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
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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
Pastoral Message | February 2022
“I just can’t make up my mind!” How often have you said those words or heard someone else say them to you? Difficult decisions can be small or large. It may involve picking an entrée from a restaurant menu, choosing a blouse or shirt from a store sales rack, or selecting two flavors for a double-dip ice cream cone. Or it may involve decisions about buying a new house, making the move to a new job, or saying “yes” to a marriage proposal. Some people are good at making quick decisions, even though their impetuousness may cause problems down the road. Others take forever to make up their mind, which means their over-cautiousness may result in missed opportunities. Read More
Worship with Us | Week of February 6
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 6, 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