Glad Tidings A Word from Father Rick

Transcription

1 St. Paul, MN February 2012 Volume 18, Issue 2 S T. G E O R G E G R E E K O R T H O D O X C H U R C H Glad Tidings A Word from Father Rick Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: B y the time you receive this, we will be on the final stretch of preparations to host the annual Metropolis of Chicago Western Region Basketball Tournament, February 10, 11, 12. We expect upwards of 350 players for Friday and Saturday games and hopefully 500 at the banquet on Saturday evening. We also look forward to hosting His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, the Chancellor of our Metropolis for the banquet and Divine Liturgy at our church of St. George on Sunday morning. I wish good, clean, fun competition to all the teams and the players. I would also like to thank tournament chairperson Tom Lampros and the host committee for all their hard work and dedication to make this year s event a great success. There may still be a need for volunteers to help in certain areas of the weekend. Please contact Tom ASAP. The week before the tournament we will celebrate Godparent/Godchild Sunday on February 5 th. We invite and encourage godparents and their godchildren to attend Divine Liturgy (on time) and to receive Holy Communion together. Then, everyone is invited to attend the luncheon afterwards hosted by the parish council. We celebrate this event every year on the Sunday closest to the Feast of the Meeting of our Lord on February 2 nd that commemorates Jesus being brought to the temple by His parents, Joseph and Mary, when He was forty days old. When they entered the temple, the baby Jesus was taken up in the arms of the Righteous Symeon, who had waited prayerfully for many, many years to see the Messiah. The Prophetess Anna was also present and foretold the future Godwilled destiny of the Christ-child. (See Luke 2:21-40). On the same Sunday, we commemorate the Parable of the Public and the Pharisee as told by the Lord Jesus. This also is the beginning of the Triodion which is the three week period prior to and including Great and Holy Lent. Triodion Sunday is an alarm telling us to begin preparing for the Great Fast which begins on Monday February 27 th preceded by the Sunday of the Prodigal Son (Feb.12), Meatfare/Apokreo (Feb.19) and Cheesefare/Tyrinis (Feb.26). The themes explored in each of these Sundays is extremely important for us to reflect on as we crucify our own passions and desires during Lent and Holy Week in order to be resurrected with Christ on Pascha. Use this time to plan with your friends, koumbari and family how you will spend your Lenten time praying, fasting, almsgiving, confessing and worshipping. They are all important! Starting last October I shared with our kids a Top Ten list for Living our Orthodox Faith (Orthodoxy Top 10) during the children s sermons. We completed that list on December 11 th but I think it would be good to share more detailed information with everyone in our parish community. So, every month this year I plan to share one item from the list. The brief and simple list can be found on our website ( PastorsCornerBasicChristianity.htm) and is as follows: Basics of Orthodox Christian Spirituality 1.Belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord, God and Savior with His Father and the Holy Spirit. 2.Daily prayer- morning, noon, or night; develop a rule. 3.Weekly worship- Sunday Divine Liturgy is essential. 4. Love of Neighbor- everyone is your neighbor. Almsgiving- sacrificial giving to needy. 5. Fasting- weekly- Wed., Fri., Sunday for communion; seasonal. 6. Sacramental Participation- Confession, Holy Communion, Holy Unction regularly. 7. Reading of Scripture- daily, lectionary, memorize, study. 8. Education- catechism, bible study, retreats, seminars. (active learning). Inside: Registry pg. 3, Parish News pgs. 4-5, Orthodox Christianity in the Contemporary World pg. 7 (Continued on page 2)

2 Glad Tidings Page 2 (Continued from page 1) 9. Support the Mission of the Church - stewardship of time, talents, treasure. 10.Ethical/Moral Praxis & Purity- including thoughts, words, actions. (active living). This month, January, let s talk some more about #2 Prayer. Fifteen Notes on Prayer by Father Thomas Hopko 1. Prayer is a specific activity that must be a part of a person s life. It is, as the catechism says, "a lifting of the mind and heart to God." It is a talking with God, and a listening to Him. It is communion with God in the most direct, experiential way. 2. Christians must pray. We cannot substitute anything in the place of prayer. We cannot think that prayer is "anything good that we do" in the sense of replacing the actual act of prayer about which Christ spoke when He said: "When you pray, go into your room and close the door, and pray in secret " Although everything good done by man glorifies God, the specific activity of prayer must be retained and perfected. "If you are not successful in your prayer, do not expect success in anything. Prayer is the root of all." (Bishop Theophan) 3. When we Christians pray, we must be consciously aware of the fact that our prayer goes on "within God"; that in prayer we are already somehow "inside of God." We are not lonely, isolated creatures attempting by our prayer to call out in solitude across and unpassable abyss to a God "way out there." We are in God. The Holy Spirit is in us, making us Children of God in Christ, enabling us to call the Transcendent, All-Holy God, "our Father". "For you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you for all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God when we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words " Romans Prayer is not merely the recitation of words. Prayer may begin by reading or saying the words of prayers. But a mere reading or saying of words, without feeling or attention, is not prayer. It is not even poor prayer. It is not prayer at all. 5. Prayer is learned only by praying. No one can teach another to pray. But a good