This Week at St. Andrew

St. Andrew Announcements

Worship This Week
Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 28th, 10:00 a.m.

St. Andrew welcomes everyone to worship this week!  Worship is also streamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Due to next week’s Pittsburgh Marathon, in addition to worship on Sunday, May 5th at 10:00 a.m., there will also be a  service on Saturday, May 4th at 5:00 p.m., followed by a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m.

A Celebration of Earth Day
Saturday, April 27th, Starting at 9:00 a.m.

In connection with Earth Day, we invite you to come to the church starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 27^th, to plant flowers to decorate our outdoor spaces. Doughnuts, coffee, and necessary supplies will be provided. Gather with us as we make our entrances  welcoming with the gifts of God’s natural world.

Donate Geraniums for Pentecost!

On the festival of Pentecost, for which the liturgical color is red, the congregation often decorates the worship space with geraniums. This year, Pentecost is on Sunday, May 19th. St. Andrew will be purchasing geraniums in 4-inch pots for $6.00 each and they can be dedicated “in memory of,” “in honor of,” “in thanks for,” etc. Please submit your orders by Sunday, May 5th, using the following signup link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B4AAFAF2CABF85-49168876-pentecost. Payments can be made at our website, standrewpittsburgh.org, or through the Sunday offering plates with the label “Pentecost Flowers.”

Monthly Produce Distribution
Tuesday, May 7th, 5:30-7:00 p.m.

St. Andrew’s monthly distribution of fresh produce (in partnership with Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank) will be Tuesday, April 2nd, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. We would also appreciate help with unloading and setup earlier in the day, usually sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Bible Book Club Invites Participants 
Weekly, Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

During the pandemic, a small group from St. Andrew gathered weekly online to “Read the Bible in a Year.” That group has continued meeting as a Bible Book Club, reading works from authors such as Rachel Held Evans, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Barbara Brown Taylor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Henri Nouwen. The group invites new participants as we discuss The Bible Tells Me So: How Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns. Please contact Pastor Ross at PastorRCarmichael@gmail.com for the Zoom link or if you need assistance accessing the book.

Call for Parishioners to Serve in Worship Roles

St. Andrew’s weekly worship service is made possible by many people who serve in various roles – some people prepare the altar and setup Communion, some run the sound/streaming system, while others teacher Little Church – Big Faith for the children, serve as ushers, wash communion cups, count the offering, set up coffee hour and more. It is not just roles like Cantor and Lector that involve being up in front of the congregation! If you are interested in getting more involved in worship, talk to Pastor Ross or Joseph Paetz. Most positions serve once a month or less!

We have created a new form for those wishing to express interest in service for any of the roles – access it here: https://forms.gle/qfeJvbFR6V8DtTsz7 
and someone will be in touch soon!

Christ in our Home Devotional Booklet for April-June Now Available at Church Entrances

This resource offers a daily Bible reading with a short reflection and prayer, along with additional readings and prayer topics for those who would like to expand their devotional practices. We encourage people of the congregation to take one for yourself, your family unit, or others! 

Community Announcements

Lutheran Day in the Capitol – Pastor Martin Rafanan of St. Andrew to be Honored
Thursday, May 9th

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania is pleased to share that the Rev. Dr. Martin Rafanan will be recognized on May 9th with the “Serve.Pray.Speak.” award in recognition of his devotion to service and justice, following the example of Jesus. He was nominated by Bishop Kusserow of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod and will be recognized at our 45th anniversary celebration along with advocates from every synod in Pennsylvania on the evening of our annual Lutheran Day in the Capitol. We invite you to join us in Harrisburg for a day of education, advocacy, and inspiration as we gather as church together for the sake of the world God loves. Register here for the whole day, or join us for the evening celebration. We hope to see you there!
—Tracey DePasquale, Director, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania

Registration Rates
Day of Learning and Advocacy – $60
Gala and Celebration of Advocates – $70

Students, first call rostered leaders, and congregations bringing a team of three or more receive discounts!

For more information or to register, visit www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

Bethel AME Church Juneteenth Celebrations
Sunday, June 16th, 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Bethel AME Church in the Hill District (2720 Webster Ave, 15219), with whom the St. Andrew congregation and our Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWPA) Synod have been in relationship with for the past several years, will host Juneteenth celebrations on Sunday, June 16th, with Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow of the SWPA Synod as the speaker at the 11:00 a.m. service and with Bishop Errenous E. McCloud of the AME Church as the speaker at the 2:00 p.m. service. Bethel invites you, your church choir, or your affiliated choir to join in a sing along. Thursdays will be rehearsal days if there are enough singers. Please watch for information on rehearsal times.

Compline Prayer Service with the Pittsburgh Compline Choir
Sundays, 8:00 p.m. at Heinz Chapel

Compline was traditionally a monastic prayer service, and the Pittsburgh Compline Choir, a ministry of Lutheran Campus Ministry in Greater Pittsburgh, sings a choral version of compline rooted in this thousand-year-old tradition of scripture, song, and silence each Sunday at Heinz Chapel at 8:00 p.m.  This service also streams on Facebook (Pittsburgh Compline Choir) and YouTube (The Pittsburgh Compline Choir). Heinz Chapel is located off of S. Bellefield Ave. in Oakland.