Please note that this Sunday the services will NOT be available online. The angel responsible for it is out of town.

The Hierarchs of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops have blessed the Sunday after the feast of St. Silas (the patron of prison ministry) to be Prison Ministry Awareness Sunday in all US Orthodox parishes. In 2022, this occurs on this Sunday, July 31. There will be a special collect after the liturgy for funds to support the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry.

This Sunday we will do the service of the Blessing of the Water right after the liturgy. The blessed water will be the vehicle for blessing all the participants in preparation for the beginning of the new month.

We will celebrate the feast of Transfiguration with Vespers, Liturgy and the Blessing of the fruit on the eve of the feast, Friday, August 5. Following the services, we will gather for a potluck fish dinner on the patio. Bring a dish to share and grapes/ fruit to be blessed.

A Ministry lead by Father Ion

Our Young Adults and their friends are invited for their first Beach Volleyball Fun on Saturday, August 13 from 10am. We will meet at Del Monte Beach. Bring your lunch for eating with the team after practice. Please sign up here.

Community

A Ministry led by Kathy Shaw

Short Trip to the Edge - A Pilgrimage to Prayer

Our next meeting is planned for 10:00am on Tuesday, August 2.

Assignment: review from p. 162 (p. 182 in older edition) through Chapter 14.

Brief review: Poet and literature professor Scott Cairns ran headlong into his midlife crisis — a fairly common experience among men nearing the age of fifty—while walking on the beach with his Labrador. His was not a desperate attempt to recapture youth, filled with sports cars and younger women. Instead, Cairns realized his spiritual life was advancing at a snail's pace and time was running out. Midlife crisis for this Baptist turned Eastern Orthodox manifested as a desperate need to seek out prayer.

Adult Education, Community

A ministry lead by Thimi Saites

After a two year break, St John's annual Greek Festival will return on the last weekend of September, 23rd - 25th to the Custom House Plaza. This is a BIG community effort for our church. Our fellowship and focus are strengthened over these 3 days working together. 

We will have a Taverna Night on Friday evening, 5pm to 9pm with drinks, small bites, music and dancing. Then the full festival will continue Saturday and Sunday.

We are looking for booth chairmen for Soda, Souvlaki, BBQ,  Finance, and Master of Ceremonies (Announcer/MC). We will provide more details of what is entailed in these positions. In the meantime, SIGN UP HERE!!!
Please consider and talk to Thimi if you are interested. 

We are excited to get started, working with you again and to continue the great success of our past festivals. 

Community

How can you help prepare for the festival? Don’t let just one or two people do everything, when together we can take the festival to a whole new level. Here are things you can do before the festival begins to get the word our. These need to be done right now!!!   

Sign up for several of the tasks below:

• Identify a company for printing advertising signs inexpensively, and arrange printing. Artwork and quantities will be provided. Includes printing  sponsor signs for putting on booths
• Help put signs up along roadways on September 1^st and take them down immediately after the festival
• Manage printing T-shirts for sale at the Gift Shop.
• Mail announcements about the festival to all other Greek churches throughout Bay area and Central Coast. Material will be provided.
• Generate messages on FaceBook, through Blogs, on  Twitter and Email.
• Work on a photo contest for images captured at the 2022 festival. 
• Get businesses and other groups to put links on their websites to the Festival Website.
• Contact cycle clubs to encourage our Festival as a destination.
• Develop a list of potential business and organizational sponsors, which could be consolidated with others to target key potential sponsors
• Become the primary coordinator to approach each of the targeted sponsors personally with a specific, defined sponsorship level.
• Appear on local radio talk shows either in person or over the telephone
• Post signs on local public info boards or info boards within businesses. and in retail store window
• Be on site, Friday, September 23 to help set up tables, chairs, ground tarps
• Make booth signs displaying costs for each item, place them on booths and maintain
• Sell advertising for the program flier distributed at each festival
• Manage printing of the program flier. Artwork provided.
• Manage printing and distribution of Volunteer Lunch Tickets

 Sign up HERE. Contact Thimi or Mary about one or more for these items you can take on. Thanks you!!

A ministry lead by Matt Taylor

We thank God for those who take the opportunity to serve Him. Among them are our readers - as noticed during our last few Sunday services. Here they are:

Matt,   Oleg,    Nate,    Hussam,   Jacob

Please contact Matt directly if you would like to serve in this ministry.

Worship

A ministry led by Angelina Taylor 

 Thank you for your effort and participation in bringing a dish to share for our fellowship coffee hour. In addition to Father's great homilies, our fellowship hour is special, unique and provides an opportunity for us to come together to enjoy each other's company, with as little stress as possible, in the preparation process. As always if you cannot participate when it is your week, kindly let Angelina know so she can make other 

July 31
   Parish Council: Thimi Saites
Greeter: 5th Sunday – Alexandra Mouzas
   Fellowship Gratitude Meal: GOLD TEAM– thank you to Thimi, Temia, Marissa, Ita, and Angelina

August 7
   Parish Council: Mary Kanalakis
   Greeter: 1st Sunday - Marina & Miriam Ibrahim
   Fellowship Gratitude Meal: PINK TEAM - Thank you to Rania, Mark, Nadia, Mary, and Pres. Ana

Community

A Ministry Lead by Despina Hatton

Join us on the second Tuesday of each month, 9:00 -10:30am. Our next turn is on

August 9

Location: St Francis Xavier Catholic Church
1475 La Salle Ave, Seaside, CA 93955

Sign up HERE

Community

Life coach Eyal N. Danon, who worked with several major clients, including executives at Amazon and Dell, writes that there are five stages in life: dreamer, explorer, builder, mentor, and giver, each lasting 18 years. In that last stage, he advises people to think about their childhood dreams and aspirations. He says this is a life-system that can minimize your regrets, decrease your worries, and enable you to live a happier, more meaningful life.

Now, I have my own personal life coach and savior, Jesus Christ, whose “life-system” has helped me to minimize regrets, decrease worries and enable a happier, more meaningful life. Yet I’m intrigued by these 5 stages of life. And as a steward, I wondered about how these different stages contribute to the growth of my church.

I thought I’d challenge you in your stewardship journey to reflect on these suggested stages of life, roughly 18 years apart, and consider the impact YOU have on your faith, church, and stewardship at these different periods of life. Where are you in your own life? Are you a dreamer, explorer, builder, mentor, or giver? And how do you reflect this in your own stewardship? Imagine the applications these stages could have on our church and your role in it. 

May I remind you there is still a gap between pledges and our Stewardship Goal! It is our responsibility to keep our promises and meet such goals, especially when they have a direct impact on the health of our church.

It is not too late to complete a 2022 pledge card and you can make adjustments to your pledge by completing a new card. This can be done ONLINE! Just Click: I WANT TO SIGN UP NOW!