Welcome to our newsletter.

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

Starting this week, 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

Weekly Sunday School

Expert day care for infants and children younger than 5 during the 10 a.m. church service is provided by Samira Sameni, a preschool teacher at our Saint Andrew’s Children’s Center. Drop-off is upstairs in the Children's Center's 2^nd floor Conference Room.

Sunday School for children ages 5 to 12 during the 10 a.m. service will be happening outdoors on the grass in front of the church for our stepping stone project (see the article that follows for more information). The children themselves picked the designs for the stones based on listening to Genesis 1-2. Last week some of the children made their stepping stones and this Sunday they will unmold their stepping stone and clean the concrete off the tiles, while children who missed last week will lay out their mosaic tiles following a pre-made colored sketch and after church will mix and pour their concrete into the mold. Parents, we ask for your help in the concrete pouring stage so things go smoolthly. Due to the potential for messiness, please have your child wear clothes that you wouldn’t mind getting a little dirty. After the stones are done, we’ll display them outside on the patio so everyone can admire them. Later we’ll be placing the stepping stones in the landscaped beds that surround the church. If you would like information about the kits and tiles used to make the stepping stones so you can make these yourself at home or if you have any questions or feedback about Sunday School, please contact our Sunday School teacher,  Tammy Smecker-Hane. 

Earth Day Activity – Stepping Stones

We have a special activity planned for families on Sunday, April 21, in celebration of Earth Day on the following Monday. The Sunday School children and families will be making mosaic stepping stones for the landscaping around the church! We will provide some sample designs that celebrate God’s creation and the diversity of plants, animals, people and landscapes found on Earth. The children will plan out their designs and arrange the tiles during Sunday School and, after the 10 a.m. service, parents and children will get together to mix and pour the concrete to finish the job. It will be a fun and lasting way to celebrate nature and leave your individual artistic stamp on our church’s landscape. We’ll also have some extra kits for folks who want to join in the fun even if they don’t have children in Sunday School. Families who cannot be with us on April 21 can make up the activity on the following week. Please let our Sunday School teacher, Tammy Smecker-Hane, know if you have any questions or plan to need the make-up event. (Due to the potential for messiness, please wear clothes that you wouldn’t mind getting a little dirty that week.) 

Camp Stevens

As you begin planning your children’s summer activities, please consider Camp Stevens, an amazing summer camp and retreat center run by the Episcopal Church in the mountains east of San Diego just outside the historic town of Julian. Many young people at Saint Andrew’s have gone to Camp Stevens repeatedly for summer camp, and some loved their experiences so much they could hardly wait to return as teens to work there as camp counselors. Feel free to ask, the Browning, Hane, Caprini and Trimpey families about their children’s recent experiences.

Camp Stevens is renowned for their inclusivity, celebration of diversity, fabulous outdoor experiences, and their farm-to-table kitchen. As Camp Stevens website explains, “We work to ensure each camper leaves with a greater sense of self-love, confidence, spirituality, and creativity from a week of being accepted as they are in a compassionate community. We believe that by exploring together in a group they develop a greater sense of empathy and responsibility to others and ready to face new challenges in the future. We hope that they feel inspired by their time in nature and have a deeper desire to become stewards of the earth.”  

Summer Camp is for children ages 8 to 17, and they are grouped by age into different Adventure Groups. Each group cooks out over a campfire and sleeps under the stars at least once a week. Older campers may challenge themselves on the high ropes course, and younger campers aim for new heights on the climbing wall. All campers have the option to try classic camp activities such as swimming, hiking, archery, and arts & crafts. For the more adventurous youth, Wilderness Camp is available for teens aged 13 to 17 and, depending on the particular week, involves backpacking either in the mountains and valleys around San Diego County or kayaking around Catalina Island. In addition, you can make pick-up/drop-off easy by signing up for the bus that departs/returns from Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church in Anaheim.

A great way to introduce young children to Camp Stevens and make them comfortable with sleep-away camp is to take your entire family to Camp Stevens for one of their weekend Family Camps. You’ll stay together in bunk beds in a room in one of the lodges and explore what’s growing in the gardens, visit the farm animals, and enjoy counselor-led activities like hiking or archery or maybe even go on a local winery tour. The next Family Camps happen over Mother’s Day weekend (May 10-12) and Memorial Day weekend (May 25-27). 

For more information about Camp Stevens programs or to register for camp, please visit them on the web by clicking here. Plan to register early because some sessions do fill up quickly.

Woodbridge Manor, April 29th

Woodbridge Manor volunteers will meet on April 29th at 10:30 a.m. We need empty cardboard egg cartons and plastic fruit boxes (like the ones raspberries come in). These may be brought to church and left in the Narthex. For more information contact Catherine Sharbaugh.

Book Group - May 1st

The Virtual Book Group meets weekly on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. followed by noonday prayer. We are currently reading "Holy Envy" by Barbara Brown Taylor. 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.

Outreach News

Upcoming Events:

• May is “Mommy and Baby Shower” month. All donations of diapers, wipes, and formula will be distributed to Families Forward. 



“We are truly God’s outreaching hands in the world. “



Media Release

We’ve made some modifications to our media release form and ask that you fill it out if you are new to St. Andrew’s or a parent of a minor. We’ve added some clarification on what is posted on our site and on the St. Andrew’s Facebook page. If you prefer to complete it online, click here.

A Look Ahead.........................

May 2024

• May 12th - Mother's Day
• May 19th - Pentecost
• May 26th - Trinity Sunday

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, Vicar

office@standrewsirvine.org | www.standrewsirvine.org

 Office Administration Hours:

 In-office: Monday and Thursday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

 Remote: Tuesday and Wednesday 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.