Community Planning Meeting Set for April 17, 7PM in the Gathering Place
This is the 2nd installment of meeting with community groups to meet in person, plan calendar events, exchange information, etc. We will be looking at dates June through December. Saturday, April 20: Spiritual Hike 1:00 PM; hike departs at 1:15 PM Frick Park Beechwood Gate Entrance: 1981Beechwood Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Rain or shine! We will gather in God’s creation to celebrate the Springtime. We will hike the Clayton Loop, which is an easy 1-mile trail that encompasses Clayton Hill. All ages. Dogs welcome. Part of our mission at FPCE is to love each other. Our Deacons want to celebrate the fellowship and community that is our FPCE family by making breakfast for us! Join us on Sunday, April 21 for our 11AM worship service, which will take place in the Gathering Place. We'll have our meal during the service as we gather around tables, and also share in communion together.
We are kicking off our community dinners early this year with an inaugural chili dinner on April 17, 2024 at 6PM in the Social Room. We plan on serving multiple chili recipes as well as salad, bread, and dessert. Please let Rhonda Apessos know if you are able to bring anything or help in any way.
Starting on March 8, 2024, Wilkinsburg Community Ministry's Mobile Food Pantry will be outside the church on Fridays, 2-4 pm. This week, they had Pollock fillets, chicken drumsticks, ground turkey, eggs, milk, non-dairy cheese, strawberries, a variety of fresh produce, and canned goods. All free!
Drop by next week for some food or just to say hello! And if you're interested in volunteering to help distribute the food, contact the church office or reach out directly to WCM. #wesharefood #loveourneighbors March 24: Palm Sunday (Communion)
Join us for a kid-centered worship service, including a puppet show! Wandering Heart: “Songs of Loudest Praise” JOHN 12:12-16 As Holy week begins, Peter is no longer front and center, and so we imagine he is with the rest of the disciples when Jesus enters Jerusalem on a colt. The disciples are confused as they witness crowds shouting hosannas. When they look back on this experience, they will remember the songs. The singing is surely etched in their memories. As we imagine ourselves in the crowd on this day, may we remember that they are supposed to be praising Caesar, but instead they are shouting for the one entering the city on a donkey. Their singing is subversive, courageous, and contagious. Their praise shows the ripple effect of public displays of praise. March 28: Maundy Thursday service in the Gathering Place, 7PM Wandering Heart: “Streams of Mercy;” “Prone to leave the God I love” JOHN 13:1-20, 18:15-27 During his last supper with the disciples, Jesus got up to wash their feet. Since this was a servant’s job, Peter said, “You shouldn’t be washing my feet!” But Jesus told him, “Unless I wash your feet, you won’t really be one of my disciples. Just because I am your Lord doesn’t mean I can’t also serve you. I wash your feet as an example. Just as I have taken care of you, you should also take care of others.” When the leaders arrested Jesus after dinner, Peter followed. Outside the place where they took Jesus, a girl asked Peter, “Aren’t you one of his followers?” But Peter lied and told her he wasn’t. Another person asked if Peter knew Jesus and again, he denied it. Someone else said, “Didn’t I see you when he was arrested?” A third time, Peter lied and said he didn’t know Jesus just as the rooster crowed. Later that day, Jesus was sentenced to die on the cross. March 29: Good Friday, 11AM Good Friday service in the Sanctuary. “It can’t be carried alone” Join us for a grief ritual, where we will sit with our own and each other’s sadness, fear, and anger. After this contemplative time of holding each other’s grief, we will decorate the sanctuary for Easter. This liturgy comes from The Universal Christ Liturgies (Fr. Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation). March 31: Sunrise Service: 9AM Sunrise Service in the Lounge! “We shall all be changed” For new Christians (those newly baptized), the early church had a tradition of serving a cup of milk sweetened with honey to break the Lenten fast, a tradition taken from the Exodus story to signify the promised land. Join us for a contemplative start to the Easter Season as we partake in this ancient tradition to remember our baptisms. This liturgy comes from The Universal Christ Liturgies (Fr. Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation). March 31, 11 AM (Communion): Resurrection Sunday! Wandering Heart: “And I hope” LUKE 24:1-12 Women went to the tomb where Jesus had been laid after he died. When they arrived, they looked around but couldn’t find Jesus’ body anywhere! Instead, two angels told them that Jesus was alive, and the women ran to tell the other disciples. Even though it sounded impossible, Peter ran to the tomb and saw for himself that Jesus was not there. So he went back home, wondering what it could mean. 9AM-12Noon starting on February 8 at 61B on S. Braddock Avenue in Regent Square. We can talk about whatever you’d like! This is just a chance to catch up, share ideas about the church, to ask questions about the Bible, or to talk about the latest movie you saw! Call, text, email, or use his Calendly to set up a time: www.calendly.com/pastorjasondauer
We will meet in the Gathering Place at 7pm on February 14 for our Ash Wednesday service, which includes the imposition of ashes and communion.
