THE MESSENGER

The Monthly Newsletter of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church

July/August 2009 • CHRIST IS RISEN!!

The First of Marriage is...

One year ago, every single person at St. Paul’s, including me, was entering into a time of extreme uncertainity. Not only was a new pastor being assigned, but two priests were being newly assigned, including one very new priest.

The first year of a new marriage is one of testing each other out, seeing likes and dislikes, learning habits. That is very difficult even when two lovers are united. How difficult is it when the marriage is arranged between two strangers?

Each of us (parish and pastor) had one common denominator in this arranged marriage: Bishop Benjamin. Someone told me that everyone “figured if Bishop Benjamin thought you were a good guy, that was good enough for us.” I thought that “if Bishop Benjamin thinks I am the best pastor for this parish, that’s good enough for me.” So we were united. I believed then and I believe now that His Grace was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

There were serious financial concerns. How was the parish going to fund a second priest, even with the help of the diocese? There were moving costs to be paid — twice! And we haven’t even moved all of my household yet. There were worries about shortfalls, etc., and indeed, we ended 2008 with a deficit.

But our stewardship teaching and efforts are now paying off and we will enter the second half of this year in the black. One parishioner stepped forward and offered to guarantee the amount needed to fund the second priest. This gave a sense of relief from any anxiety some might have felt. It was a true and generous gesture of faith.
There were other serious financial concerns — on my part. I worried about how my wife and I were going to fund two residences. I worried about two electric bills. Two phone bills. Two tech bills (internet, etc.). Numerous airline tickets back and forth from Connecticut for both me and my wife. I worried about paying my other bills when so much was being directed to living expenses.

But like an earlier time in my life when I had young children and wondered how we were going to make ends meet, I decided to shut up and trust God. I resumed tithing from my salary, making the same leap of faith as our parishioner who inspired me so much. I can witness to the fact that God is faithful and good, and we have met our needs, paid our bills and will survive! Our parish and my family have been blessed in many ways.

Finally, there were serious personal concerns for many parishioners. Everyone in the parish had to come to grips with the fact that the warm and loving title of “Father” now belonged to someone quite unfamiliar. Relationships that were personal and spiritual, in and out of confession, had to be rebuilt along with the trust that those relationships require. Loneliness that comes about with a new leader, father, and confessor not knowing each person’s habits, had to be fought. The familiarity of how “Father does things” was suddenly not familiar at all. Change became the foundation and substance of what might seem to be the most simple things. And change is hard work.

But there were and are serious personal concerns for me as well. While all 300-400 (500-600?) of you had to learn about one new pastor and a second associate pastor, we have had to learn about all 300-400 of you! We have just now begun to go below surface level on that effort.

In addition, while I was given a whole new family of spiritual children, I, for the most part, lost my wife. The effort to make it through 16 months without her at my side except for occasional visits has been the hardest task I have ever been given by the Church or God. And I speak for my wife when I echo those same sentiments for her. We are so thankful that the parish has been accomodating and understanding about my need to travel back to Connecticut regularly to help us through this tough time. God has blessed us to make it this far and we look forward to the day when we stand together each day in our parish and our schedules settle down.

Living together in harmony is not something that happens magically. It takes desire and effort on the part of both partners in a marriage. Last year, in the very first words I ever addressed to you, my flock, I said: “Transition — transfiguration — can be difficult, so we all have to be very patient with one another and approach every decision, every action, every thought, with good will, seeking only the good of the parish and the furtherance of the Kingdom. I ask you to join me in this effort.”

As we complete the first year of my pastorate and begin the second, I want to say that I believe good will has been the fundamental approach in all of our work. I have tried to bring good will in all that I do, and I believe that everyone has brought good will to their response.

We have, with God’s grace and blessings, completed (some might say survived!) the hardest year of our marriage — the first year.

Now for the second year. Having observed, served, learned, assessed, and done any other type of measurement that you can come up with, I have a few thoughts to share with you as we look and move forward.

Stewardship needs to continue to develop at St. Paul’s. Money is the easiest part of giving in a parish. Generally speaking, when I voice a real need and people see that it is a real need, money appears. Financial giving is decent — indeed, if we did not have a mortgage, we would be able to consider charitable and outreach projects that are not even on our radar right now.

