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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2022-08-07
Bulletin Contents
Transfiguration
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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 408.605.0621
  • Street Address:

  • 9th and Lincoln

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 5808

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921


Contact Information




Services Schedule

 

Weekend services: the weekend schedule is fixed for most of the year. The services take place in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at All Saints Church, lower level, 9th and Lincoln.

Saturdays: 5:00pm Vespers

Sundays:   8:30am Matins

                   9:45am Liturgy

Week-day services: during the week we may celebrate the major feast days of the Church either in Carmel or in Salinas. Please check the calendar! The schedule pattern is:

Wednesdays:  6:00pm Paraklesis

Eve of feasts: 6:00pm Vespers

Feast days:    8:30am Matins

                       9:45am Liturgy


Past Bulletins


Schedule of Services

Note: our services are posted on Zoom unless specified otherwise.   

Friday, August 5
    6:00pm  Vespers + Liturgy + Blessing of the Grapes/ fruits
    8:00pm  Potluck Festal Dinner on the Patio
Saturday, August 6   HOLY TRANSFIGURATION
    5:00pm  Vespers
Sunday, August 7
    8:30am  Matins
    9:45am  Liturgy
    12:00pm  Catechism Class
    6:00pm  Great Paraklesis
Monday, August 8
    9:00am  ONLINE: Church University - Prayer, Bible, Reflections
    6:00pm  Small Paraklesis
    7:00pm  Parish Council Meeting
Tuesday, August 9
    9:00am  Food Bank Distribution - Community Service
    9:00am  ONLINE: Church University - Prayer, Bible, Reflections
    10:00am  Book Forum: Short Trip to the Edge (final meeting)
    6:00pm  Great Paraklesis
    8:00pm  Orthodoxy 101: Journey to Fullness
Wednesday, August 10
    9:00am  ONLINE: Church University - Prayer, Bible, Reflections
    6:00pm  Small Paraklesis
Thursday, August 11
    9:00am  ONLINE: Church University - Prayer, Bible, Reflections
    6:00pm  Great Paraklesis
Friday, August 12
    9:00am  ONLINE: Church University - Prayer, Bible, Reflections
    6:00pm  Small Paraklesis
Saturday, August 13
    10:00am  Young Adult Volleyball @ Del Monte Beach + Lunch
Sunday, August 14
    8:30am  Matins
    9:45am  Liturgy
    12:00pm  Catechism Class
    6:00pm  Vespers

 See the whole calendar at http://www.stjohn-monterey.org/parish-calendar 
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News & Events

TRANSFIGURATION SERVICES and FESTAL POTLUCK (FISH DINNER)

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.


FOOD BANK SERVICE

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

Sign Up!


NEW: YOUNG ADULT BEACH VOLLEYBALL #1

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

Sign Up!


THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE PRISON MINISTRY

Thank you so much for giving to the Prison Ministry last Sunday. The collected total was $689 - quite amazing from the 30 christians present and heard the call.  God bless the generous sponsors!

It is not too late to give to this very important ministry. You can give online at our website. Please indicate that the donation is for Prison Ministry. May the Holy Spirit inspire you.


FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED NOW!

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. There are things you can do before the festival begins to get the word out. These need to be done right now!!!   

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


CATECHISM CLASS THIS SUNDAY

A Ministry led by Father Ion

The Catechism Class is invites you will join our catechumens after lunch/fellowship ON SUNDAY, JULY 31:

  • Topic: The Heart
  • Presenter: Father Ion
  • Location: Saint Nektarios Chapel
  • Resources (text and audio): https://www.stjohn-monterey.org/adult-education/2.-the-heart

Please pray for our catechumens.

Education


BOOK FORUM TO FINISH Short Trip to the Edge

A Ministry led by Kathy Shaw

Short Trip to the Edge - A Pilgrimage to Prayer

Our final meeting to discuss this book is planned for 10:00am on Tuesday, August 9.

Assignment: review to the end of the book.

