THIS WEEK

Sunday, March 7

8:50AM—Orthros and Orthodox

Education

10AM—Divine Liturgy

7PM—Sunday Series: Session 3

Tuesday, March 9

6:30PM—Evangelism meeting

8PM—Intro to Orthodoxy

Wednesday, March 10

11AM—Men of St. Nicholas

Leadership Meeting

7PM—Ministry of Fun

Team meeting

Thursday, March 11

10AM—Bible Study

7PM—Church School Teacher

Training

7:30PM—Moms’ Night Out

Saturday, March 13

9AM—Men’s Breakfast

6PM—Great Vespers/

followed by confession

7PM—SOYO dinner/event

Sunday, March 14 Forgiveness Sunday

8:50AM—Orthros and

Orthodox Education

11:30AM—SOYO Cheesecake

Fundraiser

11:30AM—Ushering Team

meeting

6PM—Forgiveness Vespers

(Great Lent begins)

LIFE AT ST. NICHOLAS THE WEEKLY BULLETIN OF

ST. NICHOLAS ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

MARCH 7, 2021 (616) 954-2700 ▪ info@stnicholasgr.com ▪ stnicholasgr.com

WINTER SUNDAY SERIES

Our virtual Sunday Night Series, Rising to the Challenge in Difficult Times: Living a Christian Life in our World Today concludes tonight. Join us along with guest speaker, Dr. Greg

Abdalah, even if you have not yet participated. For login

information, go to the event listing on our online calendar at

https://stnicholasgr.com/calendar/ and click “more information”

in that listing.

PREPARING FOR LENT AND HOLY WEEK

Let’s all plan to make our schedules available for the services of

Lent and Holy Week by looking ahead on our parish calendar

at https://stnicholasgr.com/calendar/. Let's use this time to

PREPARE for a spiritually-enlivening Lent, planning from now

for the increased prayer, fasting and almsgiving which lead us

to encounter Christ. By being prepared to enter Lent, we can

best benefit from this season of renewal!

We have helpful information on our St. Nicholas website to

assist you in your journey through Great Lent (service times

and resources, fasting guidelines, preparation for confession

checklist, and ideas for almsgiving). Please visit the Lenten

website at www.stnicholasgr.com/lent.

Fasting reminder:

Starting tomorrow: Fasting from meat (dairy and fish

allowed on Wednesday and Friday)

March 15: Lent begins

Let’s all benefit from the blessing that fasting can be!

BOOKSTORE: GREAT LENT AND PASCHA

Great Lent and Pascha books, icons, and Holy Week Service

books are available now. Be sure you get a copy of the Holy

Week Service Book so you have it for Pascha. Don’t delay

because we often run out of these books. If you want to place a

special order for items currently not available in our bookstore,

now is the time to do this.

ZOOM PASSWORD

UPDATE

Beginning Sunday,

March 14, our Zoom

password will change to

777. Unti l then,

continue to use 333.

WEEKLY

FINANCIAL REPORT

February 24-Mar 2

Total income to

General Fund:

$14,768

Average expenses

(including mortgage):

$11,500

ATTENTION ALL CHEESECAKE LOVERS

Say farewell to cheese on Cheese Fare

Sunday (next Sunday) with a delicious

slice of cheesecake, or two! Teen SOYO will

be selling a variety of mouthwatering

flavors by the Cultural Center

immediately after Liturgy to raise money

for their activities. Come and support our

teens and treat yourself!

PANCAKE BREAKFAST

Join us after the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, March 21 for our

annual pancake breakfast. All of the expected safety protocols

will be followed to ensure that everyone will feel comfortable

participating. There is no charge for the breakfast, but a free-

will offering basket will be available for those wishing to make

a donation for the Antiochian Women's project.

THE BOOK of MATTHEW

Our study of the Gospel of St. Matthew continues for the winter

series of studying the Holy Scriptures. You may think you know

the Good News, but only when we study deeply do we get the

meaning of all that Jesus came to say and do. Join us in person

or via Zoom on Thursdays at 10 AM, or listen at your own

schedule by downloading the recordings from https://

stnicholasgr.com/bible/.

HELP CORNER

The following are ways

you can help out your

church:

Remove wax on pews

Contact Keith

if you can assist.

GROWING

IN OUR FAITH

If you missed or would

like to re-listen to any of

these past events, they

are now available:

[ORTHODOXY 101]

with Fr. Michael

[FASTING]

with Rita Madden

[COME LET US

WORSHIP]

with Dr. Greg Abdalah

YOUTH IN ACTION

by Amy Amash, Youth Ministry Coordinator

Family Night Youth Success! We built it, and they came!