No, the much more difficult stewardship in any parish, and St. Paul’s is no exception, is the stewardship of time and talent. There is an old rule in stewardship that applies to all organizations, the 20/80 rule. Twenty percent of the people in an organization give eighty percent of the funds and work. At St. Paul’s, the rule is more like 10/90. There are a relative handful of families that support in a meaningful way the work that goes on at St. Paul’s. There are about 260 families that I believe consider themselves to be members of St. Paul’s. There are about 130 families that offer any financial support (even one dollar!), and only about 20-25 families that offer almost half of the yearly budget for donations. If those families disappeared, the doors of this parish would close.

There are only four small groups of women (totalling about 20 women out of about 500 people that call St. Paul’s “home”) that offer to host coffee hour. There are hundreds of people that come and enjoy fellowship each week at those coffee hours. How can a Christian in good conscience never offer to help out?

We need people to help clean the church and the hall and the grounds. Most don’t know that a single parishioner actually pays from personal funds to have the hall, office, and bathrooms cleaned. That same parishioner has a grounds crew take care of the church property and pays them the same way. Those funds are never allocated in our parish budget.

We need people to serve as official greeters. A smiling and welcoming face of a person trained to guide everyone, but especially visitors to our parish, and answer questions is a very effective way of keeping and adding people in the parish. A group of greeters is now being organized and will begin work in September. Please consider helping out.
We need people to help with singing, reading, serving, cleaning up after services, and generally helping keep the temple in a shape appropriate to worshipping God. Please consider helping out.

We need people to help with the collecting, counting and verifying of the weekly collections on Sundays. A committee is being formed by Kim Arianoff to schedule teams beginning in September for this purpose. Please consider helping out.

See a common thread? We need your help. Our parish is large enough that it cannot be micromanaged by one person — even the pastor. This parish has been placed into our hands by God Himself. It is up to us to care for it because we will answer to Him at the Judgment Seat. To those who have been given much, much is expected.

If we are struggling, it is because we have not answered the call of the Lord. Listen to His words through the Prophet Haggai:

“Pray now, consider what will come to pass from this day onward. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I smote you and all the products of your toil with blight and mildew and hail; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. “Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.” (Haggai 2:15-19)

We care for Christ and His mission in this world by caring for His Church.

We care for the Church by offering our gifts to God in the local parish community. God tells His people that when they care for His Church, He will provide whatever is necessary for that care. But when we try to hold back our care for the Church, even what we then have will not be enough. We actually gain by giving.

Let’s enter the new Church Year with a new dedication to working to build up the Body of Christ which is St. Paul’s. Let’s not stand by while “someone else” does the heavy lifting. Let’s take the resources, the talents and the time which God has given to each of us — uniquely — and offer them back to Him in love.

Someone said to me when I noted that I was passing my first anniversary as pastor that “The honeymoon is over, Father.” It is indeed.

The first year of a marriage is, despite difficulties, also the easiest year because the fresh blush of love is still powerful. It is when that blush wears off a little and some familiarity sets in that the hard work of building a relationship and true, deep, abiding love begins.

Let’s lock our hands and our hearts together in the bond of peace and love Who is Christ and get after the important work that lies before us.

Father John

From Father George

Summer always seems to be the time when everyone takes off or at least the attendance at church seems to drop off. Getting people involved in the needs of the church community seems to be a challenge during the summer months. We have a culture especially here in America it seems where we think that we are entitled to take time off. We work hard, in fact, contrary to what some people may think, Americans are the hardest working culture around. It’s not uncommon to meet people who work over 60 hours/week. We schedule our every moment. We have day-planners, PDAs and organizers to schedule every minute of our lives.

So when we do get some time to take off, what do we do? We go on a vacation. Or perhaps we take time off from the usual routines of responsibility. What is the purpose of these times off, these trips away? What are we taking time off from? And how is that free time we’ve created really used? Do we improve ourselves in such a way that we are ready to resume our work? When we go on a vacation, is it really vacation or does it wind up resembling another work week with impossible schedules and Herculean lists of things to do?

