Saturday, March 9, 2019. The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastia

• 8:30 am MATINS, 9:30 am DIVINE LITURGY
• 10:30 am Annunciation Lenten Retreat.

Sunday, March 10, 2019. Forgiveness Sunday

Κυριακή της Τυρινής. Το κήρυγμα της Κυριακής εδώ

From the Triodion: On this day, we remember the expulsion of the first-formed Adam from the Garden of Eden. By Your ineffable compassion, O Christ our God, make us worthy of the delights of Paradise and have mercy, as You alone love mankind. Amen.

• 8:30 am MATINS, 9:30 am DIVINE LITURGY.
• 40-day mother & child blessing: Kristin and Panagiotis Sourovelis’ daughter and Christos’ little sister, Victoria.
• Service of forgiveness.
• Matthew 25 Ministry Lenten project starts today.
• Fellowship hour hosted by Greek School.
• Council of Youth Ministries meeting.

Clean Monday, March 11, 2019

• 6 pm GREAT COMPLINE.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

• 10 am Matthew 25 Ministry food delivery to Seeds of Hope.
• 5 pm Youth Greek School classes.
• 7 pm Adult Greek language class.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

• 11 am Young at Heart Event.
• 6 pm PRESANCTIFIED LITURGY.

Thursday, March 14, 2019

• 4 pm Del Val Clergy Syndesmos at Holy Trinity Church, Egg Harbor, NJ.
• 7 pm Choir rehearsal.
• 7 pm Del Val Youth Commission meeting at Holy Trinity Church, Egg Harbor, NJ.

Friday, March 15, 2019

• 5 pm Youth Greek School classes.
• 6:30 pm I STANZA OF THE AKATHIST TO THE MOTHER OF GOD.

First Saturday of Lent, March 16, 2019 - The Commemoration of the Miracle of Kollyva wrought by Saint Theodore the Tyro

• 8:30 am MATINS, 9:30 am DIVINE LITURGY.
• 11 am Philoptochos community breakfast.
• 12 pm Philoptochos OPA baking.

Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 17, 2019

• 8:30 am MATINS, 9:30 am DIVINE LITURGY (icons procession by Sunday school).
• Philoptochos tray collection to benefit Metropolis of New Jersey Social Services.
• Fellowship hour hosted by PTO.
• GOYA Sights & Sounds dress rehearsal for the community.

In St. Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians, it states “If they were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is there are many parts, yet one body” (1 Cor. 12:18-20).

What does this teach us as Christian stewards? It shows us that we all have equal dignity and worth in God’s sight and that if God sees us as equally precious, we should view each other in this same light. It teaches us to humbly recognize our own gifts as well as the giftedness of every member of our parish family. And, while God designed us to be ultimately dependent on Him, it seems He has also designed us to need each other!

This is part of the beauty and richness of a stewardship way of life. No one person can “do it all” in life — whether in family life or parish life. But God does not ask us to do it all. He simply asks us to share the gifts and talents we do have in the season of life we find ourselves right now.

-From Stewardship Reflections

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Thank You!

On behalf of Father John and The Parish Council, I would like to thank everyone who attended our annual Feast Day Dinner celebration on Saturday, March 2.  The support and love from our parishioners and community for our Beloved Annunciation is evident in everything we do!  A special note of thanks to our benefactors and contributors who, through their generosity, continue to support our annual Feast Day and Greek Independence Celebration dinner.   We extend our sincerest appreciation to all those who made our evening a success:

• Chef Chis Fifis, George Vlahos, AJ Falbo and Vikki Aristoklis who put out a fabulous meal
• Effie Ikonomou for once again catering the meze table with her Greek specialties
• Chef’s Table Catering for providing the wait staff and support in the kitchen
• Our skillful bartending (and stocking) crew - Peter Gouris, Russ Penning and Dean Dalson
• Our Ladies Philoptochos Society ’Nausica’ members for the beautiful dessert table and the donations from Lambros Karazournias, Kiki Malitas, Maria Mountis, Diane Saphos, and Vaso Trifonidis
• Our HOPE, JOY and GOYA dance groups for their wonderful dance performances, led by instructor Yianna Yiantsos
• Our Annunciation PTO for the beautiful carnations that were distributed to guests
• Christine Ferello and Zaffie Zoubroulis who welcomed our guests with a smile
• Our Greek School students - Alex Dalson, Efianna Giannoumis, Markos Papakirk, and Pantelis Sourias - for leading the flag raising and singing of our national anthems, and
• George Dalagelis for all his administrative support

