Forerunner October 2015

Have you ever looked at your prayer

book with the distinct feeling of ‘I hate

you, I hate you, I hate you?’ Have you felt

totally useless spiritually, unable to move

forward for one tiny step? Do you, in

fact, feel that you are going backwards,

rather than advancing in any way; that

your prayer life is worse today than yes-

terday, and definitely worse than a year

ago? Well, in that case, rejoice, for this is

the sure sign that your prayer is working.

I’ve met so many people this weekend… each with their personal story, personal challenges,

personal sources of happyness and pain. Everywhere though, questions and worries concern-

ing prayer take over the conversation in a matter of minutes. The basic thing people seem not

to understand is that the point of prayer is not happiness – the reason we pray is not so that

we feel happy and fulfilled.

(Continued on page 3)

K ILLER PRAYER—BY H IEROMONK SERAPHIM SPECIAL POINTS OF

INTEREST:

Killer Prayer—by Hier-omonk Seraphim

Parish Council Capsule

Stewardship 2015 NEED YOUR HELP

Youth Ministries News

Music Ministry: What is Orthros?

The Feast of the Holy Protection of the Theotokos

Food-Fest 2015 Dates OCTOBER 16th, 17th, 18th

Choir News

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

COUNCIL CAPSULE 2

NEW STEWARD-

SHIP PAGE

4

YOUTH MINISTRIES 6

MUSIC MINISTRIES 8

CALENDAR 11

COUNCIL CAPSULE

September has been a busy month @ St. John’s with various meetings, cleaning and baking. All of this is being done in preparation for our upcoming festival. One of those meetings, Gen. Harry Karegeannes and I attended, was the Euless City Council meeting and I have to admit, I was truly astonished by how warmly we were received and how highly the city re-gards our festival and what it means overall. With that being said, I encourage anyone who has yet to decide, if/ where they will help, to think about where they can best serve and sign up! It is our best platform to share, not just delicious food, but our rich Orthodox faith with our friends and community. Please know, we are a few short weeks away and will need all hands on deck to exceed the high standards and expectations that have been set before us. Many thanks to those who have already started working countless hours.

Changing hats… In last month’s article, I kindly asked families to please not allow children to

(Continued on page 2)

ST . JOHN THE BAPTIST

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

THE FORERUNNER OCTOBER 2015 VOLUME XXXII NUMBER 10

COUNCIL ’S CAPSULE

PAGE 2 THE FORERUNNER

go in to the old choir loft and nursery. It’s become a reoc-curring issue w/ food and drinks being left behind and invites all types of insects and

(Continued from page 1) possibly rodents to come and feast. We have a great park nearby and the weather is all the better to enjoy it. Please help us in keeping up ALL of our facilities.

In closing, remember to thank a teacher as our church school year is now under-way.

Kindest Regards,

Michael Eftimie

AGELESS WONDERS

Dear Parishioners, bless-ings to all and best wishes for a successful festival!

If you haven't already done so, please sign up for your service as festival staff on volunteerspot.com, or see George Moutafis for manu-al sign-up.

Raffle Tickets are available from Mike Strong. Prizes are iWatch, Android Watch or FitBit with Rangers tick-ets. This is the best festival raf-fle ever!

Don't forget Taverna Night at 6:00 PM on October 15th... Reservations and tickets

are available from Liz Strong at a reduced $40 per person for a great dinner, wonderful enter-tainment and an interesting program. Please come and support Philoptochos in its charitable endeavors, bring friends and relatives.

George P. Vittas, P.E.

The Ageless Wonders will meet on Monday, Octo-ber 12, 2015 for Brunch and a movie. We are go-ing to see "The Intern", a new film starring Robert De Niro as a 70 year old retired executive who

applies for an internship with a booming E- com-merce company, because there is a hole in his life that needs filling. There will be more details to follow when available So save the date

and in the meantime, plan on coming to help with the bak-ing for the Festival. Hope to see y'all at Taverna Nite!! Come and celebrate St John's 35 anniversary!! Ques-tions?? Margaret 817-354-

THE FESTIVAL IS HERE!!! OCTOBER 16-18 TAVERNA NIGHT OCTOBER 15TH IF YOU HAVEN 'T

ALREADY DONE

SO , PLEASE SIGN

UP FOR YOUR

SERVICE AS

FESTIVAL STAFF

ON

VOLUNTEERSPOT .

