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 NOVEMBER 26 — DECEMBER 2

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


NEWS & NOTES
Stewardship Sunday
	Stewardship Sunday will be observed on November 9, 2025. All of St. Andrew's Church family are invited to join with us as we receive and dedicate our faith promises for 2026. Members of St. Andrew's Church were sent a package of stewardship materials in a special mailing. If possible, we are asking that the faith promise cards be presented at the 10:45 a.m. worship service on Sunday, November 9th. Those who are unable to attend are encouraged to return the completed items to the church office before the close of the year. Olivet Church will also be observing Stewardship Sunday on November 9, 2025. The worship service will focus on God's abundant good gifts and our joyful and grateful response.
Bethany Children's Home
	During the 10:45 a.m. worship service on Sunday, December 14, 2025, 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 both congregations 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.) St. Andrew's Church also receives a special monetary offering in support of this important ministry; a Bethany Children's Home offering envelope is included with church members' boxed sets. Alternatively, you can click on the link to St. Andrew's Church's online giving page to offer your contribution now. Olivet Church collects Redner's Tapes and contributes the proceeds from that collection to support the Bethany Children's Home ministry.
Special Worship Services for Christmas
	We invite you, along with your neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family to join us at Olivet Reformed Church on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. for a traditional Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship Service. Ample on-street parking along Centre Avenue and on Exeter Street will be available for the worship service. Plan to be with us to sing traditional carols for Christmas, to hear our guest organist 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 Thursday this year, and we will be gathering 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.
Christmas Fund Offering for Veterans of the Cross
	On Sunday, December 21, 2025, St. Andrew's Church receives their annual special offering for the Veterans of the Cross. These 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.
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 fully functional. Just click on the OLIVET GIVING button at left to activate the link to our secure giving page.
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.