2015.10_boxandspoon

Monthly Newsletter for Stewards of

Holy Anargyroi Sts. Kosmas & Damianos Greek Orthodox Church Box & Spoon

2015 Standing Committees PARISH COUNCIL Aaron Biedermann-President Halina Woroncow-Vice Pres. Tim Kelly Angie Rustad Don Jenkins Erline Holman Robert Lytle Jacob Petersen Treasurer Ben Johnson STEWARDSHIP /OUTREACH John Maragos Chair Halina Woroncow Ari Kolas Andy Franquiera ICONOGRAPHY Fr. Mark Muoz BUILDING Tim Kelly- Chair Ari Kolas BUDGET Jacob Petersen Fr. Mark Muoz AUDIT Jacob Peterson Amy Franqueira John Maragos PHILOXENIA HOUSE Brad Holman Chair ST. PHILOTHEI Trevor Hamlen Chair GREEK FESTIVAL Erline Holman Johnny Mangouras Denise Mangouras

I S S U E

O C T 2 0 1 5

52

Aylan Kurdi and Our Failure to Act By Dean Argiris published in Orthodox Christian Network.

Orthodox Christian Faith. Therefore, I think it is wise that we meet this with an Orthodox response.

We, as Orthodox Christians, should be asking ourselves Are we living up to the commands of our Lord when it comes to dealing with this crisis?

We know of Matthew 25:31-46. The Gospel tells us that all the nations will come before the Lord, and He shall separate the goats from the sheep, and He will decide their fate. We know He will say that we did not feed Him when He was hungry, or give Him drink when He was thirsty. He will tell us we failed to cloth His naked body or visit Him when He was in prison. He then tells us that whatever we do unto our brethren, we do unto Him.

The Syrian refugees are our brethren. The Syrian boy was our brethren, and by failing him, we have, in a spiritual sense, failed Christ.

I fully understand that this crisis is where the secular world and the religious world can be in conflict. Economic crises and budget deficits compel us to be calloused towards this suffering, wishing we could help, but using finances as an easy excuse to do nothing. However, what is the human cost to inaction? Weve learned from previous tragedies that history never lets us forget the blemishes on our souls.

Perhaps we can look to the tiny Greek island of

There are few photos that capture the human condition. The firefighters raising the American flag over the rubble of the World Trade Center, the man staring down the tanks at Tiananmen Square, mans first step on the moon. These photos capture moments of hope, determination, and progress in human history. Other pictures reveal the darkness and desperation of humankind. The grieving Cambodian woman kneeling over the body of a Khmer Rouge victim, the malnourished survivors of Nazi concentration camps shrouded in wool blankets, the Greek husband defeated by the economic crisis, crying against the wall.

This past Thursday, a new image was burned into our consciousness. The body of a Syrian toddler boy, washed up on the shores of Turkey, sheds new light on the international and moral crisis riddling the world. It is the snapshot of inaction and avoidance.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 348,540 Syrians have applied for asylum in Europe, over 4 million have left their homelands, and over 6.5 million are internally displaced by the continued conflict in Syria. This crisis has reached the borders of Europe, and these states have responded with mixed results. Many of these states, like Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, and Serbia, are Orthodox nations. They are Orthodox in the sense that the majority of their populations adhere to the

Christ our God, upon fulfilling Your dispensation for us, You ascended in Glory uniting the earthly with the heavenly Holy Ascension, May 21st The world has found in you a great champion, Great Martyr Demetrius, invoke Christ God for His great mercy. St. Demetrius Myrrh-streamer Oct 26th

Kos, which rests just off of Turkey. Greece is in the midst of a crippling economic crisis. With 25% unemployment, reduced salaries, and higher taxes, one would think that the Greeks would force the refugees elsewhere. Yet, on this tiny island, the Mayor was moved by the actions of the Greek people. Here, on the island of Kos, the Syrian refugees were embraced and given water and food. The Syrian refugees found momentary sanctuary and help with the paperwork for refugee status in Greece. This was a perfect example of a Christian response to the crisis. The residents of Kos demonstrated a Christian love required in 1 Peter 4:9, which asks us to show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

The Syrian toddler is a tough image to swallow. In a previous OCN writing, I detailed the joys of a child and what children represent. The photo of Aylan Kurdis body on the shore of Turkey represents the opposite. It represents shattered dreams and extinguished hope. The photo tears into our souls and forces us to weep over the context: a child, just starting his life, who could not even fully comprehend the situation he and his family were thrown into; a situation created by men he never met who were compelled by motives he didnt even know existed.