COM , OR SEE G

EORGE

MOUTAFIS FOR

MANUAL SIGN-

UP

NOW IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE

Your church needs individuals who are willing to help other church council members handle the daily running of our church. This is not a financial plea… It’s a plea for strong leaders, for a few good people to donate their time and effort.

This year we have five people on the church council whose terms will be ending. These vacancies need to be filled. Please seriously consider submitting your name for the

election which will be held in December. In November, all candidates’ names will be submit-ted for approval.

You will be a prime candidate if you meet the qualifications:

*You have been a member of St. John ‘s for one year or longer.

*You are a member in good stand-ing in the church. This means you filled out a pledge card and have completed your commitment or you are making regular payments

towards it

*You commit to participating in all activities of the pparish council nec-essary for the life of the parish

If you would like to submit your name for the upcoming election for a 2 year term or if you have any questions, please contact the church nominating committee. Thank you.

Connie Sarros [email protected] 330-606-3100

mailto:[email protected]


By prayer, our saints say, we

get closer to God; unfortu-

nately, getting closer to God

means we have to get closer

to ourselves first, closer to

our own hearts, because that

is where Christ reveals Him-

self – and getting to know

one’s own heart is nasty busi-

ness; getting to know who

you really are is never fun,

never a fulfilling or comfort-

ing experience.

When your prayer kills you

on the inside, let it. And give

thanks. When your prayer

exposes the small person that

you are in front of your own

conscience, let it. And give

thanks. These years of pain,

these years of staring at one’s

prayer book and wondering

how did one get so low and

miserable, so utterly unable

to control one’s thoughts,

one’s feelings, one’s atten-

tion, one’s passions, these

years when you go down in

your own personal hell and

you discover that this is

where you belong, that there

is nothing alive in you, noth-

ing holy in you – these years

are the years your prayer IS

working. This is the time

you’re keeping yourself open

for God to strat re-creating

you, re-shaping you into who

you really are.

(Continued from page 1) These are painful years, when

nothing good seems to live in

us, but these years will teach

you so many things about

yourself, things you would

never learn otherwise. You

learn your limitations, you

learn humility, you learn re-

pentance, you learn obedi-

ence, you learn not to judge,

not to condemn – for, how

could you judge and condemn

anyone, when you yourself

are spiritually dead and sur-

viving only out of God’s love

and mercy?

These years are the founda-

tion for all your future years.

I think about these years as

the foundation to a house –

my life. Make sure, make

absolutely sure that you have

a strong, healthy foundation;

otherwise, no matter what

you build on top of it, it will

crumble sooner or later.

This prayer is just a stage, of

course. When God sees that

the foundation is ready, you

will break through, and things

will be different. Don’t des-

pair and don’t give up – for

now, just rejoice because you

know your prayer is working.

You’re gradually learning the

truth about yourself, you’re

gradually leaving behind the

idolatric images of your self

that you or those around you

have built for years. As you

leave these fake images be-

hind, you’re getting closer to

your real self, you gain

knowledge about who you

really are and, in time, this

self-knowledge will be the

foundation for knowledge and

love for God.

Let this prayer kill you. It’s

not you who’s dying, not

your real self, but the fake

and prideful self you’ve learnt

to mistake for who you really

are. Let this prayer kill this

fake self, let this prayer help

you discover your real name,

your real personhood. Don’t

get down from the cross of

this prayer. Remember that

after the Cross – and only

after – Christ’s Resurrection

awaits you: You, the real one.

If you liked this article please

visit Fr. Seraphim’s blog

here:

http://www.mullmonastery.com/

ways-you-can-help/

There are many ways you can

help.

K ILLER PRAYER (CONT.)

LET PRAYER KILL

YOU . IT ’S NOT

YOU WHO ’S

DYING , NOT

YOUR REAL SELF ,

BUT THE FAKE

AND PRIDEFUL

SELF YOU ’VE

LEARNT TO

MISTAKE FOR

WHO YOU

REALLY ARE .