way to begin to pray is to use the prayers of the prayer book. This is so because, since "we do not know how to pray," the Holy Spirit reveals in the prayers of [the Son and] the saints the proper form and content of prayer. In the prayers of the books especially the Lord's Prayer we not only pray truly by putting ourselves into the words of the prayers, but we also learn what we must pray. 6. The catechism classifies prayer in three types: asking [for ourselves in petition and for others in intercession], thanking, and praising. A fourth category can [also] be added: the prayer of questioning or complaining to God. To learn to come to God in every situation, and with each of the four categories operating all the time, is a very important achievement: the achievement of a prayerful life. 7. What may we ask for in prayer? For everything good; and nothing good is too small. For what should we thank [Him]? For everything. For what should we praise [Him]? For everything. About what may we question? About all things not understood. About what may we lament and complain? About all that is frustrating, confusing, and tragic in our lives. But in all things: thanksgiving and praise, for this is the essence of faith. And in all things: Thy will be done. 8. Prayer must be private, personal, and secret. It cannot be limited just to the liturgy ["common work" or services] of the Church. Strictly speaking, the liturgy of the Church is not merely a form of personal prayer, a form done corporately and openly, together with others. Liturgy is more than a prayer. It is gathering, being together, singing, celebrating, processing, announcing, teaching, listening, interceding, remembering, offering, receiving, having communion with God and each other, being sent into the world with an experience of something to be witnessed to. Its efficacy depends upon our personal prayer done alone in secret. The liturgy cannot be our only prayer. If it is, we should seriously question its meaning and power for us. 9. How can we begin to pray? Just by beginning. But how to begin, with what sort of methods? Everyone's way will be different, but the saints give two absolute rules: be brief, and be regular. These are the pillars of (Continued on page 3)

3 St. Paul, MN Registry (Continued from page 2) Address Changes Ms. Barbara Fillion 730 S Plaza Dr. Apt # 204 St. Paul, MN Betty Assimacopoulos 3100 Ariel St. Apt. #219 Maplewood, MN Ms. Amanda Mikhaeil 700 Hagen Ave. Apt. # 5 New Richmond, WI Peter Poulos 116 Uriah CT. Mankato, MN Dr. Rolland Blake 8721 Bradmoor Dr. Bethesda, MD Miss Pauline Axiotis Downey Trail Apple Valley, MN prayer. Brevity to ensure humility, to discourage despair, and to enable us to do what can reasonable be done. And regularity to build the rhythm of prayer into the rhythm of life as an unchanging element of our existence. It is a million times more effective and pleasing to God to have a short rule of prayer rigidly kept at regular times than to "do a lot" just any old time, whenever we happen to do it. 10. Suppose we cannot or will not be regular in prayer, not even with the shortest of rules? Is everything lost? Not at all. In this case we are told by our saints to take a small prayer or just a few words (like the Jesus Prayer, or "Lord, have mercy", or a line from a Psalm) and to say it as often as we can, whenever or wherever we happen to be. Anyone can do this, as it requires nothing but to do it, and it can lead us to union with God. 11. "Remembrance of God" is the purpose of prayer to "walk in His presence", to stand before His Face", to be conscious of His Spirit in us making us His children. Remembrance of God is the way to keeping His commandments, and doing His commandments is our salvation and life. 12. What about sweet feelings, consolations, comforts, visions, images, sentiments, emotions, graces of special sort? Forget them all! They are not the purpose of prayer, not the purpose of Christian faith. If God wants to give them to us, we will get them. But we must not seek them or look for them. We must reject and doubt them if we think that we have them. This is the doctrine of the Orthodox saints. For faithful prayer has one singular goal: to allow us to accomplish God's will. 13. Prayer is in no way separated from good works and social action. When prayer is perfect and we see the Face of God in communion with Him in the depths of the Trinity, He shows us two things: He shows us Christ's Cross and our brother. True prayer teaches us, as the Elder Silouan of Mount Athos has said, that "our brother is our life." There is no touching God, no genuine prayer, which does not directly result for the one who prays in the sufferings of Christ for the love of creation. 14. If we are not willing to do the commandments of Christ and to take radical decisions and actions toward God, ourselves, others and the very world we live in, then we had better not even begin to pray. For in prayer, God will push us to Church Staff and Office Hours Church Office Hours (Monday-Friday) 8:00 AM--2:15 PM Rev. Fr. Richard Demetrius Andrews, Presbyter (651) FatherRick@usa.com Lori Kurtyka, Administrative Assistant (651) office@stgeorgegoc.org Tom Lampros, Parish Council President (651) tlampros@hotmail.com Reva Adkins, Philoptochos President (651) rradkins@comcast.net Andrea Faches, Sunday School Director (507) afaches@msn.com Stella Hofrenning, Greek School Director Jennifer Argeros, Glad Tidings Editor Sue Gnetz & Sandra Thole, Loaves and Fishes Coordinators suegnetz@yahoo.com, quadmom196@yahoo.com Submissions for upcoming issues are due by the 11th of the preceding month. Page 3 (Continued on page 6)

