Welcome to our newsletter.

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

Thursday, February 26, 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 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 accessible from the courtyard to the left of the Children’s Center’s front door (follow the sign). We will bring the children to you in church during the Announcements.

This week in Sunday School we will start by discussing our progress on our Lenten theme: “Be Kind.” Each week we will come up with ideas on how we can be kind in the coming week so please remember to remind your children to bring their Lenten Notebooks to Sunday School so we can write those ideas in our notebooks and reward them with heart stickers for the things they accomplish. If your child did not get a notebook yet, we’ll have them pick one and decorate it. We also will listen to the story of how Jesus preached to a crowd of 5,000 people and then fed them with just five fish and two loaves of bread. That miracle made people even more convinced that Jesus was the long-promised Savior. If you have any questions about Sunday School please email Tammy.

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 meets in the second Children's Center courtyard, whose entrance is visible from the church entrance on the left side of the Children's Center building. 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.

This week the Youth Group will be finishing up the Sermon on the Mount from the Book of Matthew. Some of these teachings are particularly relevant as we continue through the Lenten season, as Jesus speaks about giving to the needy as well as effective prayer and fasting. Overall, this latter portion of the Sermon on the Mount is full of great information about some standard Christian practices that are even more relevant during Lent, when their practice is emphasized.

Outreach News

From the week of February 23 - Sunday, March 29, we will collect TOILETRIES for the unhoused youth who use the Orangewood facility in Santa Ana for their food and personal hygiene supplies. Please bring your donated items to the Narthex and place them in the bin provided. 

Items needed:

·        Tooth paste and brushes

·        Shampoo and conditioner 

·        Deodorant

·        Body wash

·        Mouth wash

·        Lotion

·        Shaving supplies

 (Orangewood is asking for regular sized items. No trial size, please.)

Thank you for your generous donations and support! If you have any questions, please contact Grace. 

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

Dive deep into faith with us this Lent! 

February 23 - March 23

Baptism is the beginning of our journey with God. In baptism, we make promises. But what are we promising and why do we need God’s help? How do we live the promises we make? Whether you are looking for a Lenten practice, are new to your journey with God, or you or your child are interested in confirmation or reception into the church later this year, join Peter and Brooke on Mondays at 6 pm during Lent on Zoom (starting February 23). Click here to sign up. Speak to Brooke or Peter if you have any questions! 



Grief Support - March 3

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 
March 3 at 2 p.m.

Book Group - March 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.



Daylight Savings - March 8

Remember to set your clocks and alarms one hour ahead as Daylight Saving Time begins at
2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8

CPC Quilt Raffle

Check out the Church Periodical Group’s Annual Quilt Raffle and bid on a beautiful piece of art for your home! Click here for the raffle. All proceeds go to providing grants for the purchase books, magazines, videos, and more for Sunday Schools, seminarians, etc. The groups motto is “to serve God’s people through the written word”. Some of our Saint Andrew’s women sewed and donated the “Light in the Darkness” quilt for the auction (middle row on the left in photo), which happens to be a copy of the one we have hanging at the entrance to our narthex. Support CPC’s excellent work by bidding on one of the items. Bidding closes on March 31, and winners are announced the following day.

Save the Date to Spice It Up! - May 23

Our annual fundraiser event and silent auction will be held on Saturday, 
May 23 at 5 p.m. at St. Andrew's. Please mark your calendars for an evening of community, tacos, homemade desserts, and a silent auction! If you would like to donate items or (especially popular!) experiences to the silent auction, please contact Kathy Cartelli. If you are interested in volunteering to help make the event a success, please contact JoJo Caprini. Tickets will go on sale soon. We look forward to seeing you there!

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.........

MARCH

·        3/8 – Spring Forward

·        3/29 – Palm Sunday

APRIL

·        4/2 – Maundy Thursday – 6 p.m.

·        4/3 – Good Friday – Noon & 6 p.m.

·        4/4 – The Great Vigil of Easter - 7 p.m.

·        4/5 – Easter Sunday – 8 a.m. & 10 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.