Pastoral Message from the August Beacon
08/01/2020
Dear Faithful and Friends of the Assumption,
I am continually humbled by people that are finding Orthodoxy and reaching out to our parish. We have been so blessed by the Lord to be able to have so many from such diverse backgrounds finding His Church in so many ways. Even during these most challenging times, we have a few people in catechism in preparation for being received into the faith.
It is such a tremendous privilege that we have been given—not only in receiving the Orthodox Faith, but also in preserving it and passing it on to our children and to all those whom the Lord brings to our doors. It is by our Apostolic nature and through Evangelism that we continue the ministry that Christ Himself bestowed upon the Apostles. We not only preserve the Faith, but we bring as many as we can to its fullness.
We have been blessed to be able to make 2 huge steps forward in our outreach to the community—the New LED Sign and a NEW Audio and Camera System for our Live Streaming on Facebook. These investments were not small, but I truly believe that they will bring more people to His Church. It baffles me just how many were watching our live stream when it was incredibly difficult to understand due to the acoustics! How many more will have their hearts touched now that the beautiful prayers and hymns can be heard!
The vision of outreach and evangelism is one that most have on a conceptual basis. Putting into practice is another issue. It takes stepping out of our comfort zones and reaching out to those we do not know. It takes opening ourselves up in a very intimate way to our friend, families and coworkers—potentially being looked at as “religious” or in a different way than we have been. It takes effort, commitment and resources that could be placed in other areas.
I am truly proud of our parish council for sharing in this vision and making the investment in our outreach program. I am greatly thankful for our brothers and sisters that saw the importance and donated to make it happen. I know that with the proper humility before the Lord that we will reach many. Together, we will “Attract, Serve and Illuminate!” All we need now is our new building, but I will save that for the September Beacon.
In Service of the Risen Lord,
Fr. Jon