East Liberty Presbyterian Church

Lenten Silent Retreat
2022-03-18 17:00 - 2022-03-20 12:00 (America/New_York) | St. Emma Monastery, 1001 Harvey Ave, Greensburg, PA, 15601, United States
In returning and rest you shall be saved.
In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
We invite you to come away with God, in the middle of the Lenten season, for a quiet weekend retreat at St. Emma’s Retreat House in Greensburg, from 5 pm, on Friday, March 18, until 12 pm, on Sunday, March 20.
The retreat will be a time to rest your body, mind, and spirit; to play and pray; to eat and be still; to walk and sit; to talk and be silent; and to simply follow “the unforced rhythms of grace.”
“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace… Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”—Matthew 11:28–30 (The Message)
If these words from Jesus ring true in your spirit, join us. The cost is $150. (Scholarships are available. Contact Pastor BJ at BJW@coh.net for details.) Spots are limited, so RSVP by to Norma Meyer at Norma@coh.net by Sunday, March 13.

Winter Food Drive
2022-03-20 12:30 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116 S. Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
As a Matthew 25 Congregation, ELPC actively seeks to engage in the world and make a difference in the lives of our neighbors. And one of the Matthew 25 principles that we strive to live into is to eradicate systemic poverty. One of the ways we do so is by feeding our neighbors who are living with food insecurity.
Following Sanctuary worship on Sunday, March 20, the Neighbors Committee will host a Winter Food Drive in the Staff Parking Lot on Baum Blvd. Requested donations include: canned or dried fruit, canned vegetables, cereal, crackers, individual fruit cups, jelly, peanut butter, pasta and sauces, rice, soups and broth, salt, seasonings, and spices.
Questions? Contact Tim VanFleet at tavanfleet@gmail.com or Pastor Patrice at patricefs@coh.net.

Contemplative & Centering Prayer for Lent
2022-03-21 07:30 - 08:00, 2022-03-28 07:30 - 08:00, 2022-04-04 07:30 - 08:00, 2022-04-11 07:30 - 08:00 (America/New_York) | ELPC – Online, 116 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
During the season of Lent, our Monday morning Contemplative Prayer will involve the reading of a Psalm and Centering Prayer (20 minutes of silence), in community with one another.
Click the button below at the scheduled time to join via Zoom or call in by dialing 312.626.6799 and entering meeting ID, 959 8065 3992.

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Dial-in Passcode: [REDACTED]
JOIN VIA ZOOM

Taizé Prayer Service
2022-03-23 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-03-30 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-06 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-20 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-27 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-05-04 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Halifax) | ELPC – Chapel, 116 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ELPC offers evening prayers with chants from Taizé every Wednesday, 7 pm, in the Chapel. The hour-long service includes sung prayers, beautiful music, a time of silence, spoken and silent prayers, and opportunities for individual prayer and anointing. For more information, view our Taizé page.
Download this week’s bulletin.

About ELPC’s Taizé Prayer Service
Our Taizé prayer service is based on a style of worship developed at the Taizé community in France founded in the 1940s by the late Brother Roger. Originally a refuge during the war, Taizé has developed into an ecumenical prayer center for visitors from all over the world. Today, the Taizé community is made up of over a hundred resident brothers, both Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds/traditions. Taizé wants to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.

Intermediate SSL Class
2022-03-24 16:00 - 17:00, 2022-03-31 16:00 - 17:00, 2022-04-07 16:00 - 17:00, 2022-04-14 16:00 - 17:00, 2022-04-21 16:00 - 17:00, 2022-04-28 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | PA
Our intermediate SSL class meets on Thursdays, 4 pm, via Zoom. We’re finishing up the present tense and preparing to learn the past paradigm.
If you already have some knowledge of Spanish, you are welcome to join this class as we continue to learn about ourselves, our neighbors, and God through the Spanish language!
Join us on Zoom

Letter Writing Event
2022-03-27 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | ELPC – Fellowship Room, 116 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
The Environmental Team of the Justice Committee will offer an in-person letter-writing and advocacy time on Sunday, March 27, following our Sunday Church School classes and our Sanctuary worship service. Topics address environmental and social justice components of the Build Back Better Act, as well as the Hopes for Homes Act.
Please join and contribute your voice to advocate for these issues. Legislators need to know that their constituents care about and want solutions to the climate crisis. If unable to join in person, sample letters, fact sheets and your representative addresses are linked below. Please write your name and address at the bottom of the letter and on the envelope.

Sample Letter for Build Back Better Act
Build Back Better Environmental Justice Fact Sheet
Sample Letter for Hope for Homes Act
Hope for Homes Act Fact Sheet
Legislator Contact Information

Contact Nancy Heastings if you have questions.

LGBTQ Ministry Spiritual Gathering
2022-03-27 12:30 - 14:30, 2022-04-24 12:30 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116 S. Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
You are invited to the next Spiritual Gathering of ELPC’s LGBTQ Ministry to share food and fellowship at the church. Allies and LGBTQIA+ folks alike are welcome.
Contact Wil Forrest at 412.441.3800 X118 or Wil@coh.net to learn more, to RSVP, and/or to participate.
GOD CREATED YOU. GOD LOVES YOU. BE YOURSELF.

Pickleball Tournament
2022-04-03 12:15 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | PA
Youth in grades 6–12 are getting together following worship for lunch and pickleball. There will be trophies, but no experience is needed. Meet at ELPC at 12:15 pm. We will be back for pick up at 3 pm.
RSVP by contacting Sara Hackett or completing the permission form below.

