Please pray for our brothers and sisters: Niko, Elias, Christina, Christina, Malina, John, Pete, Vincent, Veronica, Athena, John, Lynne, Deborah, Georgia, Ivana, Mary, Jane, Michael, Kostas, Stephan, Deborah, Nora, Amelia, Joe, Nikki, Jeanine, Anna, Irina, Ava Maria, Paul, Jessica, David, Mary.
Paraklesis to St. Nicholas tonight, Friday, October2nd. Schedule for the evening:
- 6pm Music rehearsal. We welcome newcomers! We will practice the choral set-up for Sunday services as well as briefly review the Paraklesis. We hope that all of our regular choir members can join us.
- 6:55pm Paraklesis, in person and live-stream
- 7:30pm Firepit discussion in front of the church. Yes, we will light up a real fire! You are welcome to contribute with your own log and can bring marshmallows to roast! The Fire Department is allowing us to have an open fire as long as we cook some food (hence the marshmallows...) We will address issues related to the complicated (and sometimes painful) history of our church in relation to the goverments she has been under, including the Byzantine, the communist and the democratic government.
Welcoming our Seminarian Many of you have contributed this spring to our Luminary fundraiser that was directed towards building up our music ministries by hiring a qualified seminarian. Unfortunately, with the Covid crisis we were unable to complete our Lenten pilot. We are happy to report now that the seminarian that we selected, Paul Murray, started two weeks ago! He is accompanied by Despina Wilson, an equally proficient chanter and graduate of Holy Cross and they will be joined by other fellow students.
The matins (Orthros) service is back: Orthros at 9am. Divine Liturgy at 10am. One sign-up for both services.
Sunday School is Reopening! We invite all families with children to participate. In person lessons will take place outdoors, in front of the church (or Nicholson Hall in case of inclement weather), on a rotation basis. We continue this Sunday with the kindergarten (Mrs. Joanne's) class. Every age group will alternate between one lesson at church and three on line lessons at a time that is chosen by the group. All children are welcome in church every Sunday and we are restarting the children sermons.
Please continue to sign up and be emboldened to participate. As you feel ready to come and enjoy services in person, we joyfully welcome you! Please sign up today for the rest of the fall at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A45AEAA22A0FD0-annunciation Livestreaming continues in the event you are continuing to limit outings and sticking closer to home. We are here for you online and in person!
Sunday livestream services continue this week with Orthros at 9:00am and Divine Liturgy at 10:00am. Our main form of transmission will be on our YouTube channel, but you will find links on facebook and on our website http://annunciation.ma.goarch.org/ Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel! If you have a newer TV, you can use the YouTube app and watch on the big screen. You can experiment ahead of time by watching our services from previous Sundays, which can be found on our website under the Worship tab.
Stewardship Outreach and Families in Need Requests You will soon receive a phone call from one of our volunteers. We want you to feel included in our parish life and to collect any useful feed-back. Anybody willing to volunteer will be directed to a ministry of their liking in need of help. Let us know if you need any help with the live-stream or with coming to church. We are here to help, financially or otherwise. Any requests for help should be directed to Fr. Costin or to a member of the Families in need Committee (Kimberly Patton, Arthur and John Housianitis). All such requests will be dealt with the utmost confidentiality.
During the virtual Annual Meeting of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, Rev. Romanos Karanos received the prestigious Medallion of St. Romanos the Melodist for Exemplary Archdiocesan Church Music Accomplishments.
The theme of the Congress, “…the greatest of these is love” exemplified the words and the spirit of the apresenters as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the Congress to be held “virtually.”