Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church 1400 N. O Plaine Road, Libertyville, IL 60048 - Tel (224) 513-5530 www.saintdemetrioslibertyville.com September - 2017 SUNDAY SERVICES: 8:30am Matins CHURCH OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Friday 9a.m.-1p.m. CLERGY: Fr. Cosmas Halekakis Fr. John Sardis (Retired) CHANTERS: Yanni Halekakis Nectaria Zouras ALTAR BOYS: Michael Halekakis Louis Karagiannes PARISH COUNCIL: President: Connie Jelatis Hoke Vice Pres.: Kathy Leoris Treasurer: Ted Galatsianos Rec. Sec.: Roman Keating Corr. Sec.: Donna Krissek Peter Danos Helen Exarhakos John Iskalis Dr. Jim Karagiannes Jason Keeling Dr. Mary Nunchuck Maria Sakas Patty Stianos Gus Tziavaras SUNDAY SCHOOL: Maria Earth GREEK SCHOOL: Rena Paros Jackie Vatistas FAMILY NIGHT: Rae Anne Alvarez Nectaria Zouras GOYA : Demetra Utter John Zouras PHILOPTOCHOS : Niki Tziavaras AHEPA: John Papanos BOOKSTORE/BOOKCLUB: Dr. Mary Nunchuck Liturgy, Learning, and Love While our calendar year begins in January, September marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. The Church marks the beginning of the liturgical year on September 1 st, a time that also ushers in the beginning of the school year, and the end of our summer vacations. It is now time for us to begin a new year in the life of our Church. It is a time for us to start fresh, and experience everything that the Body of Christ, the Church, has to offer. But exactly what does the Church have to offer us? The Church offers us immeasurable riches! She gives us the very path to salvation! The Church does this in various ways, and among all of them, three ways seem to stand out as we consider our fresh start of this new year: The Liturgical Life, The Education of the Faithful, and The Community of Love. The Church offers us the context for being sanctified by God, coming into communion with Him, and drawing others into His presence. We are able to do this through our liturgical life, that is, through the services of the Church. The Church offers us such a rich liturgical experience, and we usually do not take advantage of it! Most of us experience our liturgical life on Sunday mornings, as we arrive late, or when we can make it at all. But we miss out on so much! This new year, make a resolution for yourself, to experience as much of, and as many of the services as possible have you ever been to an Orthros Service?! The Church gives us the chance to learn as much as humanly possible about our Faith and our salvation in Christ. There are programs designed to help educate every generation within our community. Programs for the young and old, are being offered for each and every one of us, so that we can deepen our understanding of our Faith. Most of us, however, only learn about our Faith on Sunday mornings for a few minutes during the sermon (if we re paying attention). But we miss out on so much! This new year, make a resolution for yourself, try to come to a lecture, purchase resources from our Book Store, or attend any other program designed to help you and your family learn more about your Faith. The Church is not an organization, or a business, or simply a group of people. The Church, above all else, is first and foremost a community of love. The Church offers us the chance to experience the love of God, in its fullest, truest expression; and by extension, we are given the opportunity to experience a love for one another. Many of us come to Church on Sundays, barely speak to anyone, apart from 2 minutes of coffee hour small talk, and then redisassociate ourselves from the Body of Christ for another week. But we miss out on so much! This new year, make a resolution for yourself, to experience the Church as a community of love, by sharing real fellowship with other Church members. Get involved in the many programs and organizations that are designed to encourage fellowship, and learn to share of yourself and your family. Get to know and spend time with other members of our parish on a real and personal level. The Church is the only place to experience God in liturgical life, in education, and in love! Get involved in the life of your Church! - Fr. Cosmas