Tween Clay Night
2022-04-08 17:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | PA
Youth in grades 4–6 are taking a trip to the clay studio at the Union Project.
RSVP to Sara Hackett.

Lenten JourneyDance
2022-04-08 18:30 - 19:45 (America/New_York) | ELPC – Chapel, 116 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Experience Lent in a unique way this year. Join Yamuna for her Lenten JourneyDance in the Chapel on Friday, April 8, 6:30 pm–7:45 pm. Take a musical, dancing journey as we approach the end of Lent, with songs from Godspell among other songs including “Guide me God,” “Song of the Pharaohs,” “Joyful Joyful,” and “Prayer of St. Francis.”
All ages and body types welcome. Wear comfortable clothes and come with an open heart to dance your Lenten journey.
A donation from the heart very much appreciated.
Call or text Yamuna with any questions at 412.728.8645.

Letter from Birminham Jail | Session 3
2022-04-09 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | PA
Are We a Social Club or Justice Seekers?
In his prophetic Letter From Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., expressed frustration with white moderates, including clergy who were critical of civil rights efforts. King likened their complacency to the outright hostility of white supremacists, writing, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” King asserted that the white church needed to take a principled stand or risk being “dismissed as an irrelevant social club.”
How and where does that same complacency and belief in “all things being done decently and in order” (a Biblical reference in chapter 8 of the PC(USA) Book of Order) resonate in the church today? When/how/why should we step out of our traditional white culture comfort zones to assure that we are indeed living out being a Matthew 25 church? What should we physically, culturally, and financially divest from in order to invest in a future that fully embraces all of our siblings who enter our building, those who are in our neighborhood and throughout our denomination? Those are big questions that demand our attention and our discernment.
Our very future is at stake. Let us continue the conversation on Zoom on Saturday, April 9, 6 pm, with the third and final deep dive into King’s letter. We will be led by the Rev. Paul Roberts, co-pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, and members of the ELPC Facing Systemic Racism Committee.
Join us in person in the Social Hall or online via Zoom. You also may call in by dialing 301.715.8592 and entering meeting ID 846 9026 2039 and passcode [REDACTED] when prompted.
Join via Zoom

Family Fun @ Liberty Green Playground
2022-04-10 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | PA
Families with kids of all ages are invited to gather at the Liberty Green playground following our Sanctuary worship service on Sunday, April 10.
We lament that our in-person interactions have been so limited over the last two years during the pandemic. We hope that this will be an opportunity for parents and kids to meet in person and have
fun together!
Cheese pizza, drinks, and snacks will be provided, but please let us know that you’re coming so that we have enough to share.
To RSVP, please email Megan Leisher.

Good Friday @ St. James AME
2022-04-15 12:00 - 15:00 (America/Halifax) | St. James AME Church, 444 Lincoln Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Pastor Randy will be a guest preacher at St. James AME Church’s “Seven Last Words” service on Good Friday, April 15, 12–3 pm. He will be speaking on the First Word Jesus spoke from the cross, “Father, Forgive Them.”
Consider supporting this ecumenical worship service!

Yoga, Pranayama, and Meditation Retreat
2022-04-30 09:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | ELPC – Sanctuary, 116 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Join Yamuna Morgenstern and Katrina Woodworth for a day of enjoying yoga in the Sanctuary and learning pranayama (yogic breathing techniques) to facilitate meditation, relaxation, and good health in your daily life. Take time for intentional rest and develop practices that nurture the opportunity to commune with the Divine. The day will include two yoga classes, pranayama instruction, time for reflection and group activity, meditation practices, and lunch.
The retreat will be limited to 15 people. The first yoga retreat filled up fast, so don’t wait to reserve your spot!
The suggested donation is $35–$60 (lunch included). Contact BJ Woodworth with questions.
Register Online

Marathon Sunday Sanctuary Worship
2022-05-01 11:00 - 12:15 (America/New_York) | ELPC – Sanctuary, 116 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
There will be no in-person Sanctuary worship service on Sunday, May 1, due to the Pittsburgh Marathon. You are invited to worship with us virtually.

Join us for worship in the Sanctuary each Sunday, 11 am, or via livestream on YouTube or Facebook. If you’d like to join by telephone, call 929.205.6099 and enter Meeting ID 188 135 194 when prompted (press # if asked for a personal ID). Printed copies of the weekly bulletin and announcements are available, or you may download a digital version for viewing on your mobile device or tablet.
Click here to see details for this week’s worship services.

About ELPC’s Sanctuary Worship Service
Our Sanctuary worship service is our largest service, offering a traditional worship experience with thought-provoking sermons and music from our Chancel Choir and organ to reinforce the spirit of praise and reverence. Like many of the great cathedrals of Europe, the compelling power and beauty of our historic, gothic-style Sanctuary enhances the spiritual experience. Children are invited to the chancel steps each Sunday to hear their own message with one of the pastors. The service is led by ELPC’s senior pastor or other members of the pastoral staff. Special guest pastors or speakers periodically lead the service.

Spring Yoga and Creation Contemplation Classes
2022-05-04 08:00 - 09:00 (America/New_York) | PA
In May and June, join Katrina Woodworth for a Hatha yoga class, where we will explore our relationship with the Creation through the four elements: water, wind, earth, and fire. The ancient Yogis understood that our bodies contain all 4 elements. In this class we will explore the elements through movement, posture, breath and meditation.
Each class will end with a contemplative reading and 15 minutes of silent meditation. Hope to see you one the mat!
Please remember, all classes are recorded. If you can’t attend live classes, contact Katrina Woodworth for a link to a recording.
A donation from the heart is appreciated.
Register on Zoom
