St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Parish Bulletin

Transcription

1 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Parish Bulletin Orthodox Church in America 2143 S. Center Road Burton, Michigan Website: Fr. Matthew s lanscoal@sbcglobal.net Home: Church: Fax: Services: Sunday - 9:30 a.m. Third Hour 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy Holydays, Vigil and Vespers as announced Confessions are heard before all morning services and after all evening services. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. St. Jude: 20 October 1-31, 2010 ICON OF THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS

2 THAT GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT or LIVING GOD S WAY And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. Gen. 2: 15) When the Lord had finished the original work of creation and called it Very good, He took man, the walking, breathing, thinking Icon of Himself and set him in the midst of it all to manage it and care for it. The world was God s and everything in it, but the joy and honor of being eternally occupied with his Father s business was given to man. This worked out well for a while. As long as Adam realized that it all belonged to the Lord and while he lived in harmony with the Lord s Will, he was able to make all the right choices and keep the Garden the way God wanted it kept. The trouble came when Adam got the idea that he knew as much as his Creator: that at least part of the creation (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil) belonged to him personally and that it was selfish and unfair of God to tell him how to dispose of his own property. In short, man lost Paradise because he thought that his ways were better than God s ways. He said to God, I can take care of myself. It was a kind of Declaration of Independence. God honored man s demands and withdrew from the harmonious communion they had shared. Adam discovered, however, as is the case in most divorces, that what had promised to be freedom turned out to be slavery, and that instead of Paradise, there remained only a waste land. The final blow was man s discovery that he had cast off a loving Father only to acquire two wicked and harsh task masters: Sin and Death. Fortunately, God was too kind to abandon man to the eternal tyranny of sin and death. At once He set out to woo mankind back. He spoke to a few who were still faithful to their true Father. Enoch walked with God and was taken up lest he should see death (Heb. 11: 5). Noah also had such faith and ignored the scoffing of his neighbors to prepare an ark. At length, God called Abraham who abandoned the wealth and prosperity of his earthly city to wander in a strange country (Gen. 12: 1-8). God taught man through sacrifices and through the written law, to offer to Him a portion, the best tenth of all that he acquired, as a sign of acknowledgement that God is King of all. Not that these sacrifices, offered time and again by feeble and sin-laden men had any real value, (Heb. 9:9) for God does not eat the flesh of bulls or drink goat s blood (Psalm 50: 13). Rather these were like primary school games meant to prepare children for adult life. They were shadows of things to come. (Heb. 10: 1) God also sent holy men: prophets to warn the people that the mere performance of rituals was not only unacceptable, but a stench to His nostrils (Prov ). Then, in the fullness of time, God the Father sent His only and Eternal Son born of a woman, born under the Old Law, to buy us back. Christ Jesus was the Father s special Love Gift to us. As Jesus, Himself, declared; God the Father loved the world so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3: 16) Jesus didn t die just for the good people, for then no one would have been saved. Saint Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short. (Rom. 3: 12) Rather, He was as St. John the Baptist announced, The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World. (John 1: 29) It was While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. By His coming and offering Himself for us, He not only opened the gates of Paradise to Adam and all who lived by faith under the Old Law, but he gave us New Life as well and power to become the Sons of God. Not sons and daughters begotten as of our earthly Father, but children born from above (John 1: 12-13), born again of water and the spirit. (John 3: 1-9) Now we are beneficiaries not only of the first creation but of the second. Not only restored Icons of our Heavenly Creator, but His sons; and by the power of the Holy Spirit, true members of the Mystical Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-13). For thou didst not cease to do all good things for us until thou hadst raised us up to Heaven and bestowed upon us Thy Kingdom which is to come. St. John Chrysostom What then is our task but that of Adam; to be stewards of all good things and to tend the Treasure house of God? For us then, there can be no talk of paying my dues. We, with Abraham, realize that we are but strangers and pilgrims in this world; that we brought nothing with us into the world and certainly can carry nothing out. The whole earth is the Lord s and all that is in it. We acknowledge that we owe God everything, even Life, both natural and everlasting. We recognize a summons not to a partial but to a total commitment. In our Lord s words: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy mind and with all thy soul and

