Advent at St. Paul’s

Our parish Advent Devotional was created by members of the St. Paul’s community. Click the button below to download a copy of the devotional.

Advent Small Groups

Begin the week of December 1st

St. Paul’s Small Groups will meet through Advent. We will be discussing the reflections in our parish Advent Devotional, created by members of the St. Paul’s community.  Download the devotional here.

St. Paul’s Small Groups meet at various times throughout the week to read and discuss a common text or prayer. Small groups provide mutual support. Each has its own leader and meeting location. You are welcome to join a small group at any time. Many people stay with their same group throughout the year, and some join just because they are interested in a book or topic being discussed at a certain time. For more information, or if you would like to start or help lead a small group, please contact the Rev. Laura Di Panfilo [email protected].

• Tuesday at 9:00AM Hybrid in person in Library and on Zoom– Led by Noah Evans [email protected]
• Tuesday at 6:00PM at St. Paul’s – In Person in Library – Led by Laura Di Panfilo [email protected]
• Wednesday at 5:30PM   Hybrid in person in Library and on Zoom  – Led by Theodore Somes [email protected]
• Wednesday at 7:00PM on Zoom – Led by Eileen Sharbaugh [email protected]
• Thursday at 11:30AM on Zoom- Led by Erin Morey [email protected]

Bible Study with the Rector

Each Wednesday at 12 noon

This weekly gathering is for those new to, or experienced in, reading the bible. Bring a bible (or we can give you one) and lunch. We will be reading Luke. We’ll meet in the conference room. Please email Noah or call 412-531-7153 x11 for more information.

Angel Tree

Beginning on Sunday, November 17

Our Angel Tree is Back! Help us collect gifts for local partner agencies this holiday season by purchasing items for members of our community in need. Take a tag from our Angel Tree in the Undercroft beginning on Sunday, November 17, and record your name and contact information on the sheet beside the tree. Then, return the gift to the church before the due date on the sheet. (Note that gifts will have different due dates for different organizations, and the sheet beside the tree will say whether the gift should be returned wrapped or unwrapped).  When returning gifts, label with the recipient’s name, and the organization, and the tag number.

If you have questions, or would like to take a tag but are unsure about how to purchase the gift listed, please reach out to the Rev. Erin Morey [email protected].

2024 Reverse Advent Calendar

Join us in our yearly tradition in support of the South Hills Food Pantry. Each day of Advent, we invite you to donate the item indicated on the calendar by placing it in your own Reverse Advent Calendar box or bag, and then bring it to St. Paul’s when complete. All items will be donated to the South Hills Food Pantry. The calendar can be downloaded here, or you can pick up a copy in the Undercroft. 

Advent Healing Prayer

8:45am and 10:45am services on Sundays December 1, 8, 15, and 22

St. Paul’s will be offering Healing Prayer during communion during Advent. Please join us at either the 8:45am or 10:45am services on Sunday December 1, 8, 15, and 22 if you would like the opportunity have one of our Healing Prayer Team pray for you. Please contact the Rev. Erin Morey [email protected] with any questions.

Help Refugee Families with Hello Neighbor

Hello Neighbor, our local resettlement agency, is expecting 200 families from Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia to arrive in Pittsburgh within the next month. These families are fleeing from unimaginable hardship, seeking safety and a fresh start. There are urgent needs in order to ensure that these families are met with the warmth, resources and community they deserve.

Ways to help:

• Volunteers to grocery shop, or to help set up homes
• Donate money
• Bring donations of household items, hygiene essentials, warm clothing (ages infant to adult) and/or storage bins

Spread the word!

Donations can be brought to St. Pauls. Direct any questions to Ginny Barnicoat ([email protected]).

Lunch Packing for Neighborhood Resilience Project & Bethlehem Haven

Saturday December 7 from 9am am – 11am in the Youth Room and Conference Room

We will continue to pack lunches for the Neighborhood Resilience Project in the Hill District, and Bethlehem Haven downtown on the first Saturday of each month! Please reach out to the Rev. Erin Morey [email protected] or call (412)531-7153×13 if you have any questions. Sign up here.

Christmas Day Meal at Neighborhood Resilience Project

Cooking at St. Paul’s, Monday December 23

Serving at Neighborhood Resilience Project, Wednesday, December 25

St. Paul’s will be preparing meals for the Neighborhood Resilience Project on Christmas Day, and you can sign up now. Join us for this special event!

