Agape Coffee Fellowship

Today’s Coffee Fellowship is sponsored by Artemis Romell in loving memory of her husband, Michael Romell.

Memorial

In memory of Michael Romell (40 day), offered in loving memory by Artemis Romell and family. EONIA I MNIMI-Eternal Be His Memory.

Baptism

September 9 - Jessie Maynard of Stamford, CT. Sponsors are James and Nicoletta Sakorafos.

Upcoming Special Services 

Mon., Sept. 13 GREAT VESPERS – AT HOLY CROSS CHURCH -MIDDLETOWN, N.,Y. (845-695-1976)
7:00 pm

Tues., Sept. 14 EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
8:45 am Orthros
10:00 am Divine Liturgy
BASIL (BASILIKO) is needed for this celebration. Please bring Basil on September 13th to the Church to be used for the service. Or by 8:30am on 14th

Bring Your Treasure, Not Trash!

Join us on Saturday, October 2nd for our first-ever, church community tag sale fundraiser. Get ahead of your fall clean-up by contributing some of your treasures to help fill our tables (only items under 20 lbs. can be accepted).

To lessen the hardship associated with disposal, we kindly request you do not drop-off any dirty, broken or unsellable items. In other words, keep your trash!

You may drop off your items EVERY SUNDAY 8:30am-11:30. Please leave items at rear door to the left of the main stairs of the church. Door will be posted.

The final day for item drop-off is SUNDAY, SEPT. 26.

To make this a real success, we also need volunteers to help sort, price and sell. Please contact office@agoc.us ASAP to sign up for a volunteer shift.

Mask Guidelines

ALL ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR A MASK, per the City of Danbury, regardless of vaccination status, at this time.

As we begin the new Ecclesiastical Year let us come to Church and begin offering our Assumption Church Family, especially our Youth, the opportunity to come together in worship and learning.

We have been Blessed with a variety of programs and ministries in our Assumption Church, and we encourage our church families to get involved in the formative, constructive and saving work of our Youth Ministry, especially our Catechism School, and specifically our GOYA-age members (7th-12th grades); JOY (3rd – 6th grades); HOPE (4yr old-2nd grade) and LOVE (birth-4yr old). Also, we encourage participation in our Youth Choir, Acolyte, Readers, Greek Cultural School and Sports programs.

We need to find the ways in which we can all cooperatively "equip the saints" who are in our care with a firm, Christ-grounded foundation and an unconditional, Christ-centered love to guide and help them as they navigate an increasingly challenging world. We need parental input and support in order to offer a quality and meaningful program to our children. You are the spiritual and religious guides God has given to children. We need parents to take an active role as advisors and help with the various events and activities that will bring our youth together.

We encourage our Young Adults who may be in College or beginning their careers to remember that our Church Family prays for your continued progress and success, wishing God's Grace and Blessings in all your endeavors. We look forward to seeing you in Church and are confident that you will continue to dedicate your life to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and to our Assumption Church Family.

Please register here:  Catechism Registration  

To our Assumption Church Family

I hope you are all enjoying the summer!
I wanted to send out some information for our Greek School program. Please share this information with anyone you know who might be interested in our Greek School.

Program Schedule

Afternoon School classes will be meeting 2 days/week: Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Tuesdays, classes will be in person from 4:30-6:00pm.

On Thursdays, classes will be taught via Zoom from 4:30-5:30pm.

Our Adult Classes will be meeting via Zoom from 6:00-7:00pm on Thursdays.

Registration and Materials Fee

Registration for our program is due no later than Sunday, September 19th.

Here is the link for the Registration Form: 2021-2022 Registration Form. 

Please download the form, and submit it to the Church. Ministry Fair is on Sunday, Sept 12th and 19th. You can submit your form/fees at that time.

Our Registration and Materials Fee has increased and I would like to explain this decision. First, we needed to increase the pay that our teachers are receiving. Our teachers are not nearly getting the rate as compared to small group or individual tutors. Our class sizes are very small ranging from 4-9 students. There have been some years that classes had only 1 student! This small class size offers your children more individualized instruction. Moreover, our teachers have been and will continue to be involved in professional development that includes the use of the digital platform. This time of learning is outside the normal curriculum.
Secondly, our program is increasing in the number of hours of instruction. We are moving to 2 days each week, one of which is in person, and the other is through Zoom. We are moving towards having over 75 hours of instruction this year, as compared to less than 40 hours that we have had in the previous years.
Please know that if you need any financial assistance, you may contact Fr. Peter to discuss your situation.

Calendar

Please use this link to access the calendar for this school year: 2021-2022 Calendar. The in-person learning days are noted in blue and the Zoom learning days are noted in Green. Please note there are some tentative dates on this calendar.

Remind App

Please join the Remind App. I will be sending out important information in the case of changes to our calendar. Information to join our group is listed in our handbook.

Handbook

Please click for the 2020-2021 Handbook. It includes important information. 2021-2022 Handbook

The teachers and I look forward to welcoming your child to our Greek School Program!

More information will be shared once our school year has started.

