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This Week in Worship: August 5–11, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Journey Prayer Service | Sunday, at 8:45 am
Pastor Patrice will lead this time of mutual intercessory prayer in the Social Hall, guided by Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16.

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. Pastor Patrice will preach from Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16 and her sermon will be titled “The Gospel of Doubt.” Join us in the Courtyard or Third Floor Music Room.

Taizé Prayer Service | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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Pastoral Message, August 2016

In January 1945, my father, Richard Bush, enlisted in the Navy halfway through his senior year in high school. He was 17, so his parents had to sign for him when he registered. He eventually became a signalman on an old Liberty ship called the USS Rotanin. (Dad said they called her the “Rotten Annie.”) Dad used to talk about standing watch at night and seeing the dim outline of a ship in the distance. He’d been taught not to stare at it directly, because if you looked just above the ship, the rods in your eyes will help bring the ship’s silhouette into focus so that you can identify it as a friend or a foe.

As I write this essay, there are a lot of different topics I could focus on. There are the political conventions, the Olympics in Rio, the continued aftershocks from the Orlando shootings in a gay nightclub, the sad details of more police killings of black men plus the sniper attack in Dallas, and a host of global issues from Brexit to bombings in Bangladesh. Any one of those topics merits our direct attention. Many of them should evoke in us prayers of confession, spirits of contrition, and a spiritual re-commitment to work for justice for all.

The news media and social media remind us of all the things we should focus on and seek to make right in our troubled world. But at some point we need to lift our gaze just slightly higher—above the horizon, heavenward—so that we can see farther and clearer. We are to look at what’s before us against the backdrop of what is yet to come—allowing our gaze to extend toward the horizon of God’s realm of peace and justice. We do this, not to avoid the hard reality of today, but to compare it against the promised kingdom of God’s righteousness, so that we can clearly understand what still needs to be done today. Doing so helps us remember that black lives matter, that justice delayed is justice denied, and that as we have done to the least of these in Christ’s family, we have done it to Him.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth”—Psalm 121. In our trouble world, there is much we need to look at directly, so that we can repent of what must no longer be allowed to continue. But by lifting our gaze slightly, seeking the One who is our strength and our salvation, we will see more clearly what must be done in this life, even as we prepare for the life to come. Thanks be to God!

This Week in Worship: July 29–August 4, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Journey Prayer Service | Sunday, at 8:45 am
Pastory Randy will lead this time of mutual intercessory prayer in the Social Hall, guided by Luke 12:13–26.

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. Pastor Randy will preach from Hosea 11:1–11 and his sermon will be titled “Finding Our Way After Going Astray.” Join us in the Courtyard or Third Floor Music Room.

Malawi Partnership Worship | 7 pm, Sunday
Everyone is invited to a special worship service, as we celebrate 25 years of partnership between Pittsburgh Presbytery and Malawi Presbyterians, as well as more recent connections with the Presbyterian Church in South Sudan.

Taizé Prayer Service | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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This Week in Worship: July 22–28, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Journey Prayer Service | Sunday, at 8:45 am
The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this time of gathering and mutual intercessory prayer in the Social Hall, guided by Luke 11:1–13.

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will preach from Luke 11:1–13 and her sermon will be titled “Fish and Eggs and Snakes and Scorpions, Oh My.” Join us in the Courtyard or Third Floor Music Room.

Taizé Prayer Service | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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This Week in Worship: July 15–21, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Journey Prayer Service | Sunday, at 8:45 am
Pastor Patrice will lead this time of gathering and mutual intercessory prayer in the Social Hall, guided by Luke 10:38–42.

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. Pastor Patrice will preach from Amos 8:1–12, and her sermon will be titled “Fruit in the Midst of Famine.” Join us in the Courtyard or Third Floor Music Room.

Taizé Prayer Service | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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This Week in Worship: July 8–14, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Journey Prayer Service | Sunday, at 8:45 am
Pastor Randy will lead this time of gathering and mutual intercessory prayer in the Social Hall, guided by Luke 10:25–37.

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. Pastor Randy will preach from Colossians 1:1–14 and his sermon will be titled “Hope, the Fruit Bearer.” We also will commission our youth mission trip teams. Our Junior High youth will be serving at the Food Bank, visiting nursing homes, and helping with children’s outreach programs in Slippery Rock, while staying at Crestfield Camp in July. Our Senior High youth will be serving around Pittsburgh and staying at ELPC in August.

Taizé Prayer Service | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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Update on Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization Bill

Last June, many of you wrote letters urging Congress to reauthorize the Childhood Nutrition Act of 2010, which funds school breakfast and lunch programs, summer feeding programs, and WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children). Re-authorization is important to expand access and improve the programs. The following is a progress update from the Neighbors Committee. Read More

This Week in Worship: July 1–7, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Journey Prayer Service | Sunday, at 8:45 am
Pastor Randy will lead this time of gathering and mutual intercessory prayer in the Social Hall, guided by Luke 10:1–9.

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. Pastor Randy will preach from Jeremiah 31:15–17, 21–26 and sermon will be titled “Coming To Our True Home.”

Taizé Prayer Service | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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This Week in Worship: June 24–30, 2016

Here’s what’s happening in worship this week.

Worship Services

Summer Worship | Sunday, at 10 am
Our largest service, with music from the Chancel Choir and an organ prelude prior to the service. Pastor Randy will preach from Psalm 98 and his sermon will be titled “News from Pittsburgh: The Water is Wide.”

Taizé Stations of the Cross | Wednesday, at 7 pm
An hour-long service including sung prayers; simple, beautiful music; a time of silence; spoken and silent prayers; and an opportunity for individual prayer and anointing. The Rev. Mary Lynn Callahan will lead this service of sung Taizé prayer. Stay afterward for Contemplative Prayer.

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Prayer for the Orlando Victims

Candlelight vigil for OrlandoELPC members, pastoral leadership, and staff stand in prayer and solidarity with the families of the victims of the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. We issue a clarion call for all of God’s children to pray that violence against the LGBTQIA+ community and ALL people will be no more. The prayer offered by Pastor Patrice Fowler-Searcy at The Pittsburgh Clergy Consortium’s City-wide Candlelight Vigil for Orlando Victims on Monday, June 13, 2016, is below. Read More