Advent Wreathmaking, Sunday, December 1

Join us for a favorite Advent tradition. We will be making Advent wreaths using fresh greens, ribbons, and purple and pink candles. Come and learn all about how and why we mark each Sunday in Advent with a candle, and what those candles mean! Wreath form and candles $10, candles only $5. Feel free to bring your old wreath forms to reuse.

Praying in Advent, December 8 and 15

Come and explore new ways to pray this Advent season with the Rev. Erin Morey. On December 8, we will explore contemplative prayer practices. On December 15, we will explore ways to pray with friends and family during the holidays, and everyday! Contact Erin [email protected] with any questions.

St. Paul’s Women’s Retreat

December 6-8

Join us this December 6-8th at Jumonville Camp & Retreat Center for our annual Women’s Retreat! This weekend will help us be present to the Advent season as we gather for reflection on this season together. Sign ups and more information can be found here.

Advent Lessons and Music

Sunday, December 8 at the10:45am Worship Service

Comprising the Service of the Word followed by Holy Eucharist, this service is a series of seasonal readings followed by hymns, carols, choral works, solos and other instrumental music. The service is based loosely on Lessons and Music first celebrated at King’s College, Cambridge in 1918.

Beer + Pop + Carols (+ Pizza!)

Wednesday, December 11 from 6:30 to 8:30 at Caliente (329 Castle Shannon Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15234)

Beer + Pop + Carols (+ Pizza!) returns to Caliente in Mt. Lebanon on Wednesday, December 11! Join your St. Paul’s family from 6:30-8:30pm for all of the food, fellowship, and festivities. $15 gets you unlimited one-topping pizza and pop, so make sure to bring your appetite along with your singing voice!

Claudia Circle’s Annual Christmas Pot Luck Luncheon

Thursday, December 12 at 12 noon in the Undercroft

All women of St. Paul’s are invited! Join us!

• If your last name begins wiht A-G, please bring a main dish.
• If your last name begins with H-P, please bring a dessert.
• If your last name begins with Q-Z, please bring a salad or side dish.

Rector’s Advent Open House

Saturday, December 14, 2-4PM at his home

Drop by for food, drink, fun and fellowship with our Rector, Noah, and his family, Sara, Isaiah and Adah, and also members of St. Paul’s and St. Andrew’s. All are welcome to come to the annual informal Advent gathering! Please bring gloves and knit hats to be donated to local ministries for those in need.

CLASP: Christmas Cookie Exchange

Sunday, December 15 from 1 pm – 3 pm in the Lounge

On Sunday, December 15 from 1 pm – 3 pm, CLASP (Church Ladies at St. Paul’s) will be having our third annual Christmas Cookie Exchange in the St. Paul’s Lounge. This is a delicious opportunity to taste a wonderful variety of cookies (and take some home in a festive box!) and enjoy relaxing conversations with old and new friends.

Essentially, we ask you to bring a dozen cookies to share, and stay to enjoy a
delicious variety of sweet goodies. We will provide the coffee and tea. We might even have a Nativity Scene made out of cookies!

Even if you can’t bring cookies, we encourage you to stop by! Please send an
email to Jan Littrell at [email protected] if you plan to attend and/or bring
cookies to share, or if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you at the Cookie Exchange!

Blue Christmas

Wednesday, December 18 at 7pm

In addition to being a time of joy, the Christmas season for some can also be a time of feeling sadness and loss. It can be hard to celebrate the holiday when you are facing the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job, among many other challenges life brings.

The Blue Christmas service is a time to mark these complicated feelings and bring them before God. This service is a service of lament, healing, light and hope. This service will be led by our Stephen Ministers and the Rev. Erin Morey We hope you will join us and invite your friends and family, in the sanctuary or on Facebook.

Pickwick Boys Christmas Lunch

Thursday, December 19 at noon

St. Paul’s Undercroft

Join the Pickwick Boys’ (mostly retired men) Christmas Lunch.  This year, this special lunch will be held in the St. Paul’s Undercroft and will include musical performances by some of its members.

Cost: $25; please bring cash or check. The money for lunch will cover the cost of the meal and also pay for a meal to be served for those in need through one of St. Paul’s Outreach partners.  

