. Five things you can do to help them get started;&nb 1. Become part of a larger family by becoming a member of a church. Reach out — recognize the strength to be gained from being a member of a caring, loving community. The right church can be that community and become your extended family.
2. Sometimes less is more. Like so many things in the world today. Children can get lost in the crowd and they may not get the focus or the individual attention they need. Be sure the environment you put them in is capable of delivering the spiritual information they need.
3. Give your child the chance to thrive in an environment that consistently and lovingly delivers to them, in ways they can understand, the spiritual information they’ll need.
4. Expose them to traditional Christian values that will serve them throughout their lives, wherever they go and whatever they do.
5. Consider for yourself a faith that challenges you to understand and appreciate the role of faith in addressing the moral issues of the day — the Iraq war, the definition of marriage, the role of family, personal responsibility, and community responsibility. Does it give you and your children the tools for you to decide for yourself and for your family?
St. Andrew’s Spiritual Education
One of the many dimensions for communicating spiritual values is the Sunday school. Here your child can learn to understand, live and practice their faith in an emotionally safe, comfortable, nurturing
environment. With a curriculum grounded in the Episcopal traditions, the school will introduce your child to the Old and New Testaments, the sacraments and church history in ways appropriate for their
age. Starting at the preschool level and moving up through kindergarten on into middle school, St. Andrew’s spiritual education program strives to continually reinforce the themes, beliefs and tenets that are central to our faith. This is not mindless, numbing repetition, but gentle reinforcement and effective learning. Because each time a theme and belief is revisited, it is seen from a different
perspective — one that is relevant and understandable to the child at that particular point in their development and education. It is from within this environment that your child, together with your own
efforts and support, will emerge spiritually healthy and prepared to face tomorrow.
