April 2018 Newsletter NOTICE OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY Sunday, May 20 th 2018 AGENDA Approval of Prior Minutes Updates: o 2017 Budget o 2018 Budget o GreekFest PLUS o Donor Wall Inside The President s Perspective Philoptochos News Sunday School JOY/GOYA Spiritual Exercises ANNOUNCEMENTS: Do you have an email address?? If you still receive a paper version of this newsletter but have an email address help us protect the environment (and save costs). Email the office (office@agocwi.org) and let us know we can add you to the email list! Homeless Shelter Community Announcements Calendars Looking for Information? Flyers, announcements, advertisements are posted on bulletin boards in the Church Hall. If you see something you like? Make a copy! Meeting minutes and budget reports are posted monthly following Parish Council meetings. Want more? Ask! Have a complaint? Be prepared to discuss solutions and volunteer to help!! 1
THE PRESIDENT S PERSPECTIVE Georgiana Wilton, Parish Council President georgiana.wilton@gmail.com Parish Council Officers: Tom Cameron, Vice President; Bruce Hansen, Secretary, Niko Papadopoulos & Scott Storck, Treasurers. Members: Petros Anagnostopoulos, Christy Chappell Belkin, Conn Choles, Nico Fatsis, Dori Hosek, Georgia Marsh, and Mike Smith. Alternates: Nick Topitzes and Carol Griskavich. Καλό Πάσχα! ~~ Счастливой Пасхи ~~ Happy Easter! ~~ Срећан Ускрс I had the privilege of joining Fr. Michael, Nick and Judy Topitzes, Lauren Bayouth, Mike Smith and John Soloninka at the Enthronement of Metropolitan Nathanael at Chicago s Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on March 24 th. It was truly an amazing experience! His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Geron of America along with dozens of clergy (not all Greek Orthodox) were in attendance. I m excited about the new leadership and look forward to walking beside him (rather than following). He addressed us as friends and laid out his vision. I encourage you all to watch the Enthronement: https://www.goarch.org/metropolitan-nathanael/enthronement and be inspired as well! I wish you all a Happy Easter as our Lenten journey comes to a close. While I won t be with you in person I ll be joining you in spirit. I ll be on vacation until April 25 th. If you have an concerns to discuss, please contact Tom Cameron or Fr. Michael in my absence. Many MANY thanks! JOIN THE BUCKET BRIGADE Do you like to serve your Church? Do you take pride in our Church home? Do you like to pitch in and help clean, straighten and organize? Consider joining the Bucket Brigade! We ll be taking over the cleaning of the Church and need YOUR help! Our plan is to meet for a few short hours each week to clean and organize and then enjoy lunch together. We especially need men so we don t neglect the altar! If you are interested, contact Jenny Glatch at jennylg@charter.net 2
PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS Patti Cameron, President pcameron@tds.net or pcameron10@gmail.com 608-219-1659 National Obligations: OCMC/SAMPC (Support a Mission Priest) Discretion of our Philoptochos Chapter Hellenic College/Holy Cross Lenten Event.- Discretion of our Philoptochos Chapter Aid to Greece- Mar 25 th Greek Independence Day dinner and Greek School Program Local Activities: March 4 th Philoptochos Meeting after the March 18th Greek Independence Day Program and Fundraiser Meal to aid Greece Easter Activities 1) Tsourekia will be ordered through Sweet Connections in Chicago. Order forms are at the tables in the church hall and on the glass case in the exonarthex. Or you can call or email Kathie F or Maria H. 2) March 31 st Saturday of Lazarus Liturgy and folding of the palms for Palm Sunday. Philoptochos will be making koulourakia this year. We would like women to make the dough at home and bring to church on the Saturday of Lazarus to roll, bake and bag. We will start after the 9 am liturgy. Please let Patti C know if you are able to make the dough. 608-219-1659. 3) Margo is looking for people to help with decorating the tomb of Christ with fresh flowers on Good Friday. She will begin after the 8:30 am Royal Hours service and will need to finish by the beginning of the Un- Nailing service, which starts at 3:00 pm. Please come join her! Upcoming Events: The next Philoptochos meeting will be held on Sunday, May 6 in the church hall following the service. We will be offering a koliva and Prosforon making demonstration class on a Saturday morning after Easter. Both of these traditional foods are useful to know and the more people who know how to make them, the more helpful this will be to our church. We will keep you posted on when this will occur. Outreach Committee Margo Schmidt, Contact Stay tuned. River Food Pantry Nancy Briamis, Contact Philoptochos will be hosting another dinner at River Food Pantry on Friday, May 25th. If you are able to help out with either the preparation of the meal or the serving of the meal, please contact me at 608 221-3460. Ways to support the River Food Pantry: 3
