Welcome to our newsletter.

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

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 3 yrs old and younger during the 10 a.m. service will be provided by Samira Sameni, a preschool teacher at our Saint Andrew’s Children’s Center. Sunday School for children 4 yrs and up will be taught by Tammy Smecker-Hane during the 10 a.m. service. Both will happen together in the Kangaroo Room of the Children’s Center, whose entrance is located in the far left-hand corner of the courtyard (just follow the sign). Please drop your children off there before church begins.

This week is the start of Lent, and we have a special Sunday School project we will be doing over the next 5 Sundays. In honor of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, we will start by discussing what it means to sacrifice. Then each child will create a Lenten Notebook, which we’ll decorate and bring back to Sunday School each week. Each child will think of a sacrifice to make during the upcoming week, write it down in their notebook, and take it home so they remember to do it. We’ll also hand out stuffed sea creatures to help remind us. As we come back each Sunday, we’ll check on our weekly goal and make a new plan for the coming week. So journey with us over the 40 days of Lent and help your children grow by making a weekly sacrifice.  Please email Tammy Smecker-Hane, if you have any questions about Sunday School.

Daylight Savings Time Begins - March 9

Remember to set your clocks and alarms one hour ahead as Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. on March 9.

Lenten Study Group 2025 - March 10

When we are initiated into the church with the water of baptism, we (or our sponsors) answer a series of questions called the Baptismal Covenant. The first three questions echo the words of our creeds, our beliefs about God and the church. The last five questions focus on action. They each begin with the words: "Will You?"

These "Will You" questions articulate how we are to animate our baptism, to follow Christ's example in our relationships with others, our communities, and the world. These questions move from a "gathering in" to a "sending out"—they are a call to embrace and practice evangelism by proclaiming the Good News of Christ in all we do and say.

This five-week Lenten small group study offers daily reflections, examples of evangelism in action, and an invitation to think in new ways about the promises we make to God, each other, and ourselves in baptism.

We will be meeting via zoom on Monday night’s at 6 p.m. starting this coming Monday, March 10th. If you would like to participate, please email Peter. 

Woodbridge Manor - March 10

Woodbridge Manor volunteers will meet on March 10 at 10:30 a.m. We need empty 1-dozen cardboard egg cartons (not plastic) and small plastic fruit boxes (like the ones blueberries raspberries come in). These may be brought to church and left in the Narthex. For more information contact Catherine Sharbaugh.

Prayer Shawl - March 11

The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets this coming Tuesday, March 11 at 3:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Court. Contact Donna Catalano for more information.

Book Group - March 12

The Virtual Book Group meets weekly on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. followed by noonday prayer. Scroll down to Events and Activities on our website homepage for the new reading. To be added to the Zoom invitation please contact the office.

Outreach News - March

For the month of March from the 2nd - 30th, we will be collecting toiletries and socks for the young people at Orangewood. 

The Orangewood Foundation is a nonprofit organization and one of the leading providers of services to youth in Orange County. They help almost 2,000 youth annually prepare for independent adulthood. 

Please drop your donated items into the baskets provided in the Narthex. 



Thank you on behalf of the struggling youth in our community.

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

“Light in the Darkness” Quilt Project

Many parishioners were inspired by the words of the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC, in her sermon at the National Prayer Service the morning after the Presidential inauguration at Washington National Cathedral, click here to watch, when she prayed for unity in our country and asked President Trump to show mercy to vulnerable immigrants and LGBTQ+ people. Her words were prophetic, and we want to show our support and deep appreciation by creating a “Light in the Darkness” quilted wall hanging (as pictured here) to send to her. We will also make one to keep at our own church.

We have finished the quilt for Saint Andrew’s and will finish the quilt for Bishop Budde on Sunday by having everyone sew part of the quilt. It’ll be super easy, just one straight line for each of us and then we’ll be done and can have Father Peter bless both quilts during the 10 am service the following week. So please join us Sunday after the 10 am coffee hour, and we’ll finish sewing! Also come and sign the card that will be mailed to Bishop Budde.  Email Tammy Smecker-Hane if you have any questions.

Camp Stevens

As you begin planning your children’s summer activities, please consider Camp Stevens, an amazing sleep-away summer camp and retreat center run by the Episcopal Church in the mountains east of San Diego just outside the historic town of Julian. Camp Stevens is renowned for their inclusivity, celebration of diversity, fabulous outdoor experiences, and their farm-to-table kitchen.  The week-long Summer Camps in July are for children ages 8 to 15. Children are grouped by age into different Adventure Groups, and each group cooks out over a campfire and sleeps under the stars at least once a week. Older campers can challenge themselves on the high ropes course, and younger campers aim for new heights on the climbing wall. All campers have the option to try classic camp activities such as swimming, hiking, archery, and arts & crafts. In the first week of August, International Odyssey Camp is offered for teens aged 12 to 17. In addition, when your teen is 16+ years old, they can sign up for Counselor Training and apply to become a camp counselor.

A great way to introduce young children to Camp Stevens and make them comfortable with sleep-away camp is to take your entire family to Camp Stevens for one of their weekend Family Camps. You’ll stay together in bunk beds in a room in one of the lodges and explore what’s growing in the gardens, visit the farm animals, and enjoy counselor-led activities like hiking or archery. The next Family Camps happen over Mother’s Day weekend (May 9-11) and Memorial Day weekend (May 24-26). 

For more information about Camp Stevens programs or to register for camp, please visit them on the web at by clicking here. You can make pick-up/drop-off easy by signing your campers up for the bus that departs/returns from Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church in Anaheim. Plan to register early because sessions fill up very quickly.

Two Roads: Where We're Going

Orange County Women's Chorus

March 15 and March 16

Ellen Quandahl, Kathy Baldasari, and Mary Langsdorf invite you to Two Roads: Where We're Going, on March 15 and 16 at St Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church, in Huntington Beach.

Two Roads: Where We’re Going offers music that “makes all the difference”—songs of purpose, power, resistance, and renewal. From the reflective to the electrifying and from Poulenc to Sweet Honey in the Rock, the OCWC will sing of the paths we travel, the futures we imagine, and the friends and dreams that accompany us along the way.

Two Roads: Where We’re Going

Saturday, March 15, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 16, 3:00 p.m.

St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church

18631 Chapel Lane, Huntington Beach, 92646

Ticketing Information:

Single tickets* are $35 for adults; $30 for seniors; $15 for students

*Ticketing fees of $2, $1.75, and $1.50, respectively, applied at purchase.

**Prices at the door will be higher - the ones quoted above are for online, in advance purchases.

Creation Care Exhibition - March 16

Mark your calendars — on March 16 at 9 a.m., St. Andrew’s members will have the opportunity to share how our households have reduced our use of plastic, paper, fossil fuels and water.

If you have any earth-friendly products you use or any change you’ve made in your home that reduces, reuses or recycles, we’d like you to bring them so we can share our experiences, ask questions and talk about ways we’re conserving. Many of these may have other benefits we can share as well. Afterwards, we’ll put together a resource guide for our website.

Please send Kathy Cartelli the products, items or activities you’d like to share by 3/10/2025.

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

MARCH 2025

• 3/9 – Daylight Saving Time Begins

APRIL 2025

• 4/13 – Palm Sunday - 8:00 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.
• 4/17 – Maundy Thursday - 6:00 p.m.
• 4/18 – Good Friday - 12:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m.
• 4/19 – Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil - 7:00 p.m.
• 4/20 – Easter - 8:00 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.



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.