4 Glad Tidings Page 4 Parish Announcements Parish Council 2012 The Metropolis approved the recent election of parish council members for The council participated in the Oath of Office service on Sunday January 1st and elected its officers. It also elected a parishioner to fill one of the three vacant positions. The 2012 parish council members are: President Tom Lampros, Vice President Joe Weiser, Secretary Sophronis Mantoles, Treasurer George Kanavati, Assistant Treasurer Diane Anastos, Alexis Bighley, Nanette Gomez, Frank Nemeth, Dan Simon and Steve Zeece. Please pray that they may be spirited and faithful leaders. Also, please offer them your help and assistance when called upon to do so. Godparent/Godchild Sunday February 5th, all godparents and their godchildren are encouraged to attend Divine Liturgy and receive Holy Communion together, then attend the luncheon in the social hall afterwards. May God inspire and strengthen all to build and grow these unique spiritual relationships. Basketball Tournament Update Our parish is hosting the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago Western Region Family Basketball Tournament February 10-12, Please help support the effort by attending the banquet Saturday night, encouraging all family members to play on the Saint George s team and volunteer to help (contact Tom Lampros), at the hotel, at church and during the games. The ad deadline for the program booklet has now passed. Home/House Blessings After the Feast of Theophany and the Blessing of the Waters service, it is customary to bless our homes with the Holy Water. Please call Fr. Rick to set an appointment for a house blessing service. Items needed for a home blessing: icon, candle, basil sprig, incense & bowl of water. May God bless everyone in the New Year! Photo Directory Update Complimentary 8x10 photos have arrived. Please stop by the church office to pick yours up. If your portrait is not here yet, it will be coming soon in a future shipment and we will call you when it arrives. Catechism Has Begun The Winter-Spring term of the MEOCCA Cooperative Catechism course meets on Mondays 7-9pm. The course is open to everyone but is required for those preparing to convert to Orthodox Christianity. Please register online Contact Fr. Rick for more info. Orthodox Media: The Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) produces the Come Receive the Light (CRTL) weekly radio broadcast. The CRTL program broadcasts every Saturday at 5:00pm on KKMS 980AM. You can also listen on the internet anytime along with an array of other Orthodox Christian programming on Ancient Faith Radio also has excellent programming: Thank You A big thank you to the ladies who baked their beautiful and tasty vasilopites, to the kitchen crew, and to our most generous parishioners for making this Vasilopita celebration a great success. The children at St. Basil`s Academy thank you all. For more info: Weekly Offering Envelopes Discontinued Due to low usage levels and in another effort to reduce expenses, the stewardship committee has discontinued the use of preprinted weekly offering envelopes. They were very expensive. As a substitute they will provide, upon request, return mailing envelopes with the parish address pre-printed on them. However, parishioners would need to write their own envelope and/or PIN

5 St. Paul, MN Page 5 Parish Announcements number on the envelopes especially when making cash donations. Requests for these envelopes may be made by phone or to the church office. Stewardship Info Thank you to all who generously and sacrificially support the mission and ministries of our parish! 2012 Stewardship b rochures and pledge cards have been mailed. Please begin planning how you will devote your time, talents and treasurers to help further and grow the venerable activities to our community and beyond. Prayer Ropes from Hogar These ropes, available for sale in our bookstore, were made by the orphans at the Hogar in Guatemala. This is an excellent way to pray and help those i n need. For more info: FOCUS Matching Gift Update A generous parishioner gave FO- CUS $2,400 at the end of December. Our anonymous matching donor will match this amount by giving an additional $250 per month through October Thanks to both for their thoughtfulness to the poor and needy. For more info, contact Fr. Rick or Tom Lampros or Focus on FOCUS Words from Vera Proctor, Director FOCUS MN: "As the Christmas vigil started and we sang, God Is with Us - understand all ye nations and submit yourselves for God is with us, the entire year at FO- CUS came into view. That's what happened on the 23rd - God was ever and fully present, That's what has been happening the whole past year - God was, and is, with us. Without this we would have closed up shop long ago, this is clear." All the donations of food, clothing, and volunteering have made this mission a success for all and to God. The work continues in this New Year and we pray all will come forward and keep this mission strong. FOCUS News Thanks to all who have contributed to the FOCUS MN Center with donations of food, clothing, and much needed grocery bags. The clothes closet is very active and FOCUS has distributed over 1000 items each month to those in need. The food shelf has also done well at serving as a supplemental food shelf in the Lake street area with a limited supply of dry goods-but much needed. The meals served on Sunday have grown from 80 guests to approximately 160 guests. Please keep the donations coming and if possible, cash donations as well. The Center offers many "thanks" and sends blessings to all who have contributed and served. Wish List Please consider donating a used flat screen TV for the conference room at church. This will allow for easy video, internet and powerpoint presentations for the various groups that use the facility. Daughters of Penelope News May the Ney Year be in good health and happy times. The Daughters of Penelope and Ahepans will meet at 7 PM February 16 for business and to celebrate the 77th birthday of Eurydice Chapter 21. Dues are now payable. Please give your $29 to Secretary, Georgia A. Erich as soon as possible. Thank you. Philoptochos Update May the New Year be full of blessings. The next meeting will be at 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 7 at church. Dues are now payable. Please give your $21 to Treasurer, Sandra Thole as soon as possible. Thank you.

