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.

Today we welcome Fr Joshua Pappas from the Parish of Archangel Michael in Port Washington. He is serving at Saint George this Sunday while Fr Jim covers the Dormition Parish in Windham, NY at the request of the Chancellor while their priest is on vacation.

Today we say good-bye to Brooke & James Wilcox as they depart New York and move to Boston. We thank them for their friendship and service to our parish.

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!

 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. 

STEWARDSHIP OF FAMILY: Throughout our lives and the roles we assume within the family, we are stewards of the love, authority, trust and respect that exist among members of the family. Unlike material possessions, these are not diminished by use. But if mishandled, they can be lost. Love, authority, trust and respect require the most diligent stewardship, because once they are lost, they are most difficult to recover.

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.
 

I Must Decrease!

Fr. Mark Sietsema

John the Baptist is the role model for thoughtful Christian service.

I must decrease!

No, this is not an article about weight-loss resolutions. That would be a cruel thing to publish just after Thanksgiving and before Christmas.

I am referring to the words of Saint John the Baptist with regard to Jesus Christ (John 3:30): "He must increase, but I must decrease." John's point was simple: he himself was the warm-up act. Now the main attraction was onstage, and that was his cue to step aside.

Jesus Christ must increase: it was time for His ministry to grow and gather followers and garner strength. John must decrease: the mission of the Forerunner had been fulfilled. He had played his part in God's plan and prepared the way. His joy was full (John 3:29) at hearing the voice of the one who was to replace him. But now it was time for his ministry to diminish, for his disciples to join Jesus, and for his audiences to shift from the banks of the Jordan to the Teacher giving sermons on the mount.

I must decrease. These are words of tremendous faith. It takes a believer's heart to "let go and let God" be in charge of His Church, to trust that the future is in His hands, and to relinquish the control that we humans find so addictive.

I must decrease. These are words of tremendous humility. It takes a selfless soul to admit to one's limitations and to accept the loss of the limelight that the ego so eagerly craves.

I must decrease. These are words of tremendous strength and wisdom. It takes a truly mighty man to step aside gracefully and to master his inevitable feelings of rejection. It takes a truly wise man to realize that for everything--and everyone--there is a season, and that one's own seasons come and go; but also to realize that, with every decrease in one arena of life, there is an increase in another, one with the potential to be equally rewarding, equally glorifying to God.

We have developed new materials from the Archdiocese on parish administration and organization. There is an emphasis in these materials on the topics of volunteer mentoring and succession. The key concept was this: one of the duties of any parish volunteer is to help prepare the next generation of leadership--and then to step aside when willing workers come forward to offer their service.

No one is indispensable. On the contrary, we have a duty to make ourselves dispensable--by sharing our personal know-how freely, and by giving others their chance to lead once we have had our turn. This ensures smooth transition of leadership in all of the parish functions.

We can make our leadership felt in a negative way by letting the church struggle in our absence. Or we can empower others to offer their talents to serve the church as they have been blessed.

When people bring their own new ideas and offer them in service to the parish, there are two things we should never say:

1. We’ve never done it like that before; and
2. But this is the way we’ve always done it.

Good servants of the Church know that they must decrease when the time comes for others to increase. Responsible decreasing is like responsible weight-loss: it is done purposefully and methodically.

Responsible decreasers don't handpick their successors and then play puppet-master from the sidelines. They offer encouragement but not interference. Responsible decreasers don't sit back idly and throw stones of criticism. They help when asked, and they graciously support new leadership with praise and advice.

There is also a need for responsible increasers. These are people who step forward gladly when their turn comes up to take the lead. They don't wait to be courted or cajoled; they answer the call because they love their God and their Church. They don't get discouraged at a little sniping or pessimism from the old guard. They have the humility to listen to advice and the dedication to follow through on their commitments.

"I must decrease!" For his faith, humility, strength, and wisdom, John the Baptist received from Christ the highest compliment imaginable (Luke 7:28a): "I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John." They share in this greatness who decrease and increase as he did, at the right time, out of love for the Lord. By the intercessions of the Holy Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist, may we all, as church volunteers and co-workers in the Kingdom, be enlightened to know when to serve and when to step aside, so that Christ may always increase among us!