Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
There is just a ton of stuff going on this week—We kick off the new Liturgical Year with the Feast of the Indiction; we start the highly anticipated Fall Theological Seminar; we begin Church School on Sunday; we have a new online offering—and that’s in addition to all of our regular activities and services. So please be sure and read carefully through this week’s edition of The Happy Priest and take advantage of everything that’s going on in our parish community.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, August 31, and Friday, September 2
Daily Services
Monday, August 22 to Friday, August 26
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
(But note the schedule for the festal services. Also, it’s generally a good idea to check the day before to make sure that the service will be offered; sometimes pastoral situations require a change of plans, and the service cannot be offered on that particular day)
The Hours
Matt Groh will be subbing for Seth Hart at the online chanter’s stand, offering the Hours and stream them to Zoom. The schedule is below:
First Hour, 6:45 a.m.
Third Hour, 8:45 a.m.
Sixth Hour, 11:45 a.m.
Ninth Hour, 3:45 p.m.
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Tuesday, August 30
Orthodoxy 101 at 7:00 p.m.
Topic: Orthodoxy 101
Please see the login details in the emailed version of the newsletter to join Zoom meeting
Wednesday, August 31
Great Vespers for The Feast of the Indiction 6pm
The Fall Theological Seminar 7pm
Thursday, September 1 The Feast of the Indiction
Orthros 5am
Divine Liturgy 7am
The Bible Study 7pm
Topic: St. John the Forerunner - Bible Study
Please see the login details in the emailed version of the newsletter to join Zoom meeting
Saturday, September 3
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 4
The 12th Sunday of St Matthew
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
We will offer the Annual School Blessing at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, but, since this is the first Sunday of the month, it is also Blessing Sunday, so if you’re going to be traveling during September or if you have icons, prayer ropes, and crosses to be blessed, just show up at the chanter’s stand after liturgy for those prayers. But the first Sunday of the month is also Claim Your Stuff Sunday; that means you need to check the Lost and Found Box in the kitchen because it will all go to Goodwill after Fellowship Hour is over.
FALL THEOLOGICAL SEMINAR
It’s finally here! This coming Wednesday evening we will offer Great Vespers for The Feast of the Indiction at 6pm, and then, at 7pm, we will start working on WHAT’S NEXT in our building program. Mike Brown will offer the first, and most important, presentation of the series: The Divine Liturgy: The Heart of Our Together, and Will Hampton will lead the discussion following the presentation. As we’ve noted many times, this year’s seminar is going to be just about the most important thing we’ve done in the last twenty years, so please do your best to be present. We will be meeting in the nave; the parish house and the playground will be open and available, and, of course, we have an online option as well. We’ll see you this coming Wednesday night!
Topic: Fall Theological Seminar
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, September 3, the discussion will be on Chapter Four in Volume Two, “The Contents and Authority of Tradition” https://theforerunner.squarespace.com/blog/2021/5/9/orthodox-christianity-vol-iii-ch-2.
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, August 18. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
Membership Update
This past Sunday, we made Andrew and Kristina S. and their children Arianna, Kristiana, and Andrew, catechumens. Heath and Kat H. and their children, Gideon, Arielle, Evangeline, and Barrett were made catechumens. Also, Collin K. was made a catechumen. Please introduce yourselves to all of these people and let them know that you will be praying for them as they prepare to be received into the Church. Shiloh and Svetlana B. are Orthodox Christians who live in Hutto, and they are now members of our parish community. Please let them know that we are happy to have them at St John’s.
COMING UP
In Orthodox monasteries it is typical for the midday meal (taken in the trapeza, or the dining hall) to be accompanied by a short reading from a spiritual writing. Following that edifying example, Fr. Andrew, Matthew Groh, and Seth Hart will be broadcasting our very own St. John Trapeza Readings on Telegram every weekday at 12pm. The session will start with a short prayer, followed by a 20 minute reading. Trapeza readings will begin on 9/1 with the start of the new Church year. Our first book will be, The Life in Christ by St. Nicholas Cabasilas. If you would like to listen in, use the link to join the Telegram group shared in the emailed version of this newsletter.
Church School returns this coming Sunday, September 4. Levels I, II, and III will meet at 8:15am in the parish house on the first and third Sundays of each month. The Youth will meet in the parish house on the same Sundays, but they will get started at Noon. If you need information about Church School or the Youth Group, please contact Sandi Andrews or Father Aidan Wilcoxson. We begin the new Church Year with three feasts.
Thursday, September 1, we will celebrate The Feast of the Indiction, which marks the start of the liturgical calendar. This Wednesday, August 31, we will offer Great Vespers at 6pm, and this Thursday, September 1, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. '
On Thursday, September 8, we will celebrate The Nativity of the Mother of God. Great Vespers will be served on Wednesday, September 7 at 6pm, and, on Thursday, September 8, Orthros will be at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am.
On Wednesday, September 14, we will celebrate the Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. Great Vespers will be at 7pm on Tuesday, September 13; on the Wednesday, Orthros will be at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. Please plan on joining us for each of these celebrations as we begin the new Church Year together.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
Let’s be sure and leave the chairs and the benches for folks who are older and for folks who have physical limitations. Children and young people should always sit on the floor or stand. We never know who is going to come through the door of the nave, so even if it appears that there are vacant chairs or benches, children and young people should remain sitting on the floor or standing.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Chrismating Corey, Christie, Abby, Zoey, and Karli D.; talking dogs (and fish) with Ben and Betty H.; getting some St Herman Vigil Lamp Oil from Jared and Mengyu H. ; discovering that Dino M. likes disaster movies; visiting with Lily P. about Julius W.; finding out that Father Andrew has perfected the no look blessing and Father Deacon Michael is working on the liturgical flip; reverencing Greg G.’s icon of St Moses the Ethiopian; hearing that Keri G. took Anna J. shoe shopping; encouraging Ethan Y. to up his nap game; stepping in a rain puddle.
an unworthy priest,
aidan
The Happy Priest is a publication of Life At A Dead Run Media, which is a subsidiary of One Take Productions. Our IT Guy is Father Deacon Gerasimos Juliano; our Webmasters are Lily Halsey and Seth Hart; our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson; our Roving Reporter is Gary Gnu; we would never match our pocket squares with our neckties, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.