 FPCE will be a warming center during our regular office hours this week. Come and warm up in our Gathering Place and Lounge this week from 9am-2pm Tuesday through Friday, January 21-24, 2025 (office closed Monday for the MLK holiday). Stay safe, neighbors! #deepfreeze #warmingcenter #edgewoodpa #loveourneighbors
 We are kicking off 2025 with a second book group. Our first gathering will be in the evening on February 19th at the Lehrian household, discussing the book Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor by Caleb E. Campbell (2024).
Click HERE to access the free audiobook on Hoopla (login with your library card). Click HERE to purchase a copy and support local book stores. What's on the back cover?: "Pastor Caleb Campbell has watched as Christian nationalism has taken over large swaths of the United States. And he's suffered the relational fallout of standing against it, both in his community and his church. While it's possible to be both a Christian and hold Christian nationalist ideas, Christian nationalism itself is an un-Christian worldview, rooted in ideas about power, race, and property that are irreconcilable with Christian faith. Campbell has come to see himself as a missionary to Christian nationalists, reaching out to them with the love and freedom of Jesus Christ. "In Disarming Leviathan, Campbell equips Christians to minister to their Christian nationalist neighbors. He introduces the basics of Christian nationalism and explores the reasons so many people are attracted to it. He also addresses a variety of American Christian nationalist talking points and offers questions and responses that humbly subvert these claims and cultivate deeper, heart-level conversations." Due to bank reporting, our congregational meeting and potluck is being rescheduled for Feb. 2nd after worship in the Gathering Place. Thank you for your flexibility and understanding! All active members of the First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood are asked to attend our annual congregational meeting immediately following worship on Sunday, February 2. At this meeting, the final 2025 budget approved by Session will be received, annual reports and the pastor’s annual terms of call will be voted upon. A potluck luncheon will take place after the meeting in the Gathering Place. Please contact Judy in the church office ([email protected]) to let us know what side, entrée, or dessert item you will bring for the meal.   FPCE is going to be building Blessing Bags on February 9 (change from originally published date) following the church service and our congregational meeting. These bags will be available for anyone to take and pass out to those in need. If you would like to make a financial donation please do so by February 2 or consider dropping off requested items (see list below) before February 7. Our goal is to fill a minimum of 200 bags with each of the items listed below. If you have any questions please email Tyler McGuigan at [email protected]
Please limit donations to the following items.
 Sunday, December 22 at 11:00 AM
Fourth Sunday of Advent – Hope is Worth the Risk A Family Worship Service with a puppet show led by our Worship & Arts Team! Tuesday, December 24: Christmas Eve Service at 8:00 PM Nativity of the Lord – Love Knows Your Name We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together at our annual candlelight service. *An ASL interpreter will be on site during this worship for those attending who may be deaf and in need of sign language assistance. Sunday, December 29 at 11:00 AM A Cozy Sunday of Lessons and Laughter Wear your favorite Christmas sweater or pajamas to worship as we laugh, play, and worship  There are many moments in our lives when we need comfort. There are tough times when we yearn for consolation. The suffering people who looked for the long-awaited Messiah were given a hope-filled image of God in the writings of Isaiah. It expresses the belief that no matter what happens to us, God will be there to comfort and support us. Christmas can be a time for many when we are in need of that reassurance and comfort.
Perhaps we are grieving over the loss of a loved one, struggling with illness, or have experienced the loss of a job. We wonder how we will get through the holidays. To supplement our Advent series, Words for the Beginning, A Sanctified Art offers a simple worship liturgy for The Longest Night as a way to make space for difficult emotions during the holiday season, particularly grief around endings and anxiety around new beginnings. Our gifted associate music director and pianist, Sunny Sakai, will provide meditative piano music to accompany the service. Those looking for comfort, hope, wholeness, and renewal are invited to join us for a time of quiet reflection and meaningful words and music on Saturday, December 21 at 1:00pm in the Sanctuary.  Students from the North Hills High School choral program, where Minister of Music Shaun Cloonan is director, will join FPCE for worship and a mini concert on Sunday, December 15. The North Hills Singers will combine with the FPCE Sanctuary Choir on an anthem during worship, present about 25 minutes of music from their holiday set after the service, and then share in a meal provided by our FPCE choir before returning home.
 Join Vocal Confluence for a cappella sounds of the season this December! Enjoy classics such as “Deck the Halls,” “White Christmas,” and “Let it Snow,” to new favorites like “Warm in December,” “When Christmas Comes Around,” and more! These arrangements will vary in style from traditional barbershop singing to vocal jazz styles. There will surely be something for everyone!
 Saturday, December 7 at 7:30PM is the annual Edgewood Symphony Orchestra kick-off to the holiday season. Bring the family and share your holiday season with mezzo-soprano soloist Amanda Russo Stante and trumpet soloist Catherine Getchell. We invite you to experience this festive concert of seasonal favorites, sparkling surprises and the ever-popular Holiday Sing-Along, guaranteed to put you and your family in the holiday spirit. Tickets at edgewoodsymphony.org
December 7 - Edgewood Light Up Night Caroling. We will meet at 6:15 at the church steps. We will hand out song books, but you will probably already know the songs we are singing. The Edgewood Foundation will be lighting the tree at Memorial Park (across from the church) promptly at 6:30, that is the point we will begin caroling. We will then take a short walk up two blocks of Maple Avenue and back down, caroling all the way. *Please note that Maple Avenue will be closed to cars for the event. **We will finish caroling in plenty of time to attend the Edgewood Symphony performance that begins at 7:30 that evening. In addition, FPCE is once again requesting donations of new toys for children whose families aren’t able to shop for gifts for their little ones. This Christmas we are partnering with the Edgewood Foundation to ask for toys from members of the local community and from our church community. If you would like to give a gift for these families in need, please leave your unwrapped toys/gifts at the church or in the donation box by Santa’s Tent on Light Up Night. The Mission Committee will distribute these toys to local families through neighboring children's’ programs. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call Marcia Haley or the church.
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