Stewardship 2024 as of March 13, 2024:

Goal: $491,000 (Approved 2024 Budget with tentative stretch goal of $500,000)
Pledged: $262,611
Pledges Paid: $141,845
Average Pledge: $1,251
Outstanding unpaid commitments: $120,766
Number of Stewards Pledging: 210

Stewardship 2023 on March 16, 2023 for comparison purposes:

Goal: $500,000 ($3000 per Stewardship Family, as an average)
Pledged: $322,165
Pledges Paid: $174,203
Average Pledge: $1,254
Outstanding unpaid commitments: $147,962
Number of Stewards Pledging: 257

Please continue to keep our Saint Nicholas Church in your thoughts and prayers throughout 2024. 

Dedicate yourself to Christ and His mission here at Saint Nicholas.  Look for opportunities to volunteer your time and talents, and pay toward your 2024 commitment pledge. 

Not a Steward of Saint Nicholas?  Please prayerfully consider becoming a Steward by completing the 2024 Stewardship Commitment Card.  You may also submit your commitment either online or by mailing it to the Church Office.

To give by mail: Stewardship 

                        St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
                        986 Chapman Street
                        San Jose, CA 95126

To make a committment electronically, please visit our online stewardship link: https://saintnicholas.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/70/responses/new

Donation link: https://saintnicholas.org/donate

Company Matching Donations: many companies offer some type of philanthropic program in which a company may financially match donations that their employees make to nonprofit organizations. When an employee makes a donation, they will request the matching gift from their employer to the specific nonprofit organization. If you are interested to learn more about Company Matching Donations at work, please inquire with your Company's Human Resources Department if it offers a similar program. Please note that Saint Nicholas Church would be identified in a Company Matching Program as "Greek Orthodox Community of Santa Clara County". 

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is a 501©3 Corporation and our tax ID is 94-1578745. 

In our Light A Candle program, vigil candle(s) are lit along with an opportunity to submit names to be prayed for at the Prothesis (Preparation).  When lit, the vigil candles last for one week.  Please see the online form on our website or use the link below.  When filling out the online form, please note that only first names are needed, preferably the baptized names, and it's helpful to designate if prayers will be for health or for repose.

Donate online here: https://saintnicholas.org/virtual-chapel/light-a-candle 

If you would prefer to mail in your request, please write the name(s) for whom the candle(s) will be lit and send to Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Attention: Light a Candle, 986 Chapman Street, San Jose, CA 9126.  For more information, please call the church office.

We are a registered non-profit on Facebook and you can donate any time (without any fees for the church) by pressing the donate button in this link:  https://www.facebook.com/SaintNicholasOrg/

A Saturday of the Souls (Psychosavato) service will be on Saturday, March 16th with Orthros beginning at 8:30am followed by the Liturgy at 9:30am and Memorial.  You can drop the names of deceased Orthodox Christian family members, relatives and friends in a special, marked box in the Narthex and you can bring a small dish of kollyva to the service.

This Sunday, March 17th, is the official OCMC’s Missions Sunday.  To assist our dedicated missionaries and mission priests serving abroad, we will have a special tray on Sunday, after liturgy.   The collection will be sent to OCMC to provide financial support so that missionaries and mission teams can be trained and sent, mission priests can be supported, and Church projects that address the spiritual and physical needs of those they serve may continue throughout the year. Please prayerfully consider a small donation towards this cause.

To learn more about the Church’s missionary calling and work please visit www.ocmc.org or contact the members of Saint Nicholas Missions Ministry at missions@saintnicholar.org or during the coffee hour, which is sponsored by the Missions Ministry this Sunday.

The office will be closed on Monday, March 18th in Archdiocesan observance of Clean Monday.  However, if you have a pastoral emergency and you need to reach a priest, please call 408-246-2781.

The Greek School (CHE) is pleased to invite you to honor and remember the historic Greek Independence Day (March 25^th, 1821) and the Evangelismo of the Theotokos.  The celebration will be hosted at the Community Hall on Sunday, March 24th at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. 

