Sunday Bulletin September 18, 2016 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church 13555 Hillcrest Road, Dallas, Texas 75240 Office 972-991-1166 Fax 972-661-1717 www.holytrinitydallas.org Reverend Father Christopher Constantinides Reverend Father Peter Kostakis Reverend Father John Essa Reverend Deacon Mark Pakes Reverend Deacon Athanasios Clint Sharpley Reverend Deacon Christopher Stern
COMMUNION ETIQUETTE If you are either baptized and or confirmed as an Orthodox Christian and have spiritually prepared to receive Holy Communion, please come up from the middle aisle of the Church with reverence and humility, row by row, in a QUIET and ORDERLY fashion, and depart as directed. Please remain seated in your pews until a council member indicates your row should go forward. If you are standing in the back of the nave, please wait until all seated parishioners have gone forward and a council member indicates you should go ahead. In receiving Communion, you should place the cloth under your chin, recite your CHRISTIAN NAME, and wipe your mouth after receiving. Women, please remove your lipstick prior to receiving Communion. THANK YOU! PRAYERS FOR OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN Brandon Bell, USAF 1st Lt. Thomas C. Bouras, US Army Nicholas Patitsas, 1st Lt. US Marine Corps Stephen Serniak, Major, USAF Space Command We are currently updating the list of active service members. Please submit the name of the person/s you would like added to this prayer list. 972-991-1166 or vwells@holytrinity.info PRAYERS FOR HEALING Marianthe Polykalas Verver 2
Sunday, September 8, 2086 Hymns at the Small Entrance HYMN FOR THE FEAST, FIRST TONE GREEN BOOK PAGE 107 SAVE O LORD PRIEST ENTRANCE HYMN, SECOND TONE Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ. Save us O Son of God, who did arise from the dead. We sing to You, alleluia! HYMN FOR THE RESURRECTION, FOURTH TONE GREEN BOOK PAGE 84 THE TIDINGS HYMN FOR THE FEAST, FIRST TONE GREEN BOOK PAGE 107 SAVE O LORD HYMN OF THE CHURCH, PLAGAL FOURTH TONE GREEN BOOK PAGE 115 O BLESSED ARE YOU KONTAKION OF THE FEAST, FOURTH TONE Lifted up on the Cross by Your free will, Christ God, grant mercies to the new commonwealth that bears Your name. Gladden our faithful rulers by Your power, giving them victories over their adversaries. May Your alliance be for them a weapon for peace, an invincible standard. 3
Epistle Reading St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20 BRETHREN, you know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. English Reader: Fotis Pakes Gospel Reading Mark 8:34-38; 9:1 The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." 4
Daily Commemoration of Saints Sept. 18 Sept. 19 Sept. 20 Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 23 Sept. 24 Ariadne the Martyr; Eumenius the Wonderworker, Bishop of Gortynia; Afterfeast of the Holy Cross Plato the new Hieromartyr of Patmos; Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury; Trophimus, Sabbatius, & Dorymedon the Martyrs; Afterfeast of the Holy Cross Afterfeast of the Holy Cross; Eustathius the Great Martyr, his wife and two children; Our Righteous Father Eustathius, Archbishop of Thessolonica; Hilarion the New Martyr of Crete; John the Foreigner Apodosis of the Elevation of the Venerable and Life- Giving Cross; Quadratus the Apostle; Jonah the Prophet; Isaakios & Meletios, Bishops of Cyprus Phocas the Martyr, Bishop of Sinope; Phocas the Cyprian; Isaac & Martinos the Martyrs 26 Monk-martyrs of Zographou Monastery martyred by the Latins The Conception of St. John the Baptist; Xanthippe & Polyxene the Righteous; John the New Martyr of Epiros; Nicholas the New Martyr Thecla the Protomartyr & Equal to the Apostles; The Commemoration of the Miracle of the Theotokos Myrtidiotissis in Kythyra; Silouan of Athos; Stephen the Martyr; Coprios the Righteous; Juvenaly & Peter the Aleut, New Martyrs of Alaska; The Most Holy Theotokos of Palianis 5
Calendar of Events Sunday, September 18 8:15 a.m. Orthros 9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy (S) 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. GFF Packaging all pastries (Gym) 12:15-4 p.m. HTHD Practice (Gym) 12:15 12:30 p.m. PreK 12:30 1 p.m. 1st & 2nd 1:30 2 p.m. 3rd - 5th 2 3 p.m. Jr Goya 3 4 p.m. Sr Goya 1-2:30 p.m. HTHD Sr. Girls (GS Room) 4-8 p.m. GOYA Basketball Practice (Gym) Philoptochos Holy Cross Bake Sale/Coffee immediately following Divine Liturgy. Catechetical School (Community Center) after Holy Communion. Holy Trinity Bookstore open until 12:30 p.m. after Divine Liturgy. Monday, September 19 FESTIVAL WEEK SET-UP Tuesday, September 20 FESTIVAL WEEK SET-UP 6:30 p.m. Parish Council Meeting (GS Room) Wednesday, September 21 FESTIVAL WEEK SET-UP 6 p.m. Paraklesis (C) Thursday, September 22 FESTIVAL WEEK SET-UP 6
