A Message from our Rector:
Dear Friends:
The Parable of the Evil Tenants (Mark 12:1-12), heard last Sunday, is upsetting and difficult to understand. Jesus confronts the leaders of his people, through parable accusing them of betraying their people—and by that act, turning against God. They have made an uneasy truce with the Roman occupiers; for the “common good” they sacrifice Jesus and Jesus’ vision of a reign of God of mutual care, especially care for the outsiders and the despised. The parable makes me uncomfortable, not least because I am a religious leader. It should make you uncomfortable, too, as all of our lives require hard choices and inevitably justifying the means we use with the ends we seek. I came away from my own sermon feeling not up to the task set by Jesus.
Later in the day, I came across these prayers. They’ve helped me begin the process of peeling away defensiveness that comes with making an inventory of my soul and conscience. I hope they help you, too.
In peace,
Jen+
The Blessing of Discomfort
Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB (1985)
May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen
The Blessing of Grace
The Rev. William Sloane Coffin
May God give you the grace never to sell yourself short;
Grace to risk something big for something good; and
Grace to remember the world is now
too dangerous for anything but the truth and
too small for anything but love.
Connect With Us
Rector’s Office Drop-In Time
Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day.
The Third Sunday in Lent
In-Person Sunday Morning Worship Service, March 8, led by the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Oldstone-Moore,10:15 a.m.
You can stream the service via St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Greencastle, Indiana Facebook Page. Click on this link to view the Live Stream. We will start the Live Stream 5 minutes prior to the start of the service.
Click here for the service booklet for March 8.
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The Latest Updates
Letter from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on Military Strike on Iran
Please use the link below to view the recent message from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on the Iran conflict.
Military Strike on Iran Response
**Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 8, 2026**
EPISCOPAL 101, SUNDAYS 11:45-12:45
Continuing this month, Episcopal 101, a gathering to learn about the Episcopal church–what we do, how we pray and worship, our history, and more. All are welcome.
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
Starting Lent, we will focus on a series called “Walking the Palm Sunday Path.” I will be inviting the whole congregation to use the materials for their own Lenten practice, and will send links and some printed copies out. In addition, the sermons in Lent will preach on these texts.
I am attaching Week One materials here. I will also bring the printed handouts that were not picked up in church on Sunday to our meetings.
I will be drawing from (and you can find out more here):
We will return to Chinese Religion—and other religions, if you wish—when Lent is done and our alleluias have returned.
In peace,
Jen+
LENT SCHEDULE AND GUIDES
Click on links for Lent materials below:
First week of Lent
Lent and Easter Schedule
https://www.lentmadness.org/
Lenten Discipline – Week 1 “Walking the Palm Sunday Path”
Lenten Discipline – Week 2 “Walking the Palm Sunday Path”
Lenten Discipline – Week 3 “Walking the Palm Sunday Path”
Lenten Taizé at Gobin, Wednesdays
Gobin and Saint Andrew’s are collaborating on Wednesday services this year. One of these collaborations will be hosted by Gobin, a weekly evening Taizé services that will give voice and time for considering grief. This Lenten Taizé Wednesday series will be offered 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25 at 6:30pm.
St. Andrew’s Youth Murder Mystery Party, Friday, March 13th
Youth are invited to join us for an interactive murder mystery party and see if you can spot “whodunit!” This is an interactive game where people sign up to play a role for fun. It is open to all young adults, but please note that content may not be appropriate for all ages – it is a murder mystery after all!
Sign up for characters is available in Hamilton Hall. Friends are welcome to join but please provide an email for communications. Non Player Characters are available for adult chaperones to enjoy playing along.
Friday, March 13th
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cheese pizza will be available for all. Please consider bring a baked delight to share!
The Great Bake Down Murder!
World-renowned British baker, author, and artisan chef Barry Merry is finally retiring after over 40 years and 40 bakeries in 40 countries, and he’s giving one lucky person the chance of a lifetime: The keys to this multi-million-pound business.
We are in the final weeks, and Lennon Drizzle is the front runner with the most points, closely followed by Ed Velvet. One more challenge will crown the winner who will inherit the company.
When Lennon doesn’t immediately show up for filming, show runner Faye Ricake checks his trailer… and finds him dead! An opened box of suspicious smelling fruitcake points to a planned attack. But who was responsible for the deadly fruitcake attack!?
