|
Message from Father
John
 Dear
Faithful Parishioners, as we reach the mid-point
of Lent, I hope the Lenten services
and Lenten classes on Thursday evening have helped strengthen all of you in
the spiritual battles we encounter as we attempt to come closer to Christ.
The devil will always try to derail us because His ONLY aim is to keep us
from Christ and His Orthodox Church.
For those of you who have not availed yourselves of the
special Lenten services, it’s not too late. Refer to the schedule in
this bulletin. Also, for the first time in memory, we have a full schedule
of Holy Week services. I hope you will all attend each night's service as
they crescendo into the Resurrection of the Savior on Saturday night.
With all the attacks on our faith, such as the recent
claim of finding the tomb of Jesus, we must be diligent in knowing the
truth of Orthodoxy and strengthening our faith so the secularists and their
blatantly false claims cannot affect us.
On Sunday, March 18, His Grace Bishop Demetri will be up
from Chicago to visit our
parish and to celebrate the Liturgy with us. In honor of his visit, we will
host a parish luncheon. If you
have never witnessed a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, it is truly uplifting.
Please plan on attending, and if you have other plans for that Sunday, if
at all possible, reschedule them if you are able, as we MUST fill our
church to capacity that Sunday to show His Grace that we are a vibrant
Christ-centered parish in the Fox
Valley. God Bless, Fr. John+
Parish Council Update
The Parish Council, in support of, and with, Father
John, would like to share with you that , in addition to working on the
regular activities of the parish, we are working together to finalize
objectives for the year (and beyond) that we pray will add value to our
parish, members, and community.
Here are the main areas of focus we are discussing:
• Spiritual
Growth & Education
• Financial
Growth & Stewardship
• Fundraising
• Building
& Grounds
• Church
Expansion
• “Other”
We all realize that some of these areas definitely
require long-range planning, but we need to place even lofty objectives on
the radar screen so we don’t lose sight of certain steps needed to
begin to see the parish grow – this is one reason Father John is
here. The challenge for
our parish, as you know, is that our numbers are small, we travel from
various distances to attend church, we represent different backgrounds, and
we all have busy lives.
The area of Spiritual Growth & Education has seen a
number of objectives already come to fruition – an increase in the
number of meaningul liturgical services and a bookstore. The variety of Lenten services, in
tandem with the current Thursday night study of the book, Great Lent , by
Fr. Alexander Schmemann, provides a comprehensive picture of the entire
Orthodox Lenten experience.
This book is phenomenal!
Everyone who attends the Thursday night Orthodoxy class walks away
with some new bit of knowledge and an amazing amount of increased insight
into just how rich our Orthodox Faith is!
If you haven’t been to a Friday night Akathist
service, we have a few left. It
is a reflective service as the lighting is kept to a bare minimum. At a
table at the front of church, candles burn next to an icon of the Virgin
Mary with Jesus. The service is
easy to follow with the Akathist service books that are available at the
back of the church. This is service lasts about 45 minutes and, afterward,
we share light potluck of Lenten appetizers or dishes that are provided by
anyone interested in bringing a dish.
The Saturday night Great Vespers service starts early, at
6:00 p.m., and also runs about 45 mintues and offers a different feel; for
one, the musical tones are more in the Russian Orthodox style. A meaningful preparation for Sunday
morning liturgy.
Do you have ideas or a particular vision for our parish
that you would like to share?
Please feel free to speak with any one of us on the Parish Council
or Father John. We are one
community and everyone’s input is needed.
Calendar of Services
and Activities
Included with this newsletter is a calendar of services
through April – thanks to Tammy Kostoulos for downloading the
calendar format from a website and plugging in the initial schedule of
services! We will continue to
keep this calendar updated through the year – it will be posted and
copies made available at church.
The Lenten Fast
We have begun the liturgical Lenten season and a strict
fasting time. Orthodox Christians, as many others, believe their spiritual
lives begin with their stomachs and that fasting is a spiritual tool. When
we eat right, our spirits are more open to God and attentive to all that is
good in life. When eating is wrong, or unhealthy, it can affect the mind,
emotions, and behavior. Christ and his apostles feasted and fasted –
food is to be enjoyed with thanksgiving (Acts 10:10-15; Rom. 14:6) and warned eating can become
idolatrous (Rom. 16:18; Phil 3:19). Eating in moderation is the rule -
excesses of any kind are harmful and destructive. Here are a couple of recipes that
you may be interested in trying to help you in your Lenten menu
planning…
|
Green Bean Pasta
Sauce (with oil)
Great served hot over
pasta such as rigatoni or rotelle. Can also be served as a vegetable side
dish. Also equally good served as a “cooked” salad by
chilling well before serving and serve cold or at room temperature.
