T HE D I A L O G I S T

Transcription

1 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n D e c e m b e r T HE D I A L O G I S T A Q U A R T E R L Y U A R T E R L Y R E V I E W H o l y T r i n i t y G r e e k O r t h o d o x C h u r c h S t e wa r d s o f C h r i s t! G i v i n g y o u r T i m e, T a l e n t, a n d T r e a s u r e i n t h e N e w y e a r

2 P a g e 2 T h e D i a l o g i s t : A Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w E r a o f G o o d F e e l i n g s

3 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 3

4 P a g e P h i l o p t o c h o s T h e

5 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 5 S t r o m a t a : T h e S a y i n g s o f t h e F a t h e r s

6 Home Blessings 2017 Αγιασμός για τα Σπίτια 2017 If you would like to have your home blessed, please fill out the form below and return it to the Church Office no later than Sunday, December 25th. Please check the schedule below for the date and time when Fr. Paul Christy will be in your Zip Code area. It is very important that you do your best to be home on the day scheduled as rescheduling will delay the blessing of your home significantly. The Church office will notify you as to the approximate time of the blessing. Please have an icon, and a list of your family members to be prayed for during the blessing. Thank you for following the guidelines on this form. Date Time Zip Code Fri January 6th or Tues January 31st 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Sat January 7th or Wed February 1st 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27601, 27603, Mon January 9th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27502, 27511, 27513, Tues January 10th or Sat. February 4th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27614, Wed January 11th or Mon February 6th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27605, 27607, Thurs January 12th or Tues February 8th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Wed January 18th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27502, 27511, 27513, Thurs January 19th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Durham, Chapel Hill, Sat January 21st or Wed February 9th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27613, Mon January 23rd 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27591, 27597, Tues January 24th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27526, 27529, Wed January 25th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Thurs January 26th or Thurs February 2nd 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm 27604, 27610, Mon January 30th As needed Make up and out of town Blessings Name YOUR ZIP CODE: Address Home Phone Work Phone Mobile Please Write Directions to your home:

7 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 7 T h e D i v i n e L i t u r g y o n D e a t h R o w I a m s o t h a n k f u l t h a t w e w e r e a b l e t o s e e e a c h o t h e r a n d c e l e b r a t e t h e E u c h a r i s t o n m y n a m e d a y. - A n d r e w R a m s e u r We waited and waited and finally the time was approved. Our friend Andrew Ramseur was able to experience his first Divine Liturgy. I don't want to over-dramatize our experience but as St. Peter said to the Lord at the Mount of Transfiguration, "it is good for us to be here." Andrew stands alone in his Orthodoxy at Central Prison. The ancient, apostolic Faith is virtually unknown to the other inmates and staff. All the other inmates have been able to enjoy regular services either Protestant, Catholic or Muslim, but again this was Andrew's and Central Prison's first Divine Liturgy. Wouldn't it be something to see it grow from this humble beginning? The staff gave us an office space that I did my best to convert into a Byzantine sanctuary. I brought icons, incense, vestments, prosforo, the Evangelion, etc. Andrew himself was the choir and chanter. A few months back he had asked for a Divine Liturgy book which we as a community provided for him and so he familiarized himself with all the forms, words and rubrics involved in the divine service. He did a wonderful job including reading the Epistle lesson from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 4:9-16 which begins with the words: "BRETHREN, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death"...; For those of you who don't know, our friend Andrew is on Death Row. Andrew's sin was great, but it seems to me that his road to repentance has been even greater. Andrew expressed great thanks for the latest book that he requested, "The Educating Icon" by Dr. Anton Vrame (who happens to be a good friend of mine). May the Lord who dwells on high and surveys the lowly; Who makes the sun rise on the evil and the righteous, and makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust, have mercy on his servant Andrew and all those in prison.