There will be a coffee hour spread of desserts and fruit to enjoy.  In addtion, a traditional lunch of fish, diced rosemary zucchini, and rice pilaf ($20) will be offered - a la carte - and pasta with marinara sauce and salad ($10) for purchase.  All proceeds will go to support our Greek school.

The program will begin with singing of the national anthems, and the students will perform songs, poems, and readings honoring the heroes of the Greek Independence Day and the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.  There will also be a presentation of Greek Language exam diplomas for the participating students.  The event will conclude around 1:00 pm.

ΖΗΤΩ ΤΟ 1821! ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΛΛΑΣ!  

Basketball League games have home games on Sunday, March 17th in the Community Center beginning at 2:30pm!  Come cheer our teams!

-2:30pm Girls Elementary team
-3:30pm Boys Elementary team

Offsite Games:

-4:30pm Boys High school team at Annunciation, San Francisco
-4:00pm Boys Middle School team at Holy Cross, Belmont

We are excited to share a special, double-feature short film screening opportunity at The Chabot Theater in Castro Valley on Tuesday, March 26 at 6:30pm where we will watch two short films, Sacred Alaska and Amphilochios, Saint of Patmos.  Our very own Father James worked on the Amphilochios, Saint of Patmos film!  See the flyer in the special events section of the e-bulletin.

Admission is free but pre-registration is required at:  https://bit.ly/Mar26Registration.

Once you’ve registered on the link above, please RSVP by Sunday, March 17th to Eva Vathis at eperakis1@aol.com or 916-956-0985 so carpool options can be coordinated.  Thank you!

The Oratorical Festival will be held at the Saint Nicholas church on April 7th at 12:30pm. Students can participate in the Elementary vision (grades 5-6), Junior Division (grades 7-9) or Senior Division (grades 10-12). Top speakers from the Junior and Senior divisions move on to participate in the district festival. They will also present their speeches to the congregation after liturgy.

An awards ceremony will be held at a later date where the top 3 speakers will be awarded first, second and third place, while all other participants will receive the honorable mention rank. All participants will receive a certificate of participation and a small gift in recognition of their hard work.

For information on how to enter, please contact Maria Daltayanni at mariadal1@gmail.com, (951) 282-7259.

Elementary Division

5th and 6th grade students are invited to present on an elementary division topic. There is no judging. Each elementary division talk should last 30–90 seconds.

Suggested topics

• Helping Others • The Bible • Love • Being Kind • Lighting a Candle • The Cross • My Church • My Family • Prayer • Church School • My Favorite Icon

Junior Division 

7th, 8th and 9th grade students are invited to present on a junior division topic. Each junior division talk should last at minimum 3 minutes, maximum 4 minutes.

Please contact Maria Daltayanni for the Participant's manual, the Topics and the Topic Tips, and select one of the 5 Topics.

Senior Division

10th, 11th, and 12th grade students are invited to present on a senior division topic. Each senior division talk should last at minimum 4 minutes, maximum 5 minutes.

Please contact Maria Daltayanni for the Participant's manual, the Topics and the Topic Tips, and select one of the 5 Topics.

Key dates

Two speech writing workshops and practice speaking sessions will be hosted to provide feedback to participants prior to their final presentations.

Tuesday March 12, at 6-6:45pm   - Greek school classroom - Writing workshop 

Tuesday April 2, at 6-6:45pm        - Greek school classroom - Practice speaking session 

Sunday April 7, at 12:30pm           - Saint Nicholas Church     - Final speech presentations

Our Saint Nicholas Community will be preparing Meal Kits for people who are currently living in unstructured housing (tents, lean-tos, sheds or vehicles) to be distributed by City Team Ministries. 

Just what does a One Day Meal Kit for an unhoused person consist of? Two bottles of water, a tube of yogurt, two pouches of tuna fish, a serving of applesauce, a bag of nuts, cheese crackers, a granola bar, a fruit leather and a wet wipe. That is a day’s worth of food if you are living on the street. 

Sunday School Students will be accepting donations in front of the Church and during Coffee Hour on March 10^th, 17^th and 31^st.  Our goal is to complete 200 Kits.  The supplies for each kit cost approximately $10.  If you would like purchase supplies or sponsor one of the items, we ask you to select from our Amazon Wish List which takes advantage of Bulk Buying: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/PG8YXHQ0H3YM/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2 

We invite you to join us on March 31st to help assemble kits in the Small Hall during Coffee Hour!  All ages are welcome to help us assemble!

