Sunday, October 1

8:45am  Orthros/Matins

10:00am  Divine Liturgy

11:30am  Coffee Hour

12:00pm Planned Giving Presentation

5:00pm Philoptochos Pot Luck Supper Meeting

 Monday, October 2

6:30pm  Grief Support Group

 Tuesday, October 3

9:00am-1:00pm ACTS

6:30pm - Women's Bible Study

 Wednesday, October 4

Noon - Men's Luncheon at Mannaweeta

6:00pm  Vespers

Thursday, October 5

6:00pm  Spaghetti Dinner - featuring Dixie Dawgs - Dixieland Band

 Friday, October 6

9:00am  Liturgy for St. Thomas

Sunday, October 8

8:45am  Orthros/Matins

10:00am  Divine Liturgy

11:30am  Coffee Hour

12:00pm MOd Meeting

 Monday, October 9

6:00pm Council of Ministries Meeting at Nina Lamson's Home

 Wednesday, October 11

6:00pm - Vespers

 Thursday, October 12

7:30am Thyranoixia at the Diakonia Orthros

7:00pm  OCF Chew and Chat (Whites hosting Location TBD)

 Sunday, October 15

8:45am  Orthros/Matins

10:00am  Divine Liturgy

11:30am  Coffee Hour

 Monday, October 16

6:00pm  AHEPA Meeting

 Tuesday, October 17

10:00am  Mother's Day Out

11:30 pm Golf Tournament

 Wednesday, October 18

5:45pm  Liturgy for St. Luke

7:00pm  Parish Council

Thursday, October 19

6:00pm  Spaghetti Dinner - featuring Steve Shiver Band

6:30pm Bigger Vision Homeless Fundraiser - First United Methodist Church, Athens

 Sunday, October 22

8:45am  Orthros/Matins

10:00am  Divine Liturgy

11:30am  Coffee Hour

 Monday, October 23

9:00am Liturgy for St. James

 Wednesday, October 25

12:00pm - Men's Luncheon - Mannaweeta

6:00pm  Vespers

 Thursday, October 26

9:00am Liturgy for St. Demetrios

7:00pm OCF Chew & Chat

 Sunday, October 29

8:45am  Orthros/Matins

10:00am  Divine Liturgy

11:30am  Coffee Hour

11:30am Family Fall Festival at OCV Park

Vespers/Paracleseis on Wednesday evenings at 6:00

October 6th, 9:00am Liturgy St. Thomas

October 18th, 5:45pm St. Luke

October 23rd, 9:00am St. James

October 26th, 9:00am St. Demetrios

New for this year:

Sunday School Hours

9:00 am – Synkentrosi for all ages

9:15 am – Individual classes for each age group – K – 12^{th      ***}

10:00 am – Family Worship during Divine Liturgy  *****

 ***Adult Sunday School class during the time of the Sunday School (9:15-10:00am) led by Dr. Nina Lamson, Associate Professor of Psychology, will work from "Parenting Toward the Kingdom: Orthodox Christian Principles of Child Rearing" by P. Mamalakis, Ph.D. The text will be available in our bookstore or as an ebook. 

No class on Sunday, October 8 but will resume on Sunday, October 15

*****  A note about Communion :  Since we will be sitting with our families during Holy Communion, please go to receive Holy Communion as a family.  Babies and toddlers will receive Holy Communion first.  Presvytera will be guiding and we appreciate on your patience. 

Teachers this year:  

Synkentrosi:  K-12 - Alan

Nursery Coordinator:  Michelle Hancock

Primary Class:  K-4 - Laura and Vee

Middle Grades:  5-8 - Stephanie

High School:  9-12 - Mike M.

Substitutes:  Presvytera and Alan

 Bake Sale - St Philothea has a sweet tooth!  Over $300 was raised at the recent Bake Sale.  This money will be used to buy new teaching manuals for students, Stock the Nursery room and support Youth Programs.  Thank you to the many families for helping to bake, sell and giving of their time.  

Thank you to Stephanie Knisley, our new teacher this year!  Mrs. Knisley will add a great amount of knowledge to our program and we are enjoying the energy that she brings to the team!  If you have a child in the middle grades class, ask them if they know the 10 Commandments? Then ask them how to SHOW you how they remember them.

