Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
We are now just a few weeks away from our first Open House Weekend, so this is the time to start extending those invitations. Remember, the plan is that, on Saturday, September 29, and Sunday, September 30, we will attend all of the events and services throughout the weekend, and we will invite a guest to join us for one of those services or events. Attached to this edition of The Happy Priest is a link to an invitation that you can use on social media to follow up on all of the personal invitations that you’ll be extending to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, September 5, and Friday, September 7
Daily Services
Tuesday, September 4-Friday, September 7
- Orthros 5am
- Vespers 5pm
(There will not be any daily services on Monday, September 3; also, on Friday, September 7, in place of daily vespers, Great Vespers will be served at 7pm. Also, because life in our parish community can be pretty busy, sometimes the starting times for the daily services has to be shifted. So, if you know ahead of time that you will be attending a particular service, it’s always a good idea to send Father Aidan a note at fraidan@austin.rr.com to confirm when the service will actually begin.)
Friday, September 7
Great Vespers for the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God 7pm
Saturday, September 8
The Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God
- Orthros 7am
- Divine Liturgy 9am
- St Thomas School 4pm. Polly Thurston will be leading the discussion on pgs 244-259 of Chapter 12, Man
- Great Vespers with the Jesus Prayer 6pm. Also, check out the new St Thomas School blog which will provide you with previews of upcoming sessions at https://www.theforerunner.org/class-blog/.
Sunday, August 19
The Sunday Before the Elevation of the Cross
- Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
- Divine Liturgy 10am
- Fellowship Hour Noon
- Akathist to the Mother of God of the Inexhaustible Cup Noon
- Creating Safe Environments: Child Sex Abuse Prevention and Response Noon (Check out the attached document for further information about this very important event)
Coming Up
The Fall Theological Seminar begins a week from Wednesday on 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.
On Thursday, September 13 our Trail Life Troop will begin meeting weekly at the parish. All dads and sons are welcome, so if you’d like more information, just contact Joe Wright.
September is a busy liturgical month. In addition to the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God this coming Saturday, 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.
Church School returns on Sunday, September 16; if you need any additional information about that important program, please contact Lindsey Bell.
On Sunday, September 16, we will also have our next quarterly Community Meal. During Fellowship Hour, we all eat together in the Long Hall, and, during that meal we put together our Liturgy Prayer List. Also, since Audray Roblenski’s departure from this life was so very abrupt, a lot of us haven’t really had a chance to honor her, so we’re officially declaring Sunday, September 16 to be Big Hat Day. Of course, if you’re not the sort of woman who wears hats, you certainly are not required to participate, but, if you would like to join us in remembering one of the most stylish women in the history of our parish, just go to Goodwill, get the biggest hat they have, add a feather or two, and wear it proudly to the services on Sunday, September 16 (and, oh yes, we will be posting photographs later).
Financial Update
Thanks to your hard work and generosity, and thanks to the mercy of the Most Holy Trinity, we completed August with a surplus of right at $500. That means we have cut the deficit for the year to $800. That puts us in a really good position as we head into the fall and the final quarter of the year, but, of course, we need to maintain that momentum throughout the last four months of 2018, so please check your commitment information to make sure that you are current on your contributions to the parish (Nick Crown can help with that). Also, if you are in a position to do so, please consider giving a little more to help out those folks who haven’t been able to contribute as much as they had planned.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Many of us change our phone numbers and our email addresses on a regular basis. However, if we forget to update our parish community on those changes, folks are going to have a difficult time getting a hold of us—and, in an emergency, that can be a big problem. So,this week, please go to the membership page on our new website and check to make sure that all your contact information is current; if you discover that you need to make any changes, please send that information to Father Deacon Andrew Wilson (you might also make sure that you have the correct contact information for our clergy entered into your phone).
This coming Saturday we will celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. Plan on joining us as we honor the Theotokos with services on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
An unworthy priest,
Aidan