A Word from Fr. John:

On the Trisagion Hymn, from the Commentary on the Divine Liturgy by St. Germanus of Constantinople (written ca. 730). Translation from On the Divine Liturgy, SVS Press, 1984 (by Paul Meyendorff)

“The Trisagion Hymn is sung thus: There, the angels say, ‘Glory to God in the highest’; here, like the Magi, we bring gifts to Christ – faith, hope, and love, like gold, frankincense, and myrrh – and like the bodiless hosts we cry in faith: ‘Holy God,’ that is, the Father; ‘Holy Mighty,’ that is, the Son and Word, for he has bound the mighty devil and made him who had dominion over death powerless through the Cross, and He has given us life by tramping on him; “Holy Immortal,” that is, the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, through whom all creation is made alive and cries out, ‘Have mercy on us.’”

Special Prayer Requests: 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  (Phil. 4:6-7)

We pray for mercy, life, peace, and healing of all parishioners, especially: Margo and Niko Kelley, Vasso Poulos, Uncle Pike, Chresanthe Lemieux, Zoe Kauttu, Maryann Bolt, James Day, Kostas Lantzounis, Fr. Nikitas and Pres. Mary Theodosion, His Grace Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, Margaret, James, Kyriake, Mike and Ingrid (Evangelia) Fotianos, Irene Hastalis, Jane Anderson. Remember also our missionary families: Fr. Stephanos, Pr. Alexandria, Moses & Athan Ritsi serving in Albania; and Michael, Lisa & Liam Colburn.

2020 Stewardship – “Partner and Grow in Faith with Us”

Your Orthodox Christian Stewardship commitment in support of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is a vital part of advancing the work of Christ and our Orthodox Faith in our Parish and our Church at large.  We thank you for your continued support.

July 12^th General Assembly:

Thirty-nine stewards participated in a special virtual General Assembly on Sunday, July 12, 2020. The main issue considered was an offer of $343,000 in lieu of further monthly rental on the communication tower on our property. The majority of stewards were in favor of accepting this offer. The majority also approved the following utilization of the money: $54,750 to pay our Clergy Pension Fund debt, $200,000 to be added to the Full Time Priest Reserve Fund, and $88,250 to be designated in the future. After the deal is finalized, the next steps will be to seek guidance for a full-time priest from Metropolitan Alexios, and to form a committee to recommend utilization of the designated money.

On-Line Giving:

• The Parish Council has added a link “Make a Donation” on our Church’s web page www.HolyTrinityGOC.com for on-line giving.  This is a secure way to give to your Church.  Giving categories have been set up to allow giving to specific funds within the Church – for instance, Stewardship, Easter, Memorials, etc.  You can give via credit card, Paypal and you also have the ability to set up recurrent giving.  Of course, you can also set up recurrent giving through your bank if you wish.  Please be sure that a specific notation (ex: stewardship) is included for each transaction.

• We have also added a link for our new “Light a Candle & Say a Prayer” ministry. This new service allows us to light a candle during our divine services on-line. Your request will be forwarded to the Parish Council in the narthex during the service and they will pray for you and light your candle.  Also, if you wish to provide names of loved ones to be prayed for, those will be provided to Fr. John as well.

Giving by Check:

Each time you contribute funds to the parish by check, the notation on the memo line of your check allows us to identify your intentions:  Stewardship, Candles, Trays, Memorials, etc.                                       

Weekly Offering: 

Sacrificial Offerings….July 19th - Candles $94; Tray $157; Stewardship $2747

Philoptochos:

• During the month of July, Philoptochos is conducting a non-perishable food drive to benefit local food banks.  St. Johns Food Bank is specifically asking for boxed macaroni and cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, and pasta and pasta sauces.  We are also asking for donations of gas cards to benefit the Assist program of St. Johns County.  Donations can be delivered to the church during hours Nelda is there, brought to the St. Photios Shrine, brought to the church on Sundays during church hours or picked up from your front door.  For home pick up please contact Polly Hillier, Susan Stone or Lisa Colburn (World Golf Village area).  As you know, many people are without jobs because of Covid 19 and our food banks are desperate for donations.  If you are in a position to help, it would be greatly appreciated. 

• Philoptochos is also collecting school supplies for Title 1 schools in our area.  The lists are pretty generic and would include items such as hand sanitizer and disinfectants (if these can be found), backpacks, headphones, #2 pencils, colored pencils, crayons, folders, notebooks, glue, erasers, notebook paper, composition notebooks, dry erase markers, colored construction paper, and copier paper. A labeled box has been placed in the church hall.  If you are able to donate, please bring your items to church on Sunday or drop them off at the church office when Nelda is there between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays.  We will be collecting items until the end of July.

Wednesday Night Adult Bible Study:

The adult Bible Study of the Gospel of John occurs each Wednesday from 8 to 9 PM online through Zoom.  The meeting can be accessed by going to https://theColburns.us and clicking on the menu item that says “Online”.  You can also see what verses will be studied each Sunday so you can read them ahead of time.

December 6^th, 2020 (tentatively) 4-7 p.m., Christmas Open House at St. Photios National Shrine:

Last year over 500 people passed through the gate of St. Photios Shrine to share in holiday cheer as we ushered in the Christmas holidays with the St. Photios Shrine Inaugural Christmas Open House.  This year, God willing, we will be able to safely do so again.  On behalf of Shrine Hierarchal Proistamenos, Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, you are invited to be part of the Christmas Open House Committee and to add this Shrine event to your calendar.  And to consider ways in which you and organizations from your communities can assist in bringing our religious (St. Nicholas Day!) and cultural (Christmas customs!) to witness in 2020. Praying you all remain safe and that you will pray for me as well, Polly Hillier, St Photios

Contact Information:

The parish council has been making phone calls to every parishioner for which we have such contact information. If you have not received a phone call, please call (904 829-0504) or email (holy3goc@gmail.com) the office and give Nelda your phone number – we will happily check in on you.  Also, if you know of anyone who doesn’t receive our emails but would like to, please encourage them to let Nelda at holy3goc@gmail.com  know their contact information so we can update our records and keep them informed.

Reminder:  Deadline for Church bulletin e-mail articles is by Wednesday weekly. Thank you.

HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

PLEASE JOIN US!

WE HAVE RE- OPENED

Orthros 9 a.m.   -    Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.

Thanks be to God!

Before entering the church, the temperature of each person will be taken by a designated person. If the person’s temperature is above 100.4oF he or she will be kindly asked to return to their home, both for their safety and the safety of others. 

We are still required to wear face coverings while we are in the church.

We wish to remind you to let us know if you plan to attend the Divine Liturgy, so that we can keep things running smoothly at the church while signing folks in and taking temperatures.

Therefore, please contact the church office via email - holy3goc@gmail.com - preferably with the subject line "I want to attend" - or by phone at 904 829-0504, and let Nelda know your name, the names of those you plan to attend with, and your phone number. Please let her know by Thursday before 1 p.m. Again, this will help us prepare well and know what to expect, as well as avoid bottlenecks and other kinds of confusion.