Agape 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 S E P T

Transcription

1 S T. G E O R G E Agape G R E E K 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 S E P T Dearly Beloved in the Lord, It is hard to believe that I am beginning my eighth year of service to this community! I sincerely do not know where the time has flown. I am grateful to God, and His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos, for the blessing of serving you and I pray that God continues His goodness towards us and the good work begun here many years ago. As I reflected recently on the past seven years, I thought about all the articles that I wrote each month for the Agape. In them I tried to be insightful, challenging, encouraging, and helpful. Maybe a better way to say it is that I meant them to be pastoral. The dictionary defines the word pastoral as, concerning or appropriate to the giving of spiritual guidance. So guidance, whether personal or corporate, is a main piece of what a pastor does. It is in keeping with this theme that I continue this article. Each time I composed an article I looked at the bottom of this page and reflected for a moment on our mission statement. Having experience in a large healthcare system where the mission statement was constantly communicated as the basis for all decisions made, I tried to bring that same practice to these articles. I tried to make sure that in some way my article connected to our mission statement. I think that for the most part this happened, whether generally or specifically. Over the years the community has made great progress towards fulfilling its mission. Together with the priests that have served here you have built a stronger Orthodox Christian community. People have grown spiritually as evidenced by many of you who participate in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church, especially the sacraments of Eucharist and Confession. People enjoy fellowship time as evidenced by the wonderful times we have socializing, especially our celebration of Pascha. You reach out to others as evidenced by having greeters, a great website and bookstore, liturgy books for visitors, welcome packets, and church tours for events. You are philanthropic and tangibly express love for neighbor in many ways. You excel in the area of stewardship and are well on your way to operating the church through stewardship alone. But something is lacking. A piece of the puzzle is missing. What about worshipping in a traditional Byzantine church? What does that mean? What are the thoughts behind making that statement? What were those who put together the mission statement thinking? What is a traditional Byzantine church anyway? Who is going to pay for that? Is that the same as a consecrated church? This is crazy! Please consider joining us on two Sundays in September, to discuss these and other questions pertaining to this piece of our mission statement. Everyone is encourage to attend these open forums and contribute to the discussion. The Parish Council and I were approached by a parishioner and asked to look at this issue. We decided to include everyone in the discussion and will offer these forums on Sunday, September 20th and 27th, following the Divine Liturgy. I hope that you will join us! Father Jerry Building a Stronger Orthodox Christian Community by: Spiritually growing together; Sharing the Orthodox Faith through fellowship, outreach, and philanthropy; Worshipping in a traditional Byzantine church; Supported through Stewardship 202 Hillview #1 Eugene, Oregon Website: Phone: (541) frgerasimos@sntgrg.org

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 Treasurer s Report Through the weekend of August 23rd, the operation's account balance is $13,291. The parish council would like to thank everyone in the parish who has made the effort to sustain their stewardship giving throughout the summer months. It has made a tremendous difference in the parish's ability to meet our financial obligations and to prepare for the purchase of the new Camry for Father Jerry's use. The dedicated account balance stands at $10,969. If you have been following these reports through the year, you are aware that the balance has been steadily growing. This is a result of the parish council's decision at the beginning of the year to deposit the travel reimbursements from the Roseburg and Salem missions, as well as the sale of the old Camry. Most of these funds will now be used to pay for the new automobile. Many thanks to Pete Drakatos and Walid Saleeby for their efforts in getting the parish a great deal on the new car. FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE We are finished with our summer fundraisers, and they were a success! Thank you to all who helped and supported us. I would like to especially thank the "core" crew who managed the boat race booth for the last 3 years: Lisa Lilles, Julie Lenkoff, Bob Graham and Adrienne Bonosevich. This event couldn't have happened without their dedication. Looking forward, we are planning for our annual Bake Sale & Craft Fair, Dec. 12th & 13th. If you are interested in being a craft vendor, let Presvytera Maria know. Please invite friends and family to join us. There are flyers for the event in the fellowship hall. Our next committee meeting will be Sunday, Sept. 27th after liturgy. Pres. Maria From the Bookstore Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Page 2 We continue to add items to our bookstore, our children's and young adults sections continue to grow. We've had requests to add more books in a variety of topics from contemporary issues to marriage. Along with requests for additional home liturgical and gift items. We are still putting together an order for prayer ropes from St Paisius Monastery in Arizona ( so if you are in need of a new prayer rope or want to get one as a gift please come see me. In addition I am putting together a list of the icons offered by Uncut Mountain which a PNW local icon retailer, so that as people want to order icons that we don't carry in stock we can put an order together to get them. You will also see changes coming to how we do bookstore sales when no one is staffing the bookstore. Soon all of the books will have price slips in them that one will place with their money in an envelope that will then be placed in a drop box to be picked up by staff the next time they are in. This will remove the need to fill anything out and remove the confusion of where to place your money and note your purchase when nobody's around. Our goal is to make it easier and more efficient for all of our parishioners and visitors to use. Please keep bringing your suggestions for items coming, as we make our bookstore exactly what we need for us here at St George. In Christ, Gregory Sebastian, Bookstore Manager Greetings from the Salem Mission! This month we are rejoicing with those who rejoice, as we look forward to the Roseburg mission being given a new name of a saint or feast day to honor and celebrate each time they gather together. Several of us travelling from McMinnville, Salem, and Albany are looking forward to their special day of Orthros, Divine Liturgy, and Naming with Metropolitan Gerasimos, and visiting over lunch. It s exciting to share this exciting time with our sister mission parish, and we re hoping to be able to follow their lead sometime soon in the future. Maria Hauser