3 with all thy strength. (Mark 12:30) If you disagree with the assertion that God has a claim on your entire life or that He is ready and willing to direct you in the discharge of your duty lovingly to manage all that He has given you if you don t agree that you owe all to Christ and that Christ is able to take care of you then don t bother to read any further. If, however, you accept Christ s lordship in your life, then you are a Christian; and as an Orthodox Christian, a steward (trustee or manager) of the Mysteries of Christ. It is to you that the following pages will be of interest and help in living your total commitment to your Lord. From What is Christian Stewardship? By Father Joseph Hirsch published by the Department of Stewardship, The Orthodox Church in America. The Parish Council will meet on Monday, October 11 at 6:45 pm. Please call the parish office if you are unable to attend this meeting The Orthodox Book Club will meet on Thursday, October 7 at 7:00 at St. George This session will finish reading Fr. Arseny. Please contact Deacon Michael Bassett for details / FrDnMike@chartermi.net / Readers Schedule October November December 3 Kathy 7 Johnny 5 Kathy 10 Esteban 14 Esteban 12 Johnny 17 Alexander 21 Alexander 19 Esteban 24 Shari 28 Shari 24 Alexander 31 Kathy 26 Shari SPECIAL PARISH MEETING OCTOBER 24, 2010 At last year s Annual Meeting of Saint Nicholas Parish a straw vote was taken concerning having two separate parish meetings: one in November with the sole purpose of electing members of Parish Council, Audiotrs, and the Nominating Committee & a second meeting in January for the presentation of the annual reports of the rector, the officers of the parish council, and other parish organizations. The starw vote was overwhelmingly in favor of making this change to the parish by-laws. Additionally, every parish of the Diocese must hold a parish meeting to elect two (2) lay delegates to the upcoming Diocesan Congress-Sobor. Therfeore, a special parish meeting will be held on Sunday, October 24, 2010 with the dual purpose of: 1- amending the parish bylaws to allow for elections in November and the annual meeting in January; 2- the election of two (2) lay delegates to the Diocesan Congress-Sobor. Only members in good standing both spiritually and in regards to stewardship are allowed to vote or speak at this meeting. PARISH LAY DELEGATES for the Diocesan Congress-Sobor to be held November 12-13, 2010 at St. George Cathedral, Rossford, OH. We need two lay delegates to serve at this important and historic meeting. Presently one person has volunteered to serve as a lay delegate. If anyone is interested in serving as a lay delegate, please see Father Matthew or call the parish office.

4 ELECTION OF PARISH COUNCIL, AUDITORS AND NOMINATING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER As of September 15, 2010, the nominees are: Parish Council Nominees: Auditor Nominees: Linda Branoff Irene Batcos Bill Economou Mary Batzos Dennis Goodman Phil Brown Marla Houser Fred Paul Sharon Jernigan John Popoff Johnny Kantor Bob Steiner Cathy Steiner Julio Vázquez If your name is listed above and you do not wish to run for the parish council or auditor, please call the parish office at If you wish to nominate a candidate for parish council or auditor please see a member of the Nominating Committee: Anna Branoff, Allison Borkovich, Susan Oginsky, Peggy Russell, Jo Sredich, or Rosemary Vuckovich. ***Absentee Ballots will be made available in the parish office beginning October 18*** ST. CATHERINE S WOMEN S LEAGUE will meet on Wednesday, October 6 at 6:30pm. There will be a Parastas for all deceased members of St. Catherine s on Sunday, November 21. Coffee Hour Volunteers October 3: October 10: October 17: Elieff Family/1yr for Lewis Elieff October 24: October 31: Jo Ann Havens & Johnny Kantor COMING EVENTS Special Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday, October 24, Ham will be provided. There will a sign-up sheet in the parish hall for salads, side dishes & desserts. Cookie Walk sponsored by St. Catherine s League will be held on Saturday, December 11. BULLETINS If you wish to have an announcement or candle intention added to the weekly bulletin you must have it submitted before noon on Friday. If you wish to have an entry submitted to the monthly bulletin you must have it submitted by the 15 th of the month. MANY THANKS Dennis Goodman would like to thank everyone for their card, prayer, candles and well wishes during his recent surgery. ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS There is space available on the back of the monthly bulletin. For more information see Stephanie Stikovich or any board member.

