Welcome to our newsletter.

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

There will be No Thursday Evening Prayer this week.



Thursday, April 2, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Maundy Thursday

• Join us for Holy Eucharist.  The service bulletin may be accessed here or by clicking the image of the cover.

Friday, April 3, 2026, 12:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m. Good Friday

• Join us for Holy Eucharist.  The service bulletin may be accessed here or by clicking the image of the cover.

Saturday, April 4, 2026, 7:00 p.m. 
The Great Vigil of Easter

• Join us for Holy Eucharist. The service will be available at 7:00 p.m. streaming on YouTube. To get to the YouTube livestream, click here. Once there, you’ll want to click on subscribe, so that you’re always set to go. You can also get there by going to the St. Andrew's website by clicking here and clicking on the YouTube icon at the top right hand side of the page (the red rectangle with a white arrow inside). The service bulletin may be accessed here or by clicking the image of the cover.

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 am 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 am service. Drop off for both is at the Playground on the left side of the Children’s Center (follow the sign). We will bring the children to you in church during the Announcements.

Today we rejoice because Jesus has risen and we wish everyone a very Happy Easter! Instead of the normal Sunday School, children will be meeting on the playground to do some simple Easter crafts and play together.



After church is over and Reverend Peter has finished saying goodbye to parishioners, he will come over to the table to officially bless and begin the Easter Egg Hunt. Please wait for him before you start. Take your children over to the table and give each child a bag in which to put their eggs, label the bag with his/her name, and choose one of the stuffed rabbits for each child to take home. The Easter Bunny has populated two patches of the new garden with Easter eggs – one area marked for the youngest children (3 yrs of age and younger), and one area further down in the garden around the fountain for the older children (4 years and older). Note: please remind children to stay on the paths and do NOT walk in the flower beds because the plantings are still young and fragile. Enjoy some snacks after the Easter Egg Hunt! 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.

Easter has arrived! This week the Youth Group will be looking at the thief on the cross who was crucified alongside Jesus before celebrating Easter through games and an Easter egg hunt. Before the Easter egg hunt takes place, the Youth Group will help out by spreading the eggs around the hunt area. Additionally, the church has a tradition of decorating a cross in front of the church with cut flowers, so I encourage you to bring some flowers to participate in that as well. Overall, it will be a fun weekend celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and the completion of his purpose.



This week the Youth Group will be meeting in the courtyard instead of the second floor conference room in the Children's Center.

Holy Week Services

Maundy Thursday - Thursday, April 2, 6:00 p.m.

The three great days, or Triduum, begin tonight with an intimate service recalling Jesus’ last supper, including the washing of feet and the stripping of the altar. A prayer vigil follows in the chapel throughout the night until 9am on Good Friday. Please sign up in the Narthex beginning March 15th for the vigil.

Good Friday – April 3, Noon and 6:00 p.m.

The most solemn day of our church year, we gather to commemorate the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Priests are available, by appointment, on Good Friday, from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. to hear confession in the Chapel.

The Great Vigil of Easter – April 4, 7:00 p.m.

In this most ancient liturgy of the Church, we begin outside in darkness to light the new fire of Easter, processing with the light of Christ into the church for a celebration of our salvation, Holy Baptism, and Jesus’ victory over death and the grave.

Easter Sunday – April 5, 8:00 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.

Festival Eucharist with choir, organ, a triumphant celebration.

Easter egg hunt follows the 10:00 a.m. service.

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.

Easter Flowers For Wooden Cross

Please bring fresh flowers on April 5, Easter Sunday, for the cross outside of church. As we transform it from a wooden cross of hopelessness to a beautiful cross of HOPE.

Woodbridge Manor - April 6

Woodbridge Manor volunteers will meet on
April 6 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 - April 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

April 7 at 2:00 p.m.

Book Group - April 8

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.



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.

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.