Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
House Blessings are now officially complete, but if, for some reason, you didn’t get your home blessed, we’re offering Make-Up Opportunities. Send Father Aidan an email; we will get you on the list, and one of the priests will be in touch with you to set up an appointment.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, January 17, and Friday, January 19
Daily Services
Tuesday, January 16—Friday, January 19: Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (we won’t be having daily services on Monday due to weather concerns; please remember that if you plan on attending the in-person services, it’s always a good idea to check the day before and make sure the regular schedule will be observed).
Seth Hart and friends will be at the online chanter’s stand, offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours this week: 1st hour & 3rd hour: 8:30 a.m.; 6th hour & 9th hour: 3:30 p.m.
Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and Matthew Groh and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading “The Hidden Man of the Heart” by Elder Zacharias. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
Also, our online team will now be reading the Daily Synaxarion on Discord. Just look for this channel: #synaxarion
Tuesday, January 16
Orthodoxy 101 7pm You can also access the group on Discord
Thursday, January 18
The Bible Study, Old Testament Edition 7pm You can access this group on Discord
Saturday, January 20
Youth Group 4pm
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, January 21
The 12th Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
St Thomas School
On Saturday, January 20, Matt G. will be leading discussion the chapter of Volume V entitled, “The Sunday Services and Daily Services”. Online access is available on Discord; like to participate online, you still need to sign-up ahead of time. Just send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by Thursday, January 18, to reserve your spot.
Membership Update
Joby and Joanna D. are Orthodox Christians who moved here this past fall with their three children. Joby is in the military, and they spent the last six years in South Korea, where they attended a Greek Orthodox parish that used mostly Korean for the Divine Services. Please welcome them to Texas and St John’s.
Coming Up
On Friday, January 26, we will offer The Service for the Victims of Abortion. By Orthodox standards, the service is pretty short, but we will start promptly at 7pm, and we will offer up to the Most Holy Trinity our prayers for all children and parents and for those folks who are victims of the great moral evil of our age. We will also be collecting supplies for Bastrop Pregnancy Resource Center (www.bastropprc.org). Lindsey B. volunteers with the center, and she has provided us with a list of things they need. The list includes blankets, bottles, sippy cups, formula, potty training underwear, girls’ winter clothes and pajamas, sizes 12mo-5T, and board books. So please buy a number of those items and bring them with you to the service on the 26th.
Our 2024 Annual Community Meeting will be on Sunday, February 11. All the information for that meeting—the agenda, the reports, the candidates for parish council—can all be found in the email edition of the newsletter.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
We now have an official, liturgical ending to Fellowship Hour: The choir sings a Closing Prayer in several locations on the property—in the Long Hall, on the playground, at the picnic tables. It is our tradition to stand during Blessings and Prayers, so, when you hear the choir, please rise and pause your visiting and eating until the hymn is over.
an unworthy priest
aidan