8 P a g e 8 T h e D i a l o g i s t : A Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w A H E P A M e r r y C h r i s t m a s a n d a H a p p y N e w Y e a r t o t h e c o m m u n i t y o f H o l y T r i n i t y! During this busy holiday season, I would like to take a moment and reintroduce the community to AHEPA. Our local AHEPA group may not be what you think. We are rebuilding our Brotherhood with a new sense and focus of helping our local community. Hopefully, you have been a participant in some of our events. AHEPA sponsors the OXI Day coffee hour. We provide one of the Lenten meals. We celebrate Greek Independence Day with a meal and program. On National AHEPA Day, we provide a free meal to our community s sen- ior citizens. We continue to support our dancers. We have begun offering a scholarship for our youth going to college {hoping to add another one soon}. We have been serving once a month at the Raleigh Men s Shelter for over seven straight years now. For some events, we have assisted two other great groups; St John s Ministry and Philoptochos. Our Brothers serve in multiple capacities throughout our Church. We are just a small group of men with mostly older members. We can do more, but we need help. If you are an adult male {over 18} and want to give back to our wonderful community, please join AHEPA. For a minimal amount of time, you can help make a big difference for our Church.

9 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 9 A n g e l s H o p e a n d J o y Welcome to ANGELS, HOPE & JOY! ANGELS (Our Preschool Messengers) HOPE (Hellenic Orthodox Primary Education) is the ministry for children grades K- 2nd while JOY (Junior Orthodox Youth) is the ministry for children grades 3rd-6th. Here at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. The mission and goal of Angels, Hope & Joy ministry is to lead our children into experiencing the Orthodox Faith. Participating in Angels, Hope & Joy ministry allows our children to build a strong bond with their Orthodox friends and lays out the foundation and tradition of our Orthodox faith through worship, fellowship and service. The bond they create now with each other and our Lord, Jesus Christ, will guide them and strengthen them through out their lives. We welcome all children grades Preschool-6th to join us through out the year for our gatherings which include Making a Difference and Getting to know you in the Fall, Making Christmas ornaments for the Men's Shelter, Trail Mix Assembly with St.Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, All Saints Antiochian Church and Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in February and much more. There is no fee to participate in the Angels, Hope & Joy ministry and we welcome all parent participation and involvement. In Christ, Francesca Panagos Anna Kouba

10 P a g e 10 T h e D i a l o g i s t : A Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o o u r N e w P a r i s h C o u n c i l m e m b e r s! Sydney Langford- is now serving on the Parish Council. She is a past President and Treasurer of Philoptochos and has served several years as the co-chair of the Greek Festival pastry booth. Sydney and her husband of almost 42 years will be cochairs of the Clergy-Laity, Philoptochos, Choir Conference that will be held in June with our parish as hosts. In her spare time she sells real estate! She is the Mother of 2 (soon to be 3) Coton de Tulears. Bob Lyford is a retired CPA who has lived in Raleigh for 47 years. He has served on the Parish Council for the past two years and was treasurer this past year. Bob has participated in the ministry of St. John the Merciful. He and his wife Anita have three children and three grandchildren. Mary Wehbie has been a member of Holy Trinity of for 30 years, wife of Charles and mother of Mary, Kassi, and Barbara and Ryan. She currently serves as secretary of the Parish Council and is a member of the Stewardship Committee and Philoptochos Board. Mary is chair of the 2016 Holiday Café and Bake Sale. David Kouba- has been a member of Holy Trinity since moving to Raleigh in 2013 with his wife Anna and their sons Telly (age 6) and Louie (age 4). Before Raleigh, David and Anna lived in Washington, D.C., for eleven years and were members of Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral. David is currently an attorney practicing with the law firm Arnold & Porter, where he has been since 2002, and is a part-time Master's student in Wake Forest University s Department of Counseling. In addition, David volunteers regularly with Saint John the Merciful Outreach Ministry.

