Dear Friends,
During these difficult times of uncertainty, our Archdiocese is offering leadership and guidance to protect our faithful.
Following their direction, church services will be closed for the forseeable future. Fr Jim will celebrate regular services with assistance from Stavros and others as needed. Faithful should pray from their homes. This drastic measure is being taken in order to “flatten the curve” and halt the continued spread of this virus, lessening its deadly consequences.
Please notify those whom you know that may not have access to this information.
We are in the process of setting up live streaming of our services. If it is not ready by Sunday, click HERE to access a list of Greek Orthodox parishes providing live stream of services.
There will be no Greek School, Sunday School, Greek Dance, Fellowship Hour or other gatherings. Parish Council and Hellenic Women's Club will be moving to online video conferencing or teleconferencing.
Fr Jim is available as needed for pastoral needs. He may be limited by regulations in his ability to visit hospitals and nursing homes, but he will do his best. He may be reached by email at FrJimK@goarch.org or at his office 646-519-6721. If you leave a message at his office, he will also receive an email with your voice message.
Please pray for our community, our Church, our country and all those afflicted and affected by this pandemic.
This is the time to make your home a place of prayer. Saint Paul tells us that the home is a “small church.” Your home is a place of holiness.
With the closing down of so much of our society, perhaps this is a time we can think of as a Sabbath – a time in which we can focus once again on the essentials of our lives as Christians; praying together as families, reading Scripture and the lives of the Saints together in our homes.
Please pray for those who are under the threat of the Coronavirus, those who are suffering and those who are recovering. Pray for the nurses, doctors and researchers, to keep them healthy.
We are assembling a team of volunteers and a plan of action to assist those members of our Saint George family that may need assistance. If you would like to assist or know of someone in need please email me at FrJimK@goarch.org. If you would like to support this initiative financially, please click HERE and donate to the philanthropy fund.
Your Spiritual Home
AT SAINT GEORGE CHURCH of KINGSTON, NY
3rd Sunday of Lent
SUNDAY OF THE HOLY CROSS
Sunday Worship Services:
Divine Liturgy (Eucharist) 10:00 AM
SALUTATIONS SERVICE
LENTEN FRIDAYS AT 7:00PM
SAINT GEORGE DINNER DANCE APRIL 26
HAS BEEN POSTPONED
A REFLECTION FOR THIS SUNDAY
This was a tough week. The kind of week that makes you want to hug your children, grandchildren and loved ones a little longer than usual.
God gets blamed a lot – earthquakes, hurricanes, pandemics and acts of evil.
We need to remind ourselves God doesn’t cause bad things to happen. Our pain and affliction are not a punishment from God.
God came in the person of Jesus bringing a message of love. We don’t read anywhere in the Bible that Jesus took vengeance or hurt anyone -- even those who sought to kill him.
In the Gospel of John when Jesus heals the blind man, His disciples ask him who sinned that this man was born blind. Jesus responds that “neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the glory of God might be made manifest in him.”
In the heroic acts of doctors, nurses, and all caregivers, we have seen the glory of God made manifest. We have seen God at work in ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. These are the “Acts of God” that we need to consider.
This is where God is in this pandemic. He is present and works through people that do His will.
This Sunday is the third Sunday of Great Lent, the period of preparation leading us to the Passion and Resurrection of or Lord. This Sunday, as we face this pandemic, the Church raises up the cross before us.
What was once a symbol of horrible death has become, through the death and resurrection of Christ, a symbol of the love of God, the joy of Paradise, hope that is greater than the darkest despair, and a symbol of power.
Often in the world, it seems that evil conquers good; sin is greater than virtue. Yet the cross reminds us that sin will not have the last word. Evil will not last forever. As Orthodox Christians, we can’t think of the cross without thinking of the resurrection. Evil and suffering appear to win at first, but then comes the resurrection.
The lesson of this pandemic and others like it, is about our need for each other.
If any good can come out of this, maybe it will be a new beginning of the way in which we live our lives. We have been reminded that life is short. We need re-commit our lives to God as they were on the day of our baptism. We need to be ministers in all that we do, and treat one another love and kindness.
God bless us all.
And, please wash your hands!
Amen.
Learning about Parsh Leadership...