PAGE 3 VOLUME XXXII NUMBER 10

Hieromonk Seraphim

http://www.mullmonastery.com/ways-you-can-help/


2015 STEWARDSHIP CHALLENGE IS ON !

When we speak of Steward-ship, most often, we stress the importance of sharing the great gifts of God’s material world. But which of God’s gifts is greater than family? Family is a beautiful and meaningful opportunity to practice stewardship and to grow in our understanding of the blessing of properly using and sharing God’s gifts. But who is our family? In Christ’s Church our family goes beyond our blood rela-tives and extends to all that partake in the Body and the Blood of Christ from the same Chalice. Our Parish, our Metropolis, all of our Orthodox brothers and sisters are our family. But as Christ did not came to save only His immediate family, the people of Israel, so our family ex-tends to all those who have the image of God in them, the entire humanity. Our family, stretches even beyond the living into the realm of the Triumphant Church going back to all pi-ous generations before us: our fathers, mothers, broth-ers and sisters into the ages.

But even that is not all. Aren’t the saints our spir-itual parents in Christ? Aren’t the angels our pro-tectors? Isn’t the Theotokos the mother of all mankind? As such, the great gathering happens right here, in the Church, during the Divine Liturgy, when, on the dis-kos, Christ sits in the mid-dle as the sacrificial lamb, with the Theotokos as His right, the angels and saints at his left and we, the living and the departed, resting at His feet. This is our family reunion that mystically takes place at every Divine Liturgy. We are called to share this gift of family with the entire world. We share it by building our meaningful churches that invite people to Christ, by adorning them with icons that open win-dows into heavens, by serv-ing the Liturgies and the Sacraments, by teaching the faiths to our children, by reaching out in evangeliza-tion, by extending our help to those in need, by making everyone our family. All this beautiful family movement towards God and towards one another is not possible if we don’t share, if we isolate our-selves, and our gifts, from one another. Consider Church as a birthday party where we all take turns to give and receive. Everyone is happy in this exchange of gifts; everyone is lifted up

spiritually by the joy of making our family happy. At St. John’s our ministry programs continue to grow and Stewardship is the only way to provide the necessary resources to help sustain them. Stew-ardship is an opportunity to examine our priorities and values, to express our thankfulness, to give of ourselves and to grow in God’s grace strengthening our family. Giving to St. John the Baptist is a way to thank God for His gen-erosity. The question is not, "How much do I give?" We must ask our-selves instead “How can I thank God for the bless-ings He gives everyday to my family?” I encourage you all to actively participate in our God’s work at St. john’s by prayerfully considering your contribution in our 2015 stewardship pro-gram and beyond. With paternal blessings Fr. Vasile Tudora

I ENCOURAGE

YOU ALL TO

ACTIVELY

PARTICIPATE IN

OUR GOD ’S

WORK AT ST .

JOHN ’S BY

PRAYERFULLY

CONSIDERING

YOUR

CONTRIBUTION

IN OUR 2015

STEWARDSHIP

PROGRAM AND

BEYOND .


Welcome back everyone! Hope you all are getting back in the routine of life; with children in school, summer behinds us, and better yet, gearing up for our 24th annual food festi-val. It is so wonderful coming to church and seeing all the new faces. I know that church family members are reaching out with a "hello", maybe a hand shake, or better yet: “welcome". As our church continues to grow, our min-istries will continue to grow as well. Our church's needs are close to being met, for which I am very thankful.

Please don't forget that stew-ardship also means participating in our ministries helping with a small group, or even betRight now we could use your help with our church festival. I hope everyone will sign up to volunteer in some capacity; and I look forward to seeing new faces at our festival. Angela cline Cecilia Junell Stewardship Committee

Stewardship 2015 info as of 09/30/2015:

- Goal expenses: $304,127

- Pledged: $274,758

- Short: ( 29,369)

Please help us to achieve

our goal by filling out a stew-ardship card and making your commitment!

Thank you for your support!

HOW TO BECOME A STEWARD IN 2015?

How do I become a member of the parish?

Membership in the Orthodox Church begins at Baptism (Chrismation for some) and continues throughout our life. We are united with Christ through the sacraments and through our faithful offering of our lives to Christ. We have to distinguish however between voting members and non-voting members. A vot-ing member is over 18 years old and has turned in a signed stewardship commitment card (for time, talent and treasure). The Archdiocese also requires the voting mem-ber to remain current through the year on their commit-

ments. Overall true member-ship in the Body of Christ, involves living daily according to His word and within His Church.

