First-St. Andrew's United Church
350 Queens Ave N6B 1X6 London, ON, Canada

We are so blessed to have our First- Saint Andrew's Chamber Choir sing for our online services each week, and enjoy almost two seconds of reverberation as our beautiful sanctuary literally sings back to them.

Our steeple, star magnolia, sunshine AND snowflakes: definitely "April Fool's Day" kind of weather!

"Go For Baroque" - 3 programs performed by Paul Merritt, FSA Organist Emeritus, for the RCCO. Prog 1 (35:38) - https://youtu.be/2Hyd6t11oFI Prog 2 (32:03) - https://youtu.be/6GmxPKlgT1E Prog 3 (31:03) - https://youtu.be/wyH1kLF6lTo

Good stewardship: a section of one of our gorgeous stained glass windows was carefully removed to have some restorative work done to it!

Happy First Sunday in Lent! Connect with us at First-St. Andrew’s for our worship service: the link is listed below. https://youtu.be/Hh67vbLkOCE PRELUDE O Men...sch (O People Bewail they Grievous Sin) -J.S. Bach played my Organ Scholar, Owen The worship service begins with the full-10 minute Great Litany which has been traditional for the First Sunday in Lent since the Middle Ages. It is performed by my FSA chamber choir, and I accompany it on our magnificent Casavant pipe organ utilizing every bell and whistle. The Reverend Dr. David McKane has an inspirational sermon (as always!!!). We sing one of the hymns that I wrote, and my postlude is Bach's little Prelude and Fugue in D Minor.

"I'm dreaming of a white.......poinsettia!" These gorgeous poinsettias have arrived at church and will be used for decorating the church for our Christmas Eve service. We have suspended our in-person worship for the safety of everyone; we WILL be offering our Christmas Eve service on our YouTube channel, featuring music by our FSA orchestra, our chamber choir, and organ; we will be celebrating communion virtually with you!

HANDBELL CONCERT CANCELLED: Our Laudamus Bells Noon Advent Recital, scheduled for Friday, December 18th, has been cancelled as London moves into the Red zone of COVID-19 restrictions.

Connect with us at First-St. Andrew’s this Sunday, December 13th, for a live performance of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Cantata 142, For Us a Child is Born at our 10:30 worship service; it will also be broadcast on our YouTube channel one week later. Performed by our FSA Chamber Choir and FSA Chamber Orchestra following all safety protocol guidelines.

Connect with us this Friday, December 11th, at First-St. Andrew’s for our noon Advent recital. This week we offer an incredible music experience featuring countertenor Jordan Baldwin. Joining him will be soprano Hillary Tufford, trumpeter Ken Baldwin, and accompanied on piano, harpsichord, and organ by Erich Knapp. The concert starts live at noon and lasts for 30 minutes. There is no admission fee. Yes: we will be using all safety protocols with plexiglass between performers and the audience; we will limit audience size following safety guidelines. At last week's recital we turned away many hopeful audience members after we had met capacity, and we know that will be the case again this week so we encourage you to arrive early, or watch our rebroadcast on YouTube the following day.

Our organist, Erich L. Knapp, will be giving a 30-minute organ recital of Christmas music this Friday, December 4th, at noon at First-St Andrew's United Church on our magnificent Casavant organ. The concert is free and open to the public. We are following all COVID precautions. The recital will also be available for viewing on the internet at a later time. Ken Baldwin will be playing trumpet on one piece. There will be a camera on the organ which will project the performance to the front of the church for your viewing convenience.

This is the front of our chancel decorated with 166 red scarves, that were blessed in worship today and then given to "Regional HIV/AIDS Awareness Connection, London" for awareness of HIV AIDS. Thank you to everyone who knitted these beautiful scarves, and to George Jolink for the spectacular display.

This Sunday will be the "Blessing of the Red Scarves for HIV /AIDS Awareness" at First-Saint Andrew's United Church. This photo shows the 166 beautiful red scarves handmade by members of FSA, that will be made into a spectacular display in the front of our Sanctuary for this Sunday, and then donated to the Regional HIV /AIDS Connection. More information can be found in the second photo.

Despite COVID, Advent is coming soon. Why not join us for our Annual Advent Series and make the season special?

First-St Andrew's United Church will be presenting the Fauré Requiem in its entirety this coming Sunday, November 15th, during the 10:30 worship service. It will be performed by the FSA Chamber Choir, and the FSA Strings, with soloists Sonja Gustafson and Alastair Smyth, under the direction of Erich L. Knapp. This performance is in loving memory of Terry Head, the previous Organist and Music Director of FSA, on the one-year anniversary of his untimely death. The worship service will be broadcast on the church’s YouTube page one week later.

Thank you to George Jolink for the elegant and powerful poppy display for our Remembrance Day worship service at First-St. Andrew’s United Church. Worship is at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday morning in our beautiful, historic, downtown sanctuary. You can worship with us in person, or you can watch it a week later on our YouTube page.