Upcoming Events - Fall Festival - October 29. We need families to help with this event.

• 1 person to secure the Pavilion at the park
• 2-3 people to set up food at the park on 10/29
• 1-2 people create and do a craft with our young ones
• All families to donate food. Food organization will go out shortly

• Please let Vee know if you can help!

Book Store is open for business: We offer books, CD’s, prayer ropes, gift items, Orthodox Study Bibles and more.  Stop by and shop every Sunday after church.

Contact Presvytera Christine so we can set a schedule that works for most people

(Organizing Committee meeting coming soon.

This ministry helps the children of parents, who are incarcerated, feel loved and connected to them. 

See Kate McClain if you would like to get involved.

A Philoptochos fellowship potluck dinner and general membership meeting will be held at church on October 1st.

Fellowship and dinner are at 5:00, the meeting will begin at 5:45 and conclude by 7:00.

We hope all will attend.

ACTS Schedule for the fall 9:00-1:00 pm

St. Philothea’s remaining dates to volunteer this year are: October 3 and December 5.  Let Fr. Anthony or Ken Lamson know if you plan to work one of these dates. Any help is greatly appreciated! They are in desperate need of can goods as they head into the holiday season.

Tuesday, October 3rd 

"Calling all women, come share our walk in Christ in studying Philippians and 1 & 2 Peter. Women's Bible study is a time to fellowship, to share struggles and triumphs! Let's start anew for this year on October 3rd. Please come and join in!." Place Nina Lamson’s home.

      6:30 pm fellowship study from 7:15-8:30 pm.

Fr. Anthony paints icons on Campus Weekly Thurs. at Tate Center Plaza 11-3 p.m.

OCF will meet every other Thursday at 7:00 p.m. for “Chew and Chat”.  What a great way to connect to the young adults with hosting a meal at church or at your home.  Don't have time to cook?  Donations gladly accepted for a take out meal (approximately $60.00).

October 12th (White Family Hosting

October 26th (could this be you?)

Please see Kate McClain if you would like to host a dinner. 

Upcoming Events:

Work Daze Retreat Nov. 17-19, at the Diakonia Center.  Fr. Elias and Presbytera Kassandra will speak on “Loving your neighbor as yourself, how society is changing, but our faith is not.”

Our Spaghetti Dinners will be October 5th and 19th. 

Dixie Dawgs - Dixlieland Band on the 5th.  Steve Shiver Band on the 19th.  Weserve the first and third Thursdays of each month 6-7:30 pm. Dinner is only $8.00 and Children are $4.00  Dinner includes spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, dessert and drink.

• Please try and come once a month to support and help out the regulars.   
• For more info visit http://stphilothea.org/events/festival-and-dinners

Ministry chairs (only) bring ministry budgets to a Ministry Chairs' fellowship dinner and meeting at Nina Lamson's on Monday, October 9th at 6:00pm

Due to Hurrican Irma we were able to reschedule to Tuesday, Oct 17th.

This helps raise funds to support the mission and ministry of St. Philothea and Bread for Life.  Please spread the word, ask local businesses for donations for door prizes, and get golfers.  It is a fun event and a great cause.

There is also a online auction.  Click Here For Further Information

Tuesday, October 17 from 10:00-1:00pm

Bring sandwich fixings to share with everyone; child care will be provided. You are welcome to bring a friend and meet other young mothers to talk about, faith, and life.

Contact Laura Stiles if you have questions or would like more information (laura.gstiles@gmail.com).

Parish Council will meet Oct 18th at 7:00 pm. 

Please read chapters 11 and 12 of "When the Church was Young" to prepare for the discussion.

Covered dish luncheons are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month.  Open to all senior citizens.  Please bring a covered dish to share with your fellow Christians. Time is Noon - 1 pm.

Bigger Vision Fundraising Dinner rescheduled due to Hurrican Irma will take place Thursday, October 19th at 6:30pm at the First United Methodist Church, downtown, Athens.  Please contact Kate McClain for tickets. 

Sunday, November 5th following the Divine Liturgy. 