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 c. chopped of each
– onion, carrot, celery
1 Tbsp sugar
2 c. canned Italian
plum tomatoes; diced or whole, with juice
¾ tsp salt (or
to taste)
1 – 16 oz. pkg
frozen green beans
Heat oil over medium heat
in large saucepan. Add onion and sautee until soft. Add carrots and
celery. Cook covered 5-10 minutes; stir occasionally. Uncover, add sugar,
cook and stir sugar until melted. Add tomatoes and juice and salt and
bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15-20 minutes. Add
frozen green beans and cook for 45 minutes. Serves 4-6.
|
Leek, Potato, and
Carrot Soup (no oil)
Clean leeks thoroughly
– split from top to bottom, cut off tough green tops and discard.
Under running water, separate and rinse between the layers to remove
sand.
1 c. chopped leeks
1 ¼ c. diced,
peeled potatoes
¾ c. diced,
peeled carrots
3 ½ c. water
1-2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
Place vegetables and
water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat, add salt and
simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender (30-50
minutes). Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Leave soup as is or
puree in a blender/food processor. Puree only until smooth, do no over
process, which may cause soup to become glutinous and gummy. If soup is
too think, water may be added to thin. Serves 4-6.
|
Saturday Vespers Services (6:00 p.m. every Saturday)
We welcome Jack and Joann Hayford from St.
Michael’s Orthodox Church in Green Bay,
who expressed an interest in attending a Saturday night Vespers service
closer to their home and were happy to learn that St. Nicholas was starting
services in February. They also
happen to be leading the musical responses. Come join us any Saturday evening at
6:00 p.m.
Sunday School Corner
Food Drive
The Sunday School children would like you to know that
they are conducting a Lenten Food Drive for the local food pantry. A container is located at the
entrance of the church. Items will be delivered after Easter.
Good Friday Children’s Retreat – 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
Father John will be conducting a special retreat at the
church for Sunday-school-aged children on Good Friday from 11:00 a.m. until just before the time of
the liturgical service, around 2:30 p.m.! Lunch will be provided for the
kids. Please call Deb White
about whether or not your child will attend!
Ladies’ Group (Philoptochos)
Donations for Lenten Flowers
Please make your donations for Lenten and Easter flowers
early so we have the means to purchase the flowers that are needed for
Lent. You may place your
donations in the basket at the back table or directly to Nancy Kohlman or
Kathy Gostas.
Decorating the Epitaphio
If you would like to help decorate the Epitaphio with
flowers on Good Friday, you can arrive anytime after 9:00 a.m.
Palm Sunday Luncheon
Our Ladies’ Group will host the luncheon on Palm
Sunday. If you haven’t
already committed to bringing a dish to pass, please contact Kathy
Gostas. We thank Rajka Tomic
who will be preparing the fish for that day!
Don’t Forget Your Membership Dues
If you have not paid your 2006 dues, please remember to
turn them in as soon as possible, as well as for 2007, so we can rebuild
our treasury. The cost is $24 a
year and helps us accomplish all the things we do for the parish and
community. You may pay Kathy
Gostas or Nancy Kohlman.
Stewards of the Church
Current stewards
Our Bookstore (Open during normal church
activities or by appointment)
 The
bookstore has been up and running for the last several weeks. Once again, thanks to Jason
Fotopoulos, who built and donated the bookshelves to the church. He did a wonderful job and they are
beautiful.
There are icons, hand censors, a wide range of books on
many topics, including children’s books and study books. The Orthodox Study Bible (New
Testament) is an excellent resource.
Jesus’ words are in red text and every page includes
historical and traditional background information about the scriptures.
The purpose of our bookstore is to provide convenient
access to a variety of resources to help us in our spiritual growth, as
well as to offer these resources to our community. We received a call a few weeks ago
to make an appointment to look over our books and icons; the individual
needed to purchase an icon for a gift, and did so. The books will also be displayed at
our festivals this year to support an effort to reach out into the
community. We have had a number
of visitors at church this year who have been hearing more about Orthodoxy
and want to know more. Being able
to have books on hand that they can purchase to help answer their
questions, may help us grow as a parish.
We may not always have the same number of books and
icons in our inventory, as we currently had for the start up, because we
are also developing an order form that will help provide the books people
are interested in and keep our investment at a manageable level for the
size of our small parish.
|