PROJECTS AND PARISH SPACE
We are blessed with ample and well organized spaces for our worship, fellowship, and outreach. However, things have a way of collecting at churches—as we found when Gwen Morris and Cathryn Ensley cleaned out the front closet. We want to know what’s going on! Please mark supplies or materials gathered for outreach with the name of the project and the name of the point person.
HEALING PRAYER
Most Sundays our intern Meghan will be offering anointing and healing prayer at Sunday services during communion. Meghan will set up a station in the narthex; meet there for general or specific prayers for healing.
EVENING PRAYER
Join us for Evening Prayer in the sanctuary on Tuesdays at 4:00. Evening Prayer is a wonderful service to wind down the day and move into the evening hours.
CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER DURING LENT
Lenten Prayer: 7:45 am (pray where you are); 1:00 (contemplative prayer in sanctuary); 1:30 (Stations of the Cross, in sanctuary), 6:30 (Taizé at Gobin), 9:00 compline on-line (use St Andrew’s zoom from church web page). Details in Hamilton Hall.
ALTAR FLOWER CALENDAR
An altar flower calendar is posted in Hamilton Hall. Sign up to sponsor the altar flowers to commemorate a birthday or anniversary, remember a loved one, or in thanksgiving for an important event. We ask a donation to help offset the cost of the altar flowers and other worship expenses. Be sure to tell the office your dedication so that it can be printed in the bulletin. Please make checks payable to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and in the memo field please put this information: Altar Flowers, person’s name, occasion, Sunday date you’d like for the flowers to be on the altar.
VESTRY MEETING MINUTES
If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the music stand in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!
SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY
Please add razors, shaving cream, laundry detergent, spray cleaner, and toilet bowl cleaner to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of January. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be Saturday, March 28, from noon – 2:00 p.m. If you can help with this ministry in any way, please contact Harriet Moore or Carl Huffman.
KROGER COUPONS
If you have any unwanted Kroger coupons, please bring them to Hamilton Hall and place in the window ledge near the “Little Library”. We would like to make them available to our Non-Food Pantry recipients so that they might be able to take advantage of them to help extend their food budget. Thanks in advance!
FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL
We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.
Prayers and Reflections for This Week
We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!
Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.
Non-Food Pantry Latest
Saturday, March 28
• Noon to 2:00 p.m.
There will be a distribution in Hamilton Hall and light lunches will be served inside. We are grateful for all those who have worked so hard to obtain supplies for the Non-Food Pantry. Items are having to be purchased from a variety of sources making it much more expensive. Donations to help offset this extra cost will be gratefully accepted!
Top 3 Needed Items
Your prayers are asked for:
Rabbi Adler, friend of Harry Maginity
Haile Bane, grandson of Joanne Haymaker
Beth Benedix, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Jennifer Clarke, friend of Patti Harmless
Diane * Judy *
Heather Cantonwine and family, friends of the Knuths
Angela Evans
Katie Gleichman, relative of Jim & Cathryn Ensley
Tom Kaiser, friend of Jen+ & Chris
Lynda, friend of Sarah Finlay-Black
Warren Macy
Jacob Majors, son of Renee Majors
Teresa Masten, friend of Karen & Jim Mannon
Sally Motsch, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Mary Mountz
Sam Paris, grandson of Harry Maginity
Gene Shaw, brother-in-law of Patti Harmless
Elizabeth & Natalie Sheffler, daughter & granddaughter of Page & Narda Cotton
Deloris Smith, friend of Emily Knuth
Jenny Smyth, niece of Patti Harmless
Luke Smith, son of Mark Smith
Skip Sutton
Larry Taylor, former member of St. Andrew’s
Donald Voermans, father of Nick Voermans
Dwight Ziegler, uncle of Stephanie Gurnon
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: St. Paul’s, Evansville, The Rev. Holly Rankin Zaher, The Rev. Sue Gahagan
Our companion dioceses: The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil: The Most Rev. Mauricio Jose Araujo De Andrade, Primate of Brazil and Bishop of Brasilia. The people and Diocese of Haiti and Saint Andre’s Parish and school in Mithon.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East
Birthdays: Gwen Morris, Mar. 4; Fred Vallowe, Mar. 5; Leo Hecko, Mar. 6; Ava Jedele, Mar. 9; Kathy Smiley, Mar. 10; Scout Whitten, Mar. 11
Anniversaries: Richard & Claudia Butler, Mar. 8
Special Events and Services