6 Glad Tidings Page 6 (Continued from page 3) do things, things our natural man might not want to do. To dare pray (as one Church father put it) and not to do what prayer will demand of us is to court insanity. If we are not ready to "put up" in our life, we had better "shut up" in our prayer. "It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God" Hebrews 10: "Young man, do not forget to say your prayers. If your prayer is sincere, there will be every time you pray a new feeling containing an idea in it, an idea that you did not know before, which will give you courage. Then you will understand that prayer is an education [ ]" (Dostoevsky). Prayer is a teacher. By praying, we are taught of God by God Himself. And one of the things that we learn is itself how to pray. "O Lord, teach me to pray: pray Thou Thyself in me" (Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow). This article first appeared in Concern Magazine, the official OCF magazine published during the 1960s and 70s, at the height of the last OCF movement. This re-release is an article that appeared in the Fall 1969 issue of Concern Magazine. PastorsCornerPrayerHopko.htm (Continued from page 7) Churches at the Phanar in October 2008, the Fourth Preconciliar Pan- Orthodox Conference met in June 2009 at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Geneva, and created the Episcopal Assemblies throughout the world. So you see: for Patriarch Bartholomew, primacy is not merely an honor; nor is it an eastern form of the papacy. In fact, Constantinople s weakness, its very poverty, ensures its impartiality and, paradoxically, its preeminence. The Ecumenical Patriarch has no pretensions to being a universal bishop. He claims no dogmatic infallibility, no direct jurisdiction over all the Churches. As a center of appeal for the sake of preserving the unity of faith, his primacy does not lie in power and prestige but in sacrifice and service to the sister Orthodox Churches. When the officers of the Episcopal Assembly of North and Central America visited the Phanar in September, 2010, he stated: What is most critical for us as Orthodox leaders is to apply the theology and traditions that we have received from the Church Fathers, ultimately to practice what we preach about the essential unity of the Body of Christ, which is never divided and which comprises many members even while constituting His One Church. So the aim is a united Body of Christ or at least a more united Body of Christ; or at least the willingness for a united Body of Christ. Orthodoxy must speak with one voice in order to be heard, to have any impact, and to bear any fruit. The vision, as far as I can see at least in my humble opinion of Patriarch Bartholomew is ultimately to create the appropriate conditions of unity in order to convene the Holy and Great Council. Since the day of his enthronement (indeed, I would dare to say, well before his enthronement) His All-Holiness has systematically and patiently, deliberately and gradually, without undue forcefulness or unnecessary hesitation worked assiduously, moved carefully, and advanced steadily toward the convocation of this Great Council, which would be the first since the Seventh Ecumenical Council. I do not need to remind you that while numbering of the last ecumenical council may differ among scholars the 7 th Great Council was held in 787! Nikos Kazantzakis adopts a powerful image in his novel Christ Recrucified, depicting Christ sitting quietly in the carpentry workshop of Joseph, carving small crosses out of wood. Over the last forty years, His All- Holiness has been carving and shaping the events that we are witnessing and anticipating in our day! In many ways, we could say that NO ecumenical council has ever been held in the comprehensive manner with which His All-Holiness visualizes convening it. In some ways, we could say that NEVER before in history has such a broad assembly of bishops been held, since in the past there were only five churches (patriarchates) participating in an event organized, facilitated and sponsored by the emperor! Today, there would be fourteen! It is not farfetched to claim that Patriarch Bartholomew would in fact be achieving something unthinkable in the previous twenty centuries! Orthodox unity is his only ambition and ultimate aspiration. While he is often misunderstood and maligned for claiming a supra-national vision, it is never an ethnic preference; it is not, for instance, solely directed to non-greek churches, such as the Patriarchate of Moscow. The same unity is the primary concern when problems arise with Greek-speaking autocephalous churches, such as the Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( ) or the Church of Greece ( ).