3 A G A P E Page 3 A note from the Parish Council This month marks the end of our involvement at the Dexter Boat Races as a fund raising event. It has been helpful in covering our expenses but the Parish Council has felt that it is not really what St. George is about. So we have decided to focus more evangelism and on reaching out to our neighbors and the local community to bring them into our church. In addition, we are starting the long range planning for a consecrated church. This may take several years but we need to start the planning process now. One of the biggest things that we need to look at is how many stewards we have. Based on most of the information we have, we need at least 75 active and steady stewards to be able to support a consecrated church through stewardship. To build a church with less is not a good plan, to be able to fund our church, as we have always tried to do, with stewardship. So as a church, if we desire the new church with the dome and all that goes with it, we need to expand our church and reach out to those people we know and those we meet to let them know about the little secret we have called Orthodoxy. May God bless us all as we start the new church year. Your Parish Council Missions & Evangelism Committee I attended the St. John the Wonderworker Family Camp in August. It was a blessing and I encourage others to attend next year. (I will be promoting it). I wanted to send everyone the link to the slideshow movie, What is Orthodox Christianity, An Answer in Three Parts, developed by Fr. Daniel McKay. It is his hope that it will be useful when communicating about our Faith with others. So, please share it with others. It is a three-part slideshow movie that aims to: 1. Answer the question for a contemporary American audience with some familiarity of Christianity. 2. Offer some basic orientation for those who may be exploring Orthodox Christianity. 3. It tries to do this using the aesthetics and resources of the Church, rather than conventional movie -making techniques. Therefore, the decision to use still images, to use readable text (rather than voiceover), and other aesthetic choices are deliberate and are inspired by what is already present in Orthodox Christianity. It features 363 icons, 162 photographs, 68 other pictures, and 92 explicit references to Scripture. The three parts are available here: Part One; "The Teachings of Christ" (running time 40 minutes): Part Two: "Falling Away From Christ" (running time 45 minutes): Part Three: "The Life in Christ" (running time: 40 minutes): vimeo.com/ May the use of this resource be blessed. In service, Melita Green