It’s not that it is bad to take time off. In fact, Jesus Himself took time off from His work of training his disciples and ministering to people in need. But how did He use that time? He spent it with His Father. He prayed for long periods of time. I wonder at times what my life would be like if I really took time off as Jesus did. If I spent less time running around like a chicken without a head and more time being with God, what would my spiritual state be? Can I honestly say that when I go rushing out of town to do something different, do I come back rested and ready to serve again or am I so exhausted that I need a vacation from my vacation?

When I first became Orthodox, I started visiting the Monastery of St John of Shanghai. At first I would visit for a weekend. And then one summer, I spent a whole week with the brothers and Fr. Jonah (now Metropolitan Jonah). The contrast from my other forms of vacation couldn’t have been more stark. I took my watch off and made a conscious effort to forget about my work and my responsibilities. Letting go of the responsibilities was probably the biggest challenge for me and I think it is the same for most of us as well.

We live in a society where we are only valuable if we are accomplishing something. We can not stand to do nothing. And so our lives revolve around work. Even our vacations as I’ve said before resemble our frenetic work schedule. We’re like squirrels in a squirrel cage, running as fast as we can. Not accomplishing much except making that wheel really go! And then watch what happens when we suddenly stop? Have you ever seen what happens when a squirrel or hamster suddenly halts while it’s in a squirrel cage? It may be pretty funny to watch but I can’t imagine that the squirrel really likes being flung out of the cage like a missile. Oftentimes when our own frenetic pace of life is brought to a sudden halt, we come crashing down, discovering that we have to root in ourselves. We have no joy, no peace because we have not laid our hearts out before God and have not taken the time to learn who we are in God’s eyes. We have settled for being defined by the world around us, only to discover that when we can no longer fulfill that “societal” role, we become useless. This is not what God wants for us.

God sees us as beings created in His image. But we do not know how to be like Him because we do not take time to be with Him. When we are settled in God, even the unexpected tragedies of life do not stir us up and make us panic. We rest in God. Our souls are like the captain of a well-ordered ship. When the waves toss and billow and the storms swell and blow, the ship becomes a haven of quiet and calm. There is confidence that God is with us. Another image to consider is this. Think of the chaos and clamor of the battle field. Imagine being at the beaches of Normandy during the great invasion of D-day. All around there is calamity and peril and tragedy. Now imagine the table of Communion there in the midst of it. This table is the table of Peace Beyond Understanding. We come to it in the middle of all this awfulness and if we are focused on this table, we are undisturbed. In the roar of pain and chaos, we have rest and purpose. Now we can go out and truly work. Not merely to survive and compete in the materialistic society of today, but to live beyond it and above it. While we are not separate from it, we are not dragged down by it.

So if we choose to take time off or take a vacation, let t be someplace that truly refreshes us. Let it be in God’s natural creation rather than in the middle of commercial and sensual excess. Let our time off truly be time off from our worries and cares. Perhaps we should visit a monastery and build our relationship with God rather than building our debt in a temporary and pointless rush to experience another thrill ride. Hobbies are OK and theme parks are fun so long as they don’t intrude or take our relationship with God. Make this summer one that will be remembered not as another crazy three months of exhaustion but as one that brought you closer to God.

Peace, Father George

Feastdays
We will celebrate the following feasts during the summer months. Please join us in celebration!

Procession of the Wood of the Cross, August 1
Divine Liturgy (Saturday)
We will bless honey at the end of the service.

Transfiguration of the Lord, August 6
Vespers and Litiya (Wed eve)
Divine Liturgy (Thursday)
We will bless fruit at the end of each service.

Dormition of the Theotokos, August 15
Vespers and Litiya (Fri eve)
Divine Liturgy (Saturday)
We will bless flowers at the end of each service.

Beheading of St. John the Baptist, August 29 (Strict Fast)
Divine Liturgy (Saturday)

CAMP CANCELLED
We had set aside July 12-16 at Camp Potosi Pines to resume our annual Summer Camp. After much preparation and planning, we have been notified that the largest dorms at the camp have been closed and quarantined because of a bedbug infestation. In concern for our children, plus the real possibility that the accomodations would no longer be adequate, we made the difficult decision to cancel the summer camp. Anyone who had already paid for camp will be refunded the money.