Thank you for your support,
Paraskevi

Paraskevi Rountos
Athletic Director
Greek School Director

TO ALL ACOLYTES AND PARENTS:

SEEKING YOUNG MEN OF OUR PARISH TO SERVE AS ACOLYTES/ALTAR SERVERS. (AGE 9 AND ABOVE)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26^TH --  FATHER PETER IS CONDUCTING AN ACOLYTE/ALTAR SERVER INTRODUCTION/INSTRUCTION MEETING FOLLOWING THE DIVINE LITURGY.

PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM AND RETURN BY SEPTEMBER 19^TH.  THIS FORM NEEDS TO BE FILLED OUT BY CURRENT ACOLYTES AND FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO BECOME ACOLYTES.

Click here for: Acolytes Form

MEETING: Please join our in-person meeting next Tuesday 09/14 at 6.30 at our church hall. Please NOTE that all meetings will be held on TUESDAYS and will run for one hour, 6.30 to 7.30pm. 

NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS: Our monthly national obligations for September are: 1. the Hellenic College Holy Cross Scholarship Fund: Exaltation of the Holy Cross which provides tuition and scholarships to worthy students and 2. the Retired Clergy/Widowed Presvyteres Benevolent Fund (RCA) which provides financial support to retired Clergy and widowed Presvyteres. Information regarding our National obligations can be found at  https://www.philoptochos.org/commitments/

You can make your donation online Donation (eservicepayments.com) by selecting Philoptochos, mail your donation to church or place it in one of the two donation boxes labelled “Philoptochos” that can be found on each pangari stand. The boxes are replacing the passing of Philoptochos monthly tray. Please consider donating to help us fulfill our monthly obligations.

OATH OF OFFICE: Today the newly elected Philoptochos board is taking the Oath of Office for 2021-2023. Congratulations to our president Fevri Gkanatsios, 1st Vice President Ourania Carino, 2nd Vice President Eleni Manolakes, Treasurer Margot Racano, Assistant Treasurer Barbara Soldano, Recording Secretary Susan Chipouras, Corresponding Secretary Cathy Hatzis and Past President and Advisor Caryn Flannery. Also to Zoy Beretis, Maria Tsikalakis, Adriana Filippakos, Vasiliki Filippakos, Sheila Pappas, Rose Koulouris, Laurie Lane, Toula Koutmos, Danai Sachinidou, Maria Terilli and Stacy Neofitidis.

FESTIVAL OF TABLES 2021:Save the date for November 6, 2021. Our Ladies will celebrate the 20th FOT anniversary. Please let Rose Koulouris or Ourania Carino know if you want to host a table or donate a raffle! We invite you to join our Facebook Group “Assumption Ladies Philoptochos, Danbury, CT” athttps://www.facebook.com/Assumption-Ladies-Philoptochos-Danbury-CT-101749108195144 and keep current with any updates.

HOSTESSES/HOSTS NEEDED!   PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING.  WE NEED YOUR HELP. 

We NEED YOU to sign up FOR September and October. Click on the link to review the dates needed and sign-up Agape Coffee Fellowship Sept/Oct 2021 Volunteers.   Additional sign-ups will be shared every two months.

You may contact Eleni Manolakes (eleni.manolakes@yahoo.com) or Caryn Flannery (philoptochos@agoc.us) with questions. If we don't have enough volunteers, we may be forced to cancel some Sundays!

Link to National Ladies Philoptochos Society September 2021 Newsletter:  Philanthropy Witness- September 2021 (mailchi.mp) 

There will be a meeting on September 26th - after church in the Conference Room - for all Choir members and anyone interested in singing with the choir and/or reading or chanting during services. We will discuss the possible ways of bringing the choir back and strategies allowing participation during services for anyone interested.

Calling all Youth Choir Members!  There will be a Youth Choir Kick-Off Get-Together on Sunday, October 10th after church on the back lawn.  Bring a favorite church camp song to sing!  Youth Choir parents:  if you would like to help with refreshments/snacks for the event, please contact Cindy Ziemnicki at: youthchoir@agoc.us

Light a Candle and Say a Prayer at Assumption

“It is impossible to imagine an Orthodox church in which candles are not lit.” (Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica, 15th Century)

Lighting a candle in the Narthex is one of the first things many people do upon entering an Orthodox Church. This act symbolizes many things. For some, it is an offering of prayer for one’s personal needs or that of a family member or friend. Others light candles and pray for protection, safety, and courage to live this life without fear.

Lighting candles is an important part of our faith and we know that it has been - and continues to be - challenging for some to be unable to pray and light candles inside the church over the past year.

We are now pleased to offer AGOC parishioners the option to light a candle when you are unable to attend in-person services. Should you wish to light a candle, a member of the Parish Council will be happy to do so for you during services. Please use this link: https://agocdanbury.square.site/

Pray with us by subscribing to the Assumption YouTube channel 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9tD5mB_u3GgO1J8ikwIW0g

Or by visiting our Assumption page on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/assumptiongreekorthodoxchurch/videos/?ref=page_internal

Live events will be streamed on both these services on programmed service hours.