SEPTEMBER 2020 WORSHIP UPDATE
Upon recommendation from the Worship Committee, the Session has approved the next phase of re-opening the church.  The discussed, amended, and approved motion is as follows:
 
We will resume worship at 11:00 am on Sundays beginning August 30, 2020.  The congregation will sit to the back of the church. Social distancing will be in effect.   This includes: Masks are required; do not come if a person feels ill, is at elevated risk or has someone at elevated risk in their home; no touching; observe social distancing when moving, standing, sitting; Please do not attend if you have been to another state or country which is on the quarantine recommendation list, etc. These requirements will be published in the newsletter, in notices to the congregation and at the door. In addition, the Deacons/Worship team will keep a record of who attends, and a greeter will take the temperature of all who enter. Judy is purchasing an appropriate thermometer.   We will either block off spaces or indicate where people may sit.  The congregation will respond responsively and pray jointly but will not sing.  Bulletins will be available with all of the information needed for the service.  We will record as we have been, but will live stream the video on Facebook at 11:00am.  After the service, Shaun will edit the video as he has been and will post to YouTube by Monday morning for folks to watch on their TVs or other devices.  We will email out the bulletin on Fridays so that if a person is watching live on Facebook they can follow along to the PDF (could even print it out at home if that was easier for them).  If at any time it becomes too much for Shaun to do the editing with school responsibilities, then he would just post the live video on YouTube without adding anything. Finally, for any person that we learn of who has been participating by YouTube and who does not have an ability to obtain the bulletin, we will arrange to deliver a copy to him or her. 
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SEPTEMBER WORSHIP SCHEDULE
​Sundays, September 6 & 13
The Reverend Dr. Daniel B. Merry will join us for the first half of September.  Many will remember Dan from his time working at Pittsburgh Presbytery and his visits as the representative for mid-sized churches during our first pastoral transition between 2002-2005 as well as his work with the Malawi Partnership.  He retired last year after serving 13 years at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon.
 
We will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in worship on September 6th.  For those attending the live stream recording session Sunday morning, we will have the elements sitting in the back of the sanctuary to take upon arrival so that you may partake when invited to do so.  Those watching from home are invited to prepare bread and cup before watching to partake as well.
 
Sundays, September 20 & 27
The Reverend Kellie Weekley-Mills returns to the pulpit for the second half of the month.
 
Depending on the progress of the PNC search process, we will secure additional guest preachers for October Sundays, or we may be announcing a new pastor to join our FPCE family.

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"Come Share the Lord"

by Shaun Cloonan, Minister of Music
​May 2019

“Come break the bread, come drink the wine, come, share the Lord.” Those words to a favorite communion anthem come to mind as I share this story.

About 3 or 4 summers ago, while strolling through the booths at the Three Rivers Arts festival downtown, I noticed a beautiful handmade chalice by one of the pottery vendors. It was a sort of washed/worn reddish-pink color, and I immediately thought it would look good in our sanctuary with the deep red carpet and curtains along the chancel area. One problem, there was no matching plate.

I asked the potter if getting a matching plate was an option. He told me he didn’t have any plans to make plates, but gave me his card and told me to send him an email so that he could let me know the next time he was planning to make them so we could order one. I did that, and then life took over and I sort of forgot about it.

A few weeks ago, Lorraine and I were talking while changing the banners and paraments (did you know that’s what the colored pulpit scarf and communion tablecloth are called?) with the change from Lent to Easter, and I asked what ever happened to that chalice? She pulled it out from a top shelf in the Lounge kitchenette and we decided to put it out on the table, both commenting that it would be nice if there was a matching plate.

Well, if you know either Lorraine or me well, when we get an idea in our heads, good luck getting it out of there! Mandy and I went to lunch after the service and continued talking about how to find a match, and I was feverishly searching on Amazon and Google and anywhere I could think of to find a pottery-style plate that might match that specific shade of reddish-pink. No luck…deep reds, red and black, red and purple, nothing close.

Then I came across an artist on the website Etsy, a site where artisans sell their own creations. Monica
Sommerville works out of New York (but originally Allentown, PA). I sent a message via Etsy to this random person whose plates I liked, attaching a photo of the chalice and asking if there was any way she might be able to make something comparable. Within a half hour, she replied that it’s very difficult to match another potter’s glaze exactly, but she thought she had a mix of red and cream that she could overlap to get close. “I am glad to make a plate and send a photo. If you think it matches, we can take care of payment and shipping then. If not, no obligation.” I responded anything she could do that would be close would be better than what I was finding. Then on to life for the rest of the week…

About a week or so later, I got a message saying she was going to throw some plates that weekend, and a day or so later, got a photo that looked to me to be almost an exact match. I replied that it was perfect and we’d love to have it at FPCE for our communion services. I replied with my address and asked about the price. The response was “Please accept it as a gift. You can repay it by passing on some kindness to someone in your community this week!”

So, thanks to this lovely woman’s talents and generous spirit, we have a beautiful matching set for communion that was made just for us! The next time you’re in the sanctuary and walking past the communion table, take a look at the chalice and plate. If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear they were made as a set and not by 2 different potters! And if you’re looking for someone to do some custom pottery for you, go to www.Etsy.com to find Sommerville Pottery or visit www.sommervillepottery.com.

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Worship at Edgewood

Sunday Morning Worship is held:
11:00AM September-May, Sanctuary 
​10:00AM June-August, Gathering Place

Worship services at First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood vary in style from Sunday to Sunday.  Most weeks, worshipers will experience what we call "Classic" worship -- a traditional Presbyterian Reformed order of worship with piano accompaniment and choir music leadership.  Once per month, "Emerging" worship takes place.  This service, while still focusing on the 5 tenents of Presbyterian worship -- gathering around, proclaiming, responding to, sealing upon our hearts, and bearing into the world God's Word -- is presented in a relaxed atmosphere.  A screen is placed in the front of the sanctuary, a worship ensemble of mixed instruments accompanies song leaders, and God's Word is presented in a multitude of ways.  Worshipers in this service will experience a wide variety of presentations, from reader's theater to VBS kids singing, choral presentations to standard sermons.

To see video of some previous Emerging Worship services, visit
​ http://fpceworshipservice.blogspot.com.