Why must I commit to give a specific amount?

Knowing the amount of your monetary participation helps our parish plan the activities throughout the year. Your monetary stewardship is kept in the strictest of confidence.

What if I cannot fulfill my stewardship commitment?

During the course of a year,

people’s circumstances change. Your stewardship is valued because it is made out of your love for God and His Church. Please do not be con-cerned if you are unable to meet your stewardship com-mitment – we are glad you are a part of this parish.

How do I submit a Steward-ship Card?

You can find the card in the pews in Church or you can fill one on-line and e-mail it to our church office at [email protected].

More info here

STEWARDSHIP NEWS OCTOBER 2015

STEWARDSHIP

ALSO MEANS

HELPING WITH

ONE OF OUR

MINISTRIES , LIKE

FOR INSTANCE

GETTING

INVOLVED

WITH OUR

FESTIVAL . I

HOPE

EVERYONE WILL

SIGN UP TO

VOLUNTEER

http://stjohndfw.info/stewardship.html


We had another successful Brats, Beans & Burgers - Back to School Luncheon on Sept. 13. Thanks to all who helped including our grill guys — Mike Eftimie, Chris Geil and Michael Poriotis; our kitchen set-up & clean up folks — Maria Kerbow, Tina Molhoek and Khanh Moutafis; our shop-pers — Leo and Theresa Alexander; our invento-ry “guru," Connie Ra-failedes; as well as the rest of our YM committee who contributed side dishes: Athena Pachares, Esther Petercsak, Pres. Mirela,

Anca Morcovescu, Allison Medvic, Hope File, Margaret Chokas, Gail Poriotis and Debbie Manos. Thanks, too, to all the families who con-tributed to Youth Ministries with a donation. We had a great turnout! The annual Halloween Hideway will take place Saturday, Oct. 31, in the Church Hall. Parents are asked to bring pumpkins for each child. Besides carv-ing or painting pumpkins, there will be games and piz-za. Please see Athena Russo for details. Additional paren-tal help is always welcome!

Athena can be reached at 347-678-5177 or at [email protected]. The topics for the 2016 Or-atorical Festival have been announced and they will be shared with the older classes during the upcoming weeks.

One last note - Youth Minis-tries is very proud of our GOYA who has come up with some great fundraising ideas for the upcoming year, including a photo booth dur-ing the Festival. Please sup-port them! God bless.

Harriet Blake Youth Ministries Coordinator

YOUTH M INISTRIES REPORT

THE TOPICS

FOR THE 2016

ORATORICAL

FESTIVAL HAVE

BEEN

ANNOUNCED

AND THEY

WILL BE

SHARED WITH

THE OLDER

CLASSES

DURING THE

UPCOMING

WEEKS .

Church School Families: Our new school year is off to a great start! We had a great turn out for “Meet the Teacher and Burger and Brats!” Our first class went well. We have seen lots of new faces, and thank everyone for joining us. Here are a few upcoming dates on our calendar: 10/4 – Class 10/11 – Class 10/18 – No class Due to Festival 10/25 – class, Thanksgiving Basket kick-off. please bring a canned vegetable.

11/1 – Class. Please bring a canned fruit or stuffing mix. 11/8 – class. Please bring pie filling in a can: pumpkin, cher-ry, apple… If you did not receive a Church School Cal-endar for 2015-2016 year, please ask your child’s teacher for a copy. Again, I look forward to another terrific year with all of our families! If you have any ques-tions, comments and

suggestions, please con-tact me any time. Veronica Fisher Church School Coordi-nator [email protected]

CHURCH SCHOOL


PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS

Taverna Night is just around the corner, Thursday, October 15th. Join us for the opening of our FoodFest, as we take the oppor-tunity to celebrate the 35th anni-versary of our beloved parish, St. John the Baptist! If you do not have your ticket yet, there is still time. Tables are filling up, but we still have room for more folks to join in for the fun. Liz Strong can take your reserva-tion for a table ($320) or individ-

ual ticket ($40). This year’s Taverna Night char-itable donation is to the Neona-tology ICU at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital HEB. They will be using the donation to purchase new bas-sinets for their most fragile of patients, newborns in the NICU. There will be live music, scrumptious food, dancers and a photo booth to help com-memorate this historic and fabulous occasion.