5 PARISH PRIDE PROJECT UPDATE Thank you to everyone for their generous donations to the Parish Pride fund. With your donations we have been able to do the following projects; Painting of the Church, Handicap Restroom, Beautification of the grounds, New road sign in front of the church and Seal Coating of the parking lot. We still hope to be able to do the following: furnace(s), etc. We are still in need of $38, to reach our goal of $100,000 for Parish Pride. CHURCH SCHOOL Haunted Hay Ride w/assumption (13 and up ONLY). More information to come. Fall Harvest Festival will be held on Friday, October 29 here at St. Nicholas. See flyer for more information. North End Soup Kitchen w/assumption (13 and Up). Our children will volunteer at the Soup Kitchen on Saturday, November 13. More information to come. Choir Rehearsal Schedule October 2 October 9 October 16 October 23 October 30 All Rehearsals are at 5:30pm or following the 4:30 Vespers All rehearsals are subject to change if needed. Please call me on my cell phone if you cannot attend at Thanks! CONGRATULATIONS to David & Courtney Batzos on the birth of their daughter Sophia Batzos, born on August 25, Congratulations also to Sophia s grandparents Tom & Mary Batzos. BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES October Birthdays October Wedding Anniversaries 3 Alyson Adams 17 Peter & Marilyn Branoff 9 Sarah Neely 18 Mike & Betty Dimich 63 yrs 13 Allen Adams David & Barb Vuckovich-24yrs 14 Cameron Stevens 20 David & Courtney Batzos 15 Zora Glusica Stephanie Stikovich 27 David George 29 Bruce Borkovich 31 Jack Todorovsky Irene Batcos Helen Bibilikow

6 FROM FATHER S DESK Christ is in our midst! Dear faithful of Saint Nicholas parish, This month our parish will hold a special parish meeting with a dual purpose. First, we will follow up on the straw vote at last year s annual meeting that proposed holding elections for parish council, auditors and nominating committee in November in accordance with the Diocesan Constitution and holding our annual meeting in January so that all reports will follow the calendar year. Second, we will elect two lay delegates to the 4 th Diocesan Congress-Sobor to be held November 12-13, 2010 at St. George Cathedral, Rossford, OH. Each parish is to be represented by its parish priest and two lay delegates at a Congress-Sobor. In the bulletin of February of this year I wrote that our Diocesan Constitution is in need of revision to bring it up-to-date with the Agreement by which our Diocese entered the OCA. This is a work in progress. One of the issues is that the Constitution states that a Bishop needs to be Bulgarian or an American of Bulgarian ancestry. This is a non-canonical provision that must be amended. Qualifications for who may be a Bishop are not found in a person s ancestry. When a revision is ready, a Diocesan Congress-Sobor will have to approve the revision. When that is completed, our Diocese can then begin the process to elect a Bishop. This will take time. The time has come. At the Diocesan Conference, June 17, 18 and 19, 2010 a working draft of the revised Constitution was presented. At the meeting in Toledo, given the status of revising the Constitution, the Diocesan Spiritual Council and Board of Trustees were established as the Episcopal Candidate Search Committee with Archpriest Andrew Jarmus of St. Nicholas Church, Fort Wayne, IN serving as a member of the committee and coordinator for the committee. At the Diocesan Conference the details of the method, criteria and timeline for the search was presented to the delegates. After exhaustive work in drafting a revised Diocesan Constitution, presenting that draft to the Diocesan Conference this past June for comments, and submitting it to the parishes directly with a deadline of August 31 for submitting any further comments. It is now time to vote on the revised Diocesan Constitution. This will take place at the first session of the Congress-Sobor on Friday, November 12. If the revised Diocesan Constitution is approved by a 2/3 majority of the delegates at the Congress-Sobor then for the first time, parish deacons will be eligible to serve as clergy delegates in addition to the parish priest. Following the approval of the revised Constitution, at the next day s session, on November 13 the feast of the great hierarch St. John Chrysostom, following the Divine Liturgy the delegates will vote to elect a nominee for our Diocesan Bishop. The nominee who receives a majority of the ballots cast will have his name submitted to the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America for canonical election as Bishop. Presently, the names of the candidates submitted by the clergy and faithful of the Diocese are before the Holy Synod for their approval.. From that approved list the Episcopal Candidate Search Committee will winnow down the list to two to three candidates who are willing to let their names stand as potential nominees and these will be interviewed by the Committee. Then it is hoped that the candidates can make visitations to some of the parishes of our Diocese. This is only the fourth Congress-Sobor in the 47 year history of our Diocese and it will be only the second time in the history of the Diocese that an election for a nominee as Diocesan Bishop will take place. Though only delegates may vote and speak at the Congress-Sobor, anyone can attend the sessions of the Congress-Sobor as an observer and all are invited to join in prayer at Vespers on Friday, November 12 at 6:00 pm at St. George Cathedral and at the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, November 13 at 9:00 am. Please keep the good work of the upcoming Diocesan Congress-Sobor in your prayers and petition the Holy Spirit to guide the works of our Diocesan Church. And ask that the Holy Spirit may be upon us in all of our deliberations and voting that will take place that we may follow the Lord s will in all things. Asking for the Theotokos protection for all of you,

