St. Andrew's United Church of Christ & Olivet Reformed Church, UCC

Hello and welcome from St. Andrew’s and Olivet Reformed United Church of Christ in Reading. Thanks for visiting our combined website. We hope you will find this church snapshot to be helpful and informative. We invite you to visit our churches so that we may welcome you in person!

THIS WEEK @ CHURCH

WEEK OF AUGUST 29 — SEPTEMBER 4

Sunday
9:15 AM – OLIVET REFORMED Service of Worship
10:45 AM – ST. ANDREW'S Service of Worship


NEWS & NOTES
Announcing the 2025 Peach Festival!
	St. Andrew's Church's annual Peach Festival will be held on Saturday, August 23, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering a variety of homemade foods, beverages, baked goods, the peach festival raffle, and, of course, peaches and ice cream. Food items are available for purchase to eat in and/or take out. All events are held in St. Andrew's Church's air-conditioned social hall, accessed via the side entrance on Miller Street. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase any time from July 24, 2025, up to the drawing on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 1:45 p.m.
OnLine Giving
	Our OnLine Giving page is now fully functional for St. Andrew's Church! Please feel free to give it a try. Just click on the ST ANDREWS GIVING button at left to activate the link to our secure giving page. OnLine Giving for Olivet Reformed Church is also now functional, although work to complete the giving page continues. Just click on the OLIVET GIVING button at left to activate the link to our secure giving page.
The Festival of Harvest Home
	The Festival of Harvest Home will be celebrated during the worship services on Sunday, September 28, 2025. With demand remaining high at Food Pantries and the Food Bank, and federal government support for feeding programs dwindling, we encourage all in our church family to contribute to our Harvest Home ingathering. Donations of fresh food from your garden or from a local produce stand/market are invited for our Harvest Home Display; all fresh items will be forwarded to Helping Harvest (formerly the Greater Berks Food Bank) for distribution to local pantries and soup kitchens. Non-perishable food items at St. Andrew's Church will help replenish the emergency assistance food shelf; non-perishables received at Olivet Church will also be forwarded to Helping Harvest. Gifts received in Harvest Home offering envelopes or otherwise designated for "Harvest Home" also support Helping Harvest. You can offer your gifts for our food assistance efforts by clicking on the link to our online giving pages and making an offering today.
Third Sundays Combined Service of Worship
	With the agreement between Olivet Reformed United Church of Christ and St. Andrew's Church to share Pastor Baal's services, both congregations pledged to create programming to foster interactions between the churches' members. An outgrowth of that plan is monthly combined Sunday morning worship services. On the third Sunday of each month, St. Andrew's Church members will join in the 9:15 a.m. service of worship at Olivet Reformed U.C.C., 1648 Centre Avenue, Reading, PA 19601, and for a time of fellowship with refreshments following the service. On the third Sunday of the month, there will be no worship service offered at St. Andrew's Church.
Altar Flower and Worship Bulletin Sponsor Information
	At St. Andrew's Church, the worship bulletin sponsor sign-up sheet for 2025 is posted on the narthex bulletin board. The cost per Sunday or special service remains $5. You can just enter your name to claim any available date, or call the church office, and we'll do it for you! We also invite you to consider sponsoring our weekly altar flowers (or a memorial or honorarium bouquet); the cost for 2025 remains $45.00. If you would be interested in becoming a sponsor for 2025, please contact the church office. Alternatively, you can also access our online giving page to set up and pay for your sponsorship, although without checking first with the church office, we cannot guarantee that your preferred date is still available. In the event it is not, we will provide you with the nearest available date for your sponsorship. Olivet Reformed Church Altar Flower sponsorships are available at a cost of $40 per Sunday or special occasion. Please contact the church to reserve your date(s).
Spirit on Tap
	"Spirit on Tap" is a program to encourage theological discussion, explore alternative viewpoints, and stimulate dialogue around issues of faith and spirituality. Sponsored by area United Church of Christ congregations, Spirit on Tap gatherings are usually held on the fourth Tuesday of the month from September through May (check the schedule for occasional alterations in the routine) at 7 p.m. The location for the 2025 - 2026 season of Spirit on Tap is the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Reading.
Food Pantry Sunday
	The first Sunday of every month is Food Pantry Sunday. On that day at St. Andrew's Church, a chest is placed in the church narthex to receive worshipers' gifts of non-perishable food items for our local food pantry. Some foodstuffs are retained for emergency distribution, and the remainder plus monetary gifts are forwarded to Helping Harvest (formerly the Greater Berks Food Bank). Olivet Reformed Church invites monetary gifts for Helping Harvest. You can click on the link to our online giving page to make your monetary gift now.
Sharing a Pastor
	As of January 1, 2020, St. Andrew's Church entered into a shared ministry agreement with Olivet Reformed United Church of Christ, 1648 Centre Avenue, Reading, PA 19601. Pastor Baal serves both congregations, with Olivet Church worshiping on Sunday mornings at 9:15 a.m. St. Andrew's Church provides office support for the Olivet congregation; Olivet Church contributes to the cost of health insurance for the pastor.
Redner's Save-A-Tape Program
	St. Andrew's Church and Olivet Reformed Church continue to participate in Redner's Markets' Save-A-Tape program, which enables us to receive a 1% rebate contribution from all eligible customer receipts we collect for submission. To participate, you must stop at the Customer Service desk or store office and obtain a Save-A-Tape Card (at no cost, and there are no forms to fill out); then present the card to the Redner's cashier whenever you check out, save your register tape, and (St. Andrew's) place it in the box in the church office, or (Olivet Reformed) drop it in the envelope posted by the tower entrance.
Sharing St. Andrew's Space with Spanish Congregation
	St. Andrew's Church's Consistory has entered into an agreement with Restauracion de Fe Church allowing the congregation to make use of St. Andrew's Church facilities. This non-denominational Pentecostal congregation conducts Sunday morning worship services as well as Tuesday and Thursday evening activities in the downstairs classroom areas.