Newsletter-December/January 2017 and 2018

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming ages. So that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

My Brothers and Sisters in Charts

God wants the very best for all of us. But what do we do with the wonderful gifts of our time, of our talents, of our treasures that He has so freely given us? As we make our New Year’s resolutions let us consider the dialogue between Jesus and a wealthy young man in which we read in last Sunday’s gospel reading. A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this , he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

Some may feel that Jesus’ request to, “sell everything you have and give to the poor” was a bit unfair. But Jesus wasn’t concerned with the man’s bank account; He was interested in his spiritual treasury.

Jesus was looking through spiritual eyes and could see into the ruler’s heart. His request was intended to help the man look inward and see what He saw, spiritual bankruptcy. This was evidenced by his unwillingness to share what he had with others.

Someone has aptly said, God doesn’t care how much you have. Rather, it is what we do with what we have that counts.” Stated differently, we could say, “It’s not enough to care…You must care enough.”

Why not consider adopting this theme of giving with our wonderful gifts of our time, of our talents, of our treasures that He has so freely given us as part of our New Year’s resolution. I pray that you have Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year, overflowing with time, talents and treasures.

For He is Glorified,

Fr. John

Parish News

The Bake Sale

We cannot begin to express our gratitude to all those who participated in making the Bake Sale such a huge success. A special thanks goes out to Tina Faigl, Tessie Varras, Theresa Murphy, and Vetta Kallas. While we had several participants this year, these ladies were at the church almost daily putting in full days of baking right up to the very last item being sold on the day of the bake sale.

This year’s profits have far surpassed any of our previous Bake Sales! Our on-line presales were $8,335.46, in-house sales were $18,568.61, and trackable cash donations were $12,000.00. Our total gross profit was $38,904.07. Just amazing!

Stewardship Packet

Enclosed is the stewardship packet as well as the steward card to be filled out and returned to the church. This card is very important as it enables your secretary to keep accurate records of the members of our church.

As you fill out your stewardship pledge, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Stewardship is recommended to be ten percent (10%) of one’s annual income as stated in Holy Scripture to help meet the financial obligations of the Parish, the Metropolis and the Archdiocese.
  • Stewardship is designed to be the income that covers all of the general operating expenses of the church. Our church has not been meeting this goal for quite some time. We have been depending on fundraising to keep our church going. This can no longer be allowed to continue. Our core group of “fundraising workers” is diminishing with only a handful of individuals constantly shouldering the workload. We cannot continue to depend on fundraising that may one day, in the near future, be gone. We have to support our church through stewardship!
  • Stewardship vs Operating Expense facts:

    Year Total Stewardship Income Total Expenses (Not including Construction or remodeling) Percentage of Expenses Covered by Stewardships Percentage of Expenses Covered by Fundraising/Donations
    2012 27,840.00 72,336.72 38% 62%
    2013 25,800.00 69,748.53 37% 63%
    2014 26,953.00 74,431.50 36% 64%
    2015 27,890.00 68,909.37 40.5% 59.5%
    2016 25,662.00 65,683.87 39% 61%
  • In 2016 we had 37 families/individual stewards contributing stewardships. We had 44 in 2015. Of those 37 families this is how the stewardships broke down for the year:

    • 2 family contributed $2,000.00 or more per year
    • 6 families contributed $1,000-$1,999 per year
    • 12 families contributed $800-$999 per year
    • 8 families contributed $500-$799 per year
    • 0 families contributed $300-$499 per year
    • 9 families contributed under $300 per year

Please seriously consider the numbers when you fill out your stewardship pledges.

Annual Christmas Party

Our annual Christmas Party was held on December 10, 2017. It was a wonderful afternoon of fellowship and great food. We would like to extend a thank you to Tina and Dave Faigl for donating all the gifts for the children. Your generosity put lots of smiles in their hearts.

Future Fundraisers

We are going to try out a new fundraiser this year. We are putting together an assortment box of our most popular pastries (three or four pastries) and sell them for Valentine’s Day. This fundraiser is in the planning stages. We will be keeping everyone informed as soon as it shapes up.

Vasalopita

The annual cutting of the Vasilopita will be on January 28. We need someone to volunteer to make the Vasilopita, please.

December 2017

December 17, 2017
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

December 23, 2017
The Forefeast of Nativity
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

December 24, 2017
Sunday before Nativity
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

December 24, 2017
Great Vespers for Nativity
5:00pm

December 25, 2017
Holy Nativity
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

December 31, 2017
Sunday before Theophany
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

January 2018

January 1, 2018
New Year’s Day/St. Basil and
Circumcision of Our Lord
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

January 5, 2018
Forefeast of the Theophany of Christ
Orthros 9:00 am and Royal Hours
Divine Liturgy and
Lesser Blessing of Waters.

January 6, 2018
Theophany of Christ
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 and
Service of Greater Blessing of Waters.

January 7, 2018
Feast of Saint John the Baptist
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

January 14, 2018
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

January 21, 2018
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
Parish Council Meeting

January 28, 2018
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
Vasalopita

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published.