PARISH REGULATIONS
CHAPTER TWO: PARISH COUNCIL
ARTICLE 24 PARISH COUNCIL
Section 1: To serve on a Parish Council is a ministry and all those who serve are called to represent Christ and the Orthodox Faith to all whom they meet in all aspects of life. The Parish Council shall consist of the Priest, as the head of the Parish, and a number of elected lay members fixed by the Parish Bylaws or by local statute according to the needs of the Parish. The Parish Council is responsible to the Parish Assembly and to the respective Hierarch for conducting all Parish affairs in keeping with the mission, aims and purposes of the Church as set forth in the Charter and these Regulations. The Parish Council shall be deemed to mean also Board of Trustees or Board of Directors when such designations are required by local statute. The Priest shall be a non-voting member of the Parish Council
“Every church needs to
grow warmer through fellowship,
deeper through discipleship,
stronger through through worship,
and larger through evangelism."
Rick Warren The Purpose-Driven Church
MORE THAN JUST FOLLOWING RULES....
“…in the end, to be Christian is not simply to follow rules and assent to propositions; to be Christian is to love in the form of the greatest commandment. Like being a dancer, it is to perform love in such a way that love (God) has seized our being.”
-Dr. Aristotle Papanikolaou
Aristotle Papanikolaou is Professor of Theology and the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture at Fordham University He is Co-Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University.
“Every temple of the Lord is a house of divine Presence and a house of prayer.
Every temple is also a house of peace. May the soul of all those who enter into this holy
temple to take part in the assembly of God, become itself a house of peace.”
from Serve the Lord With Gladness by A Monk of the Eastern Church
ONLINE GIVING AT
ST GEORGE KINGSTON
Click HERE
to set up automatic stewardship donations
to our beloved Saint George.
“It does not matter how much we give,
but how much love we put into our giving.”
Mother Theresa
Click HERE to visit our church website.
Click HERE to visit, like & follow us on Facebook
Please...
REMEMBER ST GEORGE CHURCH IN YOUR WILL OR ESTATE PLAN
UPDATING OUR DIRECTORY
Please click HERE to open our online form listing 7 brief questions. When you have completed the form, just click on the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the page. The form should not take more than 5 minutes to complete.
Thank you for your assistance, And thank you to the 40+ households that have responded.
Jim Speros
The Work of Jesus Christ: “…it is our Orthodox teaching that the Church continues the work of Christ on earth. When laypeople sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, instruct their children to pray, etc., they are doing the work of the Church.”
- Fr. Stanley S. Harakas, Contemporary Moral Issues
“With us everything should be secondary compared to our concern with children, and their upbringing in the instruction of the Lord."
St John Chrysostom
Your 2020 Parish Council
Fr Jim, Priest
Phil Lettre, President
Xenakis Loizou, Vice President
Mary Matthews, Treasurer
George Kotzias, Secretary
Vinnie Fiorello
Stavros Kariolis
Steve Kotzias
Angelo Lallis
Dennis Larios
Nick Maouris
Anthony Moustakas
Ephie Trataros
John Zacharia
Saint George Church seeks to offer:
- A sense of Peace and the Presence of God in worship;
- Opportunities to Serve Others;
- Meaningful opportunities for Fellowship;
- Education in aspects of the Faith for all ages; and
- A well-maintained and inspiring place of worship & fellowship
Like/Follow us on facebook. Click here.
Is a Member of our St George Family
in the Hospital, Rehab or Extended Care?
Please contact Fr Jim with the name and location of any members of our Saint George family that may be in the hospital, Rehab or Extended Care/Nursing Home. Please indicate whether the need is urgent. Call Fr Jim's office 646-519-6721 or email FrJimK@goarch.org. Please leave a clear message and a contact number in case additional information is needed.
“The oil of religion should be used to soothe and heal the wounds of others,
not to ignite the fires of hatred.”
-Archbishop Anastasios of Albania
WHAT IS CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP?
Stewardship is what a person does after saying "I believe," as proof of that belief.
(Williams & McKibben in Oriented Leadership)
Saint George E-List We are developing an e-list (listserv) for parish communication. Your email will not be disclosed through the list or to other members of the list. The list will be used for weekly bulletins and timely information. Please send your email to FrJimK@goarch.org and request to be added to the Saint George Kingston e-list.
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America announces today measures to protect the health of the Greek Orthodox Flock of America, and the health of the wider public. These decisions are being taken in light of the recommendations of Federal, State, and City officials and agencies, including the CDC.
For the benefit and protection of the faithful, and taking into account the recent scientific findings, we advise our faithful not to be exposed in places of public assembly (including attending church) during the next few weeks.
On March 8, 2020, eleven Orthodox hierarchs from various canonical jurisdictions concelebrated the Divine Liturgy on the first Sunday of Lent, also known as the “Sunday of Orthodoxy,” at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, in New York City.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America will host its first-ever conference for the organization of outreach ministry to Spanish-speaking persons with a conference at Saint Photios National Shrine in St. Augustine, Florida, this April 28-30.