Enjoy delicious hors d’ oeuvres and silent auc-tion, then settle in for dinner while enjoying the entertainment. Come out and help us kick-off our Mid-Cities Greek FoodFest and cel-ebrate our

35th Anniversary.

Veronica Fisher St. Irene Philoptochos

ball Tournament will be held in Dallas once again. Registration will begin October 7th, please sign your Goyan up soon after to get the cheaper early registration cost if he/she plans to attend. For

those interested, there is a T shirt design contest for the basketball tourna-ment, please see the GOYA email for more information.

Yours in Christ,

Alex Shah

Fellow Parishioners, With the festival quickly approach-ing, our dance groups have been practicing every Sunday and some Saturdays. Please come support us at our various performances through the fes-tival. The 2016 GOYA Basket-

GOYA NEWS

LET US ALL C E L E B R A T E

OUR

PARISH’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY, 13TH ANNUAL

TAVERNA NIGHT CELEBRATION ON THRUSDAY,

OCTOBER 15TH, AND OUR

24TH YEAR MID-CITIES

GREEK FOODFEST! FRIDAY, SATURDAY

AND SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, 17TH AND 18TH.

2015

tional photos on the day of your portrait session. We will have photography sign-up days on

Oct. 4 and Oct. 11 in the parish hall.

There also will be oppor-tunity to sign up during the Festival, Oct. 16-18, at The MarketPlace.

Photography dates are as follows: Thursday,

Oct. 29: 3-9pm Friday,

Oct. 30, 3-9pm Saturday,

Oct. 31, 10am-4pm Please see Harriet Blake for details ([email protected];

214-995-4290)

Everyone should soon receive a message regarding our new parish directory.

It will be photographed and published by LifeTouch which provides the directory to us at no cost to our church.

Every family photographed receives a complimentary di-rectory and an 8-by-10 por-trait. In addition to the com-plimentary photo, you will have a chance to purchase addi-

NEW PARISH D IRECTORY


The hand of St. Ephraim the Syrian, a patron Saint of

Church Musicians

THE SERVICE OF ORTHROS (MATINS) EXPLAINED 2. (CONT)

day, in the manner of a poetic reflection. The Ikos (plural, “Iki”) expanded on the theme of the main Kontakion. Typi-cally, the final words of the Kontakion are also the final words of the Ikos. In addition to the role of the Kontakia in the Octoechos and in the Menaion, some Kontakia have also come to function as “seasonal hymns” at the Divine Liturgy. In that capacity, a Kontakion will anticipate a Feast, like the Kontakion in anticipation of the Nativity of our Lord, or the Kontakion of the Cross, etc. The insertion of a particular Kontakion in the Liturgy reminds the worship-pers of upcoming Feasts and important seasons. The Synaxarion The Synaxarion is a short refer-ence to the saint or event com-memorated on a particular day. In modern usage, a simple ref-erence that on such a day, saint so-and-so is commemorated is followed by a brief poetic com-ment indicating something about the life of the saint, con-cluding with an intoned peti-tion for God’s mercy through the prayers of the saints.

While this is all that remains liturgically of the Synaxarion in Orthros, the Synaxarion (“book of coming together”) is properly the collection of the lives of the saints celebrated on each day of the calendar year. Consequently, published Syn-axaria, or Synaxaristes, typical-ly are multi-volume collec-

tions. These theologically rich biographies detail not only the simple life of the saint, but the theological implications of various events as well. At one time, readings from the Syn-axarion formed a lengthy and regular part of the divine wor-ship of the Church. Nowa-days, while the abbreviated references in Orthros are the main liturgical legacy of this practice, the materials of the Synaxarion are available in several editions, including several English language edi-tions, and are sources of inspi-ration and teaching for many of the faithful.

To be Continued...

