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"LEAD LIKE ANDREW"
Membership Newsletter Brotherhood of St. Andrew
Welcome to Our Bi-weekly Newsletter
Volume 115, "LEAD LIKE ANDREW"
Here's our latest edition with important meetings and other news you can use! Take a look ...
Please share news, tidbits, or notices of upcoming events in your area so we may include them. We also value your feedback on this newsletter and how we may better serve you. Don't hesitate to contact:
And we know that you're out there just waiting to be asked. So, we need to say, join us as a volunteer and help us.
We have a number of volunteer position vacancies that we need your help. Please consider that we need volunteers to fill key positions at the Province, Diocesan, and national ministry levels. It is critical to have local leaders to assist us in these support positions.
The following positions at the Province Level are vacant:
Province I; Province IV: (Western IV and Eastern IV); and Province V. All Provinces need Diocesan Coordinators who work with Province Presidents.
We need leaders for several ministry positions.
If you are curious, interested, or know of someone who is "ideal" for a position, call Jeff Butcher or Roy Benavides. Let's filler-up!! (ugh).
“In the Episcopal Church, we are guided by the vision of Becoming Beloved Community, our church’s long-term commitment to racial justice, healing, and reconciliation. We’re all on a lifelong journey toward God’s dream, taking intentional and faithful steps as if moving through a labyrinth.”
“Becoming Beloved Community” is driving our initial thoughts and efforts of the Brotherhood ministry in this area. As we talked, we focused on the ongoing need to promote the Sacred Ground program and to support our brothers in this essential Christian formation. Sacred Ground Dialogue Circles are a key element in our effort toBecome a Beloved Community.
“Truth-telling: Telling the Truth about Our Churches and Race
Baptismal Promise: Persevere in resisting evil, and whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord. Core Questions: What racial/cultural/ethnic groups are in our church? Who have we excluded or included?
Proclamation: Proclaiming the Dream of Beloved Community
Baptismal Promise: Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. Core Questions: How has our city/town/area participated in racial injustice or healing over time? What's happening today? What is our dream for Beloved Community? Whatbehaviors and practices foster it?
Baptismal Promise: Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves. Core Questions: How will we grow as reconcilers, healers, and justice-bearers? What activities, practices, learning and experiences would (trans)form us? How will we share stories and grow relationship?
Justice:Repairing the Breach in Society and Institutions”
Baptismal Promise: Strive for justice and peace among all people & respect the dignity of every human being. Core Questions: What institutions and systems bear the signs of racial injustice? How will we participate in the repair, restoration and healing of people, institutions and systems?
As a men’s ministry in the Angelica communion, it is most appropriate that we use these elements as our basis for moving forward, keeping our Baptismal vows.
How will we encourage this?
By being a Community animated by a non-clinging, self-emptying, persistent love that drives the members to pursue wholeness and kindness. In it, the individual and the collective strive and sacrifice for the sake of the greater whole and for the end of all forms of domination and oppression that diminish the children of God.
Howard Thurman in his Book Jesus and The Disinherited wrote "'The first step toward love is a common sharing of a sense of mutual worth and value. This cannot be discovered in a vacuum or in a series of artificial or hypothetical relationships. It has to be in a real situation, natural, free."
It's Membership Renewal Time!
Staying in contact with one another.
Directly Speakingby Executive Director Tom Welch
This is the time of year when things truly get crazy at the Service Center. We will need your help when a chapter submits renewals to make sure any new members since this time last year have completed a "new member application." That assures we have the membership correctly posted in our database.
Additionally, please remember unless a member has paid for a print edition of the St. Andrew's Cross (link here), should a member "unsubscribe" to Brotherhood emails like Lead Like Andrew or the St. Andrew's Crossthey also unsubscribe to ALL COMMUNICATIONS sent from the Service Center including payment receipts, dues reminders, announcements, and special invitations like the Province III workshop below. To keep "in the loop," please simply delete emails rather than unsubscribe. Thanks for your mindful, prayerful consideration over this matter. Through our mutual connections, one to another, we continue to fulfill The Great Commission through the most reliable, consistent 21st century electronic means.
Additionally, the National Service Center has begun assembling a complete list of chapters' Zoom and Hybrid meetings specifically targeted for a MAL's benefit. Listed below are chapter meetings available to engage in fellowship.
Brothers, in addition to our weekly Mid-Day Mid-Week Prayers, we are scheduling a weekly end-of-day Order for Compline each Sunday at 9 PM Eastern Time.
Province III President Gregory Evans and Executive Director Tom Welch are pleased to invite brothers in and out of Province III to this exceptional event. This year we are expanding the agenda to include:
Tour of the St. Nicholas Center (the largest collection of St. Nicholas’ in the Anglican Communion).
Tour and brief remarks about the large Assyrian Relief panel in Bicentennial Hall by a VTS professor.
Display and explanation from the Rare Documents Department at the Bishop Payne Library. Included among the rare books will be one of only a few bibles known to remain that were published by the US Congress in the 19th century. Library staff will share a bit of the history and significance of the collection.