It is an image of innocence lost. Of humanitys failure, of our failure. Its a symbol of how man can even find profit in disaster. The cost was $4500 (US) to be on an overcrowded boat, avoiding a rubber raft but not having enough money to secure life vests. This is the most appalling aspect of the ordeal, not being able to afford a chance at life in the event of something going wrong.

The pained father said his son slipped through his hands, but the truth is Aylan, his brother Galip, and their mother Rehan, slipped through all our hands. Sadly, more refugees will slip through our hands as the European nations try to figure out how to uniformly deal with this situation. Our Faith asks for action, our conscience demands it, and our souls require it. Fences may create barriers to reinforce lines on a map, to protect states from being impacted by the Syrian crisis, but fences cant stop our conscious from being impacted.

In 2015, more than 2,600 refugees have died trying to reach a better life in Europe, and they make up nearly 75% of the total migrant deaths throughout the world. We can continue to draw attention to the crisis in Syria, we can write and keep ISIS at the forefront of conversation. But there is an urgent matter at hand, one which requires our Orthodox charity. We must help those wanting a chance at life, a chance at happiness, a chance at hope.

It should not take the image of Aylan Kurdi to force us into action, and the least we do unto our brethren, we do unto the Lord.

TAKE ACTION: Make a financial donation to a non-governmental organization

(NGO) that is doing related humanitarian work overseas. These could include:

International Orthodox Christian Charities: (http://www.iocc.org/countries/countries_syria.aspx)

Save the Children: (http://www.savethechildren.org/) Distributing essential items such as diapers, hygiene kits and food Migrant Offshore Aid Station: (http://www.moas.eu/donate/) Dedicated to preventing migrant deaths at sea International Rescue Committee: (https://engage.rescue.org/donate/donate-now-here-humanity-alt) Improving living conditions by setting up camps The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): (http://donate.unhcr.org/gbr/general/) Providing water, mosquito nets, tents, healthcare

Glorious wonderworking physicians, having received the grace of healing, reach out and restore health to those in need. SS. Kosmas & Damianos, Nov 1

Calendar for October 2015

Wednesday Oct. 7th Paraklesis of Healing to St Nektarios 6pm

Friday Oct. 9th Tableside with Johnny Mango (Philoxenia Fundrasier) 6:30pm

Tuesday Oct. 13th Philoptochos Meeting in Church Library 6pm

Wednesday Oct. 14th GOYA Faith Night 7pm

Thursday Oct. 15th St. Philothei Project 6pm

Sunday Oct. 18th GOYA Event after Church - Details TBD

Wednesday Oct. 21st Parish Council Meeting 6:30pm

Saturday Oct. 24th St. George's 75th Anniversary, St. Paul, MN 6pm

Sunday Oct. 25th Last day of IOCC collection

Monday Oct. 26th St. Demetrios the Great Martyr 8:30am

Orthros/Divine Liturgy

Tues-Wed Oct. 27th-28th Metropolitan's Name Day Banquet, Fr Mark away

Saturday Oct. 31st Patronal Feast Day: SS Kosmas & Damianos 5pm

Great Vespers

Sunday Nov. 1st Patronal Feast Day: SS Kosmas & Damianos 8:30am

Orthros/Divine Liturgy

IOCC Health Kits Our church school students are participating in a collection for IOCC to distribute emergency hygiene kits to victims of disaster. Our collection will proceed through Sunday, October 25th. Please leave your donation in the orange tub in the narthex.

We welcome donation of complete kits in a gallon-sized ziplock bag or any number of individual items. A monetary donation is certainly welcome, as well.

Kit Contents: One hand towel One washcloth One comb One metal nail file or nail clipper One bar of soap (bath size) Six Band-Aids All of the above in a gallon-sized ziplock bag

The world has found in you a great champion, Great Martyr Demetrius, invoke Christ God for His great mercy. St. Demetrius Myrrh-streamer Oct 26th

Youth Team

The school year has begun! Our Church School teachers have convened another year of catechetical instruction. We are embracing our parish motto of flexibility in managing our classroom size and location this school year as construction of our new educational wing and fellowship hall proceeds. Thanks to all for your commitment to this ministry!

This year, we have divided the students into two groups to best utilize our available space. Grades 1-5 are taught by Loredana Jerghiuta and Kathy Lytle; Grades 6-12 are taught by Mike Brekke and Halina Woroncow. There is much we will learn from each other!

Our youth completed the last highway cleanup of the year in association with the MN DOT Adopt a Highway Program. This is a valuable exercise in environmental stewardship which our Ecumenical Patriarchate reminds us is our responsibility as Orthodox Christians. We will be back at it next spring. Families are welcome and encouraged!