1. The River Food Pantry needs volunteers, check their website for various volunteer opportunities, http://www.riverfoodpantry.org/volunteer.html 2. Don t have time to volunteer, donate to the River Food Pantry or participate in their fund raisers 3. Feed The Need 2018 Feed The Need 2018 Join The River Food Pantry at the 3rd annual fundraising event Feed the Need, a culinary experience exclusively featuring Madison Originals restaurants, wineries, and distilleries, along with Ale Asylum Brewery. Attendees will enjoy tasty samples from numerous vendors, along with live music, raffles, and more. When: Sunday, April 22, 2018 3:00-6:00 p.m. Where: Noah's Event Venue 5020 American Family Dr, Madison, WI 53718 SUNDAY SCHOOL Jenny Josheff, Director, agocssdirector@gmail.com, Fr. Michael, Spiritual Advisor, frmichael@agocwi.org Sunday school is preparing for Easter. Sunday school will be hosting the Lazurus Saturday breakfast on Saturday, March 31st. Talk to your child's teacher if you are interested in contributing. Please check in with your child's teacher to see if they will be having class on Palm Sunday, April 1st. There will be no Sunday school on Easter Sunday, April 8th. The last day of Sunday School will be Sunday, May 13th. We have recently had some new additions to Sunday School classes. Please make sure that your child's teacher has accurate information about your child for Sunday School certificates. SPIRITUAL EXERCISES Peli Galiti, pegaliti@gmail.com There will be one spiritual meeting for women of both Assumption and St. Ignatius church, on Thursday April 19 at. FORSYTE ENDOWMENT Bruce Hansen, bruce.e.hansen2@gmail.com We are working on setting up an account with Vanguard mutual funds to start the investment process. Once this is set up we will be investing $100,00 into the new Forsyte Endowment. GRACE EPISCOPAL HOMELESS SHELTER NEWS David Giffey, barnowl1941@gmail.com Attached is a flyer inviting any and all volunteers who work at the Men's Homeless Shelter at Grace Episcopal Church to the annual volunteer appreciation brunch. It's at 9:30 a.m. April 28. Nancy and I will be away at that time, but it would be great if other volunteers attended. Any volunteers, past or present, can attend and should RSVP to the email address on the announcement. I hope some of our volunteers can go to the brunch. 4
The Winter 2018 newsletter published by Porchlight, Inc. the organization operating the shelter featured a photograph of our church and brief story about the shelter from our perspective. Hard copies of the newsletter are available in the church hall. Or you can ask for an electronic copy by emailing me at barnowl1941@gmail.com. The other days we are scheduled to volunteer at the homeless shelter are: Tuesday, May 29 - Tuesday, July 31 and Tuesday, October 31. CHURCH WEBSITE Lainey Skoumbouris, laney0220@yahoo.com The church website is now set-up for private login to access the monthly newsletters and are meant for Church members only, not the public. Church members can read the newsletter on the website, but you must create an account before you can view it. Log onto the website and click on "Newsletter" on the sidebar: http://www.agocwi.org/registration-required/, or "login" on the main menu http://www.agocwi.org/login/; it will direct you to sign up. If you need help, have questions or something isn't working in the registration contact me. 5
ANNOUNCEMENTS If anyone is interested in participating in a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital in Athens, see the following: They have sent from Greece this fundraising link: https://www.giveandfund.com/giveandfund/project/diaconia initiative (English translated text as you scroll down the page). Peli knows the people who are a large group of volunteers at Children's Hospital in Athens and they are doing a great job. They are keeping company or entertaining sick children in the hospital, many of them with cancer, some abandoned and don't have anyone. Especially now with the refugees there is a large number of children who have lost both their parents on their way to Greece. They are almost half way with their goal and accepting donations. J and M Home Helpers AGOC's handymen, John and Mike, will do minor home repairs and maintenance for $25/hour, with the money for their work being donated to the church. Call Mike at (608) 516-9188 and John at (608) 575-1014 today! SACRAMENTS DURING March 2018 Weddings: 0 Chrismations: 0 Baptisms: 0 6 Funerals: 0
