Welcome to our newsletter.

We hope this information keeps you connected to our church family. 

Thursday, July 2, 2026, 6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer

• Join us for Evening Prayer. The service will be available through Facebook Live at the St. Andrew's Facebook page at 6:00 p.m. Daily Evening Prayer, Rite Two, may be accessed here. 
• The readings for this evening may be accessed here.



We will be printing fewer bulletins in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint. We realize that using a device to read the bulletin may be a daunting task, but we have several congregants who are ready to help if you need it. If we are able to purchase less paper over time, we will donate the savings to our outreach efforts. If you don’t have a device to use, but are willing to share a bulletin with your neighbor, that helps us reach our goal too.

Pastoral Care

Sunday School News

Day care for infants and children of any age during the
10 a.m. service will be provided by Samira Sameni, a preschool teacher at our Saint Andrew’s Children’s Center. Drop off is her classroom, the Sunshine Room, off the courtyard to the left of the Children’s Center entrance (just follow the sign). You may pick your child up anytime during or after the service.

Sunday School is on Summer Hiatus until Aug 30 while Tammy prepares the curriculum and crafts for next year. Over the summer, if you want to have your child in church with you rather than with Samira then we have Children’s Bulletins and art supplies in the Narthex for children to grab on the way in to church and use during the service. Keep these in mind for visiting grandchildren or cousins, too. The material consists of coloring pages, games and doodle space that is coordinated with each week’s readings and gospel (note: the date for use is shown on the back of the page). If you have any questions about Sunday School, please email Tammy Smecker-Hane.



Youth Group Information

Youth Group is designed for youths ages 12 and up and is led by Hank Caprini during the 10 a.m. service. Youth Group is meeting in the conference room on the second floor of the Children's Center instead of the courtyard. The children will be brought to church during the Announcements.

If youths who are acolyting or in the choir wish to join the Youth Group for the latter part of the meeting, they should leave the church after the Gospel reading.

Last week in the Youth Group we looked at the story of Jonah. This week we will look at the background of Moses, the prophet who ultimately led the Isrealites out of Egypt. Before he became the leader of the exodus he had a long life, snippets of which we see in the Bible. We will focus on this portion of his life that took place before he encountered the burning bush at 80 years old.

As a reminder, this week the Youth Group will be meeting in the courtyard of the Children's Center and not the upstairs conference room.



Girl Scout Project: We Need Your Help! 

Ellie Williams, our eight-o-clock acolyte, is seeking help with a survey about prayer in regards to her project. Please fill it out by clicking here.

Outreach Donations for July

For the month of July, we will begin collecting backpacks and school supplies for the children at Thomas House in Garden Grove.

Thomas House is a non-profit organization which helps families in transition to find permanent housing, counseling, tutoring, and job opportunities. We have donated backpacks in previous years and collected food when federal funds were pulled. Let’s help to put smiles on the children’s faces as they begin their new school year with new school supplies. 

Suggested items are: 

Thank you for your continued generosity in helping those who are struggling.

If you have any questions, please contact Grace Marcotrigiano at gmarco1121@gmail.com.

“We are truly God’s outreaching hands in the world.”

Bishop Consecration: Let's Celebrate! 

On July 11, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles will consecrate its eight bishop, Antonio Gallardo-Lucena.  Our St. Andrews community has three opportunities to celebrate this significant day in the life of the church: 

1. In- person attendance: The consecration will take place on Saturday, 
   July 11 at 10:00 a.m. at All Saints Church Pasadena. Due to limited space, every congregation will receive three tickets for laypeople to attend. St. Andrews will distribute our tickets by random lottery. If you would like to participate in the lottery, please contact the office by Sunday, June 28.
    
2. Watch party: Every deanery (district) in our diocese is hosting a watch party so the entire diocese can come together. Our friends at St. George's, 23802 Avenida De La Carlota, Laguna Hills are hosting a watch party for our deanery at 10 a.m.. To enable St. George's to plan for seating and hospitality adequately, please RSVP by clicking here.
    
3. Celebration: Every deanery will also have a later celebration party which offers a chance to meet Bishop Gallardo . Our deanery's celebration party will be at St. Wilfrid's Huntington Beach on August 29 at 11 a.m. 