Friday, September 23 GREEK FOOD FESTIVAL 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Saturday, September 24 GREEK FOOD FESTIVAL 5 p.m. Great Vespers (S) Sunday, September 25 7:45 a.m. Orthros 9 a.m. Divine Liturgy GREEK FOOD FESTIVAL 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tents to go up at 1:00 p.m. TODAY, Sunday, September 18th! Please have your vehicle moved out of the west parking lot. Thank You! Parish Council Schedule September 18 Tasos Kaiafas, Wade Stephens, Alin Voicu, Mary Ann Trapalis, Fotis Papanicolaou, Mary LeBrecht September 25 Jim Dolmas, Dimitri Tsevoukas, Nick Cimino, Jimmy Horiates, Louis Antos, Ellena Fox 7
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On the first Tuesday of each month, our parish generously prepares, delivers and serves a wonderful meal to the clients of the Austin Street Center in downtown Dallas. This ministry has been in place approaching 17 years, serving over 80,000 meals during that time. Our menu of Greek-style baked chicken, green beans, good ole Festival rice, a slice of bread and a slice of homemade cake, followed with a cold glass of milk...is a hit every time. We are in need of volunteers to help us in the kitchen! It is only once a month and takes a few hours of your time. If you are interested in helping us prepare the meal here at Holy Trinity, please send an email to dxeros@aol.com. Our meals are prepared and served on the FIRST TUESDAY of each month! Austin Street Center 2929 Hickory Street Dallas 75226 9
New Church App We would like to inform our parishioners that there is a free app called Church Life through which you can easily access our church's online directory from your smartphone or tablet. This app--available for both Android and ios devices-- was developed to complement the ACS software system that we use for our church office operations. In addition to putting our church directory at your fingertips, the app also allows you to customize your profile in the directory, including uploading a photo of you or your family. (Photo uploads have to go through an approval process, but once approved and added to your profile, other members will be able to see your picture in the directory.) The app is available in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Just search for "ACS Church Life" to find it. To use the app, you'll need an Access ACS user i.d. and password. If you currently log in to the Access ACS website (https:// secure.accessacs.com/) to make stewardship payments or to look up someone in the online directory, then you are all set to use the Church Life app. Just sign in to the app with the same email address and password you use when you log into Access ACS. 10
Listen to Sunday Sermon Podcasts on Podbean Have you ever gotten home from church and wished you could hear that Sunday's sermon again? Or wished you could share it with a friend or family member who missed it? Of course, you could look at the video archives on our Worship Webcast page, but locating the sermon in a video of a Sunday Liturgy is not always easy. Well, we've come up with a new way to access Sunday s sermons - sermon podcasts! Going forward, audio recordings of Sunday sermons will be available on our Holy Trinity podcast site, holytrinitydallas.podbean.com which is hosted on the Podbean podcasting platform. You can listen to sermons on your computer, and also on your smartphone or tablet. Podbean has free apps for iphones and Android devices; just search for Podbean in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Once you've installed the app, search for "Holy Trinity Greek" to find our podcasts. You can subscribe to our podcasts and receive notifications on your device whenever a new sermon is posted. 11
Holy Trinity Greek School GREEK CLASSES It is not too late to sign up for the children s afternoon program. For more information, please email Presvytera Alexandra: presvy@holytrinityacademy.com ADULT GREEK CLASSES Intermediate classes begin on Monday, October 3 Beginners classes begin on Tuesday, October 4 7:00 8:30 p.m. in the Greek School Room For more information to the Church s website: www.holytrinitydallas.org. Look under the Greek School heading; then click on Adult Classes. Coming in October! OXI Day Celebration & Coffee Hour Sunday, October 30 After Divine Liturgy 12
Dear Holy Trinity Family, Only 5 days away from our #bigfatgreek60 Anniversary. We are excited for this milestone and want to share what is happening this year. United States Backgammon Federation Tournament. So bring your Tavli strategy on! Our Taverna was a huge success last year. We have expanded it for all to enjoy. Sunday Afternoon Basile the Comedian will be here to make us laugh out loud. As always, we still need you, our Holy Trinity family. We need you, your family, or get a group of friends together to help serve our 18,000 anticipated guests and show our Philoxenia to our DFW community. Have fun, dress in your best blue and white, and enjoy the festival while greeting and serving our guests. To Volunteer, please go to www.greekfestivalofdallas.com click on the volunteer link at the bottom of the page, use the password Opa!2016 (please note password is case sensitive). Should you have any questions or concerns please email us at info@gffdallas.com In his service, The Greek Food Festival Committee We need your help TODAY! COME HELP US PACKAGE (after Divine Liturgy in the Community Center) Join us! 13