11 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 11 Leslie Dombalis- a resident of Raleigh since 2001, joined the Holy Trinity family in December of Since then she, along with her husband, John and two sons, Paul and Gus, has been an active part Holy Trinity. Leslie is in her fifth year as a Sunday School teacher, serves on the board of the Holy Trinity Preschool, co-chairs the Angels, Hope and Joy ministry, and takes part in planning the annual Glendi celebration. A mostly stay-at-home mom, Leslie spends much of her time volunteering at her sons' elementary school while working part-time at the Mecca Restaurant. Steve Flaherty- is married with three children and six grandchildren. Holy Trinity is his fourth Greek Orthodox Church to have served in. He is a grateful and dedicated convert and loves our Greek Orthodox Church. John Demos- and his wife Christina have been members of Holy Trinity for 11 years. John and Christina have 3 daughters, Sarah (11), Rebecca (8), and Anna (3). John has served as Stewardship Chairman since 2011 and has previously served one term on Parish Council. John is Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property at Cree, Inc. Jason Kekas- is a Raleigh native and has been active in the church his entire life and participated in many of its ministries over the years. He has served as president of Goya and served in the altar. At Clemson, he continued his desire to serve others in Alpha Phi Omega, the national service fraternity as a member and as chapter president. He has also been involved in the Greek festival since its inception helping in different capacities and served as its chairman for the last 3 years. He has been a member of the Holy Trinity choir for over a decade. That's where he met his wife, Evangelia. He is a co-founder of ImagineOptix Corp. and has been its CTO for more than 12 years. Jason and Evangelia and their dog, Disney live in North Raleigh.

12 P a g e 12 T h e D i a l o g i s t : A Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w P r o s f o r o B a k i n g Prosforo baking is currently performed by more than nine HTGOC bakers on an alternating monthly schedule. There are also more than six prosforo bakers who are on call to bake more when needed. The ingredients to create prosforo include love of faith and community; willingness to share time and talents; unbleached flour, salt, yeast and water. Also required is the stamp (sfrayitha) to impress the religious seal onto the prosforo. The importance of baking and providing prosforo is paramount to each Divine Liturgy. During the proskomithi (preparation for communion), sections of the prosforo seal are removed by the priest and later used in the challis for the sacrament of communion. Prosforo is but one gift to the sacrament of communion. It can be made and offered by all willing to bake it; some parishioners bring prosforo for name days and memorials and when delivered to the church with a list names for prayers of health and or for the departed, our priest will reference these names during proskomithi and liturgy. How many prosfora are needed? It varies by the number of scheduled liturgies which includes Sundays and specific feast days; by the number of parishioners expected to participate in each of the liturgies; and by the physical size of each prosforo. For example, Father selects up to five prosfora used on any given Sunday and up to two for other liturgies. There is a constant need. All parishioners are welcome and encouraged to participate. Please contact Tamara Costa ( ) if you would like to contribute. Many thanks go out to the men and women of the church community for their selfless generosity in baking the prosforo.

13 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 13 W e l c o m e C o m m i t t e e Members of the Welcome Committee provide outreach assistance to visitors to our church. The welcome table is located across from the candle stand. Before and after each liturgy a ministry member is present to greet individuals and families coming into our church. In essence, they re the friendly face to greet anyone who comes to our church; and are there to advise and help any new prospective members. Often, Orthodox Christians who have just moved into the Raleigh area and have come to our Holy Trinity Church for the first time, are seeking a church to feed their spiritual needs. Other visitors may have heard about us but know nothing of Orthodoxy and just want to check us out. Once someone new is met, we want them to feel welcome and comfortable. It really is a wonderful way to meet new parishioners and let them know we are glad they are here. The Welcome Ministry is open to any parishioner who is interested in joining this very fulfilling ministry.

14 P a g e 14 T h e D i a l o g i s t : A Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w O r t h o d o x C h r i s t i a n F e l l o w s h i p The Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is a collegiate association designed to bring Orthodox Christian students from all backgrounds together in fellowship, prayer, and service during the formative college years. Our chapter here at Holy Trinity encompasses the groups at NC State University, Meredith College, William Peace University, and Wake Tech, and is proud to have over 40 members for the school year. During this past fall semester, we have expanded the number of events we offer by adding monthly social events after the Divine Liturgy and throughout the week. This has helped drive our numbers up immensely, bringing many new students into the fold and helping form strong bonds of friendship between our members. Additionally, the OCF has begun to advertise itself via flyers around campus in order to alert any Orthodox or Ortho-curious students, to great success. For this upcoming semester, we will plan on continuing to foster the rapid growth of our ministry. Our plan is to introduce more regular service events in conjunction with St. John the Merciful Outreach Ministry as well as the Triangle Young Adult League. With the help of God, we will continue to spread the joy of the Gospel with our fellow students, teachers, and college community for years to come.