4 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 Page 4. PHILIA Between work, family, vacations, church activities and fundraisers, it has not been easy to gather all the ladies together either for a meeting or to our dance practice. Somehow, however, we are managing, and are making progress in our International Luncheon and Show plans. We actually have a tentative program figured out! Please jot the date on your calendars, and come and support our efforts. Plans for the future: International Luncheon and Show on Nov. 1 Pastry and Gift Fair on December 12 and 13 White Elephant Party on December 20 For info on wedding or baptismal items contact Gloria at or via at zeazeastimmons@gmail.com. And see Melita if interested in Rada products. Next meetings: September 20 and October 4, 2015 Reminder: Philia is a philanthropic organization open to ALL women in the parish. Come and join us! We could always use helping hands and helpful minds. Julie Lenkoff, Philia Coordinator *************************************************************************** COFFEE CHAT : In the last edition of Agape, I had listed, No. 1-4 of what to do and not to, for safe food handling, according to Lane County: 1. Do not handle food if you are ill. 2. Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water before touching food. 3. Do not place purses, cell phones and such items on surfaces to be used for food. 4. Use bleach solution to wipe down tables, etc. before food prep. Here s more: 5. Keep raw foods separate. Meats should be stored on bottom shelf in fridge. 6. Wash hands two times after handling raw meats. 7. Use separate boards for meats and veggies. 8. Cold foods should be kept at 41º or below and hot foods at 135º or higher. More to come Thank you. Julie Lenkoff, Fellowship Coordinator **************************************************************************** CLEANUP CORNER: I noticed a few times that, albeit someone had signed up to clean, it had not been done. Black sticky stains are hard to miss on our light fellowship floor. Please make arrangements with Neal at beforehand, or if he is unavailable and the church is closed, call me at I know that the schedule is set for Saturdays, however, any day that week will work for cleanup. You can check the church calendar as well, because if there is something going on there, it is bound to be open. And if you are very busy that week and cannot dedicate much time, even a quick touch up will be extremely helpful. Thank You! Julie Lenkoff, Cleanup Coordinator

5 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 Page 5 From the Roseburg Mission Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ ~ The New Year is a time to take stock of where we have been and where we are headed. The Roseburg Mission has had a full year! We have seen an increase in stewardship, have started a youth Saturday School class, and have added an important ministry (Parish Care). We have been able to add a monthly service (Vespers), a monastery trip, and will soon receive a name. Glory to God! As we look towards the future, our #1 goal remains to be able to support a priest of our own. This is a huge task, and will take much effort and God s blessing to accomplish. Please pray for us as we embark upon another year of serving Christ in Southern Oregon. In Christ ~ Lisa Buck p.s. We invite you to celebrate with us The Naming of our Mission Parish on Saturday, September 12, :40 am Pre-Communion Prayers 10:00 am Divine Liturgy Naming Service Luncheon and Silent Auction Suggested donation for luncheon is $15/person Naming Service will be held upstairs in our Chapel at St. George Episcopal Church 1024 SE Cass Avenue Roseburg, Oregon Please RSVP ASAP to RoseburgMission.eventbrite.com September Celebrations Birthdays September 5th-Exenia Merritt September 6th-Jerry Smith September 7th-Kevin Kaelin, Alexis Pope September 11th-Svetlana Zotoff, Nikolai Lilles, Ronald Harvel September 18th-Joey Carroll, Sara Knerl September 21st-Rachel Hauser September 26th-Katharine Drakatos Feast Days September 1st-St Joshua Joshua Knerl September 7th-St Kassiani Jessica Graham September 13th-St Cornelius Jerry Smith September 24th-St Thekla Melissa Aubin Wedding Anniversaries September 1st Fr. Jerry & Pres. Maria September 10th Sean & Marci Moling September 13th Michael & Liana Creech September 21st Brett & Cassandra Batterson Baptized in Christ/Chrismated September 12th Michael Creech September 25th Brett & Cassandra Batterson Many Years! Chronia Polla!

