SUNDAY WORSHIP in English and Greek:
Matins / Morning Service 9:30 AM
Divine Liturgy 10:30 AM
Welcome to Saint George Church
ORTHROS/MATINS AT 9:30 AM
DIVINE LITURGY AT 10:30 AM
Celebrated in English & Greek
JOIN US!
All are Welcome
Visit us on our web site and on facebook.
"...I was a stranger and you welcomed me...."
WELCOME TO SAINT GEORGE CHURCH. We hope you will return and join us on Sundays and to participate in our various programs as you are able. Fellowship hour follows Divine Liturgy and we welcome you to join us for fellowship, food and refreshments. Visit us online to learn about our church and our various programs. Sign up for our weekly bulletin and become a supporting member at www.SaintGeorgeNYC.org.
VIEW THE COMPLETE MATINS SERVICE FOR TODAY IN ENGLISH & GREEK HERE.
ST GEORGE PHILOPTOCHOS: Our first general meeting for the new ecclesiastical year will be on Sunday, October 1 in the second floor board room area. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. All parishioners welcome.
PARISH GENERAL MEETING: We will hold a General Meeting of St George Parish members on Sunday, October 15 following Divine Liturgy. We will offer a vision for ministry at Saint George, outline an administrative structure, review finances and prepare for fall parish council elections on Sunday, December 3.
Choosing Suitable Candidates for the Parish Council: Parishioners are often nominated as candidates for the Parish Council because of their education, business experience or legal background. The best parish council members are not necessarily those who are business-oriented, but rather, those who are Church-oriented and Christ-centered. To be a good council member, one must be active in the worship and sacramental life of the Church. The best candidates are easy to find – they are in church.
Leaders don't create followers.
They create more leaders
(Tom Peters)
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2017
Saint George Church Welcomes
Basile the Commedian
for an evening of laughter and fellowship
in our new 2nd floor fellowship room
cabaret seating is limited to 100
Saturday Evening, December 2
VISIT OUR MINISTRIES PAGE: CLICK HERE
“Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:15)
THANK YOU TO ALL THAT SUPPORTED TAVERNA NIGHT
MARILENA'S MEALS
Join our Saint George Marilena's Meals program, preparing and delivering 70 meals each month and feeding those in need in New York City on the last Sunday of each month. Preparers and deliverers are welcome! If you have a car, please volunteer to drive. All volunteers please check in with Marilena in the church hall when you arrive Sunday morning. Thank you!!!
June will be our last Marilena's meals until we resume in September. October Marilena's meals was sponsored by Zaphra Reskakis and Helen Vitelas. November was sponsored by Maria & Taso Pardalis. December was sponsored by Efstathia "Soula" Lolis. January was sponsored by Terri & John Skiadas. February was sponsored by Dina Manos. March was sponsored by Cally Kordaris. April was sponsored by Kate and Luke Swezey-Scandalios. May was sponsored by Alexia and Katerina Skiadas. June is sponsored by Alexandra Dimitrakakis. September is sponsored by Darrin Dayton in memory of his grandparents George & Edna Gallanis. October is sponsored by Nick & Tina Plagos. November is sponsored by George, Cindy and Sophia Koumbaroulis. THANK YOU!
Maria P. Tsakos
Saint George Sunday School
Our School Year Has Ended
Many thanks to Elena, Alexandra and Christopher, our teachers, for nurturing, encouraging and guiding our children in the faith. Thanks to all the parents for bringing their children faithfully to church on Sundays to participate in worship, Sunday School and fellowship.
Sunday School is held from October - May following Holy Communion near the library on the 2nd floor. Just before Holy Communion, Fr Jim invites the children to come forward to the seats behind the pulpit where they will be offered a brief sermon/reflection, after which Holy Communion is offered and then the children proceed Upstairs. Parents are welcome to escort children upstairs and to assist as needed.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL FACULTY We are blessed to have three excellent teachers for our Sunday School this year: Elena L, Alexandra S. and Christopher S. All love the kids and love teaching them about the faith. Elena L, (PhD) is a post doctoral researcher at Columbia University Medical Center. Alexandra S is a lawyer by profession and a long-time member of Saint George Church. Christopher S. received an MDiv from St Vladimir's Seminary. Fr. Jim serves as spiritual advisor to our Sunday School.
Parents are asked to complete a Sunday School Registration Form and give it to the teachers. Parents are welcome to help with bringing the children downstairs and as needed during class.
AFTER SUNDAY SCHOOL PROJECTS The children are engaged in projects following Sunday School ranging from art projects to community service projects. The children enjoy painting & building various art & design projects. They have participated with fun science projects and have assisted with preparing Marilena's meals.