Parish Council nominations and proposed budget for 2018 along with a report on Marswood Hall will be discussed, and future possibilities for our facility.

Also, Parish Council will host coffee hour after General Assembly.

This year’s recipients are Ana Anest and Corina Beleaua.  We thank them for their dedicated stewardship and wish them God’s blessings.  The awards vespers and banquet will be Saturday Nov 11th at the Cathedral in Atlanta.

You should receive an invitation and ticket information in the mail shortly.

Philoptochos will be selling Greek pastries for charity at the OCAF Holiday Market Dec. 1-3. Packaging dates TBA.  Schedule for sales shifts will be coordinated soon. It is a lot of fun and a great way to see OCAF during the holidays.

Grand Tour of Greece!

Romantic Europe!

Come join Dr. Nina Lamson, who has over 10 years of experience designing tours with Go Ahead Tours of EF Education, the world’s largest educational travel company! Choose one or both! Great way to travel, everything is done for you!

Each tour includes: round-trip airfare, coach transfers to/from destination airports and hotel and between cities, “Go Ahead” standard hotels (3 or 4 diamond), daily buffet breakfasts, 5 dinners (Greece), 4 diners (Romantic Europe), 24/7 “Go Ahead Tour” director, all non-optional gratuities, porterage of 1 bag per person in hotels, coach & ferry transfers where specified in the itinerary, entrance fees to itinerary sites, flight from Paris to Venice (Romantic Europe).

~For Both Tours~

Optional travel insurance: https://www.goaheadtours.com/about/travel-protection. NOTE: there are benefits to purchasing your insurance within days of making your reservation.

·         Make payments on your account any time until 3 months prior to departure when final payments are due.

·        

Or, sign up for automatic payments and extend deadline to right before departure.

Transforming Society by Abbot Tryphon

Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved.

"We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).” We Orthodox often miss the mark in understanding and ministering to this world. We fail the words of Christ, “to love one anot

her as God has loved us”, and forget we are charged by Our Lord to bring healing and wholeness to those struggling in this fallen world. In our righteous indignation we show contempt to those who live apart from biblical morality, forgetting

that we were ourselves called out of this fallen world by Christ. We forget, in our contempt for the sins of others, that it was this very Christ Who asked those in the crowd who were without sin to cast the first stone.

All of us have failed to fulfill the Commandments of God, and we are all deserving of being squashed like worms. But Jeremiah says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion’s fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your FAITHFULNESS” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

God never washes His hands of us. We may disappoint Him every day, but His love is without measure, and He responds with His saving Grace and Mercy. The Church, as the hospital of the soul, is the very institution founded by Our Lord to bring wholeness and healing to everyone. It is the lie of Satan that some are deserving of nothing but our contempt, but it is Christ Who has called us to compassion for those who are stuck in sin, and Who offers, through the Church, the saving, transformational healing that can turn hearts around, and turn sinners into saints.

Countries become grounded in the moral and spiritual principles of the Church not by political confrontation, but by the transformational change that takes place when clergy lead their people into a personal relationship with the very Christ Who changes hearts, and saves us. It is not political extremism that preserves nations from immorality and sin, but the people themselves, who, having put on Christ, transform the society from within. As Saint Seraphim of Sarov said, “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved”.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Religious Libert

by Abbot Tryphon

The litmus test for all human rights Freedom of religion has has always been the hallmark of our American way of life. Our Founding Fathers migrated to the shores of the New World primarily to seek religious freedom, fleeing as they where the religious persecution they suffered in England. The Founding Fathers were seeking the […]

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September 15, 2017 · Fr. Barnabas Powell

Sometimes, the scriptures say things that really unsettle me. But I’ve learned when that happens, that’s a clue that I am approaching a place in my own heart that needs attention. And it’s beginning to dawn on me that most of the time I am unsettled by the wisdom of the Faith it’s because this wisdom is touching on suffering.

Take, for example, this quote from St. Isaac the Syrian: If you would be victorious, taste the suffering of Christ in your person, that you may be chosen to taste His glory. For if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him. Blessed are you if you suffer for righteousness’ sake. Behold, for years and generations the way of God has been made smooth through the Cross and by death. The way of God is a daily Cross. The Cross is the gate of mysteries.