A workshop with Tom Welch, Q&A, and remarks from Prov. Pres. Gregory Evans.
We will need your registration to prepare for the event. More information to follow.
The monthly seminar is always on the second Tuesday of each month at 8 pm/Eastern.
Hosted by: President Roy Benavides & Sr. VP Jeff Butcher
PRISON MINISTRY NETWORK MEETING
Brothers who are interested in being a part of the Brotherhood's prison ministry are invited to join a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 9 p.m. (Eastern).
The hour-long meeting discussion will include:
·A database of those involved and how we will use it
The Brotherhood of St. Andrew has been actively involved in promoting and supporting Ministry to Veterans and their families since World War 1. Sixty-six Brotherhood-member Episcopal congregations have signed up to be a part of the Veteran Military Friendly Congregations (VMFC), a program coordinated by the Military Chaplains Association (MCA). There are currently 234 VMFC in the United States. One of our goals is to increase the total number of VMFC congregations by at least 10%. The mission of VMFC is to bring all service men and women closer to God and highlight the healing power of God.
The Brotherhood of St. Andrew “Year of the Veteran” grant giveaway in 2025, raised enough funds to award three (3) $500 mini grants and one (1) $2500 Year of the Veteran Matching grant. These funds may be used to expand or develop a ministry designed to assist or support active-duty military, national guard, reservists and military veterans. Additionally, these grants may be used to support Gold Star and Blue Star family members and veterans or service members with disabilities.
Any faith-based congregation can apply for the grants to be awarded on April 30, 2026. The application form is now available ONLINE HERE.
2025 ANNUAL CHAPTER REPORT AND 2026 MINISTRY DUES NEEDED BY JAN. 31
There are several ways to pay dues.
Some chapters use a November meeting to collect the next year's dues, update their rosters, and send in their 2025 annual report to our national service center in Louisville, Kentucky. The same meeting is also an ideal time to rededicate the chapter to the purposes of the Brotherhood.
Another way to renew your annual ministry dues is to mail your check directly to the Brotherhood of St. Andrew at P.O. Box 1382, Louisville, KY 40201.
The Membership Committee and the National Council recognize chapters who strongly support our ministry by presenting them with the Houghteling Award, named after our founder. The award criteria requires:
making sure 75% of the chapter membership pay dues for 2026 in a timely manner by January 31, 2026, AND
providing a *NEW*2025 annual chapter report*NEW* including names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of members and an officer roster, available either ONLINEor printed, completed and postmarked no later than January 31, 2026.
For 2025, 26 chapters met the criteria and were so recognized.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW HAS BEEN PART OF THE MEN’S STUDY SERIES KNOWN AS PROJECT 12 FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
Please consider the series as a potential opportunity for your chapter or group of men to study and interact on one of the topics in the Lifeline Series.
“It started on a patio. Two men sat there talking about what God was doing in their lives and ministries. Diverse in more than just age and geography, these two men discussed how building men was not a cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all approach There was a desire expressed to gather a group of effective men’s leaders from all over the country to share what God was doing. This was the beginning of the A-Team.
Fast forward to 2014, and over 25 men gathered in the Midwest at a retreat center to learn from each other and celebrate how God was working in their lives to change their communities. One of the outcomes of these conversations was to gather a list of great faithful resources to point men towards to help, teach, and grow.
The Project Twelve concept emerged. Twelve guys following Jesus. Twelve months in a year. Perhaps this group could help men follow Jesus year-round like the original twelve guys did. Welcome to Project Twelve.”
The programs can be found at www.projecttwelve.net. They are called Lifelines. They were just recently released. They are faith-based roadmaps for every generation. According to the outline, each of the six segments has six blocks. If you did one per week, it would last at least 36 weeks. Each is based on the Serendipity Bible.
We are part of the original group that established Project Twelve five years ago. There are seven different denominations/ministries, and 13 individuals who contributed to the writings. There is no charge for tapping into the various programs.
JOIN US IN PRAYER EACH WEEK
Mid-Week, Mid-Day, "12:00 Central Time"
What better way to level set during the middle of the week? We will hold a weekly Wednesday noon (Central) prayer time over ZOOM that is open to all brothers and guests. Let's pray for the Brotherhood, for our Brothers, and even share some stories of how Prayer has impacted you or someone you know!
We can all spare 20 minutes in prayer. It's like stopping at the faith service station to fill your prayer tank!
Please join us every week when you can to recharge your prayer batteries!
The Brotherhood of St. Andrew, The Brooklyn and Queens Assemblies, and The Diocese of Chicago wish to remind you to join the weekly Bible Study on Thursdays, 8 p.m. EDT/ 7 p.m. CDT/ 6 p.m. MDT/ 5 p.m. PDT. Joining this group will allow you to continue to gain deeper knowledge, awareness, and understanding of the Bible.
Kathy Copas, our editor, would like to include more news of chapter events and ministry meetings or events. If you have something to share, please send it to