This past spring, and again this winter, our children assembled 100 emergency hygeine packets for IOCC - International Orthodox Christian Charities (www.iocc.org/take-action/assemble-emergency-kits). The packets are warehoused near IOCC headquarters in Baltimore so that they may be shipped on short notice when emergencies arise anywhere in the world. Supplies for the preparaton of 100 hygeine packets last spring were provided by Cally Kordaris. This project will be repeated by the Sunday School again in the fall. To be a one-time sponsor of this project, the cost is $500. Contact FrJimK@goarch.org.
Do Your Best: A traditional American proverb says, “God makes this request of his children: Do the best you can – where you are, with what you have, now.” The story of Jesus Christ feeding the 5,000 illustrates this through the boy’s offering of all that he had – five loaves and two fish. This boy did his best with what he had, and Jesus used it to perform an incredible miracle.
We are Stewards of the Gospel: We are called to guard the Gospel message, but not to hoard it. We are instructed not to hide our light under a bushel. As we share the voice of Christ, the message we share is one of hope, truth, grace, divine power, life and invitation. In this busy, ever-changing world, His voice of wisdom is needed to guide us in discerning what is good, what is true and what will bring us closer to Him and to one another.
Saint George Church seeks to offer:
SAINT GEORGE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
Our mission is to bring together young professional members & friends of St George Church to form stronger friendships through events & activities. We accomplish our mission through Laughing, Learning and Giving, alternating between social, philanthropic and spiritual activities. Questions or Ideas? Contact Sarah at sgalanis@hotmail.com . Contact Sarah at sgalanis@hotmail.com to be added to the YP e-list.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF SAINT GEORGE
ST GEORGE CHURCH 2nd FLOOR UPDATE
The 2nd floor renovations are nearing completion. We are awaiting the arrival of a 10 foot tall stained glass window from a church in England dating to the 1880s. This has been donated by an individual that visited our parish and was moved by our hospitality. The window, which has been restored, will be installed & back-lit on the west wall.
We are also installing a stair-lift to assure that all are able to participate in gatherings and events on the second floor.
Most of the steam pipes rising through the church space have been removed and the holes in the ceiling have been closed. Potential water damage to walls & iconography from occasionally leaking steam pipes has been eliminated and past damage has been repaired and painted.
The aging florescent lights and wiring above the icons lining the walls of the church have been replaced with LED lights. The beautifully restored icons may now be enjoyed with brighter, more even lighting at a fraction of the energy cost. They also run cool and are easier on the artwork.
The New Saint George Church Library has been Built
Donations of Books are Welcome
Many thanks to Dean Pardalis and George Xerakias of APEX Design, our general contractors, for providing their expertise and services at no cost to the church, while donating many materials and resources to our ongoing renovation of Saint George Church.
Thank you all for your support.
Bible Reading In private study, when a Christian profitably reads the Bible, receiving inspiration and strength from it, family members, friends, relatives and even acquaintances will inevitably notice the difference. Any person who comes into contact with such a Christian cannot but notice the growing peace, love and inner assurance - the spirit of Christ - in that Christian, and will frequently ask (if not ask, certainly think) what gives that person such strength and radiance. God will provide many opportunities to the growing Christian for sharing with others his or her experience with the Bible. What better witness for the truth of the Christian faith than a solid Christian life nourished by Holy Scripture and radiating true Christian love at home, at Church and at work? The Christian's own life becomes a kind of gospel, a living Bible, in which other people observe, read and experience the truths of God in action.
From Bread for Life, by Father Theodore Stylianopoulos
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Religious Education
PROSPHORO (offering bread)
A prosphoro (Greek for offering) is a small loaf of leavened bread used in Orthodox Christian liturgies. The term originally meant any offering made to a temple, but in Orthodox Christianity it has come to mean specifically the bread offered at the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist). We are blessed at Saint George that Kyria Dina Manos bakes prosphora for us as needed. This is a very special ministry and we thank God for Kyria Dina's service to our church.
WINE FOR HOLY COMMUNION If you would like to offer wine to be used for the preparation of Holy Communion at Saint George Church, you are welcome to do so. The sweet wines that we use for Holy Communion are: Mavrodaphne, Commondaria and Nama Byzantino.
STEWARDSHIP OF FAMILY
Throughout our lives and the roles we assume within the family, we are stewards of the love, authority, trust and respect that exist among members of the family. Unlike material possessions, these are not diminished by use. But if mishandled, they can be lost. Love, authority, trust and respect require the most diligent stewardship, because once they are lost, they are most difficult to recover.
