August 30, 2015Thy precious sash, O Theotokos, which encompassed thy God-receiving womb, is an invincible force for thy flock, and an unfailing treasury of every good, O only Ever-virgin Mother.
Kontakion of Venerable Sash of the Theotokos in the Second Tone
Parish Council on Duty
George Georgakakis, Manny Daskos, Eleni Varvoutis, Michael Fossler, Marion Koliniatis
February 1, 2015
Publican and the Pharisee
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. Let us cry out to the Savior, “Have mercy on us, for through You alone are we reconciled.”
The Lenten spring has come!
the light of repentance;
Let us, brothers, cleanse ourselves from all evil,
crying out to the Giver of Light:
Glory to Thee, O Lover of man.
Parish Council on Duty
George Georgakakis, Manny Daskos, Elenie Varvoutis, Mihali Haralambis, Michael Fossler, Juanita Antley, Marion Koliniatis
January 25, 2015O Glorious One, you dispelled the complexities of orators with the words of your theology. You have adorned the Church with the vesture of Orthodoxy woven from on high. Clothed in this, the Church now cries out to your children, with us, “Hail Father, the consummate theological mind.”
Kontakion of Gregory the Theologian in the Third Tone
Parish Council on duty:
John Ioannou, Jr., John Argiropoulos, Andreas Ioannou, Marion Koliniatis, Anna Merkel, Demetri Rapanos, Kathy Ziegler
The Children’s Home Society is a 100-year-old local organization that provides temporary shelter for children and helps to arrange foster situations and adoptions. It is dedicated to ending the suffering of local children.
Each Sunday from Oct 12, 2014 until November 20th 2014 we ask each child to bring items to fill a decorated shoe box. Children and adults can contribute items or a filled shoebox. If you fill a box, the box should NOT BE CLOSED OR SEALED because the organization needs to have access to the items.
Please give your box to the Sunday school office or teacher.
SUGGESTIONS: Coloring books, games, dolls, car toys, books, activity projects, bibs, girls’ accessories stuffed animals, puzzles, etc….
The age groups are newborns to 18 year olds
New clothing and shoes for infants, toddlers, youth, teens
Personal hygiene supplies
Bars of soap
Body wash
Shampoo/conditioner
Lotion
Hair brushes/combs
Hair dryers, curling irons and flatirons
Nail kits
Make-up Kits (for all ethnicities)
Hair Products (for all ethnicities)
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Diapers (all sizes, including premie) Arts- and crafts kits
Coloring books Remote-control cars
Handheld video games (rated E) Video games (rated E)
Dolls (for all ethnicities) Books (age-appropriate)
Baby wipes Bottles
Baby wash Baby shampoo
Lotion Bibs
Baby Builders books/DVD sets Mobiles
Blankets Leap frog
Crib mirrors Bike helmets and knee pads
Tickets/admission passes (theme parks, movie theaters, etc.) Sports equipment
Gift cards (Local mall, Target, Best Buy, Old Navy, Walmart, iTunes, etc.) Photo albums/frames
Handheld CD players/MP3 players/iPod shuffles•Digital cameras Books (age-appropriate)
Popular CDs and DVDs (no parental advisory) Fashion Jewlery/Watches
Oratorical Festivals
Three students spoke at the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival on February 23. Owen Cockrell, Stavros Taschioglou, and Athena Tsingelis presented enlightening speeches in which they shared their understanding of different spiritual topics. Stavros and Athena will represent St. Demetrios at the district Festival on April 5 at 1:00 p.m. All are invited to come hear them and students from all over our district present speeches about Orthodoxy.
Our elementary Oratorical Festival will be held during Sunday school on March 16. Children in grades three through six have prepared speeches about what they have learned this year. Our kindergarten class will also make presentations about Lent.
Epistle Reading
Boys and girls in grades 5 through 12 are invited to take a turn reading the epistle. Any child who would like to do this should tell his or her Sunday school teacher. Teachers will arrange for one child each Sunday to read the epistle.
Myrophores
Girls in grades kindergarten through 6 are invited to participate as Myrophores during the procession on Holy Friday night. Girls must wear white dresses that are at least knee length and have covered shoulders, and white shoes. Parents should call or email Effie Vasil, 954-366-4413, evasil1031@aol.com.
