Welcome to Saint George Church!

“Faith is collaboration: thinking together, praying together, acting together.

The Church is not the place of my prayer but of our prayer.

We pray together and are responsible for each other.” 

-Archbishop Anastasios of Albania

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:

for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews 13:2

WELCOME!

We hope you will join us on Sundays and to participate in our various programs as you are able. Fellowship hour is on break for the summer. We will resume after Labor Day. Visit us online to learn about our church and our various programs. Sign up for our weekly bulletin and become a supporting member at www.SaintGeorgeNYC.org.

VIEW THE COMPLETE MATINS SERVICE FOR TODAY IN ENGLISH & GREEK HERE.

 Sunday Service Schedule:

Matins (morning service) at 9:30

DIVINE LITURGY (Eucharist) AT 10:30 AM

Celebrated mostly in English

 JOIN US!

All are Welcome

 Visit us on our web site and on  facebook.

      VISIT OUR MINISTRIES PAGE: CLICK HERE

“Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:15)

 

MARILENA'S MEALS:  Resumes in September

Thank you to all that help and support this ministry.

 On March, 15, 1965, Archbishop Iakovos joined Martin Luther King, Jr. in a historic civil rights march. Prior to the march, a memorial service was held for Rev. James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister who had been beaten to death by the Ku Klux Klan a few days earlier, for his commitment to improving housing in poor, black neighborhoods. Archbishop Iakovos’ words at the memorial follow.

I came to this memorial service because I believe this is an appropriate occasion not only to dedicate myself as well as our Greek Orthodox communicants to the noble cause for which our friend, the Reverend James Reeb, gave his life; but also in order to show our willingness to continue this fight against prejudice, bias, and persecution.

In this God-given cause, I feel sure that I have the full and understanding support of our Greek Orthodox faithful of America.

For our Greek Orthodox Church and our people fully understand from our heritage and our tradition such sacrificial involvements.

Our Church has never hesitated to fight, when it felt it must, for the rights of mankind; and many of our Churchmen have been in the forefront of these battles time and again….The ways of God are not always revealed to us, but certainly His choice of this dedicated minister to be the victim of racial hatred and the hero of this struggle to gain unalienable constitutional rights for those American brethren of ours who are denied them, and to die, so to speak, on this battlefield for human dignity and equality, was not accidental or haphazard.

Let us seek out in this tragedy a divine lesson for all of us. The Reverend Reeb felt he could not be outside the arena of this bitter struggle, and we, too, must feel that we cannot. Let his martyrdom be an inspiration and a reminder to us that there are times when we must risk everything, including life itself, for those basic American ideals of freedom, justice, and equality, without which this land cannot survive. Our hope and prayer, then, is that we may be given strength to let God know by our acts and deeds, and not only by our words, that like the late Reverend James Reeb, we, too, are the espousers and the fighters in a struggle for which we must be prepared to risk our all.

HOW FINAL WISHES ARE COMMUNICATED: It is critical that you make your wishes and plans known to your loved ones.  Our world today requires that many of these wishes be documented in a will or trust or a living will.  A living will and burial instructions can be prepared so there is no confusion at a time when it is easy to overlook important Orthodox traditions when stress and emotions are running high.  The Stewardship Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has prepared an Orthodox Living Will that can be filled in and reviewed by your family, doctor and legal advisor. It is important, and we urge you to seek competent legal and financial advice. Please contact Fr Jim (frjimk@goarch.org) for a copy of the Orthodox Living Will. 

MEMORIAL SERVICES  Prayer for the dead is seen by Orthodox Christians as an essential component of our faith in Jesus Christ. Praying for those who have died is not merely an expression of mourning, it is a proclamation that Christ has risen from the dead and that, in His love, even death cannot separate us from one another! Forty days after the death of a loved one (or on the Sunday nearest to the 40 days), it is the custom of our Church to celebrate a prayer service in remembrance of the deceased known in English as a Memorial Service. In this service we ask God to “grant rest” to the deceased “in the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22-23) and to place him/her “in a place of light, a place of happiness, a place of refreshment, where there is no pain, no sorrow and no suffering” (Revelation 21:4) as we did during the funeral service.

We are Stewards of the Gospel: We are called to guard the Gospel message, but not to hoard it. We are instructed not to hide our light under a bushel. As we share the voice of Christ, the message we share is one of hope, truth, grace, divine power, life and invitation. In this busy, ever-changing world, His voice of wisdom is needed to guide us in discerning what is good, what is true and what will bring us closer to Him and to one another.

