 Join neighbors and friends for our annual Chili Cook-off to be held at 6pm on Wednesday, March 4 in the Social Room at the church. There will be a smorgasbord of chili recipes, salad, bread, and desserts. Vote for your favorite chili and see who gets to wear the winner's apron!
 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE PRESBYTERIAN? This 4-week class will gather during Lent. How do we understand the Bible, faith, salvation, and discipleship? What is baptism? How do we make decisions? Join in the discussion if you are interested in joining God's work alongside this faith community, interested in baptism or confirmation, or would like to look at our tradition with fresh eyes. If you are interested, please connect with Pastor Jason as he schedules these gatherings.
 Re-Wilding Our Faith: Giving Up the Tame to Find the True
Lent is marked by desert stories. Wilderness stories. We see Jesus tested in the wilderness. Abram is called to leave his country and venture out into the wilderness. Moses strikes a rock and water flows forth to quench the thirst of God’s people as they journey through the wilderness. “Wilderness” is rich with metaphor and symbolism in scripture, but Wilderness is also a legal term. In U.S. law, a Wilderness Area is undeveloped federal land where "the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" (the Wilderness Act of 1964). Last year, I listened to the “How Wild” podcast by NPR, and I was amazed by the depth of scientific thinking surrounding the idea of Wilderness. The host, Marissa Ortega-Welch, troubles this legal definition, as indigenous people have been in North America for at least 23,000 years, and human-caused climate change has left no creature unimpacted. Yet as more and more Wilderness areas are being used for human manufacturing and oil rigs, “Re-Wilding” has become a movement as small as your backyard and as big as the Amazon Rainforest. As the World Wildlife Fund explains, “Rewilding can mean a lot of different things. It ranges from not mowing grass verges, to restoring rivers, through to the reintroduction of wild species. Rewilding generally involves letting nature take the lead. This is done by restoring natural processes and reducing human management.” Wilderness is complicated, but there is so much it can teach us–if we let it. I once heard Rev. Paula Stone Williams say, “Lost is a place too, and there is wisdom to be gained there.” This has stuck with me for years. I think the Wilderness has a bad reputation, and like Lost, there is wisdom to be gained there. In fact, I wonder if Wilderness might just be the antidote many of us need for a faith that has been tamed by empire and modern life. What might it mean to Re-Wild our lives, our faith, ourselves? We may not know where we are going, but we need the Wilderness because it's a place of transformation. I hope you will join us on Ash Wednesday (Feb 18, 7 PM) as we begin the journey of letting the Wild God lead. See you in the Wilderness, Pastor Jason  FPCE is going to be building Blessing Bags following worship and Congregational Meeting on Feb 15th. In addition to everyone having the opportunity to distribute bags, we will be sharing bags with Operation Safety Net to pass out while helping those in need. Please feel free to purchase directly through our Amazon Wish List or purchase items and drop off at the church. We will also be accepting financial donations which will help fill in any gaps we may have with various items. Please limit donations to the following items: toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, comb, Chapstick, small packs of tissues, hand sanitizer (small), applesauce (squeeze packets), granola bars, crackers, chicken/tuna packets, jerky sticks, dried fruit, fruit snacks, bottled water, socks, plastic forks/spoons.
The Annual Congregational Meeting will take place on Sunday, February 15 immediately following worship. Ministry team and committee reports will be received and the final budget approved by Session will be reviewed by the congregation. All Committee/organizations’ narrative reports are due February 9 in order to include in the printed Annual Report. Submit to [email protected].   Our next installment of first Wednesday Community Meals will be a celebration of the SOUPer Bowl - a variety of tasty homemade soups to share with our friends and neighbors. Join us on Wednesday, February 4 at 6pm downstairs in the Social Room. As always, these meals are free and open to the community and run until the soup pots are empty (typically 60-90 minutes). Warm up with your neighbors and celebrate the big game!
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First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood | The Community Church | 120 East Swissvale Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15218 | 412-241-4613