6th Sunday of Luke, October 20, 2019

Fall is here and the ecclesiastical New Year is in full swing!  It is wonderful to see the hustle and bustle in our Catechism and Greek School programs.  Enrollment in our afternoon Greek School is up to 85 students – 65 school age and 17 adults!  Our Catechism school enrollment is up to 90 students, the highest in recent memory!  We have even seen the need to create a third dance group for our HOPE aged children to better address their needs.

Philoptochos membership is up year over year, our GOYA is planning exciting new events that haven’t been a part of our community for many years, and for the second year, and we have a junior basketball team!  In short, everything is pointing to a growing and thriving community…except…stewardship.

We have fewer active stewards at this point in the year than last year, which is a little befuddling given all the activity in our community.  There are over 100 families who pledged their stewardship in 2017 and 2018 who are not yet stewards.  I know everyone’s life is busy, and we appreciate and thank all of our parishioners who have diligently made their commitment to stewardship and paid their pledge in full.  Thank you!

Stewardship is the lifeblood of our church!  Without stewardship, we would not be able to support our many ministries and our growing youth programs!  It is not too late to become a steward of our beloved Annunciation. 

Please show your commitment to our Annunciation and to helping our community continue to grow and thrive by becoming a steward today.  If you have already pledged your stewardship, please consider paying your commitment in full today.  If you can give a little bit more than your stewardship pledge, please do so and help us continue to serve our parishioners, our youth, and our community as a whole.

Sincerely,

Cathy Avgiris

• It is not too late to make a commitment to support your church for 2019. Our goal is to have all who consider Annunciation as their parish (400+ families and individuals) to be supporting stewards every year.

• Our financial goal for 2019 is to finish strong with a balanced budget in our Operating Fund. This depends on all stewardship pledges being paid in full as soon as possible.

• In December we will start focusing on our 2020 Stewardship Campaign. Let’s close the 2019 gap by November 30th:

• Pay off all pledged balances by then.
• Thank you to those who have completed their 2019 pledge. Please consider making an extra offering to boost us to our budget goal.
• Make a pledge now for 2019 HERE if you have not already done so.

Current Annunciation Stewards as of October 16, 2019

Dear Annunciation Parishioners,

 In 2017 the Parish Council moved to address both urgent facilities issues and to start planning for other facilities improvements that are needed in our 50-year old facilities.  In late 2017 and early 2018, we completed the replacement of roofs over the offices and half the classrooms.  In 2018 we replaced the heating and air conditioning systems.  In 2018 we also initiated the 50^th Anniversary Campaign with the theme Honoring Our Past and Building Our Future in order to provide the necessary funds.  To date, we have received pledges for over $900,000 which paid for the roof work and will pay off the loan taken to execute the heating and air conditioning project.  We also established the Annunciation/Evangelismos Endowment Fund to provide perpetual financial support to the Community.

In 2019, the General Assembly approved the hiring of an architectural firm to prepare a Facilities Master Plan assessing and organizing needs for the future and recommending a course of action.  The purpose of a Master Plan is to identify the critical needs and integrate them into a complete design to ensure that addressing one need does not prevent the addressing of another.  As input to the plan we outlined priorities as 1) Improving accessibility by adding an elevator to the Social Hall, 2) Updating and making accessible the bathrooms, 3) Improving classrooms and 4) Updating the Social Hall and Kitchen.  The Master Planning process occurred from May to September and included interviews with many organizations and individuals, a design workshop in June attended by roughly 35 people, and preparation of cost estimates.

We now have the Master Plan report to share with the Community.  The report summarizes the critical needs, identifies recommended solutions, provides cost estimates and a suggested phased implementation plan.  Two things are important to understand about the report and the conceptual designs:

• Τhe Plan addresses the projected needs of the Community and facility for the next 20 to 30 years.  Given that the facility is 50 years old, there are many parts of the facility that need to be upgraded to provide adequate service into the future.  These are included in the plan.
• The Plan has what are known as conceptual level designs, meaning that the design work shows how the needs can be addressed in one design and how these elements all fit together.  The designs are not completed to the point they can be used to obtain construction bids or building permits.  There is still engineering and design work needed that can change the final arrangements and sizes of rooms, as well as other details and of course the cost estimates.

In developing the Master Plan the architects evaluated many possible alternatives in coming to a recommended solution along with an alternative that is larger in scope.  In summary:

• The recommended Option A includes a new lobby area in the courtyard, an elevator that serves all levels, new accessible bathrooms both upstairs and downstairs, a new kitchen located under the new lobby, and updated classrooms and Social Hall.  The estimated cost of the option is approximately $4 million.
• The alternative Option B includes many of the same elements as Option A but also includes a new Social Hall in the space of the current courtyard, new classrooms relocated to the current Social Hall space, addition of office and meeting room space. The estimated cost of this option is approximately $5 million.

It is important that the Community has sufficient opportunity and time to understand the Master Plan and conceptual designs.  We will present the plan and answer questions in the following ways over the next 2 months:

• We will have 2 formal presentations, one on a Sunday after Liturgy and one on a weeknight evening where we will present the plans in detail and answer questions.  Dates will be announced shortly.
• We will have a table set up in the Social Hall after Liturgy for the next several weeks where you can see the plans and ask questions.
• We will also have a table set up in the Hall on several Tuesday nights during Greek School classes as many Parishioners are at the Church at this time.

Creating a comprehensive Master Plan is a significant achievement towards Building Our Future.  As a next step, it is important that the entire Community understand the Plan and provides feedback and comments to help determine how we proceed.  Please participate in one of the sessions above or reach out directly to me to understand the Plan and provide your thoughts.  As always, thank you for your support and patience while we take these steps to create a bright future for our Community.

Prayerfully yours,

Dean Dalson

50^th Anniversary Chairperson

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 health and salvation: Suffering and persecuted Christians in the Middle East and the non-Christian world,

Athena, Stephen, Tom, Sandra, Susan, George, Betty, Antonios, Anthony, Debora, Despina, Nikolaos, George, Yiannis, Eugene, Mary, Maria, Noel.

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

Χρόνια πολλα!  Happy birthday!   God grant you many years!  To those celebrating this week: Demetrios Hatzopoulos, Costas Poulos, John Ufer, Hariklia Bougioukas, Argie Fentross, Leontios Diamantis, Yianna Yiantsos, Kimberly Alfaro, Maria Bavas, Ioannis Onassis, Gregory Pogas, George Siokos, Nancy Angelucci, Evangelia Holahan, Isabella Ilisco, Olivia Ilisco, William Kiscaden, Sophia Kyriakodis, Despina Twyman, Joseph Quigley, Mihalis Rokos, Joseph Sarris, Stamatia Sklikas, Niki Crits, Alexander Falbo, Olivia Pavlou, Demetra Pithis.

Congratulations!  To Demetra and Lawrence Damian on the baptism of their daughter, Calliope,  on  October 13, 2019. Yiannis Mamounas is the godparent. 

Thank You! To Stephen Oratis & Bonnie Koletas for weeding our courtyard and flower beds last week.

• Delaware Valley Greek Festivals Guide
• Eighth Annual Benefit Banquet for IOCC, Sunday, October 27, 2019