Compiled from various sources mostly here and here

In parishes the reduction of the canon to just the Katavasia has led to particu-lar Katavasiae being used seasonally. The Katavasia of the Canon of the Akathist Hymn, like the Kontakion “O Never-failing Protec-tress”, has come to be used for much of the year, with Katavasiae related to other particular feasts being sub-stituted periodically. While this has the advantage that the Katavasia, having the characteristics of idiomela, becomes more easily recog-nized and sung by worship-pers, the disadvantage is that the various canons in the Octoechos and Menaia are seldom if ever heard. Given their rich theological content, this is lamentable. The Kontakion and the Ikos The Kontakion, Ikos and Synaxarion are typically found after the sixth ode of a fully chanted Canon. If the full Canon is not chant-ed, a good practice is to include the Kontakion, Ikos and Synaxarion immediate-ly before the Katavasia. The Kontakion and Ikos are the first hymns of what once were much longer compositions (the old “Kontakia”), which were theological reflections on particular holy days and formed an important ele-ment of the “cathedral” office. Kontakia emphasized important theological points of the particular holy

“ORTHROS”

COMES

FROM THE

GREEK

WORD

“ARISE” ,

AND IS THE

PROPER

SERVICE FOR

THE

MORNING

http://byzantineramblings.blogspot.com/2008/10/introduction-to-orthros-part-one.html

https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-daily-cycles-of-prayer/matins


THE FEAST OF THE PROTECTION OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS

the protecting veil in her hands gleamed “more than the rays of the sun.” St Andrew gazed trembling at the miraculous vision and he asked his disciple, the blessed Epiphanius standing beside him, “Do you see, brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?” Epiphanius answered, “I do see, holy Father, and I am in awe.”

The Ever-Blessed Mother of God implored the Lord Jesus Christ to accept the prayers of all the people calling on His Most Holy Name, and to re-spond speedily to her interces-sion, “O Heavenly King, accept all those who pray to You and call on my name for help. Do not let them not go away from my icon unheard.”

Sts Andrew and Epiphanius were worthy to see the Mother of God at prayer, and “for a long time observed the Pro-tecting Veil spread over the people and shining with flashes of glory. As long as the Most Holy Theotokos was there, the Protecting Veil was also visi-ble, but with her departure it also became invisible. After taking it with her, she left be-hind the grace of her visita-tion.”

At the Blachernae church, the memory of the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God was remembered. In the fourteenth century, the Rus-sian pilgrim and clerk Alexan-der, saw in the church an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos

praying for the world, depict-ing St Andrew in contempla-tion of her.

During the festal celebration of the Protection of the Moth-er of God, the Church sings, “With the choirs of the Angels, O Sovereign Lady, with the venera-ble and glorious prophets, with the First-Ranked Apostles and with the Hieromartyrs and Hier-archs, pray for us sinners, glorify-ing the Feast of your Protection throughout the world.”

On the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos we implore the defense and assistance of the Queen of Heaven, “Remember us in your prayers, O Lady Virgin Mother of God, that we not perish by the increase of our sins. Protect us from every evil and from grievous woes, for in you do we hope, and venerating the Feast of your Pro-tection, we magnify you.”

In Greece the commemora-tion of the Holy Protection of the Theotokos has been moved from October 1 to October 28 (Oxi day) after a 1950 decision of the Holy Synod of Greece. Greece commemorates this Great Feast in conjunction with one of their national days because during the war Theotokos protected and gave strength to all the Greeks that fought in order to defend their mother-land.

The Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theoto-kos, celebrated on October 1st, commemorates the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God that occurred in the mid-tenth century in Constantinople, in the Blachernae church where her robe, veil, and part of her belt were pre-served after being trans-ferred from Palestine in the fifth century.

On Sunday, October 1, during the All Night Vigil, when the church was over-flowing with those at pray-er, the Fool-for-Christ St Andrew (October 2), at the fourth hour, lifted up his eyes towards the heavens and beheld our most Holy Lady Theotokos coming through the air, resplendent with heavenly light and surrounded by an assembly of the Saints. St John the Baptist and the holy Apostle John the Theologian accom-panied the Queen of Heav-en. On bended knees the Most Holy Virgin tearfully prayed for Christians for a long time. Then, coming near the Bishop’s Throne, she continued her prayer.

After completing her pray-er she took her veil and spread it over the people praying in church, protect-ing them from enemies both visible and invisible. The Most Holy Lady The-otokos was resplendent with heavenly glory, and

REMEMBER US

IN YOUR

PRAYERS , O

LADY V IRGIN

MOTHER OF

GOD , THAT

WE NOT

PERISH BY

THE INCREASE

OF OUR SINS

FOR IN YOU

DO WE HOPE .