OUR CALLING:
Research shows that most unchurched Americans would come to church if invited. As the visible presence of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, we are called to witness to those within and those outside the community of believers. If we believe that in Orthodoxy we have the fullness of the Truth, then we have the great responsibility to share it with all people. The very nature of this mission implies creative witness within society in word and in deed. Bring a friend to Church!
SUNDAY PARKING: is available for $10 at ICON Parking on 54th St just east of 8th Ave. Bring your ticket to the candle stand to be validated. Effective from 8:00 AM-2:00 PM after which regular rates will apply.
“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea
until we have someone to forgive.”
C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
What is Christian Stewardship?
Stewardship is caring for the needs of others.
Stewardship is offering one’s self to God as He offered Himself to us.
Stewardship is what a person does after saying “I believe…” as proof of that belief.
Williams and McKibben in Oriented Leadership
Click here to set up regular or 1-time stewardship contributions to St. George Church.
Tenth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 21:1-14
At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Daniel 3.26,27.
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers.
Verse: For you are just in all you have done.
The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 20:16-18, 28-36.
IN THOSE DAYS, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesos, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And from Miletos he sent to Ephesos and called to him the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.' " And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
Fathers of the 1st Council
The Reading is from John 17:1-13
At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made.
"I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you did send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are mine; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves."
THOUGHTS ON PARISH LEADERSHIP
We are all here because we love our church. We all bring our own gifts, experiences, ideas, creativity, knowledge, interests to our service to the church
There is a place for everyone in service to the church. God will multiply our gifts and use them to feed the people.
St John Chrysostom:“The most basic task of the Church leader is to discern the spiritual gifts of all those under his authority, and to encourage those gifts to be used to the full for the benefit of all. Only a person who can discern the gifts of others and can humbly rejoice at the flowering of those gifts is fit to lead the Church.”
Leaders do not create followers. They create more leaders. (Tom Peters)
People are not inspired by need. They are inspired by vision. A budget can be an expression of the vision of the parish or organization – its priorities, concerns and plans for the future.
People are seeking Transcendence, Significance & Community
TRANSCENDENCE: To know God – the mystical, the divine
SIGNIFICANCE: To have a purpose – do something meaningful
COMMUNITY: To connect through meaningful relationships
The Church exists for one reason --to bring people to salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our focus is Engaging our People in the life of the Church.
Leaders: Your leadership team should be made up of Christ-centered, prayerful, positive, forward-thinking people that participate in Divine Liturgy and sacraments of the Church.
Leaders must see their calling as a ministry of love for the Church and her members. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” (John C Maxwell)
Leadership is a ministry that requires us to listen to our people, know them and love them.
The first basic competence of a leader: The willingness, ability and self-discipline to listen
Friendliness can have Eternal Consequences. Remember that Zacchaeus was converted merely by Christ’s acceptance of him. Reaching out to those who enter our doors with a sincere handshake, greeting and a welcoming smile could be the most important missionary work we do.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The heresiarch Arius was a Libyan by race and a protopresbyter of the Church of Alexandria. In 315, he began to blaspheme against the Son and Word of God, saying that He is not true God, consubstantial with the Father, but is rather a work and creation, alien to the essence and glory of the Father, and that there was a time when He was not. This frightful blasphemy shook the faithful of Alexandria. Alexander, his Archbishop, after trying in vain to correct him through admonitions, cut him off from communion and finally in a local council deposed him in the year 321. Yet neither did the blasphemer wish to be corrected, nor did he cease sowing the deadly tares of his heretical teachings; but writing to the bishops of other cities, Arius and his followers requested that his doctrine be examined, and if it were unsound, that the correct teaching be declared to him. By this means, his heresy became universally known and won many supporters, so that the whole Church was soon in an uproar.
Therefore, moved by divine zeal, the first Christian Sovereign, Saint Constantine the Great, the equal to the Apostles, summoned the renowned First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, a city of Bithynia. It was there that the shepherds and teachers of the Church of Christ gathered from all regions in the year 325. All of them, with one mouth and one voice, declared that the Son and Word of God is one in essence with the Father, true God of true God, and they composed the holy Symbol of Faith up to the seventh article (since the remainder, beginning with "And in the Holy Spirit," was completed by the Second Ecumenical Council). Thus they anathematized the impious Arius of evil belief and those of like mind with him, and cut them off as rotten members from the whole body of the faithful.
Therefore, recognizing the divine Fathers as heralds of the Faith after the divine Apostles, the Church of Christ has appointed this present Sunday for their annual commemoration, in thanksgiving and unto the glory of God, unto their praise and honour, and unto the strengthening of the true Faith.
All information concerning this Martyr has been lost, except that he presented himself before the tyrants, mocked the idols, suffered many unspeakable torments, and was finally drowned in the sea.
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