Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
As we head towards the end of the year, we have some catching up to do with our parish finances. Please read through the section of this newsletter that’s entitled ‘Financial Update’, so you’ll be fully informed on the situation.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
The Nativity Fast continues. This fasting seasons runs through Wednesday, December 25.This fasting season is divided into two periods:
(A) November 15th through December 19th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil) is observed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil (some also permit fish) on Tuesday and Thursday, and for fish, wine, and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday
(B) the period of the Forefeast, December 20th through 24th, when the traditional fasting discipline is observed Monday through Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday. The eve of the feast, December 24th is a strict fast day. December 25th through January 4th is fast-free.
Many American Orthodox Christians take a break from the fast on Thanksgiving Day. Please begin to make your plans now, and, if you need to modify the fast in any way, be sure to get a blessing from one of the priests.
Daily Services
Monday, November 25-Wednesday, November 27: Orthros 5am; Vepsers 5pm (there will not be any daily services on Thursday and Friday of this week; 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 Matthew Groh and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading “The Ecclesiastical History of the English Speaking People” by Bede of Jarrow. 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, November 26
Orthodoxy 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, November 27
Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Saturday, November 30
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, December 1
The Fourteenth Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour
Youth 1pm
Tuesday, December 3
Orthodoxy 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, December 4
Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Thursday, December 5
Great Vespers for St Nicholas 7pm
Friday, December 6
The Feast of St Nicholas
Orthros 5am
Divine Liturgy 7am
Saturday, December 7
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, December 8
The Tenth Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour
Since this is the first Sunday of the month, it is also Blessing Sunday, so if you’re going to be traveling during December or if you have icons, prayer ropes, and crosses to be blessed, just show up at the chanter’s stand after liturgy for those prayers. But the first Sunday of the month is also Claim Your Stuff Sunday; that means you need to check the Lost and Found Box in the kitchen because it will all go to Goodwill after Fellowship Hour is over.
Tuesday, December 10
Orthodoxy 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, December 11
Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Thursday, December 12
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition 7pm; you can access this group on Discord
St Thomas School
On Saturday, November 29, we will be discussing chapter five of Volume I in the series Orthodox Christianity. Online access is available on Discord; like to participate online, you still need to sign-up ahead of time. Just send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by Thursday, November 28, to reserve your spot.
Anniversary / Memorial Blessings
You can use the links in the email version of the newsletter to sign up for anniversary blessings and memorial services that will be offered in 2025. Please note that things have changed for 2025 to accommodate our growing parish (i.e. some were not able to get on the schedule for anniversary blessings in 2024 because all of the slots were taken).
Memorial Services, will now occur at the end of Great Vespers on Saturday, and they may only be offered for Orthodox Christians who have departed this life. If your departed loved one was not an Orthodox Christian, visit this page on our website to learn about and request an Akathist for the Departed rather than signing up for a memorial service.
Anniversary Blessings may be requested for the first wedding anniversary and every fifth anniversary thereafter (i.e. 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, etc.). They may only be offered if one of the married couple is an Orthodox Christian. Approach the solea immediately after the hymn “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” at the end of the Divine Liturgy. If you have marriage crowns, bring them with you as you come forward. Those celebrating anniversaries that are not eligible to sign up, are invited to come forward during the “Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Namedays” segment of the announcements after the Divine Liturgy.
Finance Update
We ended October with a deficit of $7,000, so that means, at this late point in the year, we have an overall budget deficit of $7,400.
If you have only been part of our community for a couple of years, that may seem like shocking news. After all, in recent years, we’ve consistently been posting large surpluses. However, if you have been a member of St John’s for a while, you know that it was those large surpluses that were actually out of the ordinary—that’s because, throughout most of the history of our parish, we have ended most years with a very slim surplus (often less than a few hundred dollars). That’s not because we spend recklessly; we always stay within our budget; however, because our community is growing and we want to take good care of those folks and our property and our facilities.
So, while we are thankful for all those surpluses with which the Most Holy Trinity blessed us, having a deficit at this time of the year is not an unfamiliar experience-- and we have, without fail, always caught up before the year is over. So we know what we need to do to make up that financial gap: 1) We all need to check and make sure we are current on our commitment to the parish, and, if we aren’t, we need to get caught up. 2) If we are current in our giving, we should do our best to contribute a bit more. That’s because there are any number of folks who just aren’t able to give what they had planned due to unemployment or unexpected expenses. If you need help figuring out where you are with your current commitment, just contact Arun J. or Ray W., and they will be happy to get you pointed in the right direction.
But even as we work to close out this year as generously as possible, we also need to be thinking about the coming year’s budget. The Finance Folks and the Parish Council have worked really hard to come up with our usual no frills list of expenses. A simplified version of that budget is attached to the email version of this newsletter; if you’d like to see the full magilla, just ask one of our Finance Folks, and they will be happy to send you a copy. But what we all need to do is follow the link in the email edition of this article and make our commitment to the 2025 Budget. We’re going to need to get that all wrapped up by Sunday, December 15, so the Parish Council can make any necessary adjustments, so please do that soon, and please be as generous as possible.
Coming Up
During the Nativity Fast, we are serving the Nativity Paraclesis on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. After this week, there will be two more opportunities to participate in the Paraclesis: on December 11 and the 18th. Our hope is that everyone will do their best to join us for at least one of the evenings, but, of course, you’re welcome to attend as often as you would like.
On Friday, December 6, we will be celebrating the Feast of St Nicholas. St Nicholas is, of course, the patron of children (and grandchildren and godchildren), so if you are a parent or grandparent or godparent, you really ought to join us for those services so you can ask the holy hierarch to intercede for all those that you love. We will serve Great Vespers on Thursday, December 5, at 7pm; on the morning of the feast, we will offer Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am.
Several of the members of our parish volunteer with the Williamson County Pregnancy Help Center, and, during December, we will be collecting supplies for that important organization. Attached to the email version of this newsletter is a flyer that provides all the details, so read up on what the Help Center needs, and look for the collection box in the narthex. Our traditional St Nicholas Box will also be in the narthex for the next few weeks; please bring a new, unwrapped child’s toy and put it in the box.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
After receiving the Eucharist, it is traditional to share the blessed bread with our visitors and with the folks who are catechumens; this is one important way we can welcome people and help them participate in the Divine Liturgy. However, please ask them first if they would like some bread; if you wish to give a piece of blessed bread to a child, always ask their parents first. Also, if you see that the person with whom you intended to share the bread already has a piece, then simply share the bread with another person.
an unworthy priest
aidan