Holy Apostles Orthodox Christian
Church E-Tidings
October 2008
Consecration! Please join us for the Consecration of the St. Matthew Chapel the weekend of October 3rd. Help us welcome his Eminence Archbishop DMITRI and delegates from the Orthodox Church in America. Father Ambrose Arrington, parish members and guests will participate in the most joyous of events – the consecration of our chapel dedicated to St. Matthew. Event Schedule: Friday October 3rd at 6:30pm: Great Vespers with reception following. Saturday October 4th at 9:00am: Entrance of Bishop, Consecration Service and Divine Liturgy with luncheon following. Please contact Father Ambrose or sign up at the community center if you are available to volunteer for the event.
Irrigation System Completed, Sod Work Continues. Many thanks to Phil Dunbar for overseeing the installation of the irrigation system and grass sod at the church. The installation process has taken several months but will be worth the effort. We hope to have the sod work completed very soon.
Sunday Church School Thriving. As many have noticed, our Sunday Church School has grown remarkably this year with over 30 students now enrolled. Please take time to thank our Church School instructors and administrators for their time and dedication.
Youth Group(s) Activities. The Holy Apostles youth group attended the Greek Holiday Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. The group dined on authentic Greek food and pastries and had a chance to Greek dance and take in the sights. Following the outing at the festival the group met at the Utica Square Starbucks for a late night “Whole Bean Soy Skinny Vanilla Latte Roast Guatemalan Joya del Dia Blend” (or something like that). Kelly and Carlene Williams did a great job organizing the event. On Sunday, September 28th at 5:00pm the Junior Youth Group will hold a “Game Night” at the parish community building. The Junior Youth Group is coordinated by Tim and Tami Yates.
New Parish Directory Coming Soon! Holy Apostles will be distributing a new parish directory within the next few weeks. The directory will contain phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses of parish members as well as dates for parishioner name days.
New Divine Liturgy Booklet in the Works. John Darnell and John Sames are working to update our parish Divine Liturgy booklet to match the translations used in the service. The booklet will also include the resurrection troparia and kontakia as well as the troparia hymns for major feast days. Be looking for the booklet within a few weeks.
Blessed Growth. Father Ambrose reports that the Holy Apostles parish has so far this year received 13 adults and children into the Orthodox Faith, celebrated one marriage, and currently has three catechumens. During 2007 we received 10 people into the Church over the course of the entire year.
Parish Co-op School Going Strong. Father Ambrose reports that the Sophia Home School Co-op is going very well with good attendance and participation. Each Tuesday the school meets at the church for Divine Liturgy, instruction, social interaction and physical activities.
Parish Finances, OK but Needs Remain. Parish Treasurer Phil Dunbar reports that as of August 31st parish operations year-to-date show a negative net income of ($99). Total year-to-date revenues are $71,813 with expenses of $71,912. Phil reminds the Parish Council that $10,000 of our operating revenue for 2008 comes from Diocese assistance. This assistance will end 12/31/08. Cash balances for the parish as of August 31st are $4,731 in the operating account and $13,259 in the restricted account.
Additional Help Needed ($). In addition to the need for all parish congregants to actively participate in the regular financial support of the parish we do have other current needs. The parish currently owes our iconographer $8,000 for the remaining iconostasis icons. We also have the need to replace the AC unit in the men’s room at the chapel (due to hail damage) at a cost of about $400. Unfortunately we will also be replacing the doors on the chapel and chapel restrooms due to premature wood rot. (We settled at a lower payment to the contractor on the final cost of construction due to the problem with the doors.) We anticipate the replacement cost for the doors will be in the $4,000 - $5,000 range. If you can assist with any of these needs please see Father Ambrose or make a donation writing the purpose on the memo line of your check. Thank you.
New “Seed Mission” on Horizon. Father Ambrose reported at the September Parish Council meeting that he desires to establish a seed mission. Father believes that a true need exists to determine the possibility of another parish in the Claremore area. A seed mission will be formed utilizing the home of area parishioners with the goal of determining the long-term prospects for a full-fledged mission. Father’s goal is to conduct a vespers service once per month at the location. Holy Apostles will support the mission by providing books and other in-kind resources.
Temple Exploratory Committee to be Formed. The Parish Council has agreed to establish an exploratory committee to look at the feasibility of building a traditional Orthodox temple on the property. One of the original goals of the parish when it was formed was to build a temple and now with continued parish growth the Council sees the need to move forward with the concept. The committee will look at all aspects of building a temple including parish demographics, financial implications, design and timelines. The committee will be established during the fourth quarter of the year and will report to Father Ambrose and the Parish Council.
New Format Coming to Web Site. The parish will be launching a new format for our web site during October. Father Ambrose while working with Andrew Johnson has made several cosmetic changes to the site as well as new features like online contributions and streaming music. Be sure to visit the site at www.holyapostlesorthodox.org in the coming weeks.
Reader’s Classes to Resume. Be looking for a sign-up sheet in the narthex of the chapel for reader’s classes which we anticipate resuming in mid-October. Those interested in learning to become a reader in the Orthodox Church should consider taking the classes which will include an overview of service structure and terminology as well as an emphasis on exercises of proper reading technique. The classes are also open to anyone wishing to attend.
Parish Sexton Needed! The Parish Council has formalized a new position within the parish to oversee maintenance of parish facilities. The position will be known as Parish Sexton (The word “Sexton” is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Norman “segerstein” which itself originated from the Latin word “sacristanus” which basically means “someone who looks after the sacred objects”). For more information about the Sexton position please see the attached file. If you are interested in serving as Sexton please contact Father Ambrose or our Senior Warden George Michalopulos.
Consecration Video to be Produced. A video of the services and festivities surrounding the Consecration of the St. Matthew Chapel is to be produced and placed on YouTube with a link to the Holy Apostles web site. Jesse Armenio will produce the video which is to include footage from the Consecration services and luncheon while also including interviews with clergy and guests. Be looking for the video within a few weeks following the event.
Men’s Group Luncheons. As has been a tradition of Holy Apostles since its founding, all men of the parish are invited to break bread and solve the world’s problems at a monthly luncheon. Be looking for a monthly email notice from George Michalopulos for the next event. To be added to the email notice list please contact George at (918) 557-7380.
Volunteers. Thank you to all our volunteers who make the parish run so smoothly. From the ladies who oversee our weekly coffees, those who clean, those who serve in the choir, readers, altar servers, teachers, those who do maintenance and youth leaders. To all those who love Christ and His parish – Thank You.
E-Tidings Newsletter Initiated. We hope you enjoyed the first installment of the Holy Apostles E-Tidings monthly newsletter. The E-Newsletter is intended to supplement our monthly hardcopy newsletter “The Journey” with information about the parish, parish finances and general goings on. Please feel free to provide feedback to the E-Tidings editor at the email address below. We encourage you to send in newsworthy information and interesting photos that can be published in E-Tidings.
If you would like to contribute information or photos to the Holy Apostles E-News monthly newsletter please send information to jsames@trinitytulsa.org. Submissions should be received by the 20th of each month.