A two-day youth retreat in conjunction with the celebration of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 14-15) is being considered. Plans will be publicized as soon as they are finalized.

Mid-Year
This newsletter marks the beginning of the second half of 2009. Enclosed with the newsletter is the mid-year budget report for our parish (figures to 6/15). Please take the time to review it and then meditate and pray about your continued support of our work.

Please note that our monthly mortgage payment is approximately 30% of our monthly expense totals. If we did not have that burden, what could we do in charity, outreach, mission, youth work, etc.?

Coffee Hour Schedule
The following is the schedule for summer. More volunteers are needed and welcome. Please see Irina McClellan to be added to the schedule:

July 5: Team Pam
July 12: Team Nadine
July 19: Team Colleen
July 26: Team Genet

August 2: Team Pam
August 9: Team Nadine
August 16: Team Colleen
August 23: Team Genet
August 30: Team Pam

Slavonic Liturgy
In July, the Slavonic liturgy will be held on July 11th at 10:00 am.
In August, the Slavonic liturgy will be held on August 8th at 10:00 am.

Sisterhood Organization
Fr. John and Irina McClellan had a meeting to outline some goals and activities for the coming Church Year. We are working at organizing greeters, more fellowship teams and a regular clean-up crew organization. There will be a meeting of everyone on Sunday, July 12th, following liturgy and fellowship. Please plan on joining us.

Vacation
Father John and Matushka Elizabeth will be taking a vacation (yes, together!) July 17-31. During Fr. John’s absence, Father George will be handling pastoral duties, liturgical services and administration. Please contact him in any emergency.

Father George and Matushka Kim will probably be taking some time away in August, dates to be determined. See the weekly bulletin for details as we get closer.

Dormition Fast
The Dormition Fast begins on Saturday, August 1st and ends with the celebration of the feast on August 15th.

International Festival
The annual International Food Festival sponsored by our parish will be held on October 10-11. An initial meeting of the committee chairpersons has been held. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 4th, at 6:30 pm.
Ad forms are being designed and we will need volunteers to help out by soliciting ads from your local businesses. Please help out!

Charity
Our normal collections of food for Friends of the Desert continue. But we ask that clothing donations now be limited to summer clothing, as well as new underwear.

Adult Class
The adult discussion group meets regularly on Thursdays at 7:00 pm. Classes will resume in September.

Newsletter Distribution
We would like to send the newsletter as a .pdf to as many parishioners as can receive e-mail. Of course the addresses will never be used for anything other than parish distributions. Please forward your address to:
frjohn@lasvegasorthodox.com

Sacraments/Special Services
Please follow these guidelines when making requests.

• Baptisms. A baptismal date and time must be requested at least three weeks in advance. In addition, a personal meeting scheduled with Fr. John will be necessary.

• Matrimony. A date and time for weddings must be requested at least six months (preferably twelve) in advance. There will be premarital sessions for both bride and groom to attend.

•Memorials (Panikhida). Requests for a memorial must be made at least one week in advance. If possible, the service should not be served on Sunday, the Day of the Resurrection, when all departed have already been remembered in the Divine Liturgy. Fr. John would suggest that these services be served on Saturday before Vespers.

Donation Requests
Everyone is welcome to sponsor the needs of the parish at liturgy (wine, bread, bulletins, etc.) in commemoration or in memory of loved ones. Please see Fr. John or Laura if you are interested in offering a donation.

Parish Council Synopsis
June 16, 2009 Meeting

Meeting opened at 6:05 PM with prayer and Scripture Reading.

Minutes: Minutes from the May 19, 2009 Parish Council Meeting were approved as distributed.

Rector’s Report: Father spoke on the following:

Father John spoke on the beauty of the services of Pentecost and the fellowship that followed and the Church School Picnic on the following Sunday.

Father asked for prayers for his father-in-law George, who is suffering from kidney failure and has been diagnosed by the doctors with one week to ten days of life. Father John informed the members of the PC that, whatever happens with his father-in-law, he will not be away from the parish on any weekend. Father also asked that we remember Matushka Elizabeth and the entire Dresko family in our prayers.