7 Daily Intercession for our Sick and Homebound: The following are our brothers and sisters of St. Nicholas who are currently homebound, suffering from chronic illness, in recovery or in need of special prayers. Please remember them in your prayers and reach out to them with a card, a phone call or a visit! Holy Communion is available upon request. Anna Allen Kosta Georgopoulos Daisy Karkoski Elva Paul Flossie Bayoff Mickey Gonser Alfred Keeler Evdokia Ponomarenko Domna Batzos Mary Harrison Lydia Keeler Anne Smith Bogdon Beslac Bill Haw Athena Kosman Aspasia Stathopoulos Helen Bibilikow Olga Haw Daisy Marvosh Walter Sudia Mary Lou Brayan Maria Ilijev Julie Michalsky Bill Tadrick Joe Eckert Goldie Johnson Evdokia Naumoff Wendy Tadrick Gladys Edwards Nick Karayanis Pauline Nenoff Gloria Zelenko Evanka Elieff Mary Karayanis Fred Oginsky To aid in your outreach, here is a listing of the addresses and phone numbers of our Homebound: Anna Allen 4444 Court St. # 4113 Flint, MI Flossie Bayoff 3138 Curtis Road Flint, MI Bogdon Beslac 3005 Blue Grass Lane Swartz Creek, MI Joseph Eckert 5080 E. Baldwin Rd. #A6 Holly, MI Gladys Edwards 2 Harbor Dr. St. Clair, MO Olga Haw 1085 Oak Rd Davison, MI Daisy Karkoski 3011 N. Center Rd Flint, MI Lydia & Alfred Keeler 4104 Squire Hill Dr. Flushing, MI Daisy Marvosh Pauline Nenoff Julia Michalsky Walter Sudia Almost Home 305 Furlong Ct. Fenton, MI Bethany Rehab 5301 W. 1 st Ave Lakewood, CO Bay Medical Care Facility 564 W. Hampton Rd Essexville, MI Clare Bridge 5130 E. Baldwin Rd A-1 Holly, MI 48442

8 This Space For Rent Build Your Business Only $36.00 For 6 months Networking with Friends This Space For Rent

9 Pan Orthodox St. Nicholas Orthodox Church 2143 S. Center Rd Costume Contest (No Devils, Ghosts or Goblins) Pumpkin Decorating Cider, Hot Chocolate and Doughnuts Bon-Fire (weather permitting) R.S.V.P to St. Nicholas by Wednesday, October

10

11

12 October 2009 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Protection of the Theotokos 2 4:30 Great Vespers 3 1 pm Baptism of Zoe Conover St. Catherine s League 6: :30 pm TJ Yonan wedding No Vespers ** Father Matthew will be traveling to and from Toledo, starting Sept. 27- Oct 10 for meetings with episcopal candidates** Parish Council 6:45pm 4:30 Great Vespers Lewis Elieff- 1yr Parastas 4:30 Great Vespers **Special Parish Meeting will be held on October 24** :30 Great Vespers

13 November 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Times & Dates are Tentative St. Catherine s League 6:30pm 4:30 pm Vespers Choir Practice 7 Daylight Savings Time ends 8 Synaxis of the Holy Angels Parish Council 6:45pm pm Great Vespers at St. George Cathedral Rossford, OH 13 9 am Divine Liturgy at St. George Cathedral, Rossford, OH No Vespers Choir Practice Fr Matthew will be at St. George Cathedral, Rossford, OH for the Diocesan Congress-Sobor Nativity Fast Begins 16 7 pm Moleben in Preparation for the Nativity of our Lord :30 pm Vespers Choir Practice 21 Entrance of Mary into the Temple Parastas for deceased Members of St. Catherine s pm Moleben in Preparation for the Nativity of our Lord Thanksgiving pm Moleben in Preparation for the Nativity of our Lord