Welcome to our newsletter.

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

Thursday, October 30, 2025 - There will be no evening prayer tonight.

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

Daylight Savings Time Ends Sunday, November 2

Turn your clocks and alarms back 1 hour.

Election of the eighth bishop of

The Diocese of Los Angeles

The election of our new bishop will take place at The Diocesan Convention in November. Learn more about the candidates by clicking here.

Sunday School News

Day care for infants and children 4 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 is designed for children in grades K-6 and is led by Tammy Smecker-Hane during the 10 a.m. service. Drop off for both is in the Kangaroo Room of the Children’s Center, whose entrance is located in the far left-hand corner of the courtyard (follow the sign). We will bring the children to you in church during the Announcements.

Instead of the usual sermon today, our Sunday School children are bringing you the Parade of Saints, where each child has chosen a saint or notable person from the “Lesser Feasts and Fasts”, who are celebrated in the Episcopal liturgical calendar. If a particular character’s story strikes a chord with you, you can read more about them here. Remember that saints were people just like us who, inspired by God, did extraordinary things. Here are our saints in order of their appearance:

Frances R. – Saint Catherine of Genoa

Meredith S. – Saint Clare

Josie S. – Julian of Norwich

Charlotte M. – Saint Agnes

Alice M. – Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

June G. – Saint Joan of Arc

Heath G. – Saint Michael, the Archangel

Timmy M. – Saint Patrick 

Elijah L. – Saint Francis

Emmy M. – Mother Theresa 

During our month-long United Thank Offering practice of gratitude, please use the “November Gratitude Journal for Families” that was given out to children last week or pick one up from the table as you exit church. Use it at home with your family to notice things in nature, your community, yourselves and others for which you are grateful and inspire you to do something about it. Donate to your UTO boxes to turn that gratitude into blessings for others and return your boxes to church on Nov 16 for our UTO Ingathering. If you have any questions about Sunday School, please email Tammy Smecker-Hane.

United Thank Offering

The United Thanks Offering (UTO) invites every Episcopalian to NOTICE the good things that happen each day, GIVE thanks to God for your blessings, MAKE an offering for each blessing by dropping a coin in a UTO box, and every penny you donate becomes BLESSINGS for others through UTO grants. These competitive annual grants empower Episcopal and Anglican Communion groups in the USA and wider word, respectively, to solve vexing community problems. For over 130 years, we have empowered community leaders to hold vaccine clinics, build preschools, establish community gardens in food deserts, minister to incarcerated people and so much more! Motivated by the Beatitudes to focus on the least among us, the theme of this year’s grants are bringing justice and bridging divides.

Pick up your traditional blue or “color-your-own” UTO box in the Narthex. Then over the month challenge yourself and your family to notice the blessings in your lives each day and put a donation into your UTO box in gratitude. Or write down your blessings and put them in the box then review those blessings at the end and donate accordingly. You also can take home a “November Gratitude Journal for Families” which will lead you through a month-long contemplation of gratitude. We will be giving these out in Sunday School & Youth Group this week. Its perfect for families as well as individuals to get you considering the things you are grateful for in nature, your community, ourselves, others, and your home. In addition, you can take home a bible/reading-based guide called “An Invitation to a Holy Autumn” that is perfect for an individual or book club who wants to make a more in-depth contemplation of gratitude over this month.

We will hold our UTO Ingathering on Sunday, Nov 16, when we bring our UTO boxes back to Saint Andrew’s, combine our donations, and bless our offerings. Envelopes will be provided in the pews that day, too, in case you forget your box or want to donate by check. (Make it payable to Saint Andrew's Church with "UTO" in the memo line.) In addition to participating in the Ingathering, you can donate on-line or by text:

•  Online

• By texting INGATHERING to 41444.

For more information about UTO, go their website or follow their Facebook page to get up-to-date news and highlights from UTO grants. 



Stewardship 2026 - Tell Out My Soul

This year our stewardship campaign - Tell Out My Soul - has reached the point where we ask you to prayerfully consider how you can support the ministries, worship, and outreach of St. Andrew's. Each of us hears this call differently, just as each of us has been blessed by God differently. How will you determine how you will share your gifts with God’s people in the world? Before you fill out the pledge card, we invite you to pray, discuss, and discern how God is calling you to share your gifts. Whether it is increasing your annual pledge, volunteering your talents, or getting involved in a new ministry, all of us have an integral role to play in the life of St. Andrew’s.

