SECOND SUNDAY OF LUKE

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PROSFORA: Kim Bambakidis
EPISTLE READING: II Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1
GOSPEL: Luke 6:31-36
             (Greek text, p. 139, black books)
LITURGY: 9:30 a.m.

Sat, October 3rd - 10:00 a.m. - Virtual Parish Retreat
Mon, October 5th - 7:30 p.m. - Gamblers Anonymous
Sat, October 10th - 5:00 p.m. - Vespers (& Confessions)
Sunday, October 11th - 8:15 a.m. - Matins
                                    9:30 a.m. - Liturgy

Sts. Constantine & Helen Cathedral invites you to a

Virtual Retreat

Saturday October 3, 2020  -  10am-12pm

Speaker: Reverend Dr. Nicholas Louh  -  “Finding Christ in the Crisis”. 

Registration is Free, but you MUST PRE-REGISTER. There is still time: to register, please visit this link: 
https://forms.gle/s5yW63tMAMqHGPdZ9

If you wish to donate to defray expenses, please make checks out and send to:

Sts. Constantine and Helen
3352 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118

Please write “retreat” in the memo line. 

Our parish strives "To lead people to God through Orthodox Christianity and to provide ways for them live and share God's love." It does so in good days and in bad, such as we now experience. Church attendance may be difficult or impossible for you, but we endeavor to spread the "good news" as best we can. Any financial help that you might offer is deeply appreciated.

Tithe.ly is an online giving tool that makes it simple to safely/securely give to your church anywhere at any time. You can download the Tithe.ly giving app onto your phone, or click "give online" from the church website. Your gift goes directly to the church. Plus, you can track all your gifts, setup recurring donations, and more!

Please join the St.Makrina group every Wednesday via Zoom from 10:00-11:30 a.m. We have begun discussing 2019 Retreat speaker Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis' excellent book "Let All Creation Rejoice: Reflections for Advent, The Nativity, and Epiphany". In this unusual year, our journey to the Nativity can be more meaningful. Fr. Stavros reminds us of the typical advent period that emphasizes decorations and shopping (along with elevated stress levels). In his book, he offers us a journey of faith to follow Christ. Instead of the letdown when Christmas has passed, "There will be joy and joy is what overcomes sadness. There will be hope and hope is what overcomes sorrow". To join us in this journey, please contact Melissa Manos by email at melmanos29@gmail.com or call Heidi Peters at 216 570-5393 for more information.

Candles are one way to express our prayers and our presence in worship. During the crisis, you may light a candle several different ways:

1.  come to the church during office hours  (M-F, 9:00 – 5:00) and purchase a candle to take with you or leave the candle, lit or not, in the candle stands  
2. email request to office@stsconstantine.com, no later than 3:00 pm on a day of regular business hours
3.  call the church office during regular hours
4. make a request through the Facebook live stream during a service. This is an honor system in which we trust that you will make a monetary gift for your candle. 
5.  Make a Tithe.Ly donation from our website button. You can add a note with any special candle request.

FAITH IN ACTION - Upcoming Activities

Bible Study

You can join us for 30 minutes for Bible Study - all are welcome. If you are interested in an invite, or for current dates and topics, please email peter.poulos@case.edu.

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Prayer Team

You can join the prayer team and keep others in your daily prayers. If you are interested, you should either email pmp17@case.edu or text (216) 288-1972 ahead of time to receive the link. You will need to provide your name and email address to receive the Zoom invite. If you have any requests for our prayer team, or if you have questions about other activities, please send them to peter.poulos@case.edu

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ZELMA GEORGE FAMILY SHELTER "TRUNK OR TREAT"

The children staying at the Salvation Army Zelma George Family Shelter will not have the opportunity to experience Halloween this year. So we are coordinating a "trunk or treat" where we can park our cars in the surface parking lot next to the Salvation Army and the kids can pick out candy from our trunks. You can also dress up in costumes yourself and/or decorate the back of your cars/trunks for Halloween.

If you are interested in helping in any of the following ways, please contact Peter Poulos (pmp17@case.edu):

1. Bring a car to the Zelma George parking lot on Saturday, October 31st from 1 p.m to about 3 p.m.; and/or
2. Donate candy (a basket will be in the entry at church); and/or
3. Donate money for costumes and/or candy (please make ckecks out to Sts. Constantine and Helen with Faith in Action in the memo).

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Thank you and keep the faith!

“Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”  (James 2:18)

1) GOYA is volunteering to do yard work for parishioners as a new community outreach project. Contact Ted at tcherpas@stsconstantine.com to coordinate the visit of 2 - 3 GOYAns to do basic jobs (e.g. weeding, raking leaves, etc.). As this is an outreach ministry, there is no fee.

2) Local young adults (ages 21 - 35ish) will have an online Bible study session on Tuesday, October 13th and again on Tuesday, October 27th both at 7:00 p.m. For fellowship and spiritual nourishment, contact Chaz Ickes at ickeschaz@gmail.com.

This evening, Sunday, October 4th, Orthodox Education will host Fr. Chris Shadid at 8:00 pm, speaking to students 6th grades and up via Zoom - parents, check your email or contact Maria for invites. All family members and parishioners are welcome to come and listen as well.  He will speak briefly on Unity in Christ and will be open for questions afterwards. 

Fr. Chris Shadid serves as the Camp Director for Antiochian Village in Bolivar, PA. Antiochian Village used to be our diocese camp and has been used as recently as last Christmas break by Orthodox Christian Fellowship for their winter retreats. He is very excited to speak to the children. See you this evening!

Future zoom events:

October 18th -- Papa Ephraim, Abbot of St. Nilus Island Skete in Alaska, will be speaking to 6th-12th graders over Zoom at 8:00 pm.

Contact Maria at orthodox_education@stsconstantine.com with any questions or suggestions.

We have closed our livestreaming service on Facebook in favor of using YouTube for all future livestreaming of services. To continue participating with our livestream services, please visit, subscribe, & bookmark our channel at YouTube.com/stsconstantine.

Many thanks to those of you who have been lifelong members of Philoptochos, and a warm welcome to all the new parishioners who have just joined us! If you have not already done so, please join Philoptochos as we start our 2021 year.  Forms are now available in the church office or online at  http://stsconstantine.com/outreach/philoptochos/

For more updates on the work of Philoptochos, you can visit the Philoptochos, Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Community, Cleveland Ohio Facebook page.

Reusable, reversible, washable cloth masks made by our own Philoptochos ladies are available for sale in the church lobby! Masks have a gentle nose clip for proper fit, and a side opening to add extra filtering if one chooses. Make checks payable to Philoptochos or purchase with $10.00 cash (sorry, we cannot make change at this time). For more information, email Christina at ctcallos@gmail.com.

HEALTHCARE STUDY:

Eastern European Orthodox Christian immigrant women

Are you an Orthodox woman age 18 to 55 years willing to share your opinions  about women’s healthcare needs in America? This research is being completed  by Kimberly Babich Speck, Doctor of Nursing Practice student at Otterbein  University, with the support of ZOE Women’s Center®. The information obtained will be utilized to improve the conversations and education for the Eastern European Orthodox Christian immigrant population. Each participant will have one interview consisting of twelve questions and lasting less than one hour. Participants who  interview will be paid $20.

Call Kimberly at 440-708-8434 or email  Kimberly.babichspeck@otterbein.edu for details.

With recent increases in attendance at the church, we have once again begun collecting forgotten possessions. A rain hat, t-shirt, and princess flip phone are among the items on hand. Please contact the office if you think we might have something of yours.