A Word from Fr. John:

Some words from St. Paisios of Mt Athos (from With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man):

“During His holy feast days our Lord Jesus Christ fills the souls of the faithful with His great love and exultation, truly reviving us while lifting us spiritually. All it takes to celebrate these feasts is our participation and spiritual appetite for them. Only then can we spiritually celebrate them, getting drunk on that wine – that heavenly wine of Paradise – served to us by the saints....

“We should think about the events of each holy day (Christmas, Theophany, Pascha, and so on) and say the Jesus Prayer, glorifying God.... We must contemplate these divine events and keep them constantly alive in our hearts. Later, during church services, our mind will be on the events being celebrated, and we will follow the hymns being chanted with great reverence. When the mind [I suspect he means the deepest part of our heart, the eye of the soul (the nous in Greek), not merely our conscious, “rational” thoughts – Fr. John] concentrates on divine meanings, we actually experience the holy events and are transformed.”

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: Gail Jones, 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, Joseph, Irene Hastalis, Jane Anderson. Remember also our missionary families: Fr. Stephanos, Pr. Alexandria, Moses & Athan Ritsi serving in Albania; and Michael, Lisa & Liam Colburn. 

Memorials:

• September 27^th Ivel (3 year) and Minas Sarris (7 year)
• October 11^th Mary Spanos (40 days)
• October 18^th Dorothea Gaitanis (40 days)

Liturgical Services: 

Join us “virtually” for services at HTGOC:  https://www.facebook.com/HolyTrinityGOC/

Regarding Sunday services, please 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. This will help us keep the focus on worshipping God as much as possible.  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.

In line with our bishop’s directives, we are still monitoring the temperature of each person entering the church, and we are still required to wear face coverings while we are in the church.

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.                                            

Sacrificial Offerings:

Sept 20^th – Candles $100; Tray $20; Stewardship $1535

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

As orthodox Christians, we see the world as God’s gift, as a sacrament of God’s presence and a means of communication with Him.  So, we are able to offer the world back to God in thanksgiving as we say in every Divine Liturgy “Thine own of Thine own we offer to thee…”.

Parish Council Report:

We understand the void in our parish fellowship, and we are looking forward to being together again.  A lot has been accomplished, including managing Covid-19 response at HTGOC, live-streaming services (https://www.facebook.com/HolyTrinityGOC/), receiving on-line donations, and we have re-opened our Church for Divine Services.  We continue to follow the We continue to follow the prescribed guidelines.

Treasurer’s Report

Bank Balances (as of Aug. 31, 2020)

Operating account:                         

$29,356

Mortgage reduction account:             

$6,424

Festival account:                                

 $15,849

Mortgage Balance:                          

($934,973)

Reserves

Maintenance reserve:                           

$8,609

Full-time Clergy reserve:                  

$26,435

Profit & Loss (as of Aug 31, ‘20)

Revenue:                                             

$12,203

Expense:                                               

$14,010

Net:                                                         

($1,806)

Stewardship Report

Although we are still in a period of uncertainty, it is vital for us to keep a positive, Christ-centered approach to our efforts.  We ask you to partner and grow in Faith with us.  Your stewardship commitment is vital to our efforts.  We currently have 73 active Holy Trinity Steward families, with over $12,459 pledged.  If you have not done so, please submit your stewardship commitment card.  Stewardship payments can be made on-line (http://www.holytrinitygoc.com).

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”. The passcode is 411363.  You can also see what verses will be studied each Sunday so you can read them ahead of time.

Sunday School News:

Holy Trinity Sunday School had its first VIRTUAL meeting on August 12^th.  For now, classes will be done on a weekly basis using Zoom.  There are a lot of amazing online materials that the teachers will use, as well as standard textbooks.  We ask that all parents make this a priority for their children as the success of this ministry relies on parents.

• P PreK- K class (Lisa Colburn and Evangelia Brati) will meet via Zoom at 6 p.m. on 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month (note change).
• 1^st – 8^th grade class (Carman Gaetanos and Pres Renee Ritsi) will meet via Zoom on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
• High School class (Mary Righos and Kurt Mitman) will meet via Zoom according to availability.

Each group of teachers will be coordinating individually with their classes and setting times and sending Zoom links.  If you have questions, please contact Pres Renee (904.377.2591) or Carman (904.540.0367 or carmgaet@gmail.com).

Festival Cookng - Calling All Hands!!:

We are going to begin our festival cooking in the next few weeks and would love to have your help!  We will social distance within the church hall and allow limited numbers within the kitchen itself. 

• On Saturday, October 3rd @ 10:00 we will be putting pastitsio together.  Again, we hope to have the prep work done on Friday so we can immediately start layering and making bechamel.  Helpers are welcome on Friday afternoon/evening for prep as well, please contact Carman @ 904-540-0367 or carmgaet@gmail.com.

We are hoping to have Saturday’s work completed within a few hours, so please offer your help where you can.   The more hands we have, the quicker we can get done :)

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

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.  Polly Hillier, St Photios National Shrine

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.