Saint George Church seeks to offer:

1. A sense of Peace and Presence of God in worship;
2. Opportunities to Serve Others;
3. Meaningful opportunities for Fellowship;
4. Education in aspects of the Faith for all ages; and
5. A well-maintained and inspiring place of worship & fellowship

    SAINT GEORGE PROFESSIONALS

Our mission is to bring together professional members & friends of St George Church to form stronger friendships through events & activities. We accomplish our mission through Laughing, Learning and Giving, alternating between social, philanthropic and spiritual activities. Questions or Ideas? Contact Marissa at marissapallis@gmail.com to be added to our e-list.

The New Saint George Church Library has been Completed,

Donations of Books on Religion, Philosophy, Arts and Culture are Welcome

WINE FOR HOLY COMMUNION If you would like to offer wine to be used for the preparation of Holy Communion at Saint George Church, you are welcome to do so. The sweet wines that we use for Holy Communion are: Mavrodaphne, Commondaria and Nama Byzantino.

 
SUNDAY PARKING: is available for $10 at ICON Parking on 54th St just east of 8th Ave. Bring your ticket to the candle stand to be validated. Effective from 8:00 AM-2:00 PM after which regular rates will apply.

 What is Christian Stewardship?

 Stewardship is caring for the needs of others.

 Stewardship is offering one’s self to God as He offered Himself to us.

Stewardship is what a person does after saying “I believe…” as proof of that belief.

 Williams and McKibben in Oriented Leadership

Click here

to set up regular or 1-time stewardship contributions to St. George Church.

PLEASE REMEMBER THE CHURCH IN YOUR ESTATE PLANNING

BEFORE YOU RESERVE YOUR WEDDING DAY

The Holy Church has a sacred obligation to uphold and abide by the spiritual guidelines which have been formulated over the ages. One of these guidelines dictates that Wednesdays and Fridays are to be observed as days of fasting, in some cases that includes Saturdays and Sundays. Therefore, weddings are prohibited on such days. In order to avoid confusion and conflict, before you reserve a reception hall you need to check with the church if that day is indeed a day when weddings are allowed.
 

In the Gospel lesson today, Jesus instructs us to “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

When we were baptized, we were given the light of Christ --- symbolized by the baptismal candle – God lit His flame in our souls.  The purpose of baptism is to make us lights to the world for Jesus.

In every liturgy we commemorate Christ’s Resurrection. We become radiant because He is the light of the world. As He told us, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Following Christ means that we will have His light of joy and gladness shining in our hearts. We will have an abundant life full of meaning and purpose.

Sainthood is not some unattainable state, and it is not just for a select few. It is the natural outcome of our baptism – if we see baptism as a beginning and not an ending.

Listen to some of the prayers that were read for us at our baptism:

• “Open the eyes of his understanding, that the light of Your Gospel
  may shine brightly in him.”
• “Make her a child of light, and an heir of Your kingdom.”
• “Fill her with the power of the Holy Spirit.”

These prayers ask that the seed planted in our heart on our day of baptism will grow within us and guide our lives. Our baptism was not the ending but the beginning of our growth in faith in Jesus Christ. Our calling as Orthodox Christians is to strive toward the example of Christ. He is our great example.

As Orthodox Christians we were not created to stay as we are. We were created to become. Our challenge as Orthodox faithful is to hear the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as if we were hearing it for the first time, allowing Him to transform our lives -- to be renewed in His Resurrection.

Being saved is not an event but a process. It is the same process that led all those whom we commemorate today to attain Sainthood.

The moon has no light of its own, yet it is able to light up the night by reflecting the light of the sun. And so it is with us – we have no light of our own, yet we may be radiant by reflecting the light of Christ – by the way we live our lives.

A saint is a sinner who keeps trying. A saint is one who makes it easier for others to believe in God. Consider the possibility that you may be the only Orthodox Christian that someone ever meets. Are you radiant with Christ? Do you reflect His light?

If we believe that in Orthodoxy we have the fullness of the Truth, then we have the great responsibility to let our light shine before all people. It is our duty and obligation not to hide our light under the bushel. Let us take the light of Christ that we received at our baptism and the light we receive at His Resurrection, and let it be born in our hearts – and then our light will shine before others that they may see our good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven.