If you would like to attend a Service,

A few questions first:

1) Have you been in contact recently with anyone who has tested positive?

2) Have you been following standard protocols to slow the spread such as wearing a mask in close public quarters?

If your answer is: 'No' to 1), and ‘Yes’ to 2) then please use this link to signup:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084EADAC2FA0FF2-stjohn

Currently we are following standard protocols to wear a mask, and allow a minimum 6' physical distance between individuals/families while attending services.

While there are no restrictions for families with children, we respectfully ask that children stay with their families.

Please note that all first-time visitors are kindly asked to contact Fr. Parthenios prior to signing up.

We may not know exactly when this current pandemic will end, but it too will pass.  Throughout history there have been pandemics. Yet the Church has continued to grow through the centuries. The majority of the members of our Parish are preferring to heed the common precautions that are proven to be the most effective means of preventing the spread of disease.  Among our brothers and sisters, think of those who might be most at risk within our parish community.  There may be those who have underlying health conditions that place them in harm's way.  Let's be mindful too, of our vulnerability and comply with the guidelines that health professionals around the world have asked everyone to embrace.  Let's humble our pride that tells us that we are invincible.  Let's think of others well-being, rather than our own 'freedom'.  All this being said, this does not prevent us from coming to church to maintain and support the church. Let's ask ourself, 'How could the Church (and our Faith and the Gospel) have survived through the centuries if people did not come to maintain and support the church'?  This can be done now on an individual basis or with someone else as long as we follow the health guidelines.  Many needs can be filled indoors.  Some needs are outdooors and allow greater freedom in good weather.

 

Thank you to those who have continued to offer their financial support of the Church.

Fewer people attending Services means fewer donations. Each and every offering is valued and appreciated!

Due to the extra administrative time and expense for the bookeeping firm to record online donations, the preferred and most efficient way to make an offering is either by a personal check, or by asking your bank to set up a (free) regular (weekly/monthly) automated check to be mailed from your bank.

Please send all checks and correspondence to:

St. John Chrysostom Greek Orthodox Church

P.O. Box 90162

Nashville, TN 37209

Thank you!

Along with your weekly/monthly offering, you may include a list of names to be commemorated at the Sunday Liturgy.  We will light a candle for you at the beginning of the service.

May the Lord be gracious to us and bless us, and shine the light of His countenance upon us, and have mercy on us, and drive away every malady and despondency!

Although we are receiving Holy Communion in the normative way with a common spoon, as a precautionary measure, we ask that each communicant take a tissue provided and place it over the  communion cloth before receiving, and afterwards place it in the receptacle provided nearby.

(A parishioner here at St. John offered the following reminder of the protocols that we should be observing while attending services at St. John.)

*Thoughts on keeping safe distances within church in the time of COVID 19:

As throughout the pandemic, but all the more so now that we are experiencing a new second wave of  infections and hospitalizations, we want to remind everyone to be vigilant in the safe practices we have offered when attending church services at St. John’s .

Thanks to all for keeping their masks on throughout the services. We realize this is uncomfortable especially for some, and we applaud the 100 percent compliance.

We just want to remind everyone that once you are given your designated spot within the nave by the usher, that you remain in that place throughout the service so that we may stay 6' or more apart. The church space is very limited when it comes to the 6' recommendation that we need to stay where we are. (You of course may please feel free to walk in and out of the nave as needed, or to the iconostasis to light candles or safely venerate the icons there on the iconostasis.)

During the time in the service known as the "Great Entrance" in which the priest carries the gifts through the church, just a reminder that there is no need to move from your spot unless it will directly impair the clergy from walking through the area. If you do need to move, please be mindful to move keeping 6' from other parishioners. Thank-you.

Any Orthodox Christians coming up to receive Holy Communion, please remember to keep at least 6' distance between family units while in what used to be a  “line”.

Final reminder, please maintain distance after services, perhaps even best moving from inside the building to enjoy the fresh air and then greeting, and perhaps catching up with each other at a safe distance.

We are greeting the New Year of the Grace of our Lord, even as we share the longsuffering of our Lord that has strained our hearts and souls in the year that is behind us. We salute the New Year with faith, with hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Recognizing the unprecedented situations and complex difficulties that have been created by the Pandemic COVID-19, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has allotted the Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care the responsibility of organizing an online Consultation with the theme: “The Pastoring Church in the days of the Pandemic”.