 

 

 

Adult Education, Community


NEW: NEW BOOK, DATE, AND TIME FOR THE BOOK FORUM

A Ministry led by Kathy Shaw

The Archbishop: A Novel (Treasures of Orthodoxy Book 1) by [Hieromonk Tihon, Savatie Bastovoi]The Book Forum changes date and time: it will now be on Wednesday evenings @ 8:00pm BEGINNING  on 8/17  

We will be reading The Archbishop, A Novel , by  by Hieromonk Tihon (Savatie Bastovoi). Please order your copy as soon as possible. Click here for Amazon orders.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: A Christian Orthodox Classic.
If God exists, then why does He allow such endlessly mundane earthly suffering?
   Set in Imperial Russia, 1900: Resigned, hopeless, and fighting a Church he no longer believes in, Father Paul’s crisis of faith and despair in the seeming futility of his chosen vocation opens up the  powerful and emotionally engaging story of The Archbishop. Rather than abandoning his parish in search of the truth, Father Paul’s quest is a simple one: to find the true essence of Christianity.

A Modern Day Apostle to the Downtrodden - 
   Set against the backdrop of a harsh and cold Russian countryside along the River Volga, with its unyielding poverty and hardships, The Archbishop follows Father Paul as he searches to understand God and the parlous state of the world around him.
   It is not until he meets the eponymous Archbishop that he finds revelations that do more than just answer his soul-searching questions. More than this, he finds a true shepherd determined to spread a more authentic message of Christ to the people who follow him. But even the divine truth that Father Paul finally finds in this dreary, cold hamlet where religion seems to be fading from relevance is not free from earthly machinations. Although he discovers something that will change his life forever, the realities of the world around him remain unyielding and unchanging.

 Adult Education, Community


ORTHODOXY 101: A JOURNEY TO FULLNESS

A ministry led by Angela Wagoner

JOURNEY TO FULLNESS: An Introduction to the Fullness of the Original Christian Faith

The Journey to Fullness presentations and small groups discussions will meet via Zoom on Tuesday, August 9  from 8:00pm.

Education


2022 GREEK FESTIVAL

A ministry lead by Thimi Saites

St John's annual Greek Festival is back!!
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


CHURCH UNIVERSITY

A ministry led by Father Ion

The Church University has gone through some changes. We now gather Monday-Friday from 9am for PRAYER, BIBLE AND REFLECTIONS. This is also an opportunity to connect, to embrace and to be embraced. Check the online schedule.

My the Lord bless our readers who lead us in prayer:

  • Monday - Thimi
  • Tuesday - Mikael
  • Wednesday - Kathy
  • Thursday - Mary
  • Friday - Christina and Socrates

Worship and Education


EPISTLE READERS

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


SERVING THESE SUNDAYS and more

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 

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 Presbitera Ana

August 14
   Parish Council: Mary Kanalakis
   Greeter: 2nd Sunday - Rania Zavitsanos, Anne Zavitsanos,  
   Fellowship Gratitude Meal: ORANGE TEAM - Thank you to Vanta, Mimi M., Tana, and Aileen

Community


ONLINE RESOURCES

Most of our services and some ministry meetings are available online.
Witness remotely:
  1. Zoom with video here.
  2. By phone dial - add the following string to your address book: 16699006833,,9475885646#,,,,*871732#
Liturgical texts at Ages Initiatives here. Select the date and the service of interest. Then, choose pdf if you want to print, or DCS for viewing on the screen (which also has a night mode).
Lighting Candles remotely is possible through our Light a Candle website. Click this link: Light a Candle


OUR AUDIO AND VIDEO ARCHIVES

The Audio/Video Ministry is led by Hussam Ibrahim

  • Daily services, reflections and homilies video.
  • Sunday homilies video and archives prior to June 1, 2020 audio.
  • Sunday homilies audio.

Organization and Leadership 


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Stewardship News

2022 STEWARDSHIP

Our gratitude to our 2022 Stewards. We are blessed with 51 families or individuals committed to pledging $141,656 for this year. We are so grateful to our 2022 Stewards:

Dr. Michael & Marilyn Bachik - Michael Borgeson - Father Ion, Presbytera Ana & Alexie - George Cominos – Estate of Ted Cominos - James & Rosa Deamant – Nicholas Delis – Temia Demakopoulos – Shila Doyle-Rickenbacker - Olga Drumev – Christine Dzwonczyk & Max – Nick Fettis - Cindy Garnero - Simi Georgalos – The Estate of Chrisanthi Georgalos - Connie and Michelle Georgalos - Michael Georgariou – Michael Hahn - Manal Haddad – Despina Hatton – Dimitrios Hoularis - Hussam Ibrahim & Family – Dr. Nicholas Itsines - Georgette Jabbour – Tyler and Julia Jensen - Mike & Mary Kanalakis - Sokratis & Christine Kouvaris - Charles & Mariana Leontis – Martha Lopez - Tom Maheras - Nate & Aileen Metcalf – Lannette Moutos – Alexandra Mouzas - Stephanie Muntean – Michael Park & Family - Stephen & Allison Parsons – Spiro Politis - Christina Pullos – Veronica Resto - Euthimios & Charlotte Saites – Ann /  John Scourkes – Kathy & Steve Shaw - Georgia and Kostas Stavropoulos - Jennifer Stuhlmiller – Aida & Nabil Tadros - Angelina & Matthew Taylor - Jacob & Carrie Voyce - Jim & Angela Wagoner - - Ita & Richard Williams - Jamie Wojtal - David & Nadia Zajicek – Rania & Anthony Zavitsanos

If you do not see your name here or have not yet returned your 2022 Stewardship card, we urge you to do so now with love for Christ and His Church.  We count on a total stewardship of $165,000. We still have a gap of $20,000 to meet that goal by the end of the year, and your support will help us to not only meet that goal, but to participate in the many wonderful ministries, programs, and help we provide to those less fortunate.

Please NOTE: If you are giving in the form of cash, please put it in an envelop with your name and the note "Stewardship".  If giving a check, it helps to note Stewardship on the check.  God bless you for being a good steward. 

 Be one of our 2022 Stewards:

Stewardship cards are available at church and can be returned in the candle tray or offering box. Mailed to the church at P.O. Box 5808, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921,

Or online through our website at DOWNLOAD STEWARDSHIP CARD.

Or COMPLETE YOU CARD ONLINE by linking directly to the pledge care HERE.


FILL THE STEWARDSHIP GAP

It is not too early to draw your attention to our Stewardship Gap. 

What’s that? Well, every year we agree on our Stewardship Goal as a reasonable target for us.  This year the goal is $165,000. However, pledges so far are less than $142,000. We all that difference our GAP and we make an effort, before the end of the year, to have met that goal. 

There are a couple ways to do that:

  • Become a Steward, if you haven’t already
  • Increase your Stewardship
  • Make a special gift to the Stewardship Fund 

Use one of the easy ways to close the GAP

  • Click HERE to reach our website and give to Stewardship
    Click HERE to become a Steward by downloading a Stewardship Form, or completing a form online. 

We have a couple ways online to make this easier:

  • Give through Facebook! All donations on our Facebook page are transferred to St. John’s. No credit card fees are charged! Visit us at FACEBOOK PAGE.
  • If you would like to get a monthly invoice, or make donations automatically, indicate so on your stewardship card, or contact Mary. It can easily be set up
  • You can go to our website as described above.

Our tax ID is 94-6136359
We thank those who are responding to the end of the year call to close the GAP.

Living the Gospel


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Prayer Requests

Lord, Bless, strengthen, and guard, by Your grace, all those who, with love for humankind and a spirit of sacrifice, care for the sick in their homes or in hospitals.

We pray for the servants of God:

"Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on your servant (first name)."

   Ita and Rick WIlliams, Tom Mitropolis, Simi Georgalos

   Oleg Golovan, his family in Ukraine and all those suffering there.

   Tom Maheras - for good health.

   Thomas Stauffer -  for health, recovery and endurance.

   Olga Drumev - for health, recovery, and endurance. 

   Sophie Britton - for strength and recovery.

   Eleni Saites - for patience and endurance.

   Paul and Charlotte Pronoites - recovering after heart and knee surgery respectively.

For those who are in prisons: Constantine and Sergei.

In case of emergency, Father Ion is available for home visits. Please call him directly at 408.605.0621 if you would like to schedule one.