As we begin the season, let us turn inward and tune our hearts. Before an orchestra plays together, they must all tune their instruments—the cacophony of this process may be very loud and create lots of dissonance, but it’s a necessary step in the process of creating harmonies and melodies. And so, this Lent, how can you tune the instrument of your heart so that it aligns with God? 2024 Lenten Theme: Wandering Heart from A Sanctified Art
Like many of us, Peter has a wandering heart. His journey is not polished, or linear, or perfect, but he is always tethered to the love of God. When you look closely at Peter’s story, you find Jesus at each step along the way—offering him abundance, catching him when he begins to sink, challenging him when he stands in the way, washing his feet, predicting his betrayal, and offering him agape love. This Lent, we’re joining Peter in figuring out faith. We’re not idolizing or vilifying him; instead, we’re hoping to wander alongside him, open to what we might learn about Jesus (and ourselves) by stepping in his shoes. More about Wandering Heart... This Lent, we are focusing on the life and faith of one of Jesus’ most famous disciples. In Peter, we see a person who is both steadfast and unsteady, a dear friend and a betrayer, a follower and a wanderer. In Peter, we often see ourselves. By following Peter’s journey, we watch the story of Jesus unfold through the eyes of a very normal human trying to figure it all out—just like us. As we were studying Peter’s faith journey, the lyrics of “Come Thou Fount” came to mind. It’s as if Peter himself wrote this song. Like many of us, Peter has a wandering heart. His journey is not polished, or linear, or perfect, but he is always tethered to the love of God. In this series, we want to affirm that faith is a constant journey of steadfast pursuit, one that ebbs and flows. We want to affirm the ways Peter keeps going: he drops his nets, he walks on water, he runs to the empty tomb, he swims to the shore to meet the risen Christ. He keeps searching and yearning and loving, even after missteps or mistakes. Ultimately, in Peter’s story, we are reminded that God loves imperfect people—in fact, time and again, that’s precisely who God claims and calls. This Lent, we will look for ourselves in the stepping stones of Peter’s story. We will reflect on the stages of our own faith journeys as well as who and what has shaped us along the way. As we wander, let us tune our hearts to sing God’s grace. May we rest in streams of mercy, never ceasing. 2024 Lenten Theme: Wandering Heart from A Sanctified Art Like many of us, Peter has a wandering heart. His journey is not polished, or linear, or perfect, but he is always tethered to the love of God. When you look closely at Peter’s story, you find Jesus at each step along the way—offering him abundance, catching him when he begins to sink, challenging him when he stands in the way, washing his feet, predicting his betrayal, and offering him agape love. This Lent, we’re joining Peter in figuring out faith. We’re not idolizing or vilifying him; instead, we’re hoping to wander alongside him, open to what we might learn about Jesus (and ourselves) by stepping in his shoes. |
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