Welcome to our newsletter.

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

Thursday, April 30, 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 2^nd floor atrium of the Children’s Center (follow the sign). We will bring the children to you in church during the Announcements.

This week in Sunday School we be working on creating cards for Mother’s Day to go along with our growing plants. If you have any questions about Sunday School, please contact 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.

This week in the Youth Group we will be continuing the book of Acts. We have already seen the disciples exhibit newfound boldness in their faith, perform a few miracles, and experience success in gathering believers and building a community, but the Pharisees and Sadducees have made it clear they don't want people to teach about Jesus. The disciples were able to avoid trouble, but opposition is rising to the new Christian faith. It all comes to a head with an important figure and the first Christian martyr Stephen. His preaching and experience play a pivotal role in the book of Acts and we'll be analyzing it this week.

As an additional reminder the Youth Group is meeting in the conference room on the second floor of the Children's Center instead of the courtyard.

Altar Flowers

Traditionally, there are no flowers at the altar during Lent and Holy Week. Any dedications received at this time will be printed in the Easter bulletins. To make a donation for Easter flowers, please fill out a flower donation envelope in the pews and place it in the offering plate. The Altar Guild thanks you for your donation. We will continue to accept Easter flower donations throughout the Easter Season.

Outreach News: Coming Up!

It is time for our yearly Baby Shower for Families Forward. Beginning on Sunday, May 3rd - May 31st, we will be collecting diapers and wipes. They usually have plenty of the smaller sizes so, please consider purchasing a larger size. Place the small items in the Outreach donation box and the larger items outside the box.

Please reach out to Grace with any questions. 

A huge THANK YOU to Kristin Wingerter for building our new Outreach Donation box! 

St. Andrew’s Service Day - May 2*

On Saturday May 2, 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers are requested to tackle a short list of chores. No special tools or skills are needed, just a willingness to help keep St. Andrew’s looking its very best.

Possible activities include, but are not limited to:

• Weeding and pulling grass. This will be an ongoing project until our native plants grow big and strong, and can out compete these unwelcome intruders.

• Window and baseboard washing.

• Re-painting the red “No Parking - Fire Lane” curbs around the church parking lot.

Please come prepared to work outdoors, including wearing a sunhat, sunscreen and comfortable work attire. And if you have a weeder, you can loan us, bring that too. No RSVP needed, just drop in and pitch-in! Beverages and donuts will be provided. For questions please email Mary Ann Frericks. Thank you!!

*Please note this is a new date, and we will no longer be meeting on 4/25.

Labyrinth Walk - May 2

WA Mozart Requiem - May 3

Woodbridge Manor - May 4

Woodbridge Manor volunteers will meet on

May 4 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 - May 5

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 May 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Book Group - May 6

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.



Mother's Day Breakfast - May 10

Annual St. Andrew’s Mother’s Day Breakfast

Sunday, May 10

9:00 a.m. in Fellowship Court

All are welcome! Please come help celebrate all of the mothers at St. Andrews.

Men - Our monthly men’s breakfast will be moved up a week to finalize the details of our event. We will meet at 8:30 a.m. at Strawberry Farms, on Saturday, May 9. If you would like to help, but don’t yet have an assignment, please reach out to Mike Caprini or (714) 925-4741.



Spice It Up! - May 23

Tickets on sale now!

Spice It Up! fundraiser gala tickets are on sale now! Visit the website to purchase your tickets for an evening of tacos, drinks, homemade desserts, fun, and fellowship with the St. Andrew's community on May 23 at 5 p.m. Free childcare and games onsite, half-price tickets for youth ages 11-17, and kids under 11 are free. Please be sure to note how many kids will be attending when you purchase your tickets. If the ticket cost is an obstacle to your attending, please email Peter Browning.

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.........

MAY

·        5/10 – Mother’s Day

·        5/24 – Pentecost

·        5/31 – Trinity Sunday

JUNE

·        6/21 – Father's Day

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.