GOYA then met for our traditional Students vs Parents Volleyball match to start out our year. As always, good fun was the winner!


Youth Team ~ continued ~

JOY first Faith Night for the school year will be on October 1st at 5:30 PM in the church library. GOYA will meet for their first Faith Night on October 14th at 7 pm. Please save the dates!

Our church school students are participating in a collection for IOCC to distribute emergency hygiene kits to victims of disaster. Our collection will proceed through Sunday, October 25th. The entire parish is invited to join in! Please leave your donation in the orange tub in the narthex. We welcome donation of complete kits in a gallon-sized ziplock bag or any number of individual items. We already have the toothbrushes thank you! A monetary donation is certainly welcome, as well.

Thank you for your help this worthy project!

One hand towel One washcloth One comb One metal nail file or nail clipper One bar of soap (bath size) Six Band-Aids All of the above in a gallon-sized ziplock bag

We welcome each and every student to our classrooms and invite you to our youth fellowship events. Together, we pray: Help the children of this age, O Almighty One, so that they may grow up and mature to Divine sonship and heavenly citizenship, for their eternal salvation and for Thy glory and praise. Amen. (Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich)

Youth Team Coordinators, Loredana Jerghiuta, Halina Woroncow and Mike Brekke


Philoptochos Society

Dear Parish Family,

September has been a wonderful time of giving. The Philoptochos along with George Yogi Kereakos served a luncheon to celebrate the first day of our Catechetical classes for our children. This is a long standing tradition for his family and we thank him for supporting our children's spiritual education.

Philoptochos asked once again of our Parish to help support Holy Cross Hellenic College. We passed a second tray on September 27th and collected money to be sent to Hellenic College for seminarians at Holy Cross to assist with tuition expenses. Thank you for your donations.

October is our Stewardship drive and our time to recruit new members. If you are interested at all in being a member of our Philoptochos Society, or ever wondered what we do. Please do not hesitate to contact any member or myself personally. We would love to have you!

October we will be doing a new and unique fundraiser for Philoptochos. We are going to be selling soap. I have done a lot of research and have found a company that offers an all natural product, that only uses essential oils and no chemicals. They make great gifts for

Christmas, a hostess gift or for that one person who has everything. Everyone needs soap, why not make it a special one. We will have samples for people to see and smell, I promise you will not be disappointed. If this is not something you want to purchase for yourself, might I suggest a donation to our Philoxenia house for our guests or to the Dorothy Day House.

This fundraiser will begin in October. We will have a table in the back every Sunday through the month of October. Stop by and take a look at what we have.

During October the Philoptochos donates cookies every year to the Ronald McDonald house, as part of our charity work, this year at our first meeting, it was decided to expand our work for the house. We decided not to donate cookies, but to look at other ways to help the families. More news to come on this ministry.

We thank you, our Parish of Holy Anargyroi, for supporting our ongoing Philanthropic work.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 13th at 6pm in our Church Library. In Christ,

Kris Brekke Philoptochos President


2015 Choir Conference in Minneapolis! October 9th 11th

The 58th Annual Choir Conference of the Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians - Metropolis of Chicago will be held in Minneapolis the weekend of October 8 11, 2015. The Choir and congregation of St. Marys are eager to welcome you to fun-filled weekend of song and fellowship.

Our host hotel is the Hilton Bloomington, 3900 American Boulevard, Bloomington, MN. We have secured an excellent room rate of $89 per night. Room choices include a King bed or two Queen beds.

Here are some highlights of the weekend:

On Thursday evening, October 7, St. Marys choir members will host a reception at the hotel for our conference attendees. A variety of hors doeuvres and adult beverages will be served. A good time to reconnect with friends from across the Metropolis. And, of course, we know you are interested in our other activities for the weekend.

Friday Fun Night will feature Karaoke with Christini (our own Christine Gresser!) The action will be in St. Marys beautiful social hall and Terrace room. (Did I mention that our Terrace Room overlooks scenic Lake Calhoun?) We will be serving pizza and other finger foods. The selection of sing-along favorites is the best in the Midwest. We also have a GREEK Karaoke CD with such favorites as Sameotessa, Maria Me Ta Ketrena, Never on Sunday and Agapame. Start channeling your inner Nana Mouskouri or practice a song with your choir to perform (theres safety in numbers!)

After rehearsals on Saturday we will go to downtown St. Paul for the social highlight of the weekend. We will board the Jonathan Padelford for a 3 hour gourmet cruise (see article on the Jonathon Padelford). This is not to be missed!

