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"LEAD LIKE ANDREW"
Membership Newsletter Brotherhood of St. Andrew
Welcome to Our Bi-weekly Newsletter
Volume 102, "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:
Next week we will be participating in the National Convention of the Military Chaplain Association in Columbia, SC. We have an opportunity to have all the congregations where we have chapters and Members-at-Large participate in this membership. Here is a link to this tremendous resource to not only our members but our churches. We hope your congregation becomes a member thanks to your membership in the Brotherhood:
By: Jeff Butcher, Sr. VP for Administration & Historian
Research organizations are releasing data now portraying that the decline in church attendance and baptisms may have bottomed out and are starting to rebound. Praise the Lord! This is a train the Brotherhood needs to climb aboard immediately.
The National Service Center is creating a new database of ZOOM and hybrid chapter meetings. We have nearly 900 brothers who are listing themselves as Members at Large (MAL) who are searching for fellowship. Can you help them out?Please send your chapter’s name, ZOOM link, dates and times of your Zoom or Hybrid men’s ministry gatherings? We would also appreciate contact name with a text-accepting phone number. Either email your information to info@brothersandrew.net or send notice via USPS to BStA, P.O. Box 1382, Louisville, KY 40201.
Weekly Wind Down
Directly Speaking by Tom Welch, Executive Director
By either an accident or Divine Intervention, I have stumbled into an idea that is gaining ground. Back during COVID the entire church was introduced to Zoom meetings. This summer I have been involved with an internship at St. David’s in Cheraw, South Carolina. In a recent brain-storming session centered around expanding membership at the church an idea surfaced during my personal prayer time. We remembered how many unchurched people there are out there today and ways we could use a soft approach to grow the church. We are also reminded when we see recent data showing a hunger among Gen-Z’s for spiritual direction and reflection. Here’s an idea that may work for you.
Use all media outlets available to you to open the community around you to a regular, routine time to share the very brief devotional service found on page 127 of the Book of Common Prayer called COMPLINE. It’s a ten-minute service that could be scheduled weekly, bi-weekly, or so open to all at say 8 p.m. Call it your “Weekly Wind Down.” Share the zoom link at your church, diocese, and outlets outside of the church. Set a time and provide a rotation schedule for hosting. If you are with a chapter, what a wonderful “service project” to the community. What a wonderful opportunity for home-bound members to provide a service to their community and church while at the same time feeling a tangible sense of connection.
INAUGURAL FOUNDER’S DAY OBSERVANCE
July 28th
The Brotherhood is introducing a Founders Day Observance for last weekend in July. A Founding Father James L. Houghteling died July 28, 1910 (115-years ago). Consequently, we believe this is an excellent opportunity for local men’s ministry communities to tackle major housekeeping activities.
The aims for this inaugural event encompass:
1.Half way through the calendar year nearly 1,000 Brothers have overlooked making a ministry pledge contribution. July 28 is our Step-up weekend for giving your transformational sacrifice to the men’s ministry.
2.We are missing Dates of Birth, correct email and home addresses plus phone numbers clear across the board.
3.We have rosters that have deceased, nursing home patients, men who have left the parish, and those who are missing in action on their journey that have missed our meetings.
4.We have less than 25% of chapter officers named. Moreover, we need to know who should be receiving this information promptly.
5.We want to honor stalwart brothers who have been true soldiers in helping disciple men and youth to Christ. We are looking for men who should be recognized as Kingdom Builders on every level: chapter, diocese, assembly, and/or province.
6.This is also an ideal time for a condensed 55-minute Orientation session for all the brothers who have joined us since January 1st.
The Executive Board is asking the Province, Diocesan and Assembly Officers to take the lead here making a personal phone call to every chapter. These same officers will have your roster information.
The membership committee and the National Council wish to recognize chapters who strongly support our ministry by presenting them with the Houghteling Award, named after our founder. The award criteria needed:
·making sure 75% of the chapter membership had paid dues for 2025 promptly, and
·providing a 2024 annual chapter report including names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of members and an officer roster no later than January 31, 2025.
We thank you for your past efforts as we strive to leave a legacy for those coming behind us.
FIRST WEDNESDAY WEBINAR
The monthly webinar is always on the first Wednesday of each month at 8 pm/Eastern.
