Fasting Days: This week, there are none! Wha-Hoo!
Daily Services
Mon, Feb 6- Fri, Feb 10 Orthros 5:30am; Vespers 5pm
Saturday, Feb 11
Orthopraxis Seminar 3:30pm
Great Vespers with the Jesus Prayer 6pm
Sunday, Feb 12 The Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
All Saints' Club Noon
Coming Up
On Saturday, Feb 18, we will be serving our
first Souls Saturday of the year. Orthros will be at 7am;
Divine Liturgy will be at 9am. Please make sure that you
have listed your departed loved ones in the book that is
available in the narthex, and please be sure to join us for
these important services.
On Sunday, Feb 19, we will have our first
Community Meal of 2012 (it also happens to be Meat Fare
Sunday, so you can be sure we will have something really
good). The meal will take place in connection with our
Annual Meeting, and we will be putting together our
quarterly Liturgy Prayer List, so plan on hanging around
after the liturgy on Feb 19.
Our Annual Meeting
The meeting will take place on Sunday Feb 19.
We will have everyone sign in for the meeting out in the
narthex as they arrive for the Divine Liturgy. Once the
liturgy has concluded, and, after everyone has reverenced
the cross, we will set up the tables and chairs for our
Community Meal. Once everyone has their coffee, we will sit
down and start the meeting while the food is being put out.
Once the food is ready, we will take a break and go through
the serving line. When everyone has their food, we will
resume the meeting. While the votes for the parish council
election are being tallied, we will put together our
quarterly Liturgy Prayer List. The entire event--meeting and
meal--should take about an hour.
During this meeting, we will be voting on an amendment to
our parish constitution, the text of which is also attached
to this edition of The Happy Priest; since the amendment is
being sent to the meeting as a motion from the parish
council, when it's time to deal with the issue, we will
begin with questions and then move to discussion. However,
if you have questions or concerns about the amendment that
you'd like answered prior to the meeting, please don't
hesitate to contact me.
At the meeting, we will also be electing two new parish
council members. Two of our current council members, Gregg
Easley and Rebekah Galloway, will be running again, and our
nominating committee has asked two other people, Sarah Brown
and Jason Hatfield, to run for the council. During the
meeting, we also take nominations from the floor, but it's
important to remember that, in order to serve on the
council, a person must be eighteen years old; they must have
been a member of our parish for eighteen months; they must
have signed a 2012 commitment card, and they must be regular
participants in the Holy Mysteries of Confession and the
Eucharist. So, to avoid any awkward or embarrassing moments
during the meeting, please check with me ahead of time if
you are thinking about nominating someone from the floor.
It's Time for Camp!
Every year, our Archdiocese offers each parish $700 in
scholarship funds that can be used toward any Antiochian
camp (the camp for our diocese is Camp St Raphael in
Oklahoma). However, in order to take advantage of these
funds, I must let the Archdiocese know of our plans by
March 1. So, if you have a young person who would like
to attend camp, please let me know as soon as possible
(we'll use the scholarship money on a first come first
serve basis), and also please be sure to go ahead and
register for camp. You can find the links for Camp St
Raphael on our diocesan webpage at
www.antiochian.org.
Playing 'Let's Catch the Priest'
Lots of folks don't like to make an appointment to see
the priest. It just seems kind of formal and stuffy. So,
what these folks do is try to catch the priest between
services or during fellowship hour--"Can you hear my
confession?" "Can you bless this icon?" "Could we visit
for just a few minutes?" "Could I talk with you while
you're walking really quickly to whatever it is you're
going to do next?" Normally, none of this is a problem,
but, during Great Lent, the service schedule becomes
more demanding, and it gets harder and harder to keep up
with all the requests. And this priest, at least, really
does want to keep up with your requests--I
want to stand with you during confession, and I
want to make sure all your icons are blessed, and I
want to be able to visit with each and every one
of you. So, to help me meet your needs--and the needs of
everyone else in our parish community--between now and
Pascha, instead of trying to catch me in transit, please
just send me an email ahead of time. That way, I can do
my very best to make sure that everything gets done, and
everyone's needs are met.
Our Teaching Moment
Our
ushers are responsible for managing the flow of people
in and out of the nave and for keeping things quiet in
the narthex. If you arrive late for the service, please
remember that they will ask you to wait in the narthex
or the kitchen during baptisms, during any of the
entrances or scripture lessons, during the homily, and
during communion. Please respect their role and follow
their directions.