Our Services

If you are new to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, please enter through the main door, which is easily recognizable across from the parking lot. There you will be welcomed by an assigned greeter(s), who can orient you to the foyer, refreshment area, sanctuary, restrooms, library, art hallway, the children’s, youth, and adult classrooms, and our children’s playground. Feel free to explore.

You may encounter ushers as you enter the double doors to the sanctuary. They will likely offer you an information/ service order sheet that is updated weekly.

As you are comfortable, we hope you will introduce yourself to members and long-time visitors (recognizable by their name tags). Ask questions. Gather the information and sense of welcome that you need. St. Andrew’s does not “pass the Peace” during services, where participants are asked to “reach out and greet one another”. 

St. Andrew's provides a Quiet Roomfor people to take babies or small children for privacy or to reduce disturbance of others. Our Quiet Room may be helpful to parents and guardians whose children become "disruptive enough to distract people or make it hard for others to hear or contemplate" (https:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cry_room) during a Sunday service or other sanctuary gathering.  The room's door is clearly labeled and may be accessed from the hallway by the Administration Office. 

St. Andrew’s offers two Sunday services to accommodate busy schedules and preferences. The 8:15 a.m. service is somewhat quieter and more contemplative than the11:00 a.m. service. It may have a smaller audience than the 11:00 a.m. program. 

St. Andrew’s services and other church activities reflect the greater Austin community’s casual to business casual atmosphere. We are less formal than many churches and prefer to maintain an environment that is welcoming to all. To that end our clergy rarely if ever wear clergy shirts and collars and never robes. 

PowerPoint slides used in the services are available online. The services follow a “tried and true” order. As of June 2024, we follow this routine along with music and songs interspersed by our Music Director. 

Note:  On the second Sunday of each month, St. Andrew’s offers communion at both services. All are welcome to our communion; however, you need not engage in this observance. We provide individual servings of gluten-free bread and grape juice. Participants may come up front to the servers, or they may wait for a server to walk the sacraments to them. We also offer stations for the ritual practices of candle lighting and hand washing. 

Below is an example of our typical service order: 

“Gathering All In” (we sing this together weekly)

Every Way of Compassion

Every way of compassion, every road of peace,

Every life-giving path is welcome here.

(repeat)

We are different and the same,

Naming Holy many names.

Every way of compassion, every road of peace,

Every life-giving path is welcome here.

“Call to Community” (this reading varies weekly; an example follows)

Listen, and imagine a bell chiming:

Come gather; come be together;

come to sing, to pray,

to experience Love’s community,

to ponder what’s truly important,

to become doers of kindness, of justice, of love.

Come from wherever you’ve been;

come as you are, however you are; come with all your human needs,

with all your human hopes and fears;

come to be fed, to be led,

to be centered in the sacred light

that’s illumining your own life path.

Children’s Time (“Mr. Monkey’s puppet shows and song; the young and young at heart are encouraged to come up front closer to “Mr. Monkey” and his puppet friends)

Centering Time (this poetic reading varies weekly)

Prayers of the People (prayer requests submitted by members and friends are shared with the congregation)

Prayer for Illumination (we sing this together weekly)

 Thy Word is a Lamp by Grant/Smith

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet

And a light unto my path.

Scripture Reading(s) (varies weekly, and occasionally may be supplemented by other faith’s excerpts)

"Lesson in Living” (the sermon varies weekly; often follows a series format; sermon transcripts and YouTube videos are available) through the next menu tab. 

Call to Service and Offering (includes offertory music)

Thanksgiving and Consecration (we sing this together weekly after the collection of our offering)

“Awe and Wonder”

Awe and wonder, gratitude,

Deep thanksgiving, sing allelu!

Gifts and blessings, Love we tell,

Spirit breathing, “All is well!”

Spirit breathing, “All is well!”

Benediction

We Are the Ones (we sing this together weekly)

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for;

We can’t hold back anymore.

God, who is faithful, will give us all

The courage to answer the call.

These are the times we’ve been waiting

for…

 Postlude (exit music)

St. Andrew’s reflects the Austin community, with a ‘business casual’ atmosphere during services. We are less formal than many churches and prefer to maintain an atmosphere that’s a welcoming home to all.