You will be receiving physical pledge cards in the mail, but if you wish to pledge online, you can do so by clicking here. Whether you pledge physically or digitally we ask that you complete your pledge by Sunday November 16, and join us for a stewardship brunch after the 10 a.m. service where we will gather in gratitude for all that we have been given.

Please consider this proportional giving chart as you determine what is right for you and your household.

“Light in the Darkness” Quilt Project #2

Many people have been admiring the beautiful “Light in the Darkness” quilted wall-hangings that we made last year. We had a lot of fun making them, and it’s a wonderful way to use our time and talents to spread God’s love and acknowledge the power of prophetic acts.

We have been commissioned by the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Los Angles to make 3 additional quilts. One will become a gift to a bishop who will soon retire (please keep it a secret; don’t tell him), one will become a gift to the Mission Diocese of Navajoland, who just received “mission diocese” status last year and are now in the process of selecting their own bishop for the first time, and one will be donated to the Church Periodical Group for their annual quilt auction, the proceeds of which goes to fund grants for the purchase of books, periodical, etc., by, for example, Episcopal church Sunday School programs, Episcopal schools, seminarians, etc. We will make the quilts after church on two upcoming Sundays, Nov 9 and 16, and if we need more work days then we can have more in January. We will meet on the 2ond floor of the Children’s Center after the 10 am service and coffee. On Nov 9, we will cut fabric and design the quilt layout then people will take sections to sew at home to bring back on Nov 16, when we will put the sections together to complete the quilt tops. Afterward Tammy Smecker-Hane can do the final binding and quilting.

Everyone is welcome to come and join us – no sewing experience is needed, and we promise you’ll enjoy the spirited fellowship! Bring a cutting mat, ruler, rotary cutter and fabric scissors with you, if you have them, and if not then we’ll have some extras on hand for you to use. If you would like to donate cotton fabric – patterned fabric (solids are not required) in shades of blue from the very darkest navy to the lightest blue as well as patterned whites with highlights in blue or grey are needed, and useful pieces can be as small as 15” x 5” – simply bring the fabric in and give it to Tammy or leave it in the labeled basket on the table in front of the church office by Nov 9. Contact Tammy if you have any questions. 

Woodbridge Manor - November 3

Woodbridge Manor volunteers will meet on November 3 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.

Grief Support Group - November 4

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 November 4 at 2 p.m.

Book Group - November 5

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.

Orange County Women's Chorus

2025 - 2026 Season

The Orange County Women’s Chorus is in its 28th year of singing music that matters. The chorus is pleased to introduce its 2025-2026 conducting intern, Renée Gehlbach, along with nine new members.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Wintering

Saturday, December 6, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 7, 3:00 p.m.



Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem

Saturday, March 21, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 22, 3:00 p.m.

You’ve Got Mail

Saturday, May 30, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 31, 3:00 p.m.

CONCERT VENUE AND TICKET INFORMATION

The concerts will take place at St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church, 18631 Chapel Lane, Huntington Beach.

Subscription packages for all three concerts ($90 for adults, $75 for seniors, $30 for students, plus $4.00, $3.50, and $2.25 ticketing fees, respectively) include ticket exchange privileges for the other performance of the same program at no cost. Season tickets are available through December 7.

Purchase a season subscription for the best pricing and other benefits! For more information, visit the OCWC website.

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

NOVEMBER

·     11/ 2 – Daylight Savings Time Ends

·     11/ 2 – All Saint's Day / Parade of Saints

·     11/11 – Veterans Day (Tuesday)

·     11/16 – St. Andrew’s Day / UTO Ingathering

Bring your UTO Boxes back to church

·     11/30 – Advent Begins

DECEMBER

·     12/ 7 – Alternative Gift Fair

·     12/11 – Women’s Advent Gathering – 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

·     12/14 – Alternative Gift Fair

·     12/20 – Blue Christmas 5 p.m.

·     12/21 – Advent 4, Greening of the Church

·     12/24 – Wednesday-Christmas Eve–5pm Holy Eucharist with

Choir / Children’s Pageant

·     12/25 – Thursday - Christmas Day (Service: 10 a.m. Said Holy Eucharist)



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.

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.