Blog

Children’s Ministry Updates

Beginning Sunday, March 6, ELPC looks forward to nurturing the faith of our youngest worshippers in the following ways:

  • Church School | In-person classes will resume for all children.
  • Children’s Time | During our Sanctuary service, children are invited to join Pastor Heather and other leaders on the Chancel Steps for an interactive Children’s Time. Of course, kids also are welcome to stay in the pews with their families if they are more comfortable!
  • Children’s Church | Following Children’s Time, children in pre-school–grade 3 are invited to join Ms. Sara and other leaders in the Chapel for a time of learning together. Children younger than age 3 also are welcome to attend, if accompanied by their parents. Parents and caregivers are invited to gather in the back of the Sanctuary during the Offertory Anthem. Children will return to the Sanctuary during the Doxology, and meet their parents in the Sanctuary at that time.
  • The Kid’s Corner | ELPC is offering resources for those who wish to keep their hands busy during worship together. The Nursery also remains open to young children who are accompanied by their parents/caregivers during worship (there will be no staff or volunteers present), and the Sanctuary service will be livestreamed in the space.

Reminder: If your youth’s vaccination status has changed, please update their information using our online form. If you have yet to register youth for programing this school year, you can do so online.

Church School Classes | February 27, 2022

Here’s a list of what’s happening this week in our Church School classes. We offer Christian Education classes for persons of all ages, from infancy through adulthood, on Sundays, 9:45–10:45 am, unless otherwise noted. Read more about our adult classes and children and youth offerings. Read More

Worship with Us | Week of February 27

Here’s what’s happening this week in worship. As a reminder, our services are currently being held virtually. Click here for a live feed of worship services at their scheduled times. Please note, there will be an error message if there is no live broadcast. Read More

Worship with Us | Week of February 20

Here’s what’s happening this week in worship. As a reminder, our services are currently being held virtually. Click here for a live feed of worship services at their scheduled times. Please note, there will be an error message if there is no live broadcast. Read More

Church School Classes | February 20, 2022

Here’s a list of what’s happening this week in our Church School classes. We offer Christian Education classes for persons of all ages, from infancy through adulthood, on Sundays, 9:45–10:45 am, unless otherwise noted. Read more about our adult classes and children and youth offerings. Read More

The Refillery is Open

Good news! The Refillery, a zero-waste store, is now open for business in Squirrel Hill!

How does it work? You bring (or buy) empty containers to re-use and re-fill at the store with personal care products (soaps, lotions, shampoo, etc.) and home essentials (laundry detergent, dish soap, green cleaning products). You choose the amount you want and then pay by weight or volume. Result? You enjoy good-for-the-environment, local goods with zero waste!

Shop in person (1931 Murray Ave., 15217) or at TheRefilleryPgh.com. They deliver!

Worship with Us | Week of February 13

Here’s what’s happening this week in worship. As a reminder, our services are currently being held virtually. Click here for a live feed of worship services at their scheduled times. Please note, there will be an error message if there is no live broadcast. Read More

Letter from Birmingham Jail | Session 1

In January, the Facing Systemic Racism Committee, Faith Formation Board, and Pastor Randy collaborated to present an introduction to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. If you were unable to participate, a video of the presentation is available below.

The letter was written by Rev. Dr. King after he was arrested in Birmingham for violating Alabama’s law against mass public demonstrations. The Letter from Birmingham Jail was Dr. King’s response to eight white clergy, who criticized the movement led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in early 1963, which sought to bring national attention to the efforts of local black leaders to desegregate public facilities in Birmingham, Alabama. The criticism from the white clergy was published in The Birmingham News and characterized the direct action strategy of the campaign as “unwise and untimely” and appealed “to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense.” (“White Clergymen Urge Local Negroes to Withdraw from Demonstrations,” Birmingham News, 13 April 1963.)

Rev. Dr. King’s letter has important implications for us today, as people of God. Therefore, additional sessions and opportunities to discuss the Letter from Birmingham Jail will be scheduled for this spring. Visit KingInstitute.Stanford.edu for a copy of Rev. Dr. King’s letter.

Mark your calendars for Session 2 on Sunday, March 13, 12:30 pm, and Session 3 on Saturday, April 9, 6 pm.

Taizé: A Personal Reflection and Invitation

Taizé sung prayer creates space for people to learn and practice the prayer of the heart. Many of the desert fathers and mothers, along with thinkers and mystics in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, have described prayer as bringing our thinking down into our heart. In particular, through the rhythmical repetition of words, sung or spoken, it focuses us in our heart—the center of our spiritual lives. As Richard Rohr has accurately described, “chants and repetitive prayers are, in fact, a technology to help you stop thinking!”

I experience this personally and experientially. As I am go about my everyday activities—washing dishes, typing an email, folding laundry, or walking to work—a sung prayer might emerge in my inner being. It happens quite naturally, and yet unknowingly. Suddenly, I am singing, “Give peace to every heart, give peace, give peace…” or “Bless the Lord my soul.” Sung prayer practiced over time, at Taizé, is becoming the prayer of my heart. Prayer is becoming, as Frederica Mathewes-Green says “effortless and spontaneous…that emanates from the core of your being, your heart. You discover that the Holy Spirit has been there, praying, all along. Then heart and soul, body and mind, memory and will, the very breath of life itself, everything that you have, and are, united in gratitude and joy, tuned like a violin string to [God].”

I often hear people say they wished they prayed more. Come to Taizé on Wednesdays, 7 pm, and experience a quiet, unhurried, contemplative, safe space to be still, rest, be refreshed, sing, and pray. And during the week, you just might find prayer bubbling up from within like a dearly loved melody.

—Pastor BJ

Church School Classes | February 13, 2022

Here’s a list of what’s happening this week in our Church School classes. We offer Christian Education classes for persons of all ages, from infancy through adulthood, on Sundays, 9:45–10:45 am, unless otherwise noted. Read more about our adult classes and children and youth offerings. Read More