The next JOY/HOPE meeting is scheduled on Tuesday March 19th at 7:00pm in Room 7 of the Educational Building.  Please feel free to reach out to Helene Panos if you have any questions: 209.324.4918.  We hope you join us for Fun, Fellowship and Faith!

The annual Greek Flag Raising, in recognition of Greek Independence Day, will be held on Monday, March 25th at 5:00pm at the San Jose City Hall Plaza, 200 E Santa Clara Street. Facilitated by AHEPA Silicon Valley Chapter 251and Daughters of Penelope Daphne #29, the ceremony will be hosted by Councilmember Pam Foley.  

There will also be a reception on the City Hall Tower 17th floor immediately following the ceremony compliments of the Order of AHEPA & Daughters of Penelope San Jose Chapters.

Please note that in order to get validated parking, you need to be in the City Hall Garage before 5 pm. After 5pm, it’s locked and you can only exit the parking structure. The garage is located off of 6th Street at 45 S Sixth St., San Jose, 95113.

Join the Kentima Ministry this Lent as we meet during coffee hour to build new skills and fellowship. Beginning with embroidery basics the class will look to build up to traditional projects while exploring styles and designs from all over Greece. The first meeting will be held on Sunday, March 31^st in the Seniors Room at the front of the small hall. We will begin about 10 minutes into coffee hour, grab yourself a snack and head over! All ages are welcome, children must be accompanied by an adult. All items needed to begin will be supplied, please RSVP to Meredith Panayotopoulos at 408-849-9552 so we can be sure to have enough on hand. If you have expertise you are willing to share, please reach out as well!

On Saturday, April 6th the Philoptochos will be hosting a Lenten Retreat beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Small Hall.   The topic will be Hymnograpy of Holy Week and the speaker is Nektarios Antoniou who is a chanter of the Ascension Cathedral on Oakland.  All are welcome to attend!

Our next meeting for the Golden Years Seniors is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th, 11:30 a.m. in the Small Hall.   We will be holding our elections.   Pease be on the lookout for the notice with instructions and information.  Hope to see you there! Please contact Laurie Sahines at 408-823-0111 or email laurie.sahines@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Our San Jose 2024 AHEPA Family Event is here! Don't miss it, buy your tickets now!  Our annual Crab Feed Fundraiser is on Saturday, April 13th in the Community Center at St. Nicholas Church from 6pm to 10pm.  We will be honoring our spiritual leader, Father James, and Presvytera Vasso.

Fresh crab with with drawn butter, salad, pasta, garlic bread and dessert; live music and dancing; raffle.  

See the flyer in the Special Events section of the e-bulletin for more information.  Adults $85; Youth $40 if 18 & under; early bird special: $5 off until 3/31/24.  You can buy tickets at Sunday coffee hour or online at this site: 

https://sites.google.com/view/ahepac251/home/annual-crab-feed-event-2024

Everyone is welcome!  Hope to see you all there!

Putting our Orthodox Faith into action! Join us at Second Harvest Food Bank the 4th Tuesday of every month, 6pm to 8pm, to prepare food for distribution in our Santa Clara County community.  March sessions are full, so our next session is in April.  One in five families in Santa Clara County faces food insecurity.  Help us serve our community while enjoying the fellowship of our Parishioners!  Advance registration is required; vaccination is suggested but not required; open to ages 12 and up. 

We invite you to sign up in advance for Tuesday, April 23 2024 using the link:  https://shfb.tfaforms.net/350?VSID=a0vQo000003V5hjIAC&_gl=1*1eschq6*_ga*NzU3NjMwNjE1LjE3MDk3NTE5MTc.*_ga_E3SL0CTS82*MTcwOTc1MTkxNi4xLjEuMTcwOTc1MjIxNS42MC4wLjA.

Youth Basketball practices continue THIS WEEK!

