Brothers and Sisters,
Happy Feast!
We’re just a week and a half away from the start of the Fall Theological Seminar, the All Night Vigil for St Eanswythe (and the kick off of our Three Year Pledge Project), and the return of Church School. That means there’s a lot in this edition of The Happy Priest, so please make sure you read through it all.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, August 21, and Friday, August 23
Daily Services
Monday, August 19--Friday, August 23, Orthros 5am and Vespers, 5pm (if you wish to attend the daily services, it’s always a good idea to check the day before to make sure the services will be offered). Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and Matthew Groh and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading “On The Holy Spirit” by St Basil the Great. 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, August 20
Orthodoxy 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Thursday, August 22
The Bible Study, Old Testament Edition 7pm; you can access this group on Discord
Saturday, August 24
Youth 4pm
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, August 25
8th Sunday of St Matthew
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Tuesday, August 27
Orthodoxy 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, August 28
Fall Theological Seminar 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Thursday, August 29
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition 7pm; you can access this group on Discord
Friday, August 30
All Night Vigil for St Eanswythe and Beginning of Three Year Pledge Program 11pm
St Thomas School
On Saturday, August 24, Benedict H. will be leading the discussion of chapters eleven and twelve of Volume V entitled, “The Consecration of a Church/The Preparation of Chrism”. 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, August 22, to reserve your spot.
Coming Up
Our All Night Vigil for St Eanswythe of Folkestone will mark the beginning of the Three Year Pledge Portion of our Capital Campaign. That will happen on Friday, August 30. We sent out a letter with all the details this past week, but, just in case, you missed it, you can read up on everything here.
Sunday, September 1, marks the beginning of the Liturgical Year, and that is also the Sunday when we will begin Church School. The archdiocese is now emphasizing that all children need to be officially registered in order to participate in Church School, so, if you haven’t already done so, please read through the registration information in the next section of this newsletter.
This year our Fall Theological Seminar promises to be a whole lot of fun. We’re going to be reading a book by a Protestant pastor; the book is called Stability, and it’s available in the bookstore. But we’re not only going to be talking about the spiritual advantages—and challenges—of sticking it out in a particular community, we’re also going to be talking with folks in our parish who have done just that. Below is the schedule for the readings and the interviews, but plan now to join us in the parish house at 7pm on Wednesday, August 28. We will be getting together each Wednesday evening through the start of Nativity Lent, and, while we will have an online option available for those folks who live at a distance, let’s not forget that the conversation is always richer and more meaningful if you are actually present.
Aug 28 Introduction: Stability, History, and Holy Orthodoxy
Sept 4 Reading Assignment: A True Story. Guest: Pat K.
Sept 11 Reading Assignment: Introduction. Guest: Vera P.
Sept 18 Reading Assignment: Chapter 1. Stability and God. Guests: Rob and Becky T.
Sept 25 Reading Assignment: Chapter 2. Stability and Self. Guests: Matt and Valerie G.
Oct 2 Reading Assignment: Chapter 3. Stability and Relationships Guest: Rick K.
Oct 9 Reading Assignment: Chapter 4. Stability and Place. Guests: Jerry and Maggie B.
Oct 16 Reading Assignment: Chapter 5. Stability and Change. Guests: Chris and Sarah S.
Oct 23 Reading Assignment: Chapter 6. Practices of Stability. Guest: Baker G.
Oct 30 Reading Assignment: Chapter 7. Where Do We Stay From Here? p 125-134. Guest: Mary K.
Nov 6 Reading Assignment: Chapter 7. Where Do We Stay From Here? p 134-148. Guests: John and Lindsey B.
Nov 13 Conclusion: The Final Stability
Church School Registration
St. John Families,
It is now time to wrap up church school registration for the 2024-25 school year. If you intend for your children to participate in church school this upcoming year we ask that you register them by this coming Tuesday, August 13th. As a reminder, children need to be at least 3 years of age by September 1, 2024 and potty trained to register for Level 1, 6 years of age to register for Level 2, and 9 years of age to register for Level 3. SOYO (youth) is for ages 13-18. For questions about CGS (Levels 1-3), feel free to reach out to Sandi A. For questions about SOYO, you can reach out to Father Aidan or Father Andrew. The new CGS calendar is now posted to our parish website but please note that we have an exciting new change!! CGS will now be offered at its regular time (8:15 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Sunday morning) for the first three Sundays of each month. We are so pleased to be able to offer a third Sunday of church school to our children and look forward to spending more time with them. The link for church school registration is in the email edition of the newsletter.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
We should always remember to dress appropriately for the Divine Liturgy. It is our encounter with the Most Holy Trinity, and our clothes should reflect the importance of that encounter. If you have questions about what is or is not appropriate, you can consult the article from the archdiocese that is on our web-site. If you have specific questions that are not addressed in the article, please feel free to ask one of the deacons or myself. However, if you see someone who is wearing something that is inappropriate, under no circumstances should you say anything to that person because only clergymen have the authority to do that.
Capital Campaign Countdown Column
Whatever is obtained as a result of long and persistent prayer will remain.
-St John Climacus
We are now just two weeks away from our three year pledge campaign that will begin on the Feast of St Eanswythe, August 31. If you would like to learn more about the project, please read through the FAQ that is attached to this newsletter, but, to help us prepare for this historic effort, this week’s Countdown Column comes to us from long-time member and parish council secretary, Elena C.:
“My acquaintance with St. John The Forerunner Church happened in the summer of 2007 when we first came to Austin. Our friends took us to “Rudy’s” and next to us sat a gentleman, who, when he learned that we are from Russia, exclaimed enthusiastically: then you need to come to our Orthodox Church in Cedar Park. Was this a sign? I guess it was because we found St. John Church. Interestingly, we never saw that gentleman there, but were greeted warmly by a very friendly Rob Thurner, the only usher then, and decided that this will be our church away from home. At that time it was located in the current Parish house and did not look like anything to what we used to in Moscow, where ordinary churches you go to are at least 200 years old. But this church became our spiritual temple in Texas due the to the wonderful priests who serve here, kind, companioned people and a lot of milestones associated with it. For my dad it became the one and the only church where he would go every Sunday (he used to go in Moscow, but not regularly at all), it was the church from where he left to live life eternal. My husband was chrismated here, converting from being catholic his whole life and after over 20 years living with the orthodox family. I learned to bake Prosphora bread here, something what I could not ever imagine doing (in Russia it is done in the professional bakeries). A lot happened during these years: we saw new families formed, children born, growing up, graduating, starting jobs; the church moving from the parish house building to the new temple and really flourishing there with many more people joining during the last few years. In the past my mom and I used to cook Russian blinis with meat or eggs and scallions (learning that Americans actually prefer meat blinis) when the Russian group was providing food for coffee hour, again something I could not imagine myself doing thinking that it was cooking blinis for so many people. I did not know then what actually was many people! Now we are at least four times larger than we were then and still growing and it is not possible to make blinis at home for that many people and regrettably it is not possible to know everybody by name. With the growth of our parish we enter a new chapter for St John’s so it is with great anticipation and excitement that we are looking forward to starting a new project of building the new Temple to have new beautiful spiritual home for all of us in Austin.”
an unworthy priest
aidan