Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This is the week of our Annual Clergy/Staff Retreat. That means all of those hard-working folks will be out of town from Wednesday, October 15, through Saturday, October 18. If you need to get in touch with them, all the usual phone numbers and email addresses will still work, but please do your best to respect their time together since they will be working on how to serve our community more effectively.
This coming Sunday, October 19, we will have our next Safety and Security Rehearsal; this will be for a severe weather event. So, after the Divine Liturgy, we will announce the rehearsal, provide a bit of guidance, and then we will all get down on the floor for a count of ten. Afterwards, we will exit the building and walk to the Rally Signs on the parking lot before returning for Fellowship Hour.
Fasting Days
Wednesday, October 15, and Friday, October 17
Daily Services
Monday, October 13-Wednesday, October 15; Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm; Divine Liturgy Wednesday, October 1 at 6am (this week, there will not be any daily services from Wednesday evening through Friday evening; also, it’s always a good idea to check the day before and make sure nothing has come up to change the regular schedule). However, Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading Unseen Warfare by St. Theophan the Recluse. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
In addition to the daily Synaxarion readings posted in the #synaxarion channel on Discord, the online team is now posting daily Bible Readings that will allow you to read through the Bible in a year. These readings are posted in the #bible-365 channel.
Tuesday, October 14
The Inquirer’s Class 7pm
Wednesday, October 15
The Fall Theological Seminar 7pm
Saturday, October 18
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, October 19 Third Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 7:30am
Church School 8:15
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Youth 1pm
Coming Up
This past month, you should have received our Annual Stewardship Letter. If that did not show up in your email box, it is attached to this week’s newsletter, along with a simplified copy of our parish budget. Our goal is to get everyone to make a commitment on Realm by October 31. That way, the parish council can make any necessary adjustments before we head into the New Year. If you have trouble accessing Realm or if you have any finance related questions, just ask our Finance Guy, Ray W.
The Fall Theological Seminar continues each Wednesday night at 7pm through November 12. Dr H. is leading the discussion of David Ford’s book Women and Men in Early Christianity; the group is covering one chapter each week, and there are watch parties (they call them watch groups, but they’re actually watch parties) in Killeen and Bastrop. Of course, the coolest way to participate is to show up at the parish house, so pick up a copy of the book at Christ the Lightgiver, and get in on the fun.
Sandi A. is very close to becoming the only active, fully accredited Orthodox Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Trainer in this country. One of the things that she needs our help with is finishing up the materials for the different classrooms. So please mark your calendars and put a note in your phones and reserve, Sunday, October 26, and Sunday, December 14. On those days, Sandi will have all sorts of projects for all sorts of skill levels all laid out. We will just need to show up and go to work, so let’s help Sandi—and our parish—achieve this important goal.
Rigel T. is planning something new for our Fall Festival. In addition to the annual Talent Show, we will be doing an artist and artisan market. We have approval from the parish council to sell things, so all artists and artisans are welcome to apply for a booth. If you have a child who is prolific in some art or craft, we invite them to join in as well. The number of booths is limited, so please submit your application by October 25. If you would like to do something for the variety show, you need to get the details and sign up ahead of time since there will be no walk-ons. Here is the agenda for the festivities: 3:00–5:30 pm Arts & Crafts Market 4:00–5:30 pm Variety Show 6:00–7:00 pm Vespers (all welcome) 7:00–9:00 pm Live music (Family Band), food & drinks, icon drawing with Baker Galloway. Rigel is also recruiting volunteers to help with setup, teardown. If you have questions or would like to sign up for any portion of the event, just get in touch with Rigel.
Our Substack, Come See Something Beautiful, is now live, so please share it with everyone you know in as many ways as you can--and, of course, every last bit of any money raised goes to the temple. Here's a link: https://comeseesomethingbeautiful.substack.com
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Our ushers are responsible for managing the flow of people in and out of the nave and for keeping things quiet in the kitchen and the narthex. If you arrive late for the service, or if you need step out of the nave for some reason, please remember that they will ask you to wait in the narthex or the kitchen during baptisms, during any of the entrances or scripture lessons, during the homily, and during communion. Please respect their role and follow their directions.
This Week’s Recommended Baby Name
Since we have so many babies, all of us at One Take Productions thought it would be helpful if we highlighted a saints’ name each week to help with the process of name selection. So, straight out of the Synaxarion, this week’s Certified Orthodox Baby Name is Zlata.
an unworthy priest
aidan