Wednesday Family Night just wrapped up its second

semester since we started our concerted effort to refocus on

its youth programming. Attendance has slowly, but

steadily been building since the fall (affected no doubt by

COVID), and as we are moving into spring it has

blossomed! And along with it, friendships, faith, and fun! A

key part of its success has been the new JOY (Jr. Orthodox

Youth) group for 4th-6th graders and the growing number

of Teen SOYO members who are joining them for games

and activities like the "Newlyfriend Game," Ask Abouna,

and Lenten Jeopardy, in addition to ping pong, Wii sports,

snacks, chanting, evening prayers, and the occasional

lesson when we can sneak it in! We ended this semester

with an all-youth pizza party, ping pong tournament, and

a few hilarious rounds of Human Hungry Hippos! We are

all sad to see Family Night go (for now!), but are excited

for more JOY and SOYO activities to come as the Lenten

season begins. Stay tuned!

SAVE THE DATE

Vacation Church School 2021

Behold the Light! Feasts of the Life and

Ministry of Christ

June 13-17

Sunday 12-3PM

Monday-Thursday 6-8PM

FELLOWSHIP GROUPS

OK Mama

Mamas! Come join us at 123 Tavern for drinks/food and

fellowship this Thursday, March 11 at 7:30PM. We will make

a reservation in the Studio Park outdoor seating space. We

hope you can join us!

Mom & Kids Activity: Join us at 10AM on Wednesday, March

17 for a morning learning about St. Patrick! We'll have

stories and activities to share. We will be meeting in the

Cultural Center where there is plenty of room to social

distance. All families are asked to check temperature, sign

in, wash hands when they arrive. All people 5 and up are

required to wear masks indoors. Contact Elizabeth if you

have any questions!

Men of St. Nicholas

Please join the men as we gather together again for our

monthly Men's Breakfast this Saturday, March 13 from 9-

11:30AM. This will be a time to reconnect and to plan for the

rest of the year.

Teen SOYO

We need to get ready for our Cheesecake Sale! All 7th-12th

graders, plan to join us for Vespers this Saturday, March 13

at 6PM with a Cheesecake Packaging Party immediately

following. We'll provide dinner, you provide the cheesecake!

(1-2 cheesecakes/person, please!) Also plan to join us by the

Cultural Center immediately after Liturgy on Sunday, March

14 to sell the cheesecake! Questions? Contact Fr. Michael,

Sonia Nicola, or Amy Amash.

Women of St. Nicholas

March is Women's Month throughout the Archdiocese which

means our women will be taking a more visible role during

the month. You will see us reading the Epistle and taking on

the various greeting/ushering responsibilities.

On Sunday, March 21 we will host a pancake breakfast, and

throughout the month we will be offering for sale “A Child's

Guide to the Divine Liturgy” ($20 each or 2/$30). The

proceeds go towards the Antiochian Women's NAB Project,

“Fulfilling the Vision”, the dream of expanding and

improving the Antiochian Village.

If you would like to help in any of these areas, please see

Barbara Thomas, Janet Ansara, Lynn Simon, or Gretchen

Zahn.

PARISH COUNCIL

Your Parish Council is here to

serve you. If you have a

question or comment, email

them by clicking on any of

their names below.

Mike Simon Chairperson

Sam Bander Vice President

Joe David Treasurer

Greg Lambert Secretary

Melissa Powell Assistant Treasurer

Dan Abraham

Mark Ansara

Roger David

Rami Haddad

Yuri Kazarov

Nick Nicola

MISSION STATEMENT

St. Nicholas Church is a

worshiping community in the

A n t i o c h i a n O r t h o d o x

Christian tradition that

preserves, proclaims, and

practices the Faith given by

Christ to the Apostles, serving

Him, one another and our

neighbors. We manifest His

love through sacramental and

liturgical life, education,

hospitality, works of mercy,

and fellowship.

Our parish exists to seek and

share Christ’s love so that

ALL will find Eternal Life in

Him.

FORGIVENESS SUNDAY (March 14, 2021)

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, our Lord says: “If you forgive men their trespasses, your

heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will

your heavenly father forgive you your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14)

Heeding our Lord’s teaching, at the

conclusion of the Divine Liturgy next week,

we will perform the ceremony of mutual

forgiveness. This exchange begins as the

priest stands next to the analogion (icon

stand) as the faithful come forward to

venerate the icon of the Theotokos. One by

one, the faithful bow before the priest, who

also does the same before each of the

faithful, each saying to one another,

“Forgive me, a sinner”. The response is,

“God forgives”. The faithful then receive the

priest’s blessing. It is customary to kiss the

priest’s hand when receiving this blessing; however, we will refrain from this practice in light

of our current health crisis. Following this pattern, the faithful also ask forgiveness from each

other in the same manner. However, this year, in place of the kiss of peace, the faithful will

simply bow.

Please note that during the ceremony of mutual forgiveness, face masks must be worn and

social distancing must be practiced while in line as well as when standing before each person

and asking forgiveness. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.