Looking for a church is no different, so it is important to have an effective, dynamic presence on the Internet. We want people to be able to find us, not only when they are coming to visit on Sunday morning, but also when they are online searching.

The new web site will also have lots of information for members, including current bulletin announcements and monthly newsletters.
Check out the new web site at www.standrewarvada.org!

Vacation Bible School

June 15-19, 2009 8:45 am-11:30 am

For more information or to sign up……………

Oberts and Korabs have been members since 1961!

Shared Memories

Bud and Barb Obert
Marv and Ilene Korab

The Oberts and the Korabs had visited the new mission church called St. Andrew in 1961 and attended services there. Pastor Richard Englund then made a home visit to each of them. This made an impression on both couples, and they joined shortly after.

At the time, St. Andrew had a membership of 64 families, most of whom were young. “Sunday School was full of children everywhere.” There was one church service at 10:00, and Sunday School was held at 9:00. Some classes were held in the small church. Others were taught in the parsonage basement, and others met at John and Ethel Erickson’s home on Newland Street.

Communion was only offered on the first Sunday of each month. Both Barb and Ilene recall that the ladies wore hats and gloves. An item in the bulletin one week state, “We do ask that the ladies receive the elements in the ungloved hand.”

In 1961, the congregation parked along 66th Avenue. There was not a center aisle when entering the Sanctuary, but members came from both sides. The choir loft was centered in the back of the Sanctuary. Bathrooms were located where the Sacristy and Parament rooms are. The kitchen was located in the northwest corner of the building, and Altar Guild and coffee fellowship hour share the space.

As the congregation continued to grow, Bud worked with John Erickson to remove the walls that had enclosed the area for Sunday School classes. After that, the altar was removed, and the free-standing altar that we have now was built. Brothers Buck and Virg Rust did the brick work with Glen Lilja moving the mud and bricks to do the job.

Other major projects followed: building the Education Wing; moving the Pastor’s and secretary’s offices; building a choir loft; replacing the roof on the Sanctuary which involved Marv; working with J.C. Pippin on various projects; remodeling Obert Hall; and drilling the outside well. Remember the red “Well Fund” envelopes?

Special memories includes: Dan Klingens and the family camping group, Mike Pelkey and the blood drives, the Teen Center after school in the 1970s, the Gleaning Project in the early 1990s, and working the Rockies games from 1995 to 2005.

St. Andrew has been the home church for both the Oberts and the Korabs since they joined. It is the center of their religious and spiritual life. “There are a lot of caring people here, and our hope is that the church will thrive in the future.’

By Julie Cunningham
Photo by Joe Cunningham

Lascots are long, longtime members of St. Andrew.  Their history goes back to the very beginnins of the new church.  Jean’s parents, three sisters, grandmother and two aunts were also members.

As St. Andrew was to be a satellite of Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver, the family was pleased to have a neighborhood church closer to their new home on Reed Street.  Before this, the family had been driving to attend services at St. Andrew from their home at 43rd and Sheridan.

Social life. “Social outlet” is how Jean describes what the church meant to his family.  It was the source of friends for the family.  The church was the base.  Diane used the word “support” when she talked about St. Andrew.  This generation of the Lascot family and their three children have been members since the children were born.  “Everyone here has been a part of raising our children,” she said.  “The kids have been here from their baptisms through confirmation.”

Confirmation is an honored tradition in the Lascot family.  When Drew is confirmed, three generations will have been confirmed at St. Andrew: Jean’s two aunts in 1958, Jean in 1969, and Kevin, Erin and Drew.  Community is important to Erin.  She is glad to have grown up in a small church where everyone has always known her and knows who she is.

Other memories for Jean include the “train” of kids that would go back and forth between the church and the parsonage, where Sunday School was held.  He also remembers fun times at church Camp Eden, sneaking out of the dorm at night, thinking that no one would know what they were up to, but finding out the next day that they had gotten away with nothing!

Thanks to the people of St. Andrew from Erin and Diane!  They both give thanks for the caring and giving ways of our members.  The future is important to the Lascots, too.  Their hope is that St. Andrew will grow again, be a home to new families and be as meaningful to others as it has been to their charter member family.

By Julie Cunningham
Photo by Joe Cunningham

Klingens Family Charter Members

For charter member Grace Klingens, it all began with a knock on the front door in 1957.  Grace and her husband Dan, who worked for the phone company, had just been transferred from Chicago to Colorado.

The woman who knocked on Grace’s door was from Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver.  She was conducting a survey to see if anyone in the neighborhood would be interested in attending a new Lutheran church to be built in the area.  This was possible thanks to a donation of land from the Badey family.  The Badeys had contacted Dr. Paul Noren of Augustana with a tithing of four acres of land for a mission church.

Grace and family said they would be interested in joining such a church.  The Klingens soon found themselves on the steering committee!  Other families in that group included the Willners, Palmquists, Hamiltons and the Smarts.

Starting in 1958, the steering committee met once a month.  Jim Anderson, a seminary intern, led the group.  Grace recalls that he suggested the mission church be called St. Andrew, after one of his favorite apostles.  Also, this was a mission church and Andrew was strong in missionary work.  She also remembers that St. Andrew was crucified, upside-down, on a cross and that is why our church uses his symbol of the cross.

The first service was held at Secrest Cottage School at 66th and Lamar.  The steering committee was hoping there might as many as 20 in attendance.  The number was 52!  As the small congregation grew, services were held at Secrest Elementary School.  Organization of the church, groundbreaking and dedication of the church site took place on September 13, 1959.  By that time there were about fifty adults and fifty-one children who signed the charter roll.

