Happy New Year
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As your parish priest, I wish you all a blessed New Year!

Let us consider this matter of the happy New Year for us Christians! What makes it happy for us as Christians is that we let the spirit of Christ enter in the New Year. We shall be happy in the coming year if when we let the spirit of Christ overflow and dwell in us during the New Year. We must be careful to keep the meaning of the Lord’s birth with us all the days of life. That is the way God intended it to be.

Happy New Year to the children of our parish: Learn about God now, come to love Him dearly, and serve Him faithfully.

Happy New Year to the young people of our parish: You are going through the most critical period of life. Listen to your parents and to your conscience. Stand for what is honest, pure, and true. Follow Jesus Christ and you will not take the wrong steps in life. “I am the way,” said Christ.

Happy New Year to the married couples of our parish: Love and forgive one another. Life is often difficult; therefore, share the burdens as well as the joys of marriage and make your home a haven for the family.

Happy New Year to the elderly among us: Draw close to God in these days, because the Lord is drawing close to you.

Let the old year go and let us embrace the new. Let us say with St. Paul as we commit ourselves to Christ’s love: “Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”

Happy New Year to the sick and the suffering: Jesus suffered pain and agony. He knows what human tears are. You may think you are alone, but remember you never need be lonesome. “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” That is the promise of Christ.
Happy New Year,

Rev. John Cusulos

Parish News and Events

Christmas Party

The Fourth Annual Christmas party was a huge success! The food was amazing and the fellowship was fantastic! We had a very special visitor from the North Pole and his sack was filled to the very top with gifts for all of the youngsters. Thanks to all of you who pitched in and made this event a wonderful success. A special thank you to Dave and Tina Faigl and Sweetwater Storage for donating the gifts for the children!

Breaking of the Vasilopita Bread

On January 18th we will have the cutting of the Vasilopita bread. We need a volunteer to bake the two breads. Please let Jenny or Danella know if you can help. The proceeds will go to Saint Basil’s Academy.

Easter

Easter is drawing near at an alarming speed! Pascha is on April 12, 2015. Preparation for Holy Week as well as our annual Easter dinner will soon be underway. Please think about how you can offer your services as we prepare for this event. Most importantly, please take steps to arrange your daily schedule to be able to attend services and worship together during this most sacred and spiritual time.

For those who would like to read more about Great Lent as well as our journey through Christ’s Passion and Pascha, here is a link to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website: .http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/pascha.

Stewardship Packets

Stewardship packets went out with the October newsletter. To date we have received only 9 of the 75 information pages back. Please, we cannot stress how important it is for you to return them to the secretary. This helps us to keep our church records accurate. Again, please take a moment to fill them out and return them. For those who choose to receive your newsletter by e-mail, you can simply print your information sheet from the attached documents.

Construction Projects

The design phase of the kitchen remodel project is the first step to beginning this project. When this phase is complete, we will be able to begin the bid process and get a more accurate figure for the cost of the project. We have received several very generous donations towards the project. To date we have $36,949.13 in the kitchen remodel fund!

Generous Donors

Since our last newsletter we have received some incredibly generous cash donations to our church. We would like to thank Peter and Carol Kalivas as they donated the cost of the bake sale supplies back to the general fund.

Our kitchen remodel fund has received donations from Dave and Gracie Fermelia, Stanley and Sophie Kouris, Spiro and Katherine Varras, George and Angelina Pryich, Joe and Mary Manatos, Antionette Goddard and Dave and Tina Faigl. At the request of the family of Hope Thomas, all memorials received in her name have also been applied to the kitchen remodel fund. The total donations received add up to $25,427.01. May God bless you all for your generosity!

Earn Money for Our Church

We have an opportunity to earn money for our church with very little effort on our part. For computer users, please go to www.goodsearch.com and download the search engine. When asked to choose your charity, type in Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church-Rock Springs. There is a mobile application available also for the smartphone users. Every time you search with the Goodsearch engine, our church gets a penny. If you choose to purchase off of the internet via the Goodsearch website (literally thousands of common retailers) we get a percentage of the purchase price from participating retailers. Last year we received a check for $16.00. However, if every single computer user from the church downloads and uses this search engine, that amount could be significantly higher.