Bookstore - Open to the Public

   Bookstore is open during normal church activities, Fr. John’s office hours, or by appointment.

Regular Weekly Schedule

      Thursday – 6:30 p.m.  Adult Orthodoxy class.  Open to the public. Learn about the Orthodox Faith and Traditions. Open discussion. All are welcome!  

      Saturday –  6:00-6:45 p.m.  Vespers service.

      Sunday – 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy (conducted in Greek, English; some Serbian)

      Sunday School – 10:00 a.m. Second and fourth Sundays through May.

      Parish Council Meeting – Change in meeting time for November and December to 2nd Monday of the month

      Ladies’ Group Meeting – 2^nd Sunday of the month

Church Directory

A directory of parish members is now available at church.

Office Hours

Father John has office hours at the church on Saturdays 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Feel free to stop in and chat or to talk about any concerns or issues you may have.

How to Contact the Parish Council – see home page

Message from Father John

Dear Faithful Parishioners:  Happy New Year, may 2008 bring health and spiritual growth to you and your families.

As we begin our third calendar year together, we have many accomplishments to celebrate. First of all, we would like to welcome all the converts to our faith in 2006-2007. These include Bob Phillips, Jan Kodis, Elizabeth Fotopoulos, Jasna Kaurin, Bernie Olson, and soon - Jeff Tourville. There are some of you out there who are married to Orthodox and attend our church. I would urge you all to consider going through the process of becoming Orthodox. It is most advantageous for a family to all share the same faith.

We will begin our spring semester of Orthodoxy 101 on Saturday, January 12, at 10:00 a.m.  The class will return to Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. starting January 17.  We invite those of you who have not been attending to make an effort to grow in your faith in 2008. Again, I must state that those who do not attend class or other services (vespers, etc.) then complain about the parish state of affairs have a shaky ground to stand on. Get involved, attend vespers at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evenings, come to class, bring guests to church. As I have mentioned before, 90% of new church members are brought by current members as guests. Let’s invite our friends and families who are either not Orthodox or have fallen away.

Our January parish council meeting will be on Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.  We welcome Dorothy Olson, Nick Karras, and Jasna Kaurin as new parish council members.  Also, a reminder for those who have yet to have their homes blessed, please call me to schedule a blessing. 

God Bless. Fr. John Galenos Pilafas+

President’s Corner

At our recent parish General Assembly meeting, 2008 focus items were discussed.  Since some parish members were not able to be present, some of the more important items that were discussed were further development of an Evangelism and Outreach Committee and Stewardship Committee, establish a Real Estate Committee (to look at our need for additional space for current needs that develop and to begin looking at our future building options), and establishment of a parish 50th Anniversary Committee … the year 2010 will be our 50th year, and it is not far away.

At General Assembly, Dave Herbeck, who works for Commercial Horizons, spoke to us about our current property and what options face us.  Here are the items discussed so that we have a base knowledge from which to move forward whenever the time comes….

What the property is worth – we have a four-acre site in the City of Appleton, the site does not have sewer, water, or storm available now.  In fact, there aren’t plans to extend them either. The City Comprehensive Plan has the final use categorized as “industrial.” The site is between a large trailer park and mini warehouse, with landfill across the street.  These factors make retail, residential, institutional, and large industrial impossible.  The storage units are new, and more are going up, so they will be around for an extended period of time.  At best, our land is suitable for small industrial and perhaps even storage, resembling our neighbor.  Similar property without services, curb & gutter, concrete street, and with similar access to major highways have sold for $25-30K per acre.  That is also the general range of storage units.

In light of the facts, here are some of the options we face:

1.                 Do nothing.  Not a prudent option.

2.                 Fix what we have and/or expand our present building. We would face difficult issues with this option, not a solid long-term plan.  However, because we are beginning to need space for Sunday school, we may need to look into some short-term options for this.

3.                 Build new on the present site.  This is not a suitable site to build something new.  The current building is about 4,000 square feet.  Assume we would double the size to approximately 10,000 square feet to include a couple classrooms, kitchen and dining area, restrooms, a couple offices, mechanical/storage, and service area with pews seating about 150.  Generally, the complete basic building cost will run about $150 per square foot. That’s  $1.5 million for easy math.  Plus site costs.  Plus soft costs.  Of course, building new on some new property would be even more expensive.

4.                 Relocate to a different existing building. Dave mentioned that churches come up all the time.  It will be a lot cheaper to buy an existing church than to build a new one.

An overwhelming majority of parish members favored finding an existing building at the appropriate time in the future.

We need to realize, too, that for future visions to become reality, we each need to understand our need for growth.  Growth needs to be rooted in meeting people’s spiritual needs.  The Parish Council will be focusing on Evangelism and Outreach in the new year.  Individually and collectively, we all have a part in this effort.