Grief Support - July 7

The Grief Support Group will meet for support (and coffee) at The Lost Bean at 4632 Barranca Pkwy, in the Woodbridge Shopping Center just down the street from Saint Andrew’s on July 7 at 2:00 p.m.

Exploring Solar Power for St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's wants to create a committee to investigate adding solar for the Church and Children's Center campus. If you would like to be part of this mission contact Tom Pietryga - 714-325-5420.





Book Group - On Hiatus

The Virtual Book Group is currently on hiatus for the summer. The group will resume in September, exact date to be determined. To be added to the Zoom invitation please contact the office.



Responding to Immigration Enforcement 

Dear friends, these are frightening times for those in our community who are vulnerable to immigration enforcement. Please report any suspected ICE/CBP/DHS sightings to the OC Rapid Response Network by calling or texting 714-881-1558. Document and report as much as you safely can of the following: Size/Strength of forces; Action/Activities; Location; Uniform/Clothes; Time/Date; and Equipment/Weapons. (SALUTE is a handy acronym for remembering this). If you can text a photo of suspicious vehicles and plates, that's especially helpful.

OCRRN is a trained network of volunteers that confirm ICE sightings and alert impacted communities. Upon receiving a report, they will send out trained volunteers to get eyes on the situation and provide support to impacted individuals. 

Red cards with the OCRRN phone number, the SALUTE items to watch for, and information about your legal rights and resources in the event of an encounter with ICE will be available in a basket in the narthex. Please take these and share them with businesses, co-workers, friends, and neighbors who may be at risk.

Let us remember the words of Jesus in Luke 10:25-37 who reminds us that we are called to serve our neighbors with mercy and that we need not share religion, ethnicity, or language with those we love as ourselves.

A Look Ahead.........

JULY

• 7/11 - Consecration of Antonio Gallardo-Lucena

AUGUST

• 8/29 - Meet Bishop Gallardo at St. Wilfrid's
   Huntington Beach at 11 a.m. 

You Can Donate Using Zelle

If you wish to make regular payments on your pledge or even if you want to make a one-time donation to the Church, you can do so through your bank by using Zelle. The advantage of using Zelle is that there are no transaction charges for either you or for the Church and you do not need to write a check each time to mail or deliver to the Church. If you wish to set up a payment through Zelle from your bank account, the destination of your payment is office@standrewsirvine.org and the payee is St. Andrew’s. If you haven’t made a donation through Zelle before, you can use the QR code to get started. If you have questions please contact Kim at the office to assist you.

If you are 70 ½ years old or older, here’s a way to give and also reduce your income taxes at the same time:

There may be a way to reduce your income taxes while donating to St. Andrew’s – by using a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). QCDs allow individuals age 70½ and older to make tax-free donations directly from any tax-deferred IRA account to any qualified charity, such as St. Andrew’s, potentially satisfying all or part of your annual required minimum distributions (RMDs). The check just needs to go directly from your IRA account to the church address at 4400 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA 92604 and the broker will need the St. Andrew’s federal EIN which is 33-2031839. Please ask your broker to include your name on the distribution check so we know who is making the donation.

Be sure to consult with your financial, tax and/or legal advisors before taking any action to ensure you’re making the right decision for you.

If you have financial assets such as shares of stock that have appreciated, here’s another way to give and reduce your income taxes at the same time:

Rather than sell shares that have appreciated in value and pay capital gains taxes, you can transfer those shares directly to a brokerage account at St. Andrew’s. By doing so you avoid the capital gains taxes and receive the fair value of the shares as the value of your charitable donation which will show up on the contribution statement. Contact the church office for information on how to direct your shares into the St. Andrew’s brokerage account.

Be sure to consult with your financial, tax and/or legal advisors before taking any action to ensure you’re making the right decision for you.

Pray for Peace in the Holy Land

The Rt. Rev. John Harvey Taylor asks us to pray for peace and keep in our hearts the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and its archbishop, the Rt. Rev. Hosam Naoum. Bishop Taylor has written to him on our diocese’s behalf and invites us to make a gift to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which supports the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. Archbishop Naoum calls on all to unite in prayer for reconciliation.

Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church | 949-559-4699

The Very Rev. Peter Browning, Rector

office@standrewsirvine.org | www.standrewsirvine.org

 Office Administration Hours:

 In-office: Monday and Thursday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

 Remote: Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.