SETUP

Arrange pastries/food in a desir-able manner on the appropriate tables in the parish hall.

You are responsible for making the coffee. Make two pots: one regular, one decaf. Plug in be-

CLEAN UP

Wash all dishes soiled, including coffee pots.

Return sugar tray to kitchen and replenish it.

Wash off hall tables and kitchen counters.

Thank-You

COFFEE HOUR DUTIES

COFFEE HOUR HOST

As you probably know al-ready , we have recently switched to a new Coffee hour system where every family will host a coffee hour per year.

Please see

Olga Papadopoulou

to schedule Your Sunday.

ACOLYTE SCHEDULE

1st Sunday: Jackson Wright, Alex Genovezos, Caleb Ellis, Luca Tudora

2nd Sunday: Dmitri Rodgers, Alex Shah, Chris Eftimie, Jo-seph Berca, Noah Ellis

3rd Sunday: James Seals, Alex Genovezos, Caleb Ellis, Luca Tudora, Matei Tudora

4th Sunday: Noah Ellis, Alex Shah, Chris Eftimie, Dmitri Rodgers

5th Sunday: Matei Tudora, Alex Genovezos, Alex Shah, Luca Tudora

1st Sunday: Chris Geil / Jeff Younger

2nd Sunday: Michael Eftimie / Jeff Younger

3rd Sunday: Jeremy Ellis / Cecilia Junell

4th Sunday: Angela Cline / Olga Papadopoulou

5th Sunday: Nancy Medvic / Jeremy Forcum

USHER SCHEDULE

fore going into church. The instructions are in the kitchen.

Prepare a tray with sugar, creamer, sugar substitute, mix-ing straws, a few spoons. Set with trash bucket.

Put donation basket out with appropriate sign.


Our Catechism / faith enrichment classes have already started See us every Sunday after Di-vine Liturgy in the Church Bridal Room. The program is open for non-Orthodox as well as for Orthodox Christians that want to learn about the Faith. Join us to learn more about the Orthodox Faith and don't forget to bring a friend. Don’t forget our Parish Library is open. See Ste-ven or Serban if you want to borrow a book. WE HAVE

RECENTLY

SWITCHED TO

A NEW COFFEE

HOUR SYSTEM

WHERE EVERY

FAMILY WILL

HOST A

COFFEE HOUR

PER YEAR .

CATECHISM CLASSES

2015-2016 ARE A GO !

Out with the old and in with the new! In this period of spiritual regeneration we are also very happy to announce that our website just got a complete overhaul! Built on a modern, mobile and social friendly plat-form our website will keep you connected with everything that is happening at St. John’s.

Please join us at http://stjohndfw.info for a new level of browsing experience. Enjoy the new graphic interface, simplified menus, news posts, photo gal-leries and more to come. Share it on your favorite social media, send it to your friends, get the word out!

NEW PARISH WEBSITE

The dance practice for 2015 Festival: no practice today.

We will continue with Sun-day practices on the follow-ing days: Sept. 13, Sept. 20, Sept, 27, Oct. 4, Oct. 11.

Hellenic & Olympian danc-ers will also have Satur-day practices on the fol-lowing days: Sept. 12, Sept.19, Oct, 3, Oct. 10. Olympian dancers will be from 10:30 - 11:30 am

Hellenic dancers will be from 11:30 -12:30 pm.

*e-mail: [email protected]

GREEK DANCE

PRACTICE

http://stjohndfw.info

http://stjohndfw.info


St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church OCTOBER 2015

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3

Strict fast

Wine

and oil allowed

Holy Protection of Theotokos

Ananias, Apostle of the 70

Romanos the Melodist Divine Liturgy 6 am

Cyprian and Justina Eleutherios and Roustikos

Dyonysios the Areopagite John the Chozebite

Vespers 6pm

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2nd Sunday f Luke

8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Divine Liturgy

Catechism Class

Hierotheos,

Bishop of Athens Domnina

and her daughters

Charitina the Martyr Methodia of Kimolos

Thomas the Apostle Eretois of Cappadocia

Sergius & Bacchus of Syria Polychronios