Fellowship Hour
Fellowship Hour today is hosted by Mark and Alexandra Gray. Thank you!
Next Sunday's Fellowship will be offered by Maria Manus Painchaud.
Fellowship Hour is not simply a time to get together and spend time with friends. Since the earliest days of the Church Christians have celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with a meal. Although in time the meal became separated from the Liturgy itself, the meal, which we call Fellowship Hour, remains an important, practical expression of the love for one another that we learn in the Liturgy.
So, hosting Fellowship Hour is not only something nice, but an important liturgical ministry. For this reason, it is sad to see all the empty spaces on the sign-up sheet for Fellowship throughout the Fall. Sometimes Fellowship hosts will put out an elaborate spread, but this is not necessary! The actual food is secondary; primary is the expression of our love for one another. A wonderful way of expressing this love is to find a friend to host Fellowship together.
Please begin to fill up those empty slots; each one is an icon of our Lord saying: I love you, and you should love one another.
RE-CATECHISM OPPORTUNITIES
Different and Interesting Ways to Get to Know More About Your Faith
The New Testament You Never Knew: Exploring the Context, Purpose and Meaning of the Story of God
Can you identify John, George, Paul and Ringo, but not Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Do you sometimes entertain the idea that the Resurrection is just an adaptation of a Greek vegetation myth into the Jesus story? Or maybe you can name all 27 books of the New Testament; do you know why there are 27, and why this decision was made? You can’t understand the New Testament unless you understand the greater context of the stories, and how they all came together. In this 8 week study we will see videos of Professors NT Wright and Michael Bird discussing various aspects of the world of the New Testament and its influence on these writings and their reception in the Church. The meetings consist of a video lecture and a discussion, as well as a study of selected Scripture passages. A workbook will be provided. No need to have any prior knowledge!
Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 29 at 6:30 pm in the Church Hall. Even if you didn't make it to the first meeting, you are welcome to join us!
A Journey to Fullness
We will have another session of Fr. Barnabas Powell’s video introduction to Orthodoxy, A Journey to Fullness. Even if you could not make the first meeting, you are invited to join at any time! This 16 part series (you don’t have to commit to being at all 16 sessions!) is the first step toward getting to know the Orthodox Faith. Even if you have been Orthodox all your life, Fr. Barnabas will surprise you will insights you never knew. Everyone is invited—whether you have been Orthodox all your life, or you just want to get to know the Orthodox Faith better because you have Orthodox relatives or friends. There will be discussion and a question and answer period as well.
Interested in a Little Adventure?
We are looking for some brave souls who would like to try a new adventure--an Orthodox Book Study on line. We will use the platform Zoom, which you can acquire free with the app for your phone. Our first book is an interesting look at the Orthodox Church under the last days of Communism in Russia, Everyday Saints. If you would be interested in joining our adventure, please see Father so that we can pick a good time for our cyber study.
Dinner Around the World
On October 19 at 6:00 pm in the Church Hall, the Mother Maria of Paris Outreach Ministries is hosting Dinner Around the World. You are invited to join us for a three course meal dinner of your choosing from the following countries: Greece, Italy, Thailand, Lebanon, America, and Switzerland, homemade by members of our ministries. You can choose to enjoy one of these meals. Once you make your choice, please sign on the board your choice. The board will be available after the festival. Tickets costs $20; the money will go towards funding our fall/winter projects and assistance. Please sign up early because each table only offers 8 seats. First come first serve. Please start to sign up now! We need to know how many to cook for.
Pilgrimage to the St. Nektarios Monastery
We will be making a pilgrimage to the Holy Monstery of St. Nektarios in Roscoe NY. We will leave on Tuesday, November 5 and returning on Wednesday, November 6. If anyone would like to come on this pilgrimage, please see Barbara Kalioras to sign up. The cost of transportation and a donation to the monastery will be divided among the participants. Meals on the way to and from the monastery, as well as any purchases at the monastery store will be personal expenses.
Put These Liturgical Events on Your Calendar
Liturgy of St. James
We have the privilege of celebrating the Liturgy of St. James on his feastday (October 23). In order to accommodate our Parish Family and give everyone an opportunity to participate in the beautiful ancient Liturgy of our Church, we will celebrate the Liturgy of St. James on Tuesday, October 22 at 6:30 pm. Please see the article elsewhere in this bulletin explaining what this Liturgy is all about.
Supplication Service to the Holy Belt (Agia Zoni) of the Theotokos
It has become a tradition in or Parish to celebrate the Supplication Service (Paraklesis) to the Holy Belt (Agia Zoni) of the Theotokos around the Feast of her Protection (October 28). We will celebrate the Service on Sunday, October 27 at 6:30 pm. Please come and join in praying that the Panagia will protect our Parish Family and our community under her Holy Belt. This is also a powerful prayer for couples who are trying to conceive. A form for submitting names to be commemorated during the service can be found elsewhere in this bulletin.
This Month's Item Collection
One of the Fall projects of the Mother Maria of Paris Outreach Ministries is to provide convenient “bags of help”, filled with hygiene items and some snacks, for our parishioners to take and to give to the many people we see on street corners or sidewalks asking for help. In order to fill these bags, we are asking for you help in collecting hygiene items, such as regular bars of soap, travel size shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, mouth wash, etc., toothbrushes, dental floss, and other such items, as well as snacks such as granola bars, protein bars, etc. There will be a basket in the Church Hall for your generous donations. Thank you once again from “the least of our brothers and sisters”
Banner (Lavara) Icons
To your right and left along the walls of the church, you will notice two banner in beautiful red velvet which were brought back from Greece last year. Such a banner is called a lavaron, which was the identifying banner of the Roman legions, and now serve as our war banners in the fight against sin and death. There is a space in these banners to change the icon according to the season or feast. Some of these icons were also brought back from Greece last year; this year we have ordered the rest of the Great Feast Day icons to complete the collection. If you would like to donate one of these icons for $10 a piece, please see Barbara Kalioras to pick out which one(s) you would like to donate.
Looking for Good Presents for Children, Godchildren or Grandchildren?
Are you in need of devotional items, like censers, incense, oil lamps, prayer ropes (koumboskinia)? Could you use a small, simple presentation of the life of a Saint in English or in Greek? Check out our new Holy Trinity Store. Please put the money in the basket; we are using the honor method. Make checks payable to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.