Parish Announcements Sunday School Welcome back to Sunday School! Our Sunday school Agiasmo and registration will be held on September 10th. We have a great year ahead of us so please plan on attending. If you would like to help the Sunday school in any way, please let me know (earthmg1@yahoo.com). Vacation Church School We had a fun time at church the week of VCS! We sang hymns, made candles, played outside, ate lunch, learned about the life of Christ and enjoyed being together. We also went to Saint Sava's Monastery to venerate the relics of Saint Mardarije. While we were there, we heard about the saint's life and were able to ask questions. It was a blessed morning. Thank you to all the volunteers and families who helped make our week wonderful! AHEPA Little Fort would like to thank you all for supporting us this past year and hope to have your continued support in the coming year and many more. We look forward to a great year of fund raising, charitable donations, and activities that benefit so many. Little Fort will begin our 2017-18 year in September. Our meetings are held on the 3rd week of each month. To request information on AHEPA Little Fort Chapter 218 charitable activities or membership please visit us at AHEPA218.ORG or email us at LITTLEFORT@AHEPA218.ORG Philoptochos Ladies Charitable Society We hope everyone enjoyed their summer! We have grown to 34 paid members! Our next meeting will be on September 7th at 7pm at The Shanty and everyone is welcome to join us! We held elections in May and have a new board. The following are our new board members: Niki Tziavaras, President, Nancy Paganis, Vice-President, Irene Booras, Recording Secretary, Maria Sakas, Corresponding Secretary, Sophia Roupas, Treasurer. Brenda Costopoulos, Advisor, Lisa Androusopolos, Patty Stianos, Demetra Utter, Demetra Macheras, and Kathy Leoris make up the rest of the board. Upcoming events include the Philoptochos Metropolis Luncheon on Saturday, September 23 and we are reserving a table. Please see one of the board members if you are interested in attending. Please save the date for the Fall Food Fest planned for November 9th and 10th. Parish Council President s Message As I write this, Gordy and I are in Brooklyn, NY visiting our new, 3 week old granddaughter. She is, of course, like each of our friends and families babies, the most beautiful and amazing little being! She brings joy and wonder and hope and belief in the future. But, there are fussy times and, of course, lack of sleep, which is why grandparents are sometimes needed to swoop in and provide some relief. Our church brings joy and wonder and hope and belief in the future. But, like in most churches, there are also difficult times, often brought about by over-exertion and lack of help. Who swoops in for relief? We all do! When we see a need, we swoop. When we have the energy, we swoop. When we are called upon, we swoop. We are grateful for the people who swoop in to provide some much-needed relief and assistance. We ve had a lot of this lately. Many people provided time and energy to help make our Greek Festival a great success. Some of these people we see out front, but many more make things happen behind the scenes, where we can t see them. People have swooped in to clean our church, staff our office, work on fund-raising, assist the needy, fix broken equipment, help with the finances, work on repairs, tend to the grounds, provide materials for our church services.the list is really endless! For all of you who help in any way, large or small, your Parish Council thanks you for helping make our jobs easier. - Connie Jelatis Hoke
Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church Ministry Sunday September 10 th after Church Reps from all our Ministries will be there: Altar Boys, Chanters, Sunday School, JOY, GOYA, Greek School, Moms Group, Book Club, Married Couples, Philoptochos, and AHEPA! Get Info, Ask Questions, Sign-Up! Call the Church for more information
Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church Ladies Charitable Society Philoptochos FALL FOOD FEST SAVE THE DATE Thursday, Nov. 9 and Friday, Nov. 10 11:00 am to 8:00 pm Authentic Greek Cuisine! Homemade Greek Pastries! Located at 1400 N. O Plaine Road Between Rte. 120 and Rte. 137 Call for Take-Out or more info: (224) 513-5530 FREE ONSITE PARKING & FREE ADMISSION! ALL INDOORS RAIN OR SHINE!
CALL 224.513.5530 EMAIL BasileatStD@gmail.com OR VISIT www.saintdemetrioslibertyville.com FOR INFO
September 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 6pm Paraklesis 3 13 th Sunday of St. Matthew 8:30am Orthros Sunday Before Holy Cross 8:30am Orthros Sunday School Ministry Sunday Sunday After Holy Cross 8:30am Orthros Labor Day 4 5 6 7 Fr Cosma at HAA 6pm Philoptochos at The Shanty 8 8:30am Services Birth of Theotokos 6pm Paraklesis 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 7pm Parish Council 8:30am Services Holy Cross 5pm Greek School 10am Moms Group 6pm Paraklesis 6:30pm Family Night 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 6:30pm Ahepa 12pm Book Club Fr Cosma at HAA 5pm Greek School 10am Moms Group 6pm Paraklesis 7pm Basile Show 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1 st Sunday of 10am Moms Group St. Luke Fr Cosma at HAA 125 th Anniversary 8:30am Orthros 6pm Paraklesis of Orthodoxy in 5pm Greek School Chicago 10am Lane Tech GOYA Starbucks Chicago Marriot 9
Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church 1400 N. O Plaine Road Libertyville, Illinois 60048 Return Service Requested SAVE THE DATE! Saint Demetrios Dinner Dance Sunday, October 29 th 2017 St. Demetrios Church Hall