St. Andrew's United Church of Christ

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

THIS WEEK @ CHURCH

WEEK OF DECEMBER 21 — DECEMBER 27

Sunday
10:45 AM – Service of Worship
Tuesday
4:00 PM – Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship Service
Wednesday
9:00 AM – Christmas Day Communion at Olivet Reformed U.C.C.


NEWS & NOTES
Bethany Children's Home
	During the 10:45 a.m. worship service on Sunday, December 15, 2024, we lift up the ministry of Bethany Children's Home, a United Church of Christ institution providing residential services to children and youth in Womelsdorf. Each year we collect "white gifts," unwrapped gifts received for Christmas giving to Bethany's residents. (A list of suggested gift items is available from the church office.) We also receive a special monetary offering in support of this important ministry.
Special Worship Services for Christmas
	We invite you, along with your neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family to join us on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. for our traditional Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship Service. (There should be ample room for all in attendance to be properly socially distanced should there be any COVID-19 related safety concerns.) Plan to be with us to sing traditional carols for Christmas, to hear our guest organist Janice Kaucher and special music for the season, and to mark the high points of the service as the baby Jesus takes his place in the manger scene while the Nativity story from the Gospel according to St. Luke is read, and later as we all sing "Silent Night" by candlelight. Christmas Day, December 25th, is a Wednesday this year, and we will be joining our friends at Olivet Reformed United Church of Christ, 1648 Centre Avenue, Reading, PA 19601, for a celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion at 9:00 a.m. This special joint Service of Word and Sacrament will include Christmas carols, scripture readings, a brief homily, prayers, and Holy Communion. Ample on-street parking along Centre Avenue and on Exeter Street will be available for the worship service.
Poinsettias
	St. Andrew's Church will be adorned for Christmas with ten 1-branch poinsettias (4-5 multi-bloom), each in a 6-inch pot wrapped in dark green foil from our supplier Temple Greenhouses. We invite members of our church family to support our Memorial/Friendship Fund by sponsoring a Christmas Poinsettia. The cost of a sponsorship is $9.50 per plant; any money received over and above the cost of the plants will be given to the Helping Harvest. Please call the church office if you would like to become a Poinsettia sponsor.
2025 Offering Envelope Boxed Sets
	2025 offering envelope boxed sets are available to be picked up in St. Andrew's Chapel. As usual, we have pre-packaged with the boxes a set of special offering envelopes for the year.
Christmas Fund Offering for Veterans of the Cross
	On Sunday, December 22, 2024, we receive our annual special offering for the Veterans of the Cross. Our gifts provide pension supplementation and special Christmas checks for needy retired clergy and their widowed spouses, as well as emergency grants to clergy families experiencing financial hardships. Our gifts also help subsidize the cost of health insurance coverage for qualified lower-income retired ministers and lay church workers and their widowed spouses.
We Extend Our Sympathy
	We extend our sympathy to the family and friends of Mark A. Allgaier, 44, of West Chester, who entered the Church Triumphant on Thursday, November 28, 2024, at Chester County Hospital. Born in Reading, PA, he was the son of the late Calvin and Peggy (Lamma) Allgaier. Mark graduated from Antietam High School, and went on to earn his Bachelor's Degree from Shippensburg University. In recent years, he worked as an electrical designer at PECO.
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. For the months of December and January, our combined worship services will not fall on the third Sunday of the month; instead we will be gathering together at Olivet Reformed Church on Sunday, December 8, 2024, and Sunday, January 26, 2025.
Altar Flower and Worship Bulletin Sponsor Information
	The worship bulletin sponsor sign-up sheet for 2024 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.
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 2024 - 2025 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 our 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 now being forwarded to Helping Harvest (formerly the Greater Berks Food Bank).
Sharing Our Pastor With Olivet Church
	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 continues 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 place it in the box in the church office. We have earned $200.64 from this program in fiscal year 2020-2021.
Sharing Our Space with Spanish Congregation
	The 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 congregation conducts Sunday morning worship services as well as Tuesday and Thursday evening activities in the downstairs classroom areas.