Real Estate Committee.  Three members volunteered to form a committee to begin looking at how we can meet any immediate space needs and also to gather information and explore future options. These individuals are:

Dave Herbeck

Mark Schedler

Bernie Olson

This committee will meet periodically and provide a status report to the Parish Council.  If you are interested in participating on this committee, you can contact Dave Herbeck or Mark Schedler. 

St. Nicholas 50th Anniversary Committee (Year 2010).

Now is the time for us to start thinking about the 50th anniversary of our parish.  The committee will begin to brainstorm ideas, network with other parishes who have planned anniversary celebrations, and begin to work toward defining what our celebration will entail.  This committee will look at things such as an anniversary booklet, plan the venue for the event, prepare the mailing list, and more.  Two members have volunteered to spearhead this committee; they are:

Tania Phillips

Dorothy Olson

More volunteers will be needed.  If you are interested in participating on this committee, please contact Tania or Dorothy (both are council members).

Stewardship Corner

As we enter the new year, it is a good time for one to prayerfully consider stewardship of one’s time, talent and, of course, finances. 

“Each person should give what he had decided in this heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God  loves a cheerful (willing) giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).  How do you compare your expenditures on personal entertainment to your giving for God’s work? Our stewardship giving reflects our commitment to Christ and His Church. 

Money is a necessary tool to fulfill the mission of the Church; we are called upon to commit our fair share for the financial support of our Church’s expenses on a Parish, Metropolis, and Archdiocesan level.

The St. Nicholas operating budget for the calendar year 2008 will be $83,000.

Our Stewardship giving should support all the Parish Ministries and the entire operating budget.

We should not depend on special affairs to meet our budget, for this is our direct responsibility. Stewardship places the responsibility on us, for we are the recipients of God’s gifts and play and active role in perpetuating His work of salvation.

The expenses of our Parish are vital to our Church for:

      Keeping in Touch With You

      Maintaining our Buildings

      Those Who Serve Us

      Worship and Education

      National Ministries Commitment

At our General Assembly meeting on December 2, Treasurer Mark Schedler reviewed our finances.  We had very good response to our festivals this year; we also saved $1,000 on our utilities bills over the course of the year, and stewardship pledges were up 22%. 

Here is a financial snapshot nearing the end of December:

A detailed report is posted on the bulletin board at church.

Everyone should have received their 2008 Stewardship Pledge forms in the mail. If you haven’t, let a parish council member know, and we will get the information to you.  Please return your pledge forms by January 31, 2008, so we know how to budget for the new year.

Ladies’ Group

The annual Ladies’ Group Christmas dinner on December 13, 2007, at Apollon Restaurant was a time of fellowship, great food, and a small gift exchange.  An idea was brought up to replace the gift exchange next year with collection of a monetary donation to a provide to a local charity.  This idea was accepted but amended to also include an ornament exchange.

Tammy Kostoulos was honored for her contributions over the years and her willingness to step up and help with whatever needs come our way!  

The goal of the Ladies’ Group is to support those in need – in both our parish and community.  They have provided rent assistance to a number of young people, have provided toys for needy families with children, in 2007 they contributed to our Lawrence University student, Will Martin’s mission trip to Tanzania with Orthodox Mission group.  The ladies’ also support the monthly cleaning of the church and sponsor luncheons throughout the year and purchase the flowers used during Lent.

Annual membership dues are $24 and are requested at the start of the new year.  The dues, in addition to fundraisers, help the Ladies’ Group achieve their goals.  You may submit dues to Kathy Gostas, president, or Nancy Kohlman, treasurer. Checks may be made payable to St. Nicholas Ladies’ Group.  

Sunday School

Our thanks goes out to Jason and Amy Fotopoulos who stepped up to the challenge this summer and worked, with the guidance of Debbie Dimitrakakis-White and Tina Herbeck, to set up the Sunday school schedule and calendar of events and lesson plans to start off the year.

The coordination of the Sunday school, however, has shifted into more of a group effort.  Due to the fact that we have so many kids at different age levels, we have made three classes this year.  We have the 3 & 4 year olds, 5 & 6 year olds, and 7 and up.  Debbie, Tina, and Molly have created a curriculum for each class to follow.  A rotating teacher schedule sign up sheet has been posted so that anyone available and interested in helping to teach our children can sign up.  Look at the schedule and speak to Deb, Tina, or Molly if you are interested in helping.

Our year so far has included:

      A very fun Christmas Pizza Party, complete with decorating the church, tree trimming, games and of course, pizza!! 

      Tania Philips also organized an afternoon of bell ringing for the Salvation Army at Copp’s Food on Ballard Road.  According to Tania, the kettle was full by the time our turn was up. 

      We're currently having a food drive and used toy drive into the new year organized by Molly Endter and her daughter, Kate.  (We will be happy to take any donations from the congregation.)

Our Christmas pageant didn't quite happen this year with the cancellation of church on December 23 due to the awful weather.  We hope to make it a future production.

An organizational meeting for the next semester will be occurring soon.

Together, we look forward to an educational 2008 for our children.