On Sunday morning we will worship together, singing the beautiful Liturgy of Hope directed by its composer, Christopher Kypros. Following the liturgy we will enjoy a delicious Greek roast chicken dinner with the congregation of St. Marys before its time to say goodbye to friends and head for home.

Please plan on joining us in Minneapolis!

Conference Overview

Dates: October 8 11, 2015 Director: Chris Kypros Conference site: St. Marys Greek Orthodox Church Registration fee: $160 Federation stole: $5 to rent or $18 to purchase. Stole is required. See registration form to reserve stole. Host Choir contact: Elena Biessener, [email protected] (651) 337-0681

The Federation website is www.chicago.churchmusic.goarch.org. Click on Annual Conference tab to download forms and for a link to make secure on-line payments to St. Marys Church.

You may also go directly to www.stmarysgoc.org to make payments. Follow the payment instructions explained on the page entitled To Pay for Choir Registration On-line.


Andrew & Anna Chafoulias Memorial Fellowship Hall & Education Center

Building Progress Update


A quick note of thanks to all who were able to help or attend our annual Parish BBQ event!

The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, and the fellowship with our church family was grand!

PARISH BBQ SUCCESS!!!


Stewardship Reminder: Your Online Stewardship Accounts!

Thank you to the many people who are currently using our new online Church Management & Stewardship system!

Even if you choose not to give electronically, we still ask you to log-in and keep your profile up-to-date so that we have the latest information for our church and tax records.

In addition, you can view how much you've already given at any time regardless of how you donated it, so its the best place to check your Stewardship status, and its available to you 24/7.

If you havent already signed up, its very easy to get things going. Please follow the tutorial below, and if you have any further questions email: [email protected]

2015 STEWARDSHIP THEME: TO BECOME INDEPENDENT OF FESTIVAL INCOME

Thats About. $1.50/per day more from your 2014 daily giving amount. $45/mo. more from your 2014 monthly giving amount. $500/yr. more from your 2014 pledge. 40k/yr. more from our current 2014

Stewardship level.

Thats just $10 per week, or Bringing lunch to work once a week. Drinking a couple less lattes each week.


Stewardship: Online Sign-up Tutorial

Step 1: Navigate to our website: www.rochesterorthodoxchurch.org, then click GIVE ONLINE.

Step 2: click SIGN IN


Stewardship: Online Sign-up Tutorial Step 3: click CLICK HERE next to Need a Login?

Step 4: Below is the Account Sign-Up page. Please fill in your email address and name as we have it on file. Click FIND ME.

If there isnt a match in our database, please contact us at [email protected] with your preferred email address and name. Well email you back once our records are updated. After this, navigate back to the Account Sign-Up page below, and type in the email address and name you sent us, then click FIND ME.



Step 5: Once your record is found, a confirmation pop-up message will appear. click CLOSE.

Step 6: Check your email account for the verification email.


Stewardship: Online Sign-up Tutorial Step 7: Click the link in the verification email to verify your account.

Step 8: Once verified, navigate back to our website, to GIVE ONLINE, and click SIGN IN once again. This is the same thing we did in Steps 1 and 2 of this tutorial.



Step 9: Welcome to the main page of your new online account!

From here you can: Update your church profile (click MY COMPLETE PROFILE). Create a pledge for the year (click PLEDGE NOW). Give a one-time or recurring donation (click GIVE NOW). View your giving history (click MY GIVING HISTORY). Manage your scheduled giving (click MANAGE SCHEDULED

GIVING) Manage your pledge history (click MY PLEDGE HISTORY).

For the purposes of this tutorial, click GIVE NOW to setup a new giving donation!



Step 10: We encourage you to setup a recurring donation each year according to your pledge. On this page, you decide how much to give and whether its a one-time or recurring donation. You determine all the details for your giving plan! If youd like your recurring donations to continue beyond one year, just navigate to that future end date.

Once finished, click CONTINUE.



Step 11: Here you designate which funds your money will go to.

For example, if you decided to give $100 every month, you now designate how much of that $100 will go toward your Stewardship Pledge, or our Building & Iconography Funds, or our Philoxenia House ministry.

Once finished, click CONTINUE.



Step 12: This is where you designate the payment method youd like to use for your giving plan.

We incur a 3% transaction fee for credit cards; therefore, we prefer checking or debit account transfers. That being said, were thrilled to accept donations regardless of the payment method you choose!

Once finished filling in your details, click CONTINUE!

You may change your giving amount or frequency anytime by clicking on MANAGE MY SCHEDULED GIVING from the home page!

Stewardship of your time, talent, and treasure is a way of life. We THANK YOU for giving your financial treasure for the glory of God and for the building up of His church.

2015.10_boxandspoon

Documents

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