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Greek Orthodox Archdioceses

September / October 2006

For daily Bible Readings, visit: http://www.goarch.org/en/resources/dailyreadings/

Message from Father John

Dear friends in the Lord

Many exciting events are happening here at St Nicholas with the beginning of the school year 2006-07.

Our Sunday school year begins Sept 10^th. The children will be at the church at 9:55 promptly as Fr John will teach a 10 minute sermonette to the children every Sunday school Sunday. This will be a opportunity for the children to be taught the basics of their Orthodox church at a level they can understand.

There are many ideologies in our society competing for our youth. An Orthodox Christian education is a necessity for our children if they are to remain Orthodox in their adult lives.

We will be celebrating The Nativity of the Theotokos on Thursday Sept 7th at 7pm with a Vesperal Divine liturgy. Also, on Wednesday, October 25^th we will celebrate a Vesperal Divine liturgy at 7pm for St Demetrios the Great.

St Demetrios was a Thessalonian who was born to pious and noble parents. When Maximian first came to Thessaly in 290 he raised young Demetrios to the rank of Duke of Thessaly. But when it was discovered that he was a Christian, he was held prisoner in a bath-house.

A certain youth Nestor came to Demetrios and asked for his blessing as he was to fight Lyeus in the arena. Demetrios made the sign of the Cross on his forehead and he defeated the great gladiator with a mortal blow. Maximian flew into a rage and had both Nestor and Demetrios killed for their faith in Christ which they refused to recant.

St Demetrios tomb is found in Thessalonica, and to this day myrrh flows out of his precious relics. He is widely known as the "myrrh-gusher". Many miracles have been attributed to His intercession.

Please attend theses services which have been placed in the evening so that those who work may attend.

Also, our Orthodox 101 class which has been well attended.  It is a way to learn much about our faith and discuss issues which are relevant to our modern lives within a Christian perspective.

Just a reminder that ONLY baptized and chrismated Orthodox in good standing may receive the Eucharist (Communion) or serve on the Parish Council in the Orthodox Church. Those who were married in another denomination or by a judge MUST have their marriages blessed in the church to be in good standing. Call Fr John for more information.

Mark your calendars

·         Sunday, September 10^th is first day of Sunday School.

·         Saturday, September 30^th, 2006 is Oktoberfest in downtown Appleton.

·         Sunday, November 12^th, 2006 is the General Assembly meeting.

·         Every Thursday Night at 7:00 is religious education where Fr. John will alternate weekly between Orthodoxy 101 and Bible Study.

Welcome!

John and Effie Xanos recently moved to Appleton as did their daughter and her family with 4 children.  They are a lovely couple, full of life and energy – with always a smile on their face. I look forward to hearing about their travels and global experiences. Please extend a warm welcome to the Xanos family when you see them.

Thank you

Special thank you to Harold (Bob) and Aphrodite (Faye) Peponis for taking the long road trip from Chicago to visit us and share their knowledge and love of icons at one of our Orthodoxy 101 sessions.  Their knowledge of the Orthodox faith, combined with their passion and genuine desire to nurture and grow Orthodoxy, made for a very fulfilling experience – and left us yearning for more.  We look forward to future opportunities to learn more from this wonderful couple.

For sale

We still have one book left that is a collection of all fo the Greek Orthodox Churches in North America.  It is a beautiful book, with a story about each church and plenty of pictures.  Even our own church has a page or two.  The book is a wonderful coffee table piece of art and is only $70.

We also have a few copies of the Faith left at $15 each.  We were able to get a 40% discount with our large order.  This is the book used during our Orthodoxy 101 classes.  If you’d like a book, please see Fr. John.

Sunday School

Please note that Sunday school will begin September 10^th and will be held every 2^nd and 4^th Sundays of each month.  Registration is free.  Please bring your children so that they can learn about our beautiful Greek Orthodox faith and traditions, and grow to be good Christians. 

Sunday school registration is in progress. If your child would like to participate in the program, please complete the registration form (available at church) and return it to church as soon as possible.  Alternatively, you can email the the chidren’s names, date of birth, age and Child’s Patron Saint Name to Tina Herbeck at herbzhut@sbcglobal.net. Classes begin September 10^th  with Agiosmos Service to bless the school year. Please arrive by 9:45 a.m.

Oktoberfest on September 30^th  

It’s time to get ready for our major fundraiser – Oktoberfest – in downtown Appleton on Saturday, September 30^th. As always, success is achieved only though the support of our parishioners. 

Please sign up to work on Thursday night (chopping onions and pork), Friday night (chopping tomatoes and skewing souvlaki) or to cook or serve on Saturday. Signup sheets are posted in the church lobby or you can e-mail any of the parish council members.

If you are not able to contribute time, consider donating food, supplies or even money to help offset the festival costs

Pleasant farewell

We’d like to wish the best of luck to our long time parishioners Stephanie (Grossman) Ganakos and her sons Alex & Evan who recently moved to Addison IL to be closer to her family.  They have settled into their new home but still have a few boxes to unpack!  If you are in the area, give them a call!  Stephanie’s e-mail is: StephanieG1@aol.com

Stewardship

The following parishioners turned in their 2006 stewardship forms during the last two months and as such are members in good standing at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Appleton and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese:

If you have not returned your stewardship form for 2006, please do so at your earliest convenience. Only stewards of the church are able to vote at the general assembly meeting in November and serve on the parish council.  If you need a form, please pick one up at the church or contact a council member and we will mail one to you.

Please note, that we cannot assume you want to be a steward of the church until the form is completed.  While donations are welcome at any time, they do not constitute stewardship without the completed pledge form. Thank you for your understanding. 

Congratulations

We’ve had a busy couple months of weddings and baptisms.  We’d like to wish our newlyweds and new orthodox Christians a lifetime of health, love and happiness.

·         On July 22, Anastasia Visnevscaia and Stephan Reetz were married. Kuma was Lena Batsco and Best Man was Nick Gebert.  Fr. Marko Todorovic from Sv. Nikola in Milwaukee performed the ceremony.

·         On August 3, Dejan & Maja Madjun were married.  Kum was Ranko Pemac and Stari Svat was Smiljan Kaurin. 

·         On August 3^rd Aleksandra Madjun was baptized. Kum was Ranko Pemac.

·         On August 13, Achileas Fotopoulos was baptized.  Stavros Kodis was the Koumbaros.  Our own Fr. John performed the ceremony.

Correction!

Our sincerest apologies for our oversight in the last bulletin! We’d like to thank Irene Gamsky and Georgia Dimitrakakis for baking and donating the Kolouria (butter cookies) for the pastry sale.  They were not only delicious but one of our best sellers! Thank you ladies. 

Ladies Group (Philoptochos)

If you are interested in hosting a coffee hour following the Liturgy, please sign up on the bulletin board by the kitchen. This is a great opportunity for you to do a little extra for your church family.

Parish Picnic a success!