Originally, the front entrance to the church faced 66th Avenue, which is why the address is 6774 W. 66th Avenue.  The doors of the building were special as they were given in memory of a child of the church, Larry Carsens.  The door handles were shaped like shepherd’s crooks to remind us that a shepherd always take care of his flock.

Among the many other things that Grace has documented about the history of St. Andrew are important dates, donations of time and talent, including the first altar, candlesicks, paraments and the outside planter and sign, which were built with the help of fellow charter member, Glenn Lilja.

By Julie Cunningham

Lilja Family Charter Members

Charter member Glenn Lilja was born near Erie, Colorado on the Boulder County line and joined St. Andrew as it was being born.  Glenn and his wife, Shirley, were married at First Lutheran Church in Boulder.  For awhile they attended services there.  Since St. Andrew was being established, and Glenn and Shirley and their two daughters lived in the neighborhood, they became charter members of the new church.

Glenn served on the first Board of Deacons, and Shirley, as wife and mother, helped with Sunday School classes.  Through the years, Glenn has been a faithful member of St. Andrew.  As he says, “St. Andrew is a place of blessing, a place of friendships.  It’s my home.”

Glenn sees the future of St. Andrew as continuing to teach God’s Word and to keep the people of God here as special as they always have been and always will be.  “St. Andrew was the number one church when I joined.  It’s still number one.  I would say that to this day.”

Rynearson Family Charter Members

As told by Kristy Rynearson Schovajsa

Elaine and Ed Rynearson had five children: Kenny, Danny, Kathy, Nancy and Kristy.  The family lived on Upham Street, behind the Arvada Lanes Bowling Alley.  Being Lutherans, they were happy to learn of a new church being built near them.  They joined St. Andrew Lutheran Church as Charter Members.  Kristy recalls that on the day the charter was to signed, her mother didn’t think that signing the document was important and was more eager to get her little brood of five back home.  So none of the family signed the Charter Roll on that day.

Kristy remembers a fun, spirited time growing up in the church.  She was active in Sunday School, junior choir and Luther League.  As Kristy was growing up, her social life and that of her siblings revolved around the church and its activities.  She can tell great stories about others in the church and of her good friends Jeanine Klingens and Sue and Dede Martin.

When asked about her favorite memories, Kristy recalls:

Spaghetti fights in the back of the church that is now the choir loft

The youngster Jean Lascot whom everyone thought was so cute

Babysitting for families of the church, like the Oberts

Rick Torfin and his kindness to her son, Nick

Pastor Paul and Karen Hadland and their ministry with us, her illness and their leaving to go back to Minnesota

To this day, St. Andrew is the “ground point” for the Rynearson family.  Two of the sisters and one of the brothers were married here.  It is the place to which this family returns for family celebrations, for baptisms, confirmations and for funerals.  “This is our home.”

By Julie Cunningham

Photo by Joe Cunningham

The planning and celebration of our 50 years of ministry in Arvada began in September 2008 with a call to action from Pastor Stephanie in this letter to the congregation -

Dear People of God at St. Andrew,

While a planning committee here at St. Andrew is already making arrangements for our 50th anniversary next year, the 13th of September this year will see our 49th. Not that that necessarily registers. The 49th of anything doesn’t seem to be worth noting – short of being, well, short of one. But, as numbers in time go, the 49th anniversary is a bit different. It concludes our 49th year, which means that two weeks from now, on September 14, 2008, St. Andrew’s 50th year begins – to conclude with our half-century celebration next September 13, 2009. Which, then, leads us to the question: How do we want to spend our 50th year – as a church, a congregation, a community of faith in Arvada, CO?

To think about this in view of our history, I have spent some time in our archives lately – archives as far as the bulletins, press releases, and newspaper clippings go that 50 years ago announced to the city of Arvada the beginning of a new Lutheran congregation. They are remarkable. News media truly understood local news differently then than they do today. Again and again, St. Andrew is mentioned: its beginnings as a mission congregation with the student pastor, James Anderson, gathering the first interested participants to worship at Secrest School; the calling of the first Pastor and Mission Developer, Richard Englund, under whose leadership the church was built; the relationship with the Augustana Church that eventually merged into the Rocky Mountain Synod. In all this time, it seems, no one ever asked about the specific ministries this congregation would engage in – there was going to be a new Lutheran Church in town, so one of these Sunday mornings, folks would try it.

Today, of course, it is much different. Today, congregations exist because of (1) the focus and (2) the quality of the ministry they do, and (3) the relationships that parishioners have amongst themselves. We are doing well in all three of these departments, I think. Our Outside (Benevolence) ministry and giving goes into the community (ARMS, PCD, Growing Home, LFS, Food Bank, Christmas Tree, etc.) and into the world (ELCA, Heifer, CROP, Operation Christmas Child, etc.); it is generous, considerate, and directed to those who need it most. Our worship life and education programs are well attended and seek to address the challenges of living our 2000-year-old faith in today’s world. And the relationships within this congregation surprise me ever again with the many caring connections and friendships that exist.

So what do we need to do in our 50th year? Tell others. Tell them of St. Andrew, tell them of the congregation you are part of and tell them what it means to you to be connected here. Tell them what it means to you to experience God and practice your faith here, and then, tell others.

See you in church –

Pastor Stephanie