Lenten Passports
Students in grades K through 10 are using the Lenten Passports to keep track of their church attendance during Great Lent and to learn about the various services that are offered each week. When your children attend the week night services, help them locate their Passport and stickers in the baskets on the table outside the offices in the south narthex. Sunday school teachers will also help them to update their Passports on Sunday.
New Staff Member
We welcome our new pre-K teacher, Mrs. Joanna Heil. Ms. Joanna comes to us with teaching experience at the Greek Orthodox Church in Clearwater. She is a valuable addition to our staff.
Introduced in 1983, the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival provides Greek Orthodox teenagers the opportunity to write and talk about their faith. The Oratorical Festival Program begins at the parish level and is divided into three divisions:
The top speakers in the Junior and Senior Divisions advance to the district level. Two finalists in each district division represent the district at the Metropolis Oratorical Festival. The top speaker in each metropolis division is then selected to participate in the Archdiocese Finals, which is hosted by a different metropolis each year.
All eighteen finalists at the Archdiocese Finals participate in a weekend of activities, the highlight of which is the delivery of their speeches on Saturday morning. The Oratorical Festival Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships to the top speakers. In 2013, the top three speakers of each division received college scholarships of $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000. This year, each Honorable Mention speaker was awarded an iPad2.
Fr. John and Presvytera Margaret Orfanakos serve as the Archdiocese Festival Co-Chairs.
On June 13-15 2014, the 2014 National Oratorical Festival will be hosted by the Metropolis of Pittsburgh at the Annunciation Church in Cleveland, Ohio! Click here to read the Press Release.
The 30th National Oratorical Festival was hosted on June 7-9, 2013, by the Metropolis of Detroit at the Annunciation Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Click on the News Release to read about the weekend, and check out page 4 of the July 2013 issue of the Orthodox Observer to read the top speeches and see pictures from the festival.
Hellenic College offers The Chrysostom Scholarship to each parish’s top senior division participant of each category. The Chrysostom Scholarship provides 100% of tuition for the recipient’s first year of study, and, based on a GPA scale, up to 80% of tuition for three additional years. For more information visit hchc.edu.
Our Oratorical Festival will be held on March 17th in the Church. For more information on how to participate please contact Paula Kirifides at paula.kirifides@gmail.com.
For the January Youth Newsletter from Sunday school
Upcoming
The “Christmas Path,” this year’s Sunday School Christmas pageant, was presented on December 20. About 50 children told the story of the Nativity through a modern play that also illustrates how the timeless story of the Nativity affects us still today. The Parish Council offered a delicious dinner and Sunday School parents provided dessert. Santa even came to distribute small gifts to the children.
Sunday School children and parents donated 50 Boxes of Hope to the Children’s Home Society. They collected empty shoe boxes then donated appropriate items for various ages. Finally they filled the boxes, gift-wrapped them and delivered them to the Children’s Home Society.
To view pictures of the kids dropping off the Boxes of Hope see the gallery.
O Father, God-bearer, Spyridon, you were proven a champion and Wonder Worker of the First Ecumenical Council. You spoke to the girl in the grave and turned the serpent to gold. And, when chanting your prayers, most sacred One, angels ministered with you. Glory to Him who glorified you; glory to Him who crowned you; glory to Him who, through you, works healing for all
Apolytikion in the First Tone
St. Spyridon – December 12
Parish Council on Duty
George Georgakakis, Manny Daskos, Medon Michaelides, Delcho Ogorelkoff, Eleni Varvoutis
We discovered that the monks and nuns who make prayer ropes have an intricate task. On October 27 all the classes made prayer ropes and learned about the Jesus Prayer. Father John reinforced the lesson with a Children’s Sermon about prayer. The younger children used beads to make their prayer ropes and the middle and high school students learned to tie the traditional knots. By now your children should have incense, a prayer rope and a copy of the Jesus prayer to help then with their own rule of prayer. As a family, you may want to use these items to cense your home and pray together on Saturday evenings.
Make plans to attend and enjoy the Christmas Pageant on December 20. The parish council will offer a supper, the children will present a lively new production of the Nativity Story and Sunday school parents will offer dessert. All children are expected to participate in the Pageant and some of the children have speaking parts.
It’s not too soon to think ahead to the St. John Oratorical Festival. We will begin preparations in January. This year the Festival has added categories for poetry and written essays, so all children in grades 3-12 will participate in one of our three Festival dates. Go to the Archdiocese website to take a peak that these topics.
Please bring in a shoebox of stuff!!! For more information view stdemetrios.org