 

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About Fr. Barnabas Powell

Fr. Barnabas is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, Georgia. He is also host of Faith Encouraged Live on Ancient Faith Radio and author of the Faith Encouraged podcast.

The Spiritual Life by Abbot Tryphon

The spiritual life is full of pitfalls, and great heights The spiritual life is an adventure, full of pitfalls and great heights. If we take this journey as the prime reason for living, the reward will be great. If we try living our life with the Church placed in a secondary roll, we will end […]

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The Tree Heals the Tree

Readers of the New Testament are familiar with St. Paul’s description of Christ as the “Second Adam.” It is an example of the frequent Apostolic use of an allegoric reading of the Old Testament (I am using “allegory” in its broadest sense – including typology and other forms). Christ Himself had stated that He was the meaning of the Old Testament (John 5:39). Within the Gospels Christ identifies His own death and resurrection with the Prophet Jonah’s journey in the belly of the fish. He likens His crucifixion to the serpent raised on a staff by which Moses healed the people of Israel. Without the allegorical use of the Old Testament – much of the material in the gospels and the rest of the New Testament would be unintelligible.

Orthodox Christians are very accustomed to this manner of handling Scripture – the hymnography (largely written during the Patristic period) of the Church’s liturgical life is utterly permeated by such a use of allegory. The connections between New Testament and Old – between dogma and the allegory of Scriptural imagery is found in almost every verse offered within a service. Those who are not familiar with the Eastern liturgical life are unaware of this rich Christian heritage and of its deep doctrinal piety and significance.

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About Fr. Stephen Freeman

Fr. Stephen is a priest of the Orthodox Church in America, serving as Rector of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is also author of Everywhere Present and the Glory to God podcast series.

Losing the Battle by Abbot Tryphon

Giving in to the temptation to judge another As Orthodox Christians we must resist speaking against another, for if we judge another it is because Satan wishes to drag us down into the sin of thinking we are better then them. The best defense against the Evil One is to stand united in prayer with […]

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Same-Sex Attraction by Abbot Tryphon

The Homosexual person in light of the Orthodox Faith My heart goes out to homosexual men and women who face a life of rejection and loneliness. I do not believe the majority of them chose to be homosexual. A person would have to be insane to chose a sexual proclivity that fosters hatred and rejection, […]

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Despondency

Building our endurance and confidence

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise (Hebrews 10:35-36)”

When we start to wonder why God has failed to give us what we’ve prayed for, we can find ourselves falling into despondency. Caught up in trying to reach a goal, and failing, we can forget that it may not have been God’s will for us from the very beginning. Relying on our own notion of what we need, we end up disappointed, disillusioned, and tend to blame God for not answering our prayers.

Much of what we think we need is born from our own immaturity, for as we’ve focused on what we think we need, we fail to quietly surrender to the will of God, and fail to trust in the knowledge that God knows what we really need. We fail during such times to trust God, and surrender to His will for us. We forget that God knows what we really need, and fail to consider the long term good. When we quit struggling against the will of God we find the grace sufficient to prayerfully endure our trials, knowing that God allows that which is salvific for our souls.

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Crazy!

St. Anthony the Great once said “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.'” Of course, that “time” St. Anthony warned us about has been with us since our mother and father believed the insanity of the snake in the garden! And this madness, this insanity, doesn’t just exists…

An Ancient Faith Blog

The post Crazy! appeared first on Faith Encouraged.

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The Mystery of the Church

And the corporate nature of salvation

There is a certain emptiness in trying to live the Christian life outside the life of the Church. This is because it is impossible to truly live as a Christian without the Church. The reading of the scriptures, and our commitment to prayer, are important foundations in the life of a Christian, but they are incomplete without the mystical and sacramental life that is found within the Church.

If we hope to grow spiritually, we will take advantage of the Mysteries that are found only within the Church. Without the Mystery of Penance, and the absolution of the Church, we have no hope of transformation and holiness, for without the corporate life of the Church, our sins keep us captive. Without the Mystery of Christ’s Body and Blood, received during the celebration of the Church’s Divine Liturgy, the healing of the soul remains undone, and salvation is next to impossible.

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