RSVP to the Reverend Noah H. Evans, [email protected] or 412-531-7153×11

St. Paul’s 100th Anniversary in Mt. Lebanon Celebration

Saturday, December 21 at 10:00AM at Washington Elementary School Auditorium

On December 21st this year, St. Paul’s will have been serving the community of Mt. Lebanon for 100 years. Before our parish’s move to Mt. Lebanon in 1924, our parish served the community of Laceyville, now Pittsburgh’s Hill District.  When the parish was moved to Mt. Lebanon, for the first five years we worshipped in the auditorium of Washington School (now Washington Elementary School on Washington Road in Uptown Mt. Lebanon) until our current building was completed.  We will begin our celebration of St. Paul’s 100th right where it all started!  

As part of this celebration, we will be preparing a time capsule with items from every group, ministry and activity of St. Paul’s in 2024.  The time capsule is to be eventually placed under the renovated St. Margaret’s Garden worship space when it is refurbished as part of our upcoming Capital Campaign. The items for the time capsule will be presented and collected during the offertory during this special service.  Every ministry is invited to participate by providing items smaller than a deck of cards and/or a paragraph explaining howand what your ministry is doing. It is suggested that ministries think about ways that you communicate, what issues you are concerned about, what parish life is like for you –  things that can give people 100 years in the future insight into our parish today. Please feel free to review tips that the Library of Congress recommends and contact Theodore Somes at [email protected] for more information or to let him know what you are planning on presenting for the time capsule.  

Christmas Pageant sign ups!

This year’s St. Paul’s Christmas Pageant will be Sunday, December 22nd at 4pm, with potluck dinner following. The pageant will be in-person and also live-streamed.

Rehearsals: Please plan to attend both rehearsals

• Sunday, December 8⋅4:00-5:00pm
• Saturday, December 14 ⋅10:00am – 11:00am

Please sign-up for possible roles and parent volunteer help here. For questions, please reach out to the Reverend Laura Di Panfilo [email protected] or 412-531-7153 x12.

Join us for the All Parish Potluck after the Pageant! And we hear there will be a special guest! (Ho ho ho!) 

December 22nd following the pageant (Pageant begins at 4:00pm) 

Please bring something to share!

• If your name begins with Q-Z please bring a dessert.
• If your name begins with A-G please bring a salad or side dish.
• If your name begins with H-P please bring a main dish.

Epiphany Women’s Morning Retreat

Saturday January 11th from 9am to 12pm

In Epiphany, we remember that it is a star that led the Magi to Jesus. Similarly, we will prayerfully look to stars as we think about our hopes and Intentions for the new year together.

Join us on Saturday January 11th from 9am to 12pm for an Epiphany Women’s Retreat. The morning will include songs, prayer, journaling and good company! Sign up here!

Contact Laura with any questions at [email protected].

The Altar Guild of St. Paul’s will decorate the church for the glorious services of Christmas Eve with seasonal flowering plants and flowers. It is our custom that these flowers are given in memory of loved ones as well as a meaningful thanksgiving for the blessing in our lives.

The names of those remembered and honored, and the donors, will be printed in the Christmas bulletin.  On the form below list the full name(s) of those you would like to have included and your name as you wish it to be acknowledged in the bulletin.  All orders are due by Sunday, December 15.  

A contribution of $20 for each name is requested.

The plants and flowers will be delivered to those we want to reach out to and especially remember at this time of the year.  

Join us for Worship this Christmas Season!

Christmas Eve in the Sanctuary, services

• 2:00pm – Holy Eucharist with hymns with “pull out” Children’s Chapel
• 4:30pm – Family Service with Worship Band with “pull out” Children’s Chapel (Livestream)
• 7:30pm – Candlelight Holy Eucharist with full choir (7:00pm Music & Hymns) (Livestream)
• 9:30pm – Candlelight Holy Eucharist with hymns and incense

Christmas Day Service (Livestream)

Monday, December 25 at 10am in the Sanctuary. 

First Sunday of Christmas

 Saturday, December 28 at 6pm (Church) and Sunday, December 29 at 8:00am (Chapel), Christmas Lessons and Music Sunday at 9:45am. 

Join us for an all parish brunch after Lessons and Music! Following the 9:45am service on December 29th we will have a brunch potluck in the Undercroft. Please bring a breakfast dish to share; the Vestry will be making made to order omelets.

Help Deliver Christmas Flowers

Friday, December 27

We will be delivering poinsettias after Christmas services this year. If you and your family are looking to make someone’s holiday a little brighter, this is a nice opportunity to do so! Volunteers can plan to stop by the Church on Friday, December 27, and pick up a plant or two from the church sanctuary. Then, come downstairs and pick up cards with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of recipients for each plant. The cards will be on tables arranged by zip code.  If you are interested in helping, email the Rev. Erin Morey [email protected].