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HTA FALL FEST SUNDAY OCTOBER 16, 2016 11:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. CHURCH COURTYARD Fellowship Food Trucks: Grilled Cheese, Pizza, Burgers Loukoumathes Ice Cream Truck Pony Rides Petting Zoo Train Rides Carnival Games DJ Entertainment: Magician, Face Painting, Elsa Tickets may be purchased in advance during Coffee Hour on Sunday, October 2, 9 or the day of, Sunday, October 16 th! 18
Weekly Bulletin 2015 Stewardship Report as of 9/14/16 Contributions received 1/1/15 to 9/14/16 2016 Stewardship Number of $ 2016 $ Contributed to % of 2016 Pledge Pledges Pledges Pledges 2016 Stewardship Contributed No Change to Pledge 354 $430,709 Decreased Pledge 138 $161,154 Increased Pledge 197 $293,208 New Pledges 48 $28,275 TOTAL # of Pledges 737 $913,346 $592,693 64.89% Jim Dolmas Harry Yianitsas 2016 Parish Council President 2016 Stewardship Chairman Holy Trinity Bookstore September brings with it the start of a new school year as well as the beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year. Come on in to the bookstore and pick up the planner published by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. In addition to helping you keep track of your family s events and obligations it is an excellent resource that includes short morning and evening prayers, fast and feast days, as well as the daily Epistle and Gospel readings. Along with the new year comes new bookstore hours. We are excited to announce that this fall, beginning September 7th, we are expanding our hours! In addition to our normal Sunday hours, we will be open on Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 5:45 pm. Please note, we will be closing promptly in order to ensure we have time to check you out before the Paraklesis Service which begins at 6 p.m. We hope to see you then! The Featured icon this month is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross which is commemorated on September 14th. Thanks, Your Bookstore Team! Hours: Sundays after Divine Liturgy until 12:30 p.m. & Wednesdays 2-5:45 p.m. 19
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Greetings in the Lord! Hopefully all is well with you and yours as we approach the cooler weather of September and the beginning of our ecclesiastical new year. Here s an update on our stewardship progress as we journey into Fall. I am happy to report our total pledge commitments have increased to $907,821.00. This modest increase is encouraging and your generosity in giving back to God is appreciated. Thank you to those who have made their commitments and completed their pledge cards! As of the end of August, we have fulfilled about 61% of our pledge commitments a bit behind the hopedfor pledge progress as we have actually progressed about 67% through the calendar year. Please check your attached stewardship statement to see if your pledge fulfillment is on track or could use a little catching up. Weekly or monthly progress toward fulfilling your pledge is most appreciated! Thank you to all of you who are continuing to fulfill your pledge on a regular weekly basis! If you haven t made a pledge for this year, it s not too late to get started! Please help support your church and fellow parishioners. On a different but familiar note, I need to tell you that the gap is back. What gap? You may remember that last year we launched a new short-term program called Close the Gap. This short-term program was initiated to help us make up a budget difference that occurred between what was budgeted for stewardship pledges and the actual pledges committed by you, our stewards. This gap was somewhat closed last year, but unfortunately has returned due to our expenses and commitments being greater than our stewardship pledges for 2016. This year s gap is approximately $55,000.00. We are asking each steward to consider increasing their 2016 pledge by just $75.00 (that s only an increase of $6.25 per month). If all stewards were to do this, we would easily close this gap. Please consider participating in our Close the Gap II program by increasing your pledge in the amount of $75.00. If you would like to make a one-time payment towards closing the gap, you may also send the office a separate payment of $75.00 marked Close the Gap II. Thank you again for your support of your community. See you at the Festival! Harry Yianitsas 2016 Stewardship Chairman Proverbs 16:3 - Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.