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Saints and Feasts

Transfiguration
August 06

Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Our Lord had spoken to His disciples many times not only concerning His Passion, Cross, and Death, but also concerning the coming persecutions and afflictions that they themselves would endure. Since all these evils were near at hand, but the enjoyment of good things which they hoped to receive in their stead was yet to come, our Savior desired to give them full assurance, evidently and openly, concerning that glory which is prepared for those who endure to the end. Therefore, fulfilling that which He had promised shortly before, that "there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom" (Matt. 16:28), He took His three foremost disciples and ascended Mount Tabor, where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light. Suddenly, together with this dread and marvelous effulgence of light, there appeared those pinnacles of the Prophets, Moses and Elias, who spoke with the Lord Jesus concerning His saving Passion which was about to take place. Standing before Him as reverent servants, they showed that He is the Lord of both the living and the dead, for Moses came forth from Hades, having died many centuries before, and Elias, as it were from heaven, whither he had been taken up while yet alive. After a little while a radiant cloud overshadowed them and out of the cloud they heard that same voice which had been heard at the Jordan at the Baptism of Christ, testifying to the Divinity of Jesus and saying: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased; hear ye Him" (Matt. 17: 5).

Such are the marvels, truly worthy of God, celebrated in this present feast, which is an image and prefiguring of the future state of the righteous, whose splendor the Lord spoke of, saying: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun" (Matt. 13:43). It is because of this that the Kontakion of this Feast is said daily (when there is not a great feast) in the Service of the Typica in perpetual commemoration of the glory that will be the lot of the Saints. According to tradition, the Lord's Transfiguration came to pass forty days before His Crucifixion; this is why the Transfiguration is celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Cross.


Loavesfishes
August 07

8th Sunday of Matthew


Maximosconfes
August 13

Maximus the Confessor

The divine Maximus, who was from Constantinople, sprang from an illustrious family. He was a lover of wisdom and an eminent theologian. At first, he was the chief private secretary of the Emperor Heraclius and his grandson Constans. But when the Monothelite heresy became predominant in the royal court, out of hatred for this error the Saint departed for the Monastery at Chrysopolis (Scutari), of which he later became the abbot. When Constans tried to constrain him either to accept the Monothelite teaching, or to stop speaking and writing against it - neither of which the Saint accepted to do - his tongue was uprooted and his right hand was cut off, and he was sent into exile, where he reposed in 662. At the time only he and his few disciples were Orthodox in the East. See also January 21.


Allsaint
August 13

Tikhon of Zadonsk

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk was born in 1724 into a very poor family of the Novgorod province, and was named Timothy in holy Baptism. In his youth he was sent to seminary in Novgorod where he received a good education and later taught Greek and other subjects. Having received the monastic tonsure with the name Tikhon, in the same year he was ordained deacon and priest, and appointed two years later as rector of the Seminary in Tver. In 1761 he was consecrated Bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga, and in 1763 nominated Bishop of Voronezh, a difficult diocese to administer because of its large size and transient population, which included many schismatics. Feeling the burden of the episcopacy to be beyond his strength, the Saint resigned in 1767, retiring first to the Monastery of Tolshevo, and later to the monastery at Zadonsk, where he remained until his blessed repose. In retirement, he devoted all his time to fervent prayer and the writing of books. His treasury of books earned him the title of "the Russian Chrysostom", whose writings he employed extensively; simple in style, replete with quotes from the Holy Scriptures, they treat mostly of the duties of Christians, with many parables taken from daily life. In them the Christian is taught how to oppose the passions and cultivate the virtues. A large collection of the Saint's letters are included in his works, and these give a wealth of spiritual guidance directed both to the laity and monastics. Saint Tikhon reposed in peace in 1783, at the age of fifty-nine. Over sixty years later, in 1845, when a new church was built in Zadonsk in place of the church where he was buried, it was necessary to remove his body. Although interred in a damp place, his relics were found to be whole and incorrupt; even his vestments were untouched by decay. Many miracles were worked by Saint Tikhon after his death, and some three hundred thousand pilgrims attended his glorification on August 13, 1863. He is one of the most beloved Russian Saints, and is invoked particularly for the protection and upbringing of children.


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eighth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus has lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and she told them that He had said these things to her.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Grave Mode. Psalm 28.11,1.
The Lord will give strength to his people.
Verse: Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord honor and glory.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 1:10-17.

Brethren, I appeal to you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispos and Gaius; lest any one should say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.


Gospel Reading

8th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 14:14-22

At that time, Jesus saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.


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