HOW TO PARK ON SANFORD STREET DURING THE WINTER We have even/odd day parking on Sanford Street. On odd dates, parking is restricted to the side of the street across from the church. On even dates, parking is restricted to the church side of the street. This is to help facilitate plowing on Sanford Street as needed. If you park on the wrong side of the street during winter, your car could be ticketed.
WELCOME TO OUR VISITORS Whether you are new to Bangor or if you're just passing through - welcome! Please don't hesitate to introduce yourself to someone you've never met and consider staying for some refreshments and fellowship after the morning service. If you would like to receive mailings or otherwise stay in touch, please leave your contact information (name, address, phone, email) with the person in the church office.
TODAY - PLEASE INDICATE YOUR SUPPORTIVE PLEDGE TO ST. GEORGE FOR 2023 It's time for stewardship pledges to be made for 2023. A stewardship pledge helps Parish Council reasonably plan for this new year 2023. We pray you can, and will, be generous when remembering your Church and our Holy Patron, Saint George. Pledge forms are available on the candle stand. Please turn in your planned pledge to the church office TODAY if you haven't already done so. Thank you - we are a family in Christ and God is with us. We can never outgive God Almighty and we are greatly blessed! Lee, Parish Council President
NEXT SUNDAY, PLEASE BRING KOLIVA FOR YOUR ORTHODOX LOVED ONES Next Sunday following the Divine Liturgy we will pray a memorial for all the souls of our Orthodox loved ones. Please prepare a koliva for your loved ones and bring your list of names for commemoration. Thank you!
MEMORY ETERNAL - LOVING SYMPATHY TO THE MICHAUD FAMILY Bert and Patty's daughter, Aimee, was called by God last Tuesday night while in the surrounds of her loved ones. A link to her obituary is here: https://rfhr.com/obituaries/aimee-michaud-gulvin-2/. There will be a gathering of family and friends this week in Raleigh and a memorial is planned for a later date. Please continue your prayerful support for the family and for the rest and repose of their beloved Aimee. Messages of love and sympathy may be sent to Bert and Patty at this address: Michaud Family, 10808 Marthas Way / Raleigh, NC 27614.
PLANNING AHEAD FOR GREAT LENT We're now at the second Sunday of the Triodion period (the three weeks preceding Great Lent). This second Sunday of the Triodion is focoused on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The fasting schedule is as usual - fast on Wednesday and Friday only. However, please know that NEXT Sunday is Meatfare Sunday, the last day to eat meat until Holy Pascha. Great and Holy Lent itself will get underway on Clean Monday, February 27.
WHAT TO COOK & EAT DURING GREAT LENT? One of the things that many people stumble over is what to eat / what to cook for the Season of Repentance (or any fasting season, really). The diet the Church guides us to follow is, largely, plant based augmented with some seafood, if desired, along with wine and olive oil, if desired, on the weekends. Nevertheless, there still seems to be the struggle of what to eat / what to prepare? May we suggest a very useful site to help answer these questions? Jill Dalton of the Whole Food Plant Based Cooking Show is a plant based cook with a family and she has created some truly delicious dishes that fit right in with the dietary guidelines of Great Lent. Visit her site: https://plantbasedcookingshow.com/ and learn how to follow and cook for a whole food, plant based, diet. Not only are Jill's recipes tasty, but they are gluten free, dairy free, oil free and sugar free. Does that sound too good to be true? It's not. You might be surprised by how easy this is to do. Anyway, before Great Lent arrives, consider visiting her site & channel and get some neat pointers and recipes to get your family through the season. This will also aid in keeping the Wednesday / Friday fasting days each week. Jill demonstrates how to cook all her recipes on YouTube, too, so it's a great learning experience. Highly recommended.
FOODS REQUESTED BY MANNA MINISTRIES FOOD PANTRY: They are currently in need of canned soups, pasta sauce and tuna fish. Other foods are also welcome, but those listed as especially sought now. And, they sent a hearty thank you to our St. George community for all we've been sending over in recent weeks! Again, thanks to Demetri for being our liaison with Manna.
A MINISTRY TO OUR CHURCH'S NEIGHBORS Our church sits in a neighborhood where there are some obvious on-going needs. A number of lower income people living nearby rely on Manna Ministries' food pantry and soup kitchen (located in the Old Brick Church) somewhat regularly. In an effort to help the pantry help our neighbors, let us make the effort to bring some staple foods to church every Sunday and leave them in the office. We will take the donated foods down to Manna Ministries so we can be part of the effort to feed those who are hungry in our area. This is not meant to be a one-time thing, rather something we do routinely as a ministry to our neighbors. A verse from the Old Testament speaks to the needs for on-going charity, Deuteronomy 15:11, For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land. And the Lord Jesus speaks about the effects of our charitable giving in Matthew 25:40, And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’ So, let us fulfill that which pleases God and He will reward the love and obedience of the giver.