7 St. Paul, MN Page 7 Orthodox Christianity in the Contemporary World Rev. Dn. John Chryssavigs This is part III of the Keynote address given by Rev. Dn. John Chryssavgis at the Metropolis of Chicago Assembly on October 6, Part II was printed in the January 2012 issue of Glad Tidings. Look for the rest of the address in upcoming issues. B. Inter-Orthodox Coordination and Cooperation As you know, the Orthodox Church is a family of fourteen Patriarchates and Autocephalous (or independent) Churches, all of them united in faith and sacramental communion while remaining selfgoverning in their interior life. Within this worldwide communion, the Patriarch of Constantinople enjoys an honorary primacy. Yet, unlike the Pope of Rome, he does not claim any power of jurisdiction. His position is that of elder brother or first among equals. The Ecumenical Patriarch does not impose decisions upon the other Orthodox Churches; he does not command or coerce; he does not interfere uninvited in their internal affairs. He proposes, but does not compel. He convenes, but always by consulting with the other Orthodox Churches. In this perspective, Patriarch Bartholomew was the first ever to convoke a Synaxis of Primates, assembling all the heads of the autocephalous churches: in Istanbul (1992, only weeks after his enthronement), on the island of Patmos (1995), in Jerusalem and Istanbul on the occasion of the new millennium (2000), and most recently again in Istanbul (2008). It is here, in such Panorthodox gatherings, that one senses the visible expression of the unity of the individual, independent Orthodox Churches, the tangible manifestation of the catholic conscience of the Church. It may seem like a small endeavor, but heads of the autocephalous Orthodox Churches had not assembled since 1872 ironically, at a council held in Constantinople to condemn the heresy of phyletism (nationalism). In 1902, the visionary Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim II proposed that the local Orthodox Churches meet every two years; but this never materialized. Yet, things changed dramatically in the wake of the collapse of Communism in the late 1980s. Thus, it is during Bartholomew s patriarchal tenure that the Church of Albania was reconstituted in 1991, the autocephaly of the Czech Lands and Slovakia was recognized in 1998, and the autonomy of the Church of Estonia was restored in And he chaired a greater or appeals synod to resolve the internal schism within the Patriarchate of Bulgaria in In 1978, the late Fr. John Meyendorff wrote: It is unquestionable that the Orthodox conception of the Church recognizes the need for a leadership of the world episcopate, for a certain spokesmanship by the first patriarch, for a ministry of coordination without which conciliarity is impossible. In the present chaotic years, the Orthodox Church could indeed use wise, objective and authoritative leadership from the ecumenical patriarchate. I cannot help but wonder how Fr. Meyendorff, who died only six months after Patriarch Bartholomew s election, might have smiled with approval at more recent developments and decisions. At the Fifth Synaxis of the Heads of Orthodox Churches in 2008, His All- Holiness focused on difficulties that plague Orthodox Christianity worldwide in a speech that I consider historical and definitive for the future of the Orthodox Church. He boldly, albeit unassumingly addressed the world s Orthodox leaders: We have received and preserve the true faith. We commune of the same Body and Blood. We basically keep the same liturgical typikon and are governed by the same sacred Canons. Despite this, we must admit in all honesty that sometimes we present an image of incomplete unity, as if we were not one Church, but rather a confederation or a federation of churches frequently attributing priority to national interests in relationship with one another. In light of this image, which somewhat recalls the situation in Corinth when the first letter to the Corinthians was written, the Apostle Paul would ask: has Orthodoxy been divided? The Patriarch then proposed to advance preparations for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church and to resolve the pending matter of the Orthodox Diaspora, one of the most challenging situations in the Orthodox world. Thus, at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch, following consensus by the Heads of Orthodox (Continued on page 6)

8 S T. G E O R G E G R E E K O R T H O D O X C H U R C H 1111 Summit Avenue St. Paul, Minnesota ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 177 Phone: Fax: Web Site: Weekday Worship Schedule REGULAR WEEKLY SERVICES Meeting of Our Lord Orthros Thursday, February 2, 8:00am Divine Liturgy Thursday, February 2, 9:00am St. Polycarp of Smyrna Divine Liturgy Thursday, February 23, 9:00am Great Compline Monday, February 27, 6:00pm Holy Confession: By Appointment Vespers: (Sept. May) Saturday 5 pm Orthros: Sunday 9:00 am Sunday School:(September - May) following Communion Divine Liturgy: Sunday 9:30 am