Jay promises todeliver a plethora of ideas for organizing, engaging, mentoring, mobilizing, persevering, and getting creative with ministry to men. You may recall, Jay joined us February 2024 in Baltimore and spoke on parenting, grandparenting, and God’s bucket list. Jay is the best-selling author of 30+ books including the bestselling 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad, What If God Wrote Your Bucket List? and The Jesus Dare. Releasing this fall, Jay has two new books: A Grand Way to Live and Happy Semiquincentennial, America! Jay’s books have been translated into ten languages and sold more than 3/4 million copies. For decades,Jay served as freelance radio producer for Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, Fathers.com, and Voice of the Martyrs. He has been a guest multiple times on The Harvest Show, Moody Radio, and Focus on the Family. Jay and his wife, Rita, live in St. Charles, where they raised five kids, loved on ten foster babies, and are cherishing grandparenthood. There’s more at jaypayleitner.com.
SECOND TUESDAY DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
The monthly seminar is always on the second Tuesday of each month at 8 pm/Eastern.
The National Service Center has begun assembling a complete list of chapters' Zoom and Hybrid meetings specifically targeted for a MAL's benefit. Each chapter meeting will contain ZOOM links, chapter name, dates and times where you can engage in fellowship.
HOUGHTELING CHAPTERS FOR 2025
The membership committee and the National Council wish to recognize chapters who strongly support our ministry by presenting them with the Houghteling Award, named after our founder. The award criteria required:
making sure 75% of the chapter membership had paid dues for 2025 in a timely manner, AND
providing a 2024 annual chapter report including names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of members and an officer roster no later than January 31, 2025.
This year 25 chapters met the criteria and are so recognized:
Advent #5454S, Sun City West, Arizona
Christ #5068S, Pensacola, Florida
Christ #2219S Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Church of Ascension #5206S, Knoxville, Tennessee
Church of the Good Shepherd #5041S, Silver City, New Mexico
Church of the Good Shepherd #5259S, Friendswood, Texas
Church of Our Savior #5121S, Palm Bay, Florida
Church of Transfiguration #5392S, Opa Locka, Florida
Holy Comforter #4706S, Spring, Texas
Holy Trinity #5461S, Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Holy Trinity #0079S, Gainesville, Florida
Holy Trinity #2225S, Decatur, Georgia
Holy Trinity by the Lake #4699S, Rockwall, Texas
St. Georges #5136S, The Villages, Florida
St. Johns #4854S, Naperville, Illinois
St. Johns #3816S, Tulsa, Oklahoma
St. Joseph #5173S, Boynton Beach, Florida
St. Marks #1552S, Islip, New York
St. Marys #2187S, High Point, North Carolina
St. Pauls by the Sea #1770S, Jacksonville Beach, Florida
St. Timothys #5058S, Centennial, Colorado
St. Timothys #3716S, Lake Jackson, Texas
Trinity #2048S, Mattoon, Illinois
Trinity #1037S, Elkton, Maryland
Trinity #0284S, Fredericksburg, Virginia
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 (CDT) 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.
BIBLE STUDY ID: 448 502 7479 (no password necessary)
2. By PHONE:
646-876-9923
ENTER ID#: 448 502 7479, THEN PRESS #
New members to receive "welcome call" from
their Province President and/or Diocesan Leaders
New members are starting to receive email notification from the Service Center when their complete and funded applications are processed. Packets are also sent via USPS. Often, our Executive Director Tom Welch, makes a welcome call. Our senior leadership wants to take it a step closer to the ground. Each member of the Brotherhood has a Province President, and many have a Diocesan Coordinator contact. "What province am I in?" A map is below.
Every month province presidents receive a list of the new members in his province. You should have already received a welcome call from him by now or will in the near future. It's all about building connections so we may build community and leadership. One or more of our leaders will be calling new members by phone, so you may see an odd phone number show on your phone. Take a chance and see if it is a new Brotherhood friend on the other end. They would like to get to know you.
Likewise, every month for those new members who have indicated an interest in one or more of our seven ministries, that Ministry VP will also receive your name and plug new members into that ministry silo.
If new members aren't able to answer the call, our leaders will leave a message for a call back opportunity from our new members. What makes a new member join? What does their parish look like? What would they share to others about the Brotherhood? These are the type of questions we want to learn so we may grow in the Lord together.
A special welcome to these new members joining since July 9:
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