Elementary Boys (Grades 3,4,5): Tuesdays 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Elementary Girls (Grades 3,4,5): Wednesdays 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Middle School Boys (Grades 6, 7, 8): Thursdays 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Middle School Girls (Grades 6, 7, 8): TBD, please contact John Cocoles, jcocoles5@gmail.com if interested
High School Boys (Friday practices will begin after FDF)

Games begin Sunday, March 3rd.  To be placed on the season roster, you MUST be registered at https://saintnicholas.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/63/responses/new.  

Be sure your child wears basketball shoes! Thank you!

We invite you to join parishioners from the Resurrection parish in Castro Valley who will journey to Mexico this summer on a mission trip to build homes for poor working families just south of the border.  We will depart Castro Valley on June 25^th and return July 1st. For more details, visit projectmexico.org.  In addition, you can view a video of our trip in 2019 to get an idea of what this mission trip involves.  Click on this 2019 Project Mexico Mission Trip link or query "Project Mexico 2019" in Youtube.

For questions about this mission trip, please contact Mark Fridell (maark56@hotmail.com or Cell: 925-872-8111).

It is with pleasure that we announce the scholarship applications for both St. Nicholas Sunday School and St. Anna Philoptochos are available in the Sunday School office as well as the Church Office.  The cutoff date for both applications is Friday, May 3, 2024 no later than 5:00 p.m.

Qualifications are listed on both applications, and recipients will be announced on Sunday May 19, 2024 following the Divine Liturgy.

Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Laurie Sahines at 408-823-0111 or via email:  laurie.sahines@gmail.com.

Staying true to the support for Education (the "E" in AHEPA), our AHEPA District 21 of Northern California and Reno, Nevada, is again offering 2024 scholarships to graduating high school seniors going to college and graduate students.  For more information, please click on the scholarship link for the application package:

Scholarship Link

Eligibility is for immediate family members of AHEPA members and/or student membership for the applicant. Of course, an applicant can also apply for membership now with even more benefits! Hurry, as the deadline is April 1, 2024.

The application can also be downloaded from our District's web page.

Calendar for Sunday School:  

March
Sunday School in session March 3, 10, 17, 31
Activity: March 10 Forgiveness Lesson and March 17 Forgiveness Sunday/Kites

April
Sunday School in session April 7, 14, 21, 28
Activity: April 7 Lenten Alms Project and Saturday, April 27 Lazarus Breakfast

May
Sunday School in session May 12 and 19
Activity: Friday, May 3 Good Friday Retreat
Activity: Sunday, May 19, Graduation and last day of Sunday School

Registration link for Sunday School: https://forms.gle/esUftdmLhEJH77Ap6 

Classes will be weekly, with a few exceptions for special events and holidays.  The Saint Nicholas website has the current and updated calendar: Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

All Youth ages 8-18 from across our Metropolis are invited to attend our Metropolis Summer Camp this July at St. Nicholas Ranch & Retreat Center in Dunlap, CA. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet new friends, reunite with old friends, and learn more about our faith. Online camper registration is open, and spots are quickly filling up.

We at St. Nicholas are hoping to get a good group together for Session 3! 

The Metropolis is also looking for dynamic and faithful young adults, ages 19 or older, to serve as part of the camp staff. They are also in need of medical and lifeguard staff, so please encourage anyone you know who would be an outstanding addition to the Metropolis Staff to apply.

CAMP WEBSITE: https://gosfyouth.org/summer-camp

2024 SUMMER CAMP DATES

Session 1: July 7 - 13

Session 2: July 14 - 20

Session 3: July 21 - 27 (St. Nicholas is hoping to get a group going at this session!)

CAMPER AGES

The youngest campers are 8 years old (or entering 3rd grade in Fall 2024) and the oldest are 18 years old (or will be graduating High School in Spring 2024).

SUMMER CAMP STAFF

We cannot put on summer camp without our incredible staff! We are looking for young adults who are 19 years of age or older. Applications are open until March 10. Please encourage young adults you'd like to see on staff to apply here: CLICK HERE

MEDICAL STAFF

We are always in need of medical staff while at camp. If you are a licensed medical professional or know someone who is, please encourage them to contact me directly at this email or apply on our website CLICK HERE. We especially love having MD's, NP's, and RN's!