Matushka Elizabeth is planning to be in Las Vegas for about a month. She and Father will take a vacation the last two weeks of July.

Father John and Father George will be celebrating their one year Anniversary at St. Paul’s in July…may God grant them many years!

Father George will be celebrating Divine Liturgy in Lake Havasu this Sunday (June 21).
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Utah Land: The agenda was modified here to allow Nikki Manteris-Xerogianes to speak on the donation of the land in Utah by Arthur Manteris in memory of their family. Ten acres of land was donated to St Paul (OCA) and ten acres of land was donated to St John (Greek Orthodox).

The specific purpose of the donation of the land was and is for the recipients to bring Orthodox children/youth together in a camp or similar setting. The land is not to be sold by either recipient of the donation, nor is this donation to be transferred to another party for sale. Discussion followed.

Vice President’s Report: No report.

Treasurer’s Report: Laura Draskovic distributed the May Treasurer’s Report together with the Year To Date Profit and Loss Statement. Laura reported that the income is stable, however income is traditionally lower during the summer months and the utility bills will be much higher. Laura further reported that there are problems with the counting of the Sunday collections. Discussion followed. Father John suggested that members of the parish council assist with the counting on a rotational basis until September when collections will be in place.

Jan-May Income: $122,470.69
Jan-May Expense: $101,337.29
Inc over Exp: $21,133.40

Audit: Kim Arianoff reported that the books were audited for the months of January through April, 2009. She noted that documentation regarding Fr. George’s assignment to St. Paul’s is missing and needs to be in the files. She noted that audits will be held quarterly beginning in July 2009.

Committee Reports:
Buildings & Grounds: Gregory Arianoff was thanked for purchasing the glass bulletin board and the ‘information’ signs. Father reported that rocks had been thrown through one of the windows on the south side of the church and a window on the north side of the church. The alarm system will not activate unless a “warm” body is detected. We will receive a quote for Lexan protective coverings for the windows, which will prevent objects from breaking and/or shattering the windows from the outside in. The quote will be presented at the next Parish Council meeting.

Outreach/Website: Father John reported that he has updated the photos on the website and would like to consolidate historical photos into archives still accessible from the webpages..

Church School/Camp: Nadine Wood reported that church school classes have concluded and that a post Church School meeting with teachers will be held in July to review the past year and prepare for the next Church School year. The Church School Graduation Picnic was enjoyable. The high school graduates were congratulated although none were present, and the teachers were recognized for their hard work this past year.
Father John reported that he, Senayt and Nadine met to review camp requirements. Senayt will continue registering campers on Sunday during coffee hour social and Father John will announce camp and the need for adult supervisors following Divine Liturgy. Education material/lessons have been printed and will be distributed to camp teachers this Sunday. A $1500.00 deposit has been given to Camp Potosi Pines which we will lose if the minimum requirement of 65 campers (including adults) is not met.

Myrrhbearers: Irina McClellan discussed her concerns in her new role as President of the Holy Myrrhbearers, the main concern being not knowing names and faces. She also expressed her concern about knowing birthdays, anniversaries and parishioners who are ill. Irina and Father John will be meeting on Friday, June 19 to discuss the future plans/activities of the Holy Myrrhbearers.

Charity: Catherine Wilkalis reported that normal activities continue.

Eritrean/Ethiopian: no report.

Russian School/Community: No report.

Stewardship: Father John informed the council that Justin Pechonis is working difficult hours and is not available for Parish Council Meetings. Father will continue speaking about stewardship on Sunday mornings following Divine Liturgy.

Old Business

UFirst (Mortgage Paydown Program): Table for 6 months

Festival: The next festival meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 4 at 6:30 pm. Father John informed the council that Madeleine DeSomov has been talking with car dealers and may have a donation of a new car to raffle at the Festival.

Sound System: Father John distributed three estimates for the sound system for review. The first and third estimates are the best for the church and will cost approximately $25,000.00 total. Discussion followed. It was agreed that the next major expense for the church should be the sound system, while continuing efforts on the Icon Project.