6 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 Page 6 News and Events What s New! First Saturday Breakfast: The dates for September s First Saturday Breakfast events are Friday, September 4th and Saturday, September 5th. Many hands make for light work so please consider lending us yours. Baptized in Christ: Olivia Fimple was baptized on Sunday, August 31st. She is the daughter of John & Natallia Fimple who recently moved here from Colorado. Her sponsor is Larissa Lilles May she live for us! Happy New Ecclesiastical Year! The new church year begins on September 1st. May it be blessed! Kala Stefana : Niko Lilles and his long-time girlfriend Kim will be joined in Holy Matrimony on Saturday, September 12th in Portland. May God crown them with glory and honor and grant them that sacred oneness that rests in Him! Weekday Vespers: Beginning on Tuesday, September 8th, and on each consecutive Tuesday, we will offer the service of a Weekday Vespers. The service will begin each Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm. Please consider coming and worshipping with us and then staying for Bible Study at ***6:00 (new time). Bible Study: The Tuesday evening Bible Study is moving to a new time ( 6:00-7:00 pm) beginning Tuesday, September 8th. We are currently reading the Old Testament together and learning about the first covenant God made with mankind. Come and learn! Adult Education: Beginning September 8th, and on each Tuesday following that, adult education will be offered. This class is open to anyone (Inquirer, Catechumen, Seeker) who wants to learn more about Christian Orthodoxy. Class starts at 7 pm. Metropolitan Gerasimos visit: His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos will be making a visit to our parish as part of his trip to Oregon for the Roseburg Mission s Naming Event. His Eminence will be with us on Saturday, September 12th for Great Vespers and for the divine services on Sunday, September 13th. Joining His Eminence that weekend will be Bishop Apostolos. Following the divine services on the 13th, we invite you to join us for a luncheon in honor of our Metropolitan s visit. Church School: Church School will resume on Sunday, September 20th, and we pray that the new school year will be blessed. The Church School depends on volunteers and we could always use a few more. Please consider this important ministry and see Father Jerry if you want to volunteer. Forums: As mentioned in my article this month, the Parish Council and I would like to hear your thoughts about the community in general, and specifically about our goal of worshipping in a traditional Byzantine church. Let s gather after the Divine Services on Sunday, September 20th and 27th (in case some can t make it on the 20th) and listen to one another. Prayer and the Inner Man: Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church in Ashland invites you to a series of talks by Archimandrite Sergius, Abbot of St. Tikhon Monastery in South Canaan, PA, Friday and Saturday, October 30th and 31st. Also present will be the Myrrh-Streaming Icon of St Anna. For details please see the flyer posted in the Fellowship Hall or visit Great Vespers: Our worthy participation for Sunday, the Lord s Day, begins on Saturday evening at the service of Great Vespers, enabling us to participate fully in the Mystery of God s love through Holy Communion. Come and experience the fullness! In our prayers: Pray for one another that you might be healed (James 5:16)-Jim, Eleni,, John, Yelena, Sarah, Sharon, Alexandra, Christopher, Ruth, Elaine, John, Fr. Constantine, Fr. James, Kevin, Lisa, Eugenia, Niko, Rebeca, Maria, Anastasia, Zinaida, Katherine, Rachel, Nektaria, Leda, Jesse, John, Ann, Kay, Photini, Elaine, Elle, Jan, Andy, Jimmy, Froso; the unborn, pregnant women contemplating abortion, & those who pray for the end of abortion. Please also be praying for all those being persecuted for their faith in the Middle East, Iraq, Africa, and the whole world.

7 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 Page 7 9/6 9/13 9/20 9/27 FELLOWSHIP Zoumboukos Hosted- Luncheon Carroll/Rundt Potluck GREETER Larissa L. Jerry R Ann L Gloria & John PROSFORON Lilles Creech Hauser Freezer FLOWERS OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN READERS Brad Thomas Brad Thomas Brad Thomas Brad Thomas CLEANING CREW 9/5 Anyone? 9/12 Creech 9/19 Creech 9/26 Creech GET INVOLVED!!! Look through this list of organizations, programs, and ministries at our parish, then call the contact person and get involved!!! PARISH COUNCIL Bob Graham ACOLYTES Bob Graham BOOKSTORE Greg Sebastian PHILIA WOMEN S GROUP Julie Lenkoff CHURCH SCHOOL Ann Marie Kaelin CHANTER/CHANT GROUP Brad Thomas , Ann Marie Kaelin FRIENDS OF ST. JOHN Art Mehas FELLOWSHIP Julie Lenkoff STEWARDSHIP Neal Zoumboukos GREETERS Melita Green OUTREACH/1ST SAT. BREAKFAST Bonnie Graham FLOWERS Diane Monger MISSIONS & EVANGELISM Melita Green FUNDRAISERS Presbytera Maria

8 Saint George Greek Orthodox Church 202 Hillview 1 Eugene, OR A good word Apolytikion of Beginning of the New Ecclesiastical Year Creator of the universe, setting times and seasons by Your sole authority, bless the cycle of the year of Your grace, O Lord, guarding our rulers and Your nation in peace, at the intercession of the Theotokos, and save us. Kontakion of Beginning of the New Ecclesiastical Year You who created all things in Your infinite wisdom, and set the times by Your own authority, grant Your Christian people victories. Blessing our comings and goings throughout this year, guide our works according to Your divine will. Wishing you and yours a very blessed new Church Year!