• This Week's Children's Word from OCN
• Please Join us for Godparents Sunday, February 5, 2023

Divine Liturgy begins at 9:30am at Annunciation/Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church 7921 Old York Rd, Elkins Park, PA 19027.

All Nounos and Nounas are invited to attend church with their Godchildren.

Preceding Holy Communion, a special prayer service will be offered for Godparents and Godchildren.

Refreshments will be offered by the PTO in our Cultural Center following Liturgy.

• Parish Oratorical Festival, Sunday, February 26, after the divine liturgy

• January 2023 Newsletter

• Saturday, January 28: HOPE & JOY Ice-skating Event
• Saturday, February 4: Regional HOPE & JOY Bible Bowl 

• Saturday, February 11: Regional Altar Servers Retreat
• April 20-30: Regional GOYA Spring Retreat

Anyone who attended the Gala Dinner or placed an ad should stop by the office after church on Sundays to pick up their copy.

One book per family please. Please enter your name on the list by the books so we now not to mail you one. 

Thursday, February 9: Metropolis vasilopita celebration

Friday, February 10: Young at Heart coffee get together

Saturday, February 11: Regional Altar Servers Retreat

Sunday, February 12: Philoptochos Go Red Sunday

Sunday, February 26: Parish Oratorical Festival

Clean Monday, Feb 27: Start of Great and Holy Lent
                                  Spring General Assembly of our parishioners

Saturday, March 4: Orthodox Christian Mission Center Lenten Retreat

Saturday, March 18: Regional Sights and Sounds Youth Arts Festival at St. Thomas Church, Cherry Hill, NJ

Sunday, March 19: Greek School Greek Independence Day program

Saturday, March 25: Parish Name-day & Greek Independence Day

Thursday, March 30: Homeless Ministry serving at Aviation Park

Sunday, April 2: Greek Independence Day Parade in Philadelphia

April 8-16: Holy Week and Holy Pascha

May 19-20: Spring OPA Greek Festival

This month, the Homeless Ministry is collecting and delivering “Grab & Go” foods for local college students experiencing homelessness currently housed by DePaul USA, a Germantown nonprofit.

Please sign up here to help.

Homelessness among college students has existed almost undetected for years. Homeless students blend in with other college students; they all wear jeans and T-shirts. There’s much shame associated with being homeless, and students try to hide it if they can.

Homelessness can strike college students at any time and for various reasons: Financial aid is delayed. A poor choice is made. A car breaks down. A parent gets sick. Sometimes a door has been shut.

Most are students who have had very challenging lives and see education and college as the way out. And that’s really the marvel, the miracle, and hope in all that. The kind of persistence and tenacity they show to keep going despite all the obstacles.

If we don’t help those students get through whatever challenge they’re experiencing, we’re doing a disservice not only to them but to the broader society. Education is key.  Someone can take away your home, money, and physical possessions, but they can’t take away your knowledge.

Please click In college and without a home to listen to a KYW podcast. 

REMINDER: Our next scheduled date to serve at Aviator Park is 3/30. Please join us!

Thank you!

New Year Prayer: “Thank you, God, for giving us the brand new year ahead. Help us live the way we should as each day we tread. Give us gentle wisdom that we might help someone in need; give us strength and courage so a shoulder we might lend. The year ahead is empty; let us fill it with good things, each new day filled with joy and happiness that it brings. Amen”

This prayer is a beautiful reminder of the heart of Matthew 25 but applies to every one of us as we begin a new year and focus on the positive change we hope to nurture and grow from within. Our ministry has quieted down for a few weeks, and we look forward to what the winter and spring will bring. We distributed over 18 gift cards to Aspira schools this month. We will continue to collect gift cards until the end of January. Feel free to place them in our Matthew 25 slot in the office. These gift cards can be Visa, Walmart, Mastercard, or grocery store cards. They provide food, clothing, and hygiene to so many children and families in need. We are preparing another delivery to Seeds of Hope in late January. Egg prices will remain high throughout the spring, but we will continue to provide them to the many shoppers at Seeds of Hope.

We plan on coming together in February to make several pans of lasagna for a wonderful organization called “Lasagna Love.” We will provide the link to research and get involved with this philanthropic organization. We would love to see our parish ministries come together in the future and bake trays of lasagna that we will gladly distribute for you. If you are interested in participating, reach out to sophiagreekgirl@gmail.com and oceancitymom1@gmail.com for more information.

Our Lenten Meat drive will run from February 28 through April 17. We will purchase an assortment of requested meats and foods and deliver them to Seeds of Hope and Somerton Interfaith on April 4 and 18. We break up the deliveries to ensure that all shoppers can have Easter meat in April. We will be asking for monetary donations (as we did for our Turkey Drive) and will be doing the buying for the parish. As always, donations are accepted throughout the year on Vanco. We are always appreciative to receive these donations. They sustain the ministry!
Lasagna Love Link:  https://www.lasagnalove.org

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Bulletin Announcements

Please submit your material by Tuesday noon for the upcoming Sunday’s bulletin.
Your submission should be an editable document (Word, Publisher, Google Doc, Pages), as well as your final PDF document. Avoid dark page backgrounds and use white because it is easier to read and ‘lighter’ to include on our e-bulletin. Please send your submission to office@anngoc.org and always Cc Fr. John at frjohn@anngoc.org for his review and approval.
All submissions will be placed on a first-come, first-served, space-available basis and are subject to editing for content, clarity, and space.

Sunday Extra Services

Please call or email us at the parish office at least two weeks in advance if you would like a 40-day mother & child blessing, memorial, trisagion, artoklasia (the blessing of the five loaves-wine & oil), fanouropita (St. Phanurios bread), etc.

Requests are considered based on the ecclesiastical calendar.

You should have received your 2023 personalized Stewardship Pledge Card of Time, Talent, and Treasure in the mail, including our Sustaining Stewardship Initiative information.

• Please return your card at the offering basket at the pangari, church office, or via mail.
• If you are already a Sustaining Steward, that is, you have set up regular payments through Vanco or your bank bill payer service:

1. You do not have to fill out a pledge card !
2. Use the 2023 Pledge Card information as a guide to update your giving to reflect your current level of commitment and personal/family situation.
3. Check with your Vanco account or bank bill payer service to ensure that your regular payments continue through 2023.

As always, do not hesitate to contact us at the church office with any questions about your Stewardship.

The Hellenic University Club of Philadelphia is now accepting applications for the 2023-2024 scholarships we are offering for graduating high school seniors, undergraduate and graduate students. Students will find eligibility requirements and descriptions for all the scholarships being offered this year on our website http://www.hucphiladelphia.org/2023-2024-scholarships and may apply electronically. The deadline to apply is Monday April 3, 2023.

Any questions regarding eligibility can be sent to hucscholarships@gmail.com