Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This Sunday, Father Deacon Andrew will be offering a Typika with Holy Eucharist, so you need to arrive on time in order to be present for the shorter service.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, August 22, and Friday, August 24
Daily Services
There will be no daily services this week. The daily services will resume with the traditional parish schedule (Orthoros 5am; Vespers 5pm) on Monday, August 27.
Saturday, August 25
- St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m. – Mike Brown will be leading a discussion of Chapter 11 “The Devil and The Demons."
- Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 26
Thirteenth Sunday of St Matthew
- Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
- Typika with Holy Eucharist 10am
- Fellowship Hour Noon
- Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children Noon
- Trail Life Information Meeting Noon
Coming Up
Church School returns on Sunday, September 16! If you have not yet registered your children, please get in touch with our Church School Coordinator, Lindsey Bell, as soon as possible. We want to be sure that we have space for all our children.
The Fall Theological Seminar begins on Wednesday, September 12. This year, we will be reading a wonderful novel by Marilynne Robinson called Gilead. You can easily pick up an inexpensive copy at Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore. This year, a group will also be meeting in Killeen (at the offices of Randy Hardin). Attached to this newsletter is a letter which will give you additional information about the seminar.
September is also a busy month liturgically. On Saturday, September 1, we will celebrate the Feast of the Indiction. On Saturday, September 8, we will celebrate the Nativity of the Mother of God, and on Friday, September 14, we will celebrate the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. Please make sure those dates are on your calendar, and please plan on joining us for each of those feasts.
And, of course, don’t forget our Open House Weekend, Saturday, September 29, and Sunday, September 30.
Our New Scout Troop
This fall will be the beginning of something very special here at St. John's. Joe Wright and several other dads are starting the first (as far as we know) All Boys Orthodox Scouting Troop in Central Texas! This idea was born out of many conversations about how to cultivate and support our young men in the Orthodox faith and raising them to be well rounded, honorable, productive citizens in our church community and the various communities where they live. Several of our dads decided to look into scouting as a way to do just that. Doing due diligence in researching the different scouting organizations they came across Trail Life USA and decided this was exactly what we are looking for. Trail Life not only allows for Catholic and Orthodox-centric troops but encourages individual troops to practice and teach their specific faith traditions in a natural and organic way.
So Joe Wright and the other dads would like to personally invite all other dads and all boys to a Q&A introduction to Trail Life on Sunday Aug 26th at 12pm. This will be held in the common area in the parish house, and you’ll be able to learn more about how you and your boys can get involved! The core leadership of the troop includes: Seth Hart, Chris Falkowski, Michael Coleman, Joe Wright, Fr. Deacon Andrew, and Nick Crown. We will discuss the details and distribute info to bring back home to your family to discuss and decide if TL is right for you. Feel free to join us for the conversation even if you think you can't participate. We want all our dads to know about this awesome program. If you would like to learn more before hand please visit traillifeusa.com for more info.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Now that we’ve finished remodeling the parish house, we’re going to focus on keeping our property looking as nice as possible. Parents and grandparents and godparents have a big role to play in that effort. For example, landscaping features often attract children, and we certainly want our children to enjoy their time at the parish, but when children play with the gravel and mulch and stones that are part of our landscaping, those children should also be taught the good stewardship of restoring those materials to their original appearance.
I will be on vacation from August 20-August 26. During that time, if you need a clergyman, please contact Father Deacon Andrew Wilson. I will, however, throughout the week, keep each of you in my prayers.
An unworthy priest,
Aidan