The Session is the committee that oversees the spiritual direction of the congregation. ( E.g. Sunday morning worship, the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism, visitation.) An individual Session member is called an elder, but not because they are old! It comes from the Scriptures where an elder is an overseer, a shepherd, a pastor. The city of Chateauguay and outlying regions where members live is divided into sections. Each section is appointed to an elder. A congregational member or adherent with concerns or questions may call their elder. The Session members must be members of the congregation and approved by the congregation for this position

The Prayer Fellowship meets on Tuesday mornings at 10 am from mid-September until the end of May. The purpose of the group is to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a Christian in today’s society.

We open with prayer when individuals bring their thanks and concerns to God. Videos are used as a basis for study and discussion. Religious and current articles from newspapers, magazines, and television are also read and discussed.

The group has existed since 1965 and many of our former members who have moved away remain in touch. There are nine members at present and all are welcome to come or to send prayer requests.

This committee oversees such groups as the Sunday School, Prayer Fellowship, Youth Group, Bible study groups and any other teaching type of event. Its role includes the evaluation and support of needs for formal and informal learning about matters of faith. This committee is open to interested members and adherents.

The United Church Women (UCW) is a group of hard working ladies of the church who strive to raise money to support the church. In St. Andrew’s we have three fundraisers each year — two that are very large and the third, although not as large, serves us well as a money raiser. We also handle receptions for small funerals of relatives of members and every five years we are responsible for our Anniversary Luncheon. Added to this, we have two Clothing Drives, one in the fall and the other in the spring. We meet once a month from September until May. There is no meeting in December or June. During the year we are all busy making articles to sell at our December Holly Tea. At present we have twelve active members.

The worship committee presently consists of the minister and the choir director-church musician but anyone is welcome to join us with their musical interests and vision. Basically, they select music for the Sunday services and plan various family services. This involves considering the church seasons, the type of service, the planned scripture readings and theme, in guiding the musical selections to integrate into worship.

Reverend Alice is working with Valeta Layne and many others to put together this year’s edition of the Easter drama, which will be presented on Palm Sunday in a special family service to be held downstairs in memorial hall. including actors, stagehands, set and costume workers and others, approximately 25-30 church members are involved.

We anticipate that the drama will once again surprise and delight, bringing us the Easter message of God’s love.[do action=”star-rating-block”/]