15 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 15 H o l y T r i n i t y B o o k s t o r e Holy Trinity Bookstore is located in the church hall and is open after church most Sundays. The store has been in business for over twenty years and is a resource for books, icons, music, home worship items, and gifts. Recently, beautiful Orthodox cards for baptism, name day, and feast day have been added to the store. Sold separately, these cards cannot be found at your local card store! Due to space restrictions, the bookstore doesn t have everything available about our rich faith. But if there is a special item you want, please drop by and see if it can be special ordered. A designated space for the bookstore is in our new building plans. Then, the sky s the limit for the Holy Trinity Bookstore!! M u s i c M i n i s t r y W e l c o m e s N e w C h o i r D i r e c t o r : C h e l s e a W a d d e l o w Chelsea Waddelow is a North Carolina native, and has been making music in many different ways since she was a little girl. Chelsea is a board-certified music therapist, and works with children and adolescents with special needs during the week. She has previously been a part of worship ministries at two churches, Chapel Hill Bible Church and Chatham Community Church, as well as playing with several local orchestras and musical theater organizations. Chelsea really plays piano and organ, and dabbles in other things like guitar, banjo, mandolin, and hammer dulcimer. She is very passionate about her role in facilitating worship, and is honored to play such an important role in the community of the Church.

16 Page 16 The Dialogist: A Quarterly Review

17 C h r i s t m a s E d i t i o n P a g e 17 G r e e k o r t h o d o x y o u t h s t r i v i n g f o r e x c e l l e n c e i n l i f e Since October, our GOYA at Holy Trinity has been working hard to reach and exceed their potential inside and outside of Holy Trinity. Thus far, they have participated in a Cross-Dive and Family Spiritual Retreat, helped feed the hungry through a co-operative effort with AHEPA and St. John the Merciful Outreach and read to children at the Hilltop Home on Halloween. As the Youth Director, I find that the best part of my job comes when I see the kids growing and learning in that many adults have forgotten they went through when they were our children s ages; for example, dealing with a variety of weekly activities and being attentive to such schedules. On any given Sunday, our children are at Church from 10:00 am until as late as 7:00 pm; sometimes 8:00 pm. This year we added a Girls Basketball team that meets every Thursday night and will be participating in the Winter Youth Rally at the end of this December. There is currently a volleyball team, 3 basketball teams, two Bible Bowl Teams, all with their required hours of study and practice. While it is not officially associated with GOYA, two of our Hellenic Dance groups are comprised of the very students who are feeding the homeless, striving for academic excellence, and physical fitness all within the context of our Church. It has been my joy to coach, organize and listen to the richness of life these children have, and the gratitude and cando attitude with which they lead it. In presenting these challenges of service work, fitness, academics, and organizational skills, it is truly nourishing to my soul to see them take all that our GOYA program throws at them in stride without complaining (too much). With all the rigors of our GOYA program, it is personally a privilege to see those moments of triumph on the children's faces when they grasp a parable from The Bible Bowl, or win a game of volleyball. Such instances where we see them grow closer to their full potential, I find myself reminded of my own potential and ways for which I can strive to it. If you have not kept up with GOYA, you are missing out. It is not only an edifying experience for our children, as those kids who participate in our program can attest, but also for all the parents and young adults, who see the work and time these children dedicate to growing as Christians. I highly encourage any children who have not been attending our GOYA program regularly to do so and come see the level of excellence that can be accomplished through out community. ~Robert Shand Pastoral Assistant / Youth Director

18 S t. A n t h o n y s G r o u p On Saturday, November 12th our beloved seniors went to Raleigh Little Theater to see the delightful production of A Charlie Brown Christmas and Jingle Bell Jukebox. After the show we were able to take a picture with the cast (see below). We are so grateful to Toula Capetanos for making this amazing, fruitful and productive ministry a reality. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church 5000 Lead Mine Rd. Raleigh, NC Time Value Mail Please expedite handling ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Raleigh, N.C. Permit No. 143