April 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Palm Sunday Orthros Bridegroom Service 2 Holy Monday Bridegroom Service 3 Holy Tuesday Bridegroom Service - Hymn of Kassiani 4 Holy Wednesday Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 8:30 am Holy Unction 3:00 pm Bridegroom Service 5 Holy Thursday of St. Basil the Great Passion Service 12 Gospels 6 Holy Friday Royal Hours 8:30 am Service of the Un-nailing 3:00 pm Service of the Lamentations 7 Holy Saturday of St. Basil the Great Orthros of the Resurrection 11:00 pm Anastasi Service followed by 12-midnight LAMB DINNER 8 PASCHA Agape Vespers 9 Bright Monday 10 11 12 13 14 No Sunday School Choir Practice 15 2 nd Sunday after Pascha Sunday of St. Thomas 16 17 18 19 20 21 Choir Practice Women's Spiritual Meeting 22 3 rd Sunday after Pascha Myrrhbearing Woman 23 St. George 24 25 26 27 28 Choir Practice 29 4 th Sunday after Pascha Paralytic 30 May 1 May 2 Choir Practice May 3 May 4 May 5
March - April 2018 Liturgies and Services April 1 Palm Sunday Epistle: Philippians 4:4-9 Gospel: John 12:1-18 Prosforo: Georgia M Coffee Hour: Special Group April 1 Palm Sunday Evening Service of the Bridegroom April 2 Holy Monday Evening Serviceof the Bridegroom April 3 Holy Tuesday Evening Serviceof the Bridegroom/ Hymn of Kassiani April 4 Holy Wednesday Morning Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 8:30 am Prosfor o for : Anna F April 4 Holy Wednesday Afternoon Holy Un ction 3:00 pm April 4 Holy Wednesday Evening Serviceof the Bridegroom April 5 Holy Thursday Morning of St. Basil the Great 9:00 a m Prosforo for : Anna F April 5 Holy T hursday Evening PassionService / Reading of the 12 Gospels - April 6 Holy Friday Morning Royal Hours - 8:30 am April 6 Holy Friday Afternoon Service of the Un-nailing 3:00 pm April 6 Holy Friday Evening Service of the Lamentations 7:00 pm April 7 Holy Saturday Morning of St. Basil the Great Prosforo for : Anna F April 7-8 Holy Saturday Evening Orthros of the Resurrection 11:00 pm Anastasis Service 12 midnight Following Epistle: Acts 1:1-8 Gospel: John 1:1-17 Prosforo: Elene P Coffee Hour: (Lamb Dinner) April 8 Great and Holy Pascha Agape Vespers April 15 2 nd Sunday after Pascha Sunday of St. Thomas Epistle: Acts 5:12-20 Gospel: John 20:19-31 Prosforo: Korinna H Coffee Hour: (Group 5) Kristi P, Lisa B, Demetra S. April 22 3 rd Sunday after Pascha Sunday of the Myrrhbearers Epistle: Acts 6:1-7 Gospel: Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8 Prosforo: Kathie F Coffee Hour: (Group 6) Maria M, Nia C, Denise S, April 23 St. George the Great Martyr Epistle: Acts 12: 1-11 Gospel: John 15:17-27; 16:1-2 Prosforo: Kathy F 8 April 29 4 th Sunday after Pascha Sunday of the Paralytic Epistle: Acts 9:32-42 Gospel: John 5:1-15 Prosforo: Nia C Coffee Hour: (Group 7) Georgia M, Livia K, Ghada S, Sarah S May 6 5 th Sunday after Pascha Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Epistle: Acts 11:19-30 Gospel: John 4:5-42 Prosforo: Jane S Coffee Hour: (Group 8) Nikki S, Aleksandra T, Jenya B May 13 6 th Sunday after Pascha Sunday of the Blind Man Epistle: Acts 16:16-34 Gospel: John 9:1-38 Prosforo: Ilektra A Coffee Hour: Mother s Day May 16 Apodosis (Leave-taking) of Pascha Great Vespers of the Ascension 6:00 pm May 17 Holy Ascension Epistle: Acts 1:1-12 Gospel: Luke 24:36-53 Prosforo: Ilektra A May 20 7 th Sunday after Pascha Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council
Enthronement of Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago was enthroned on Saturday, March 24, 2018, at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Chicago (1017 N LaSalle Dr.). On Sunday, March 25, 2018, as the Chicago Cathedral celebrates the great feast of the Annunciation, Metropolitan Nathanael will celebrate his first. The service was live streamed and archived video footage may be found at: https://www.goarch.org/metropolitan-nathanael/enthronement Additional Video footage is available through: http://annunciationcathedralchicago.org/video Axios! 9