AMAZON WISH LIST

Help us keep the cost of camp down and make a donation from our Amazon Wish List HERE.

 For more information, please contact Johanna Duterte Carter, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, Metropolis Camp Director, Cell: (408) 712-7658; Email: JDuterte@sanfran.goarch.org; Website: www.gosfyouth.org

Click here for the registration link with information about the dates of the program and tuition costs: https://saintnicholas.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/73/responses/new

School Age Greek Language Classes (3-18 years old)

In-person classes are offered on Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:00 pm - 6:45 pm and Saturdays 10:00 am - 11:45 am (pending registration numbers)

Zoom classes are time flex and are offered Mondays, Wednesdays, and/or Fridays.

In addition to the classes, several assemblies take place annually to celebrate Greek Independence Days (October 28th and March 25th), Christmas, and the end-of-the-school-year party. Parents and other family members participate while the students recite poems, skits, songs, and dances.

Adult Greek Language Classes (18 years and older)

New Testament Greek: Tuesdays 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Intermediate Conversational Greek: Thursdays 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Beginner Conversational Greek: Saturdays 10 am - 12:30 pm

For more up-to-date information in regards to the adult Greek classes kindly contact: Dr. Peter Nanopoulos at petern_grklang@yahoo.com

Registration for all summer programs of the Ionian Village is now OPEN! Ionian Village will once again offer three programs, catering to high school students and young adults. Registration is available online at our website ionianvillage.org. Need-based scholarships may be offered by contacting our office. Spots are limited and are offered on a first-come first-served basis. Don’t miss your chance to participate in this life-changing ministry!

https://www.goarch.org/-/ionian-village-summer-2024-registration-1

Please read the Canon of Faith for March 2024 using the online link viewing:    

https://indd.adobe.com/view/ee567eb3-42bb-496e-abd7-511eda5295c5

We are excited to announce that with Father James' blessing, we will be discontinuing the majority of youth-ministry hosted coffee hours on Sundays and bringing back a team-led coffee hour.  This way we hope each team will only be responsible for 2 coffee hours per year.  If you haven't already been approached and are interested in having your own team or would like to be placed on a team, please send an email to: coffeehour@saintnicholas.org OR call Penny Pagonis at (408) 772-6229 or Nicole Perakis at (408) 250-0967.  

The Choir is actively recruiting new members!  If you are interested please contact Anthony Pappas at (408) 832-4271.  Men are especially needed, so please consider joining!  We have two options for practice, Sundays after services (with time allowed for the Coffee Hour) and Thursdays at 7:30pm.  Thank you!

We will plan on holding our meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month (directly after Greek School).  Please mark your calendars.  

We hope that all students in grades K-5th can join us! This year, Father Nebojsa has planned an exciting curriculum focusing on the Story of Creation.  Each monthly lesson will be concentrated on a particular day of this journey.  Each meeting will be scheduled for approximately one hour and will include a discussion with Father, an interactive activity and/or craft, refreshments and fellowship.  We want to be inclusive of everyone so please feel free to reach out to Helene if you have any concerns: 209.324.4918.    

For families with children in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade, please register your children for our JOY/HOPE ministry.  The link to register is here:

https://saintnicholas.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/67/responses/new  

We are collecting unwanted paper icons, wooden icons, and palms that require disposing, please drop off in the baby room in the Church.  There is a plastic bin located underneath the pew.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Julie via email: j_sarigiannides@yahoo.com.

Please contact the church office at 408-246-2770 if you plan to leave items outside the office or Community Center.

If you wish to order kollyva, artoklasia, prosphora, paximadia, koulourakia, melomakarona, kourambiedes, or other Greek pastries, please see the bakers listed below with their phone numbers to call.  Payment is arranged with the bakers and not the church.

For kollyva:   Marcella Fotis 408-723-4124  

For paximadia, koulourakia, melomakarona, kourambiedes, and other Greek pastries:   Maria Tsaboukos  408-723-5175      Antonia Komianos  408-472-3888     Marcella Fotis  408-723-4124.

For artoklasia:  Antonia Komianos 408-472-3888   Marcella Fotis 408-723-4124   

For prosphora:  Marcella Fotis 408-723-4124