Church of the Annunciation Spring Parish General Assembly President’s Report

February 25, 2019

Thank you, everyone, for attending our spring general assembly.  I am proud of all we have accomplished as a community in 2018, and look forward to us achieving even greater in 2019 and beyond.

As we have done the last several years, our Parish Council has established a set of goals to guide us and the community.  Our goals for 2018 were:

• Grow the number of active stewards
• Increase participation and engagement in church life
• Improve communications and transparency
• Execute against the 50th-anniversary campaign

These goals continue to be our goals in 2019 as well.  We all share in the responsibility to grow our community, to engage our parishioners in the life of our church.  How we do that as a community is by welcoming all who come to our church, and more importantly, including them to be part of our family.  In the corporate world, there is a lot of focus nowadays on diversity and inclusion.  I feel like we can do better to practice diversity and inclusion in our church and will strive to make that one of my top goals.

One of the things I am most proud of is the production of our first Annual Report to the Community.  Beyond a means of improving communications and transparency, the Annual Report gives us all an opportunity to reflect back on the prior year and to look forward.  I want to thank all our ministry leaders for their service, and all their great accomplishments in 2018!  For all the years I worked at Comcast, I kept every annual report because it enabled me to see the progress made each year.  I encourage all of us to keep this annual report and track our progress each year.  Hopefully, each year we will see just how far we have come.

I want to thank Peter Nikolopoulos and Paul Fisfis for their many years of service on Parish Council and we look forward to continuing to count on their service and counsel in the future.  Welcome to our newest Parish Council members, Teddy Sourias and Mary O’Hara – we all look forward to serving with them.

It has been my goal and that of everyone on Parish Council to continue to instill trust and confidence – trust and confidence that we will be good stewards of our church’s finances and be transparent about them, trust and confidence that when we say we will do something, we will get it done, on time and within the funds approved by these general assemblies, trust and confidence that we have a vision for the future of our beloved Annunciation and will work together with all of you to see our community flourish.

I want to thank Father John for his spiritual guidance, and for his and your faith in me to serve as your Parish President for one more year.

Great Compline / Απόδειπνο

• Mondays March  11, 18, 25, and April 1, & 8, at 6 pm. 

Great Compline is prayed in monasteries on a daily basis before one retires for sleep. It is prayed in our churches during the Great Lent.  This 45 minute-long service consists mostly of Psalm readings and prayers and ends with the very powerful hymn, “Lord of the Powers, be with us” The service  allows us an opportunity to pray and reflect, seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, and to acknowledge that all our hopes and salvation must be placed in God’s hands. (Bilingual booklets will be available for congregational reading & singing. Please see George Dalagelis if you would like to participate as a reader/singer at the cantor’s stand).

Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts / Λειτουργία των Προηγιασμέμων Δώρων

• Five consecutive Wednesdays starting March 13 and alternating 6 pm, and 9 am every other week. 

Since the Divine Liturgy is a festive and joyous celebration, it is not celebrated on weekdays during Lent, except on the Saturdays of the Souls and the Feast of the Annunciation. However, because Lent is a period of fasting, it should also be a period of more frequent reception of Holy Communion. There is no consecration of the Gifts at this Liturgy (hence the name Pre-sanctified). They have been consecrated on the preceding Sunday at a regular Divine Liturgy. It lasts just over an hour and contains the service of the Ninth Hour and the Vespers, with Holy Communion added at the end. Those who choose to keep the entire fast are encouraged to attend this service and to receive Holy Communion as a way of sustaining the fast by receiving the Body and Blood of Christ even more frequently during this period of spiritual discipline.

The Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God / Ο Ακάθιστος Υμνος εις την Υπεραγία Θεοτόκο

• Five consecutive Fridays beginning March 15, at 6:30 pm.

This service consists of hymns and prayers addressed to Christ and the Theotokos. It is a beautiful poem of praise and devotion to the Mother of our Lord. It was sung in the year 626 in the Church of the Theotokos in Constantinople on the occasion of the deliverance and freedom of the City from the barbarians. It is comprised of 24 stanzas, each beginning with a letter of the Greek alphabet from Alpha to Omega. It is divided into four parts, one part sung on each of the Fridays of Lent (Salutations) and on the fifth Friday, the Hymn is sung in its entirety. It is called "Akathist" because the people, out of love, devotion and gratefulness to the Theotokos, stood during the entire Hymn.

Celebrations, Milestones, Gratitude, Comfort & Support

Pastoral care: If you or someone you know is sick, homebound elderly, or scheduled for surgery, please call the church office to let us know so Fr. John can make a pastoral visit, or to add someone to the prayer list.

Let us pray to the Lord for the health and salvation of: Suffering and persecuted Christians in the Middle East and the non-Christian world,  Polly, Debra, Antonios, Sophia, Stephen, Gina, George, Chryssie, Sandra, Donna, Anthony, Alice, Eugene, George, Patrick, Anne, Virginia, Irene, Konstantinos, Sophia, Dimitrios, Yianni, Matina, George, Madison.

Names will be kept on this list for approximately 3 months. Please resubmit Names if needed. Fr. John will include the submitted names at the Psokomide “Offering of Gifts” during the first part of the liturgy when he prepares the mystical gifts of bread & wine. Please lift these names up to the Lord in your personal prayer life as well.

Prayer for healing: Heavenly Father, physician of our souls and bodies, who have sent our Lord to heal every sickness. Visit and heal us. Grant patience in this sickness, the strength of body and spirit, and recovery of health. Lord, You have taught us to pray for each other that we may be healed. We pray that You heal, guide and protect your servant (s) (pray by name for those who are sick) and grant them the gift of complete health. You are the source of healing and to You we give glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Happy wedding anniversary to those celebrating this week: Kyriakodis, Alice & George; Dalson, Anna & Dean.

Χρόνια πολλα!  Happy birthday!   God grant you many years!  To those celebrating this week: Eleni Downie, Sophia Gaugler, Linda Holberg, Kristina Koutsouros, Gregory Louridas, Christopher Metsikas, Emilia Obenrader, Jason Ojeda, Shauna Trifonidis, Argie Zoubroulis, Jacinda Ojeda, Frank Holberg, Dimitrios Pappas, Stelios Tsinontides, Steven Zoubroulis, Christopher Freedman, Andrew Pogas, Calliope Costalas, Danielle Perry.

Dear Parishioners, the 50th Anniversary Campaign continues to progress.  A key objective is to use the Campaign as a way to increase engagement among Parishioners and to have 100% participation in the Campaign, so we want to have personal, face to face meetings with families to discuss the history of the Church, what the Church means to each family and to discuss the needs of the Church.  These meetings are a great way to get to know each other better and having done many of them, I have to say they are very enjoyable and informative.  I am pleased to say that we have had over 20 family meetings and have pledges from over 40 families or just over 10% of the Community families.  These pledges total over $800,000 towards our goal of $1,500,000.  I want to thank all the families that have generously pledged thus far.

At the February General Assembly meeting, we informed everyone that the Annunciation/Evangelismos Endowment Fund is now formally established.  Pledges in the 50th Anniversary Campaign can be directed towards the Endowment Fund for long term Missions and Programs or to Current Giving for facilities improvements and expansion of Missions.  Pledges can also be allocated across the Endowment and Current Giving, but payments of pledges are made separately as the Endowment is a separate entity.

We are reaching out to more families to schedule visits to discuss the Campaign if you would like to schedule a visit please feel free to contact me or George Dalagelis in the office.  

Thank you for your support in building the future of our Church!

Dean Dalson

50^th Anniversary Campaign Chairperson

• Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey
• New York Abortion Law Encyclical