Brothers and Sisters,
Fall is in full swing! This week, we will celebrate the first major feast of the year—The Nativity of the Mother of God—we will have four adult educational opportunities and we will offer fourteen in person services and twenty online worship opportunities. There is, truly, something for everyone every day at St. John’s.
NOTE: We had technical issues with the online portion of this past week’s Fall Theological Seminar and a lot of folks were not able to use the link that had been provided. We apologize for that and we believe that we have everything ready for this week. Just look for the new link and a support plan later in this newsletter.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, September 7 and Friday, September 9
Daily Services
Monday, September 5 to Friday, September 9
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
There will be No Daily Vespers the evening of Tuesday, September 6th Please 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
Seth Hart will be back 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.
St. John Trapeza Readings
Also, Fr. Andrew, Matthew Groh, and Seth Hart are now broadcasting The St. John Trapeza Readings on Telegram every weekday at 12:00 p.m. The session starts with a short prayer, followed by a 20 minute reading. The first book they are reading is The Life in Christ by St. Nicholas Cabasilas.
If you would like to listen in, use this link to join the Telegram link shared in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Tuesday, September 6
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, September 7
Great Vespers for The Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God 6pm
The Fall Theological Seminar 7pm
Thursday, September 8
The Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God
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 10
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 11
The Sunday Before The Elevation of the Cross
Orthros 8am
Liturgy 10am
Typika with Holy Communion at 10:00 a.m. at Central Texas Behavioral Center 315 East Avenue D, Killeen, TX, 76541
Fellowship Hour at Noon
Akathist to the Mother of God of The Inexhaustible Cup at Noon
FALL THEOLOGICAL SEMINAR
And We’re Off and Running! This coming Wednesday, September 7, we will, once again, offer Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m., this time for The Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and then, at 7:00 p.m., we will continue working on WHAT’S NEXT in our building program. Baker Galloway will offer the second presentation of the series: How To Build an Orthodox Temple and Will Hampton will, once again, 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.
Seth Hart will be your Zooming Sherpa this week. If you have any technical difficulties accessing the meeting, email Seth at setho.hart@gmail.com or text him. The Zoom link is shared in the emailed version of the newsletter
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, September 10, Baker Galloway will lead the discussion of Chapter Five in Volume Two, “The Revelation of A Personal God”.
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, September 8. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session..
CHURCH SCHOOL
Church School is back! Levels I, II, and III meet at 8:15 a.m. 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 12:15 p.m. If you need information about Church School or the Youth Group, please contact Sandi Andrews or Father Aidan Wilcoxson.
UPCOMING FEASTS IN THE NEW LITURGICAL YEAR
We begin the new Church Year with three feasts. We have already celebrated The Feast of the Indiction, which marks the start of the liturgical calendar. This coming Thursday, September 8, we will celebrate The Nativity of the Mother of God. Great Vespers will be served on Wednesday, September 7 at 6:00 p.m. and, on Thursday, September 8, Orthros will be at 5:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 7:00 a.m. On Wednesday, September 14, we will celebrate the Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. Great Vespers will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 13. On Wednesday, September 14, Orthros will be at 5:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 7:00 a.m. Please plan on joining us for each of these celebrations as we begin the new Church Year together.
ST. SOPHIA FEAST DAY INVITATION
The folks at our sister parish in Dripping Springs, St. Sophia, will celebrate their patronal feast on Saturday, September 17. They will offer Great Vespers on Friday, September 16, at 6:00 p.m. and, then, on Saturday, September 17, Orthros will be served at 9:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. Everyone is welcome to participate.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
Because we’ve had so many folks who haven’t been picking up after themselves or their children, we are no longer able to allow food in the parish house. Starting this week, you’ll see a sign on the door with those instructions. So, please eat your Fellowship Hour meal at one of the outdoor picnic tables and direct your children to do the same. If you would like to have a special event in the parish house that involves food—a shower or a reception—please make those arrangements with Father Aidan.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Blessing Joe and Misty W. on their 12th anniversary; seeing the good turn-out for the Fall Theological Seminar; praying in the New Year; hearing that Mengyu H. and Rachelle T. and Touria and Meriem E. all got new jobs; talking to the Youth Church School class about laundry pods and sitting in a booth at Subway; discussing PBJ recipes with Matt G. and Dino M. (no, Dino, never use strawberry jelly); dodging a skunk who was camped on the front lawn of The Long Hall.
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 Blair Litton. We never, ever wear white after Labor Day, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.