Planned Giving Workshop: will be held on Saturday, 6/20 following Vespers.

Parish Feast 6/29: will be held on Monday evening, June 29 beginning at 6:00 pm with an Akathist to Ss Peter and Paul followed by a BBQ. Nadine Wood will coordinate this event.

Father George Relocation: Father George, Matushka Kim and the boys will be moving from the LGS Retreat Center to an apartment in Boulder City. They will begin the move on Thursday afternoon, 6/18, Friday, 6/19 and Saturday 6/20. Any help given will be much appreciated.

Project Mexico Group: Father Anthony Karbo and the teens participating in Project Mexico thank Sophocles for his care and St. Paul’s for allowing them to stay at the hall on May 28 and June 4.

New Business
Summer Schedule: Father John inquired about Parish Council meetings during the month of July. It was agreed that a PC meeting should be held in July due to the busy schedule at St. Paul. The meeting will be held on July 21. Father John will be on vacation but Fr. George will be present.

September Goals: Father John presented the following goals for implementation in September: Formal Greeters Program, Formal Money Counter Program, and a Reader Schedule to include teens.

Next meeting of the parish council is scheduled for July 21 at 6:00 pm.

Dormition: The Memory of the Church

We have no historical documentation about Mary’s death; no scriptural text mentions her end. Only the apocryphal gospels contain a detailed account of the Virgin’s death, placing it at Jerusalem. We will return later to these writings, for it is they that inspired the icon and the liturgical text of the feast. But these accounts, very late in origin and full of legendary detail, accounts which the Church has not accepted as canonical, should not trouble us, for the veneration of Mary is based not on folklore, but on Tradition, which is the complement of Scripture.

In giving birth, you preserved your virginity!
In falling asleep, you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos!
You were translated to life, O Mother of Life,
and by your prayers you deliver our souls from death!

(Troparion, Tone 1)

Indeed, tradition is the living memory of the Church, a memory which is transmitted from generation to generation. Ever since the time of the apostles, we keep in our memory the certainty that Mary, like her Son, has passed through death, and that like him she has risen. This is why the feast of the Dormition is a second Pascha, a passage from death to life, according to St. John’s gospel: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (Jn. 5:24)

In the tradition of our faith, we also keep the vision of Mary’s ascent to heaven with the body. We call this mystery the “Assumption.” Like her Son, who ascended to the Father, so Mary was taken by angels and transported (“assumed”) into heaven with her body.

Seeker: There were witnesses to the ascension of Christ, the apostles and the Mother of God; but there is no proof of Mary’s ascent into heaven.

Sage: That is true. But the Fathers of the Church have always venerated Mary as being glorified in her body. Their consciences dictated to them the following revelation: she who contained God in her womb is a virgin before, during, and after her childbirth. Her ever-virgin body has served as a vessel for the incarnation. It is from her most-pure flesh that Christ’s body was made. She, just like her Son, was not tarnished by corruption, for she remained sinless.

Seeker: Is this the Immaculate Conception? This is the Roman Catholic teaching about the Virgin Mary.

Sage: No, the Orthodox do not say that Mary was conceived without sin. She was born from the lineage of David and bears the mark of sin which weighs on all humanity ever since the fall of our first parents. She is not apart from fallen humanity; she is one with her ancestors and with all men, saints and sinners, whom Christ wanted to save. But we venerate Mary as the one who, because of her faithfulness to God, committed no sins and, through her holy life, made possible God’s coming on earth. Because of her sanctity, Mary was able to receive the Holy Spirit and to conceive the Son of God, because the power of the Most High overshadowed her (Lk. 1:35). Through the incarnation, Mary is totally united to the holy Trinity; the fruit of her womb is the Son of the Father, conceived of the Holy Spirit.

We can legitimately ask why the Word of God took so long to descend to earth and become incarnate in order to save fallen humanity. But only after the middle of the sixth millennium after Adam’s sin did he find on earth a virgin pure not only in body, but also in spirit. There was only one such woman, unique in her spiritual and bodily purity, who was worthy to become the church and the temple of the Holy Spirit. (St. Dimitri of Rostov, 17th century)

– The Incarnate God