The St. Andrew Club
Fairlington United Methodist Church
3900 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22302
20 years of mission
1986-2005
PURPOSE: The St. Andrew Club (SAC) is a mission project of Fairlington United Methodist Church, Alexandria District, Virginia Conference. Its sole purpose is to raise money for the Society of St. Andrew’s Potato Project ministry. All costs of operating SAC are paid by Fairlington Church through its missions budget. All labor is volunteered by church members. One hundred percent of the money raised plus a little interest is given to the Society of St. Andrew. Checks are sent to the Society of St. Andrew following the spring and fall letters.
OPERATION: The St. Andrew Club is modeled after a church extension fund raising project of the Northern Virginia Board of Missions of the United Methodist Church dating to the mid-1950’s. Persons are asked to make an indefinite written pledge of $10 or more to be paid no more than twice a year when requested in a “call letter” each spring and fall.
Major costs of SAC are envelopes, brochures, pledge cards, postage, printing*, a computer and printer, and computer supplies. SAC shares a room in the church with leaders of financial activities.
SAC leadership and other volunteer church members maintain a database of all SAC members and a history of individual payments. They prepare the call letters and stuff them in envelopes with numbered return envelopes, attach mailing labels, and deliver them to the post office. As contributions are received, SAC leaders and volunteers open the envelopes, record the receipts, endorse and deposit the checks, and update the database with additions, changes, and deletions.
* Since 2003, a Fairlington member who owns a printing business has printed mailing inserts free-of-charge as an in-kind contribution to SAC.
HISTORY: In 1985 Fairlington Church was about to pay off its major building-related debt after a great many years. Church leaders had always indicated that they wanted to do more for missions, but they did not wish to commit to any major undertaking until the building debt was fully paid. The Administrative Board appointed a task force to explore what major mission project(s) the church could undertake.
One idea that was proposed and accepted was the St. Andrew Club. The author of the idea was Mr. William “Bill” Schminkey, who later became the founder and first coordinator of SAC. The project had the support and encouragement of the Alexandria District Superintendent, the Resident Bishop of the Virginia Conference, and of course the leaders of the Society of St. Andrew. Operation began in the spring of 1986. Membership grew to 2,400 by 1995; members responded generously to each call letter, raising over $623,000 for The Potato Project during the first 10 years. At the end of 20 years, SAC members donated more than $1,225,000.
Mountain View United Methodist Church (near Lynchburg, Virginia) formed a second “St. Andrew Club” in 2002, and Fairlington SAC transferred 250 members who lived in the Lynchburg area from its membership roll to the new SAC. In addition, the Society of St. Andrew has replicated the SAC model on a national level with its Loaves and Fishes initiative, and Fairlington SAC transfers memberships when requested.
STATISTICS: Over 1,100 people caught the SAC vision during the first 18 months and nearly 3,600 have joined, donating over $1,225,000 for The Potato Project in 20 years. 378 “founding members” still actively respond to each call letter. SAC members are located in 40 states and 4 live overseas.
SAC members continue to be generous, averaging contributions of approximately $65,000 a year for the past two years.
LEADERSHIP: The volunteer SAC Coordinators from Fairlington Church have been:
1985-1992 William Schminkey, Margaret Pyles, Annette Wright
1992-1995 Foye Webb, Margaret Pyles
1996-2002 Victoria Hebert
2003-2005 Karlene and Steven Masters
The St. Andrew Club coordinator is an ex-officio member of the Society of St. Andrew’s Board of Directors and is in regular contact with the Director of Church Relations at SoSA.
OUTREACH: Since SAC leaders work fulltime, they are not available to travel widely. Cost of the travel must be borne by the SAC leaders themselves. Most of the publicity, therefore, is through displays and speeches at churches and other groups in the surrounding Northern Virginia area. Society of St. Andrew interpreters also share SAC information at Annual Conference and other venues.
CONTACT:
Karlene Masters
St. Andrew Club Coordinator
c/o Fairlington United Methodist Church
3900 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22302
(703) 671-8557
www.fairlingtonumc.org