Greetings and Welcome Home! We hope and pray that you continue to feel safe and secure as you worship with us in person. And we continue to be grateful to our faithful parishioners who find ways to pray the liturgy with us from the safety of their homes. We continue to monitor and implement the most current guidelines from state authorities, health officials and from the Archdiocese and Church leadership. If you have a positive experience worshipping with us, please tell your family and friends! And as always, use your discretion and follow the advice of your physician as you navigate the world during these difficult times.
Reservations (for lack of a better way of putting it) will be on a first come first serve basis and
need to be made in one of the three following ways:
- Online via SignUp Genius (You will receive an email every Tuesday with a link to register for the upcoming Sunday)
- Via voice call to Zoy Beretis (203) 792-9467, or
- or SMS/text message to Panaiota Constantine (845) 913-6922
Those in attendance and those at home may want to access the text of the divine services by visiting Digital Chant Stand at https://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/dcs.html. Just click on the date on the left side of the page and/or download the app and navigate to the appropriate service. For safety, we have removed the service books from the pews and chances are that folks at home may not have a copy of the Divine Liturgy.
As you begin to resume your "normal" weekly routines in these challenging times, we ask that you consult the guidelines listed below (subject to change) to help you prepare for what to expect during this "new abnormal" way of attending Church.
Latest Guidelines for Attending Divine Worship
ON TIME ARRIVAL
Please arrive between 8:15-9:45. Only the north entrances, near the handicapped parking, will be open. Allow extra time for social distancing protocol upon arrival. Please leave all nonessentials in your car.
MASKS REQUIRED
All attendees are required to put on protective face masks before exiting their vehicle. Exceptions are only permitted for those with valid medical reasons, special needs and children less than 2 years of age.
FOLLOW THE SIGNS
Please follow signs to posted entry points and maintain distancing via the ground markers. These have been prepared in advance to provide safe social distancing and need to be respected for everyone’s well-being.
UPON ENTRY
Be prepared for a touchless temperature reading of your forehead by an infrared thermometer and hand sanitizing. Temperature must not exceed 99.1 for admittance. Next, a member of Parish Council will hand you a candle to light. Please venerate Icons with a bow only. No touching or kissing.
SEATING
A member of Parish Council will escort you to your designated seat and record your name for our attendance recordkeeping. Seating has been designed to adhere to social distancing requirements. Only members of the same family may sit together without distancing between them. Please remain in your designated seat throughout the entire service, except for restroom needs. The restroom in the “crying room” is the only restroom open to attendees. A Parish Council member will open the room for one person at a time. Please use provided wipes to clean faucets and doorknob after use.
HOLY COMMUNION AND DISMISSAL
On Sundays, Holy Communion will not be offered at the usual appointed time. Instead, attendees are invited to receive communion at the end of the service and it will be distributed in the following manner:
- Parish Council members will guide attendees by row, adhering to distancing markers placed in the aisle.
- Remove mask before approaching the Holy Chalice.
- Please do not touch the Communion cloth or dab it on your lips. It will be held by altar servers to prevent spills.
- A separate metal spoon will be used for each communicant.
- Do not return to your seat, but continue to the doors to exit the church.
- Those not receiving Communion will be dismissed by Parish Council members beginning with the last row.
- Antidoron will be individually wrapped on tables in the Narthex.
- Continue walking to your car. No congregating inside please.
Kindly know that we are doing our best to "normalize" what is a challenging and strange time. What remains True and Pure and Eternal throughout is Jesus Christ and our human desire to praise, glorify, thank and honor Him, the Panagia, and the Saints. When you are tempted by the "strangeness" of how we've temporarily made provisions for the safest possible experience for our faithful, and as everyone regains a level of confidence, I encourage you to return your thoughts as quickly as possible to the "why am I here" - to remember that you are an essential part of His Body and the ranks of angels and archangels rejoice with us when we invoke His name.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Fr. Nikolas
Again and most fervently, the Members of the Holy Eparchial Synod of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, under the presidency of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, write to you with urgency, determination, and great faith; for we have heard your cries of anguish and pain over the seizure of the Great Church of Holy Wisdom, our Ἁγία Σοφία.
As Brothers in Christ, and the leaders of our respective communities here in New York, we lament and decry the decision of the Turkish government to change the status quo of the world renown Hagia Sophia, and re-convert this monument of human and divine achievement into a mosque.
This weekend, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros was interviewed by the BBC’s Julian Marshall concerning the conversation of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Below is a transcript of the interview.