9 February 2012 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday FAST DAY +MEETING OF +FAST DAY OUR LORD +8:00am ORTHROS +9:00am LITURGY +6:00pm VESPERS *7:00pm Bball Tourney Cmte Mtg. *5:00pm Radio Program KKMS 980am +5:00pm VESPERS SUN OF PUBLICAN +ST. PHOTIOS +ST. THEODORE +ST. HARALAMBOS GOYAL & PHARISEE - STRATELATES BASKETBALL TRIODION BEGINS GOYAL TOURNEY BASKETBALL +8:15am ORTHROS TOURNEY *8:00am +9:30am LITURGY *12:00pm MEOCCA Tournament Mtg *6:00pm Games Tournament *11:30am *7:00pm Parish Games *5:00pm Radio Oratorical Festival *7:00pm Bball Council Program KKMS & Godparent-child *7:00pm Catechism Tourney Cmte Mtg. *7:00pm Buffet 980am Sunday Class Dinner +5:00pm GREAT VESPERS *4:30pm Greek *6:00pm Grand Dance Practice + 1ST WEEK TRIODIAN -NO FASTING + Banquet +SUNDAY OF PRODIGAL SON +8:15am ORTHROS +9:30am LITURGY St. Valentine's Day +FAST DAY +FAST DAY +ST. THEODORE OF TYRE GOYAL BASKETBALL *5:00pm Loaves TOURNEY & Fishes *5:00pm Radio *12:00pm Box Program KKMS Lunch 980am *1:00pm +5:00pm VESPERS Championship Games *7:00pm Catechism *4:00pm Feed Class the Hungry at FOCUS, MN *4:30pm Greek Dance Practice +MEATFARE +8:15am ORTHROS +9:30am LITURGY PRESIDENT'S DAY +FAST FROM MEAT +ST. POLYCARP OF SMYRNA +9:00am LITURGY +9:30am Divine Liturgy in Eau Claire, WI *5:00pm Radio Program KKMS 980am *4:00pm Feed *7:00pm Catechism *7:00pm Bible +5:00pm VESPERS the Hungry at Class Study at Fr. Rick's FOCUS, MN Home *4:30pm Greek Dance Practice + FAST FROM MEAT+ +ST. FOTINI +CHEESEFARE SUNDAY +8:15am ORTHROS +9:30am LITURGY *4:00pm Feed the Hungry at FOCUS, MN CLEAN & PURE MONDAY - GREAT LENT BEGINS +STRICT FAST OF GREAT LENT +6:00pm GREAT COMPLINE +STRICT FAST OF GREAT LENT Coming in March... 3 Saturday of Souls 4 Sunday of Orthodoxy- Procession of Icons Lenten Retreat 18 3rd Sun. Lent - Veneration of Cross 25 Feast of Annunciation - Greek Independence 31 Liturgy in Eau Claire, Wisconsin *4:30pm Greek Dance Practice *7:00pm Catechism Class St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 1111 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN Rev. Father Richard Demetrius Andrews -- Phone: (651)

10 St. George Greek Orthodox Church Parish Council Meeting October 13th, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Attendees: Fr. Rick Andrews, President Frank Mortari, Vice President Tom Lampros, Treasurer George Kanavati, Alexis Bighley, Frank Nemeth, Dan Simon, Jim Theros, Joe Weiser, Steve Zeece Absent: Asst. Treasurer Diane Anastos, Secretary Sophronis Mantoles, Christ Kontenakos I. Call Meeting to Order, 7:00pm II. Opening Prayers III. Investment committee and Youth Minister Reports provided at start of meeting. See descriptions below. IV. Submission and approval of minutes from September 8 th, 2011 Council meeting, Jim Theros moved to approve as submitted, Joe Weiser seconded, minutes approved. V. Treasurer s Report: a. Financial Update: George Kanavati provided written financial reports for September and reviewed some highlights. Preliminary numbers for the Greek Festival are in and a report will be finalized by the committee later this month. b Budget Planning Update: Many major decisions have been made and the budget committee continues to meet weekly to arrive at a final proposal which will be presented to the parish council on Nov. 10 th for approval. VI. Father s Report 7:35-8:00 a. Metropolis Clergy Laity Report: Fr. Rick reviewed material and messages presented at the meeting in Champaign, IL last week. Highlights included an address by The Patriarch from Constantinople to attendees via Skype (a free internet video chat service) for the first time. b. Board of Elections Process and Nominations: It s time for the Board of Elections team to begin the process of receiving nominations for the six open parish council positions. Frank M. will contact the current Board. c. John Pitsavas Scholarship: The Pitsavas family has requested that in light of no applicants this year, the $1,000 award be reallocated to Loaves and Fishes. Joe Weiser moved to accept the recommendation to reallocate the $1,000 for the 2011 award to Loaves and Fishes, motion seconded by Jim Theros. Motion carries. d. Youth Minister Farewell: See below and the council to organize a thank you gift and Steve Zeece volunteered to fund it via a church donation of $150. e. Donation of Old Altar Table: A parish in California is interested in accepting and transporting the table. George Kanavati moved to donate the altar table to the Greek Orthodox Mission in San Juan Capistrano led by Fr. Bill Tragus. Jim Theros seconded. Motion carried. f. Metropolitan Iakovos Nameday Celebration (Oct. 27 th ): all are welcome to attend the event in Chicago. The cost is $100 per person. g. Archdiocese Clergy Retreat (Oct 30 th to Nov 4 th ): Father will attend but there will not be a need for a replacement priest for Sunday liturgy. h. Church Iconography Update: A team meeting has been scheduled. George Kanavati and Christ Kontenakos will work on this project along with Father. i. Father s vacation (Nov 24 th to Nov 29 th) : arrangements for a replacement priest for Sunday liturgy have been made. VII. Committee Reports a. Investments Committee Report, Kostas Tsantir, new committee chair, presented an update. (This report was given at the start of the meeting.) A written report was distributed. Highlights include: Balances as of 9/30/11 were $263, on main account and $260, on new account from the profits on sale of donated rental property in July b. Youth Ministry Report: Rebecca Moll provided her final and written report including accomplishments, challenges and ideas for the future. She will be stepping down from her position as of Oct 31, c. Stewardship Committee Update: Names were suggested for next year s committee, a chart of income and stewardship from other churches in the diocese was shared, idea for matching pledge program was reviewed. A motion was made by George Kanavati, seconded by Frank Nemeth, to support a new program for matching pledge increases. Motion carried. Two donors were secured already, others will be solicited and the program will be defined and promoted. d. Buildings and Grounds: A storage locker was secured and many items moved to it. Cleaning service review is underway with the hope of reducing these costs. Elevator repair will be completed soon along with repairs to the sprinkler system. e. Welcome and Outreach: Four new families to the parish attended the picnic and all appreciated the phone call by Dan Simon to personally invite them. VIII. IX. Unfinished Business a. Roselawn Cemetery Monument Construction Status: Frank Nemeth provided an update on the material selection. Plans are moving forward with attempting to match the color of the table granite with the color of the concrete base. Contract with Schoenrock for the granite has been signed. New Business a. Capital Projects: exhaust fans for bathroom and candle these ideas have been suggested and will be estimated and explored. Jim Theros, Joe Weiser and Father will lead this effort. b. November Parish Assembly : Agenda will be 2012 budget review and approval and nominations for Council elections. Target date is November 13. c. Thanksgiving Eve Pan-Orthodox Liturgy and dinner: The date is a little earlier than usual, Wed, Nov 23rd and the Council agreed to hosts and cooks as usual. Joe Weiser, Dan Simon, Alexis Bighley and Frank Mortari agreed to coordinate this activity. d. Fall Clean-Up Date: Saturday Oct 22 nd was selected, Nov 5 th as alternate. e. Additional Baby Chairs for Social Hall: Requests have been made to purchase 2-4 additional baby high chairs for the social hall. An announcement will be placed in the church bulletin asking for donations towards this need. The preference is to purchase new chairs as opposed to receiving donations of used chairs. f. Family Camp is this weekend and a number of St. George families are participating. g. The parish council wishes to recognize and extend its deepest thanks to Mr. Clark Smith for his work to build a much more functional and improved storage shelving area in the outside stairwell going to the lower level. X. VII. Adjournment and Closing Prayer, 9:22

11 How Can We Keep Our Children in the Church? By: Doria Saros How Can We Keep Our Children In the Church? If only I had a nickel for every time a parent or parish council member asked me that question over my thirty plus years in Youth Ministry we could feed an orphanage in a third world country for many, many years! I began my tenure in youth ministry as a volunteer, then a paid part-time position, which grew into the full-time position in which I currently serve since The question of how to keep our children in the Church is one that the Archdiocese, the clergy and I have studied for all of those thirty plus years! Like many young youth ministries we started out by trying to fix the problem of how to help connect our kids to the church by offering simple social events, to make Church more fun. After a short-lived surge in attendance, and with the continued suggestions of parents we moved into bigger events on a more grand scale to include food, athletics and fun. We recruited more and more volunteers to help organize numerous activities.but again after a brief surge attendance waned. The big question remained: How Can We Keep Our Children in the Church? As a ministry staff we believe the answer lies in much more than fun. While fun is important we know that social events alone aren t enough. The ministry team wants more for our children than we may have had as kids. We believe the answer lies in joy. Anyone can find fun in the world; the difference is that God is within the truest concept of joy. If we want our children to feel connected to the Church, we must help them connect with God s joy, so that they desire Him. An example of this is routinely experienced by many if not most of our campers each year. We ask the kids what they say to their friends upon returning from Summer Camp when asked if they had fun, and their response is very telling.they pause with a little frustration as they struggle to articulate something like, well yeah, but it s more than that. Our kids return home a bit awe struck, because perhaps for the first time they have experienced a spiritual moment they have experienced God s joy.and God-willing they will never be the same, they will continue to pursue that joy. After living in true community for seven days, our campers play, pray, and want to stay together. It really goes back to our purpose in creation. God created us to choose Him, to love Him, to obey Him..He created us in His Image, and He gave us as adults free will to choose to be in His Likeness. As parents we must joyfully choose for our children so that as adults, our youth will make similar choices. Choosing God joyfully is imperative as our kids are smart. Children generally learn to dislike the things that their parents dislike and they learn to love the things that their parents love. So how do we help our children to desire Him, to know God s joy? Perhaps we should start by rephrasing the question into something like: How Can We Help Create the Desire for Our Children to Continue to Choose God as They Grow? It s about balance, ours is not a monastic community, but it s more than simply barbeques, dances and basketball. As a church we must offer opportunities to learn and to grow spiritually, in a fun and joyful environment, utilizing a combination of discussion/lesson with games. Social events are a strong compliment to the learning programs mentioned above. However, Youth and Young Adult Ministry programs should protect against a purely social driven schedule, keeping multi-goal programs at its core. Below are the Youth and Young Adult Ministry Goals of St. Mary s Greek Orthodox Church: Youth and Young Adult Ministry Goals: 1. To offer inspirational programs that foster spiritual growth in Christ. 2. To offer religious education that applies to daily living. 3. To offer service to God and His Holy creation. 4. To offer fellowship that connects our youth and young adults to Christ, His Church, and the greater Orthodox community. As we study attendance lists of past social (fun) only events, it is very apparent that while fifty children might routinely attend the fun event, of those fifty perhaps only five remained regular attendees into adulthood. In contrast, when studying the attendance lists of multi-goal programs (that fulfill 3-4 of the stated goals) that were fun, but also intertwined with learning about God, serving one another and the sacramental life many more of those attendees remained fervent in Church as adults. But one big challenge remains through time and the challenge is the same for most of us adults every Sunday morning. just getting the kids in the door. The devil is alive and active and never as apparent as when we re trying to get to church! Let s face it as soon as any child hears that he might have to learn something they don t want to go no matter how fun we make the experience. As parents we need to, Train up your child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 1

12 I remember as a small child being groomed by my parents for Church Summer Camp from the time I was five and I wasn t old enough to participate until I was eight! But no matter, each year I heard them say, You re going to camp when you re old enough. Did you notice that I had no say in the matter? I was the child being guided by my parents. In much the same way that I had no choice about going to school, I also had no choice about my Orthodox education: Church School, Church Camps, Youth Group, Worship and Sacraments.I was going. We live in a society that stresses education, jobs, and success! While these things are important are they more so than our knowledge of God? Is our child s education more important that his/her salvation? After all would we be content with our children finishing school in 6 th grade? Are we so confident in our school s educational system that we needn t worry about how much our children are actually learning? Is it so important for our kids to love school that if they don t like the classes they shouldn t have to go? If kids are too busy should they be able to skip homework? If they re tired should they be able to sleep in and go late to school, or not at all? Then why is it acceptable for us as parents to allow this behavior in regard to our children s spiritual growth and Orthodox education? Could it be that we as parents aren t that connected to the Church? Could it be that it s because of our own limited knowledge of the faith? Could it be that we are content and perhaps a little complacent about what we don t know? I know that this was all true for me. As an Orthodox Christian of thirty years old, I never knew how wrong it was to arrive late to Liturgy.I just did what my parents by example taught me. At thirty-two years old and a regular attendee of Church I still could not articulate the basic differences between the Orthodox and any other faith..because I never opened a book on my own. I never put any effort in continuing my Orthodox education after I completed Church School. Quite honestly (and God forgive me) it was because of my job in youth ministry and my role as a step parent that forced me to learn more about my faith.but thank God something got me back to study! It s often said that, The more you learn, the more you realize what you don t know. For many of us Orthodox parents this is sadly the case. As a result we rely almost solely on the Church to educate our children and to make them want to stay in the Church and at the first sign that children balk at the idea of going to Church we panic! We panic because we don t know what to do or say..because we as parents don t have the knowledge of God, the tools we ourselves need to pass on to our children. The Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church instruct us to surround ourselves with Holiness and Holy people. It is interesting to consider what percentage of our own adult fellowship time is spent with other members of our Church community.. How would that percentage compare to a generation ago? Perhaps a more telling question is do we parents allow ourselves fellowship time in this day and age of busyness? Some might suggest our parents today are not only overwhelmed (with jobs, transporting kids, and financial stress), but that they are starving for the kind and amount of fellowship that we had as children growing up. Is it possible that the desire for church provided fellowship events is more a reflection of parental desire to fellowship? The multi-goal programs of current Youth and Young Adult Ministry does provide fellowship.and more.it also provides an opportunity for spiritual growth! Time after time we have observed that the youth who really connect with the Church are those whose parents have truly and joyfully connected themselves with the Church. Parents who continue to grow in the faith through reading, bible study, retreats, service, frequent and prompt worship attendance, Orthodox Community fellowship, and who do so with joy in their hearts..it is their children that we see in Church School, at GOYA, at Church Camp, and at 9:30 sharp on Sunday mornings.into adulthood. In study after study the greatest influence on the spiritual life of a child is..their parent. - Group Magazine. The priest and the ministry team of the church have a responsibility and accountability to God and His Church to provide excellent opportunities for learning, joyful fellowship, service, and worship. The parents have a responsibility and accountability to God to guide their children through their own example, their ever increasing knowledge of the faith, and with the support of the Church. We re never too old to learn. Let us all continue to learn and grow together as a community of faith, raising our children and young adults in His joy and love into adulthood and beyond. Doria Saros is the Youth Director for St. Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, MN. She is also actively involved with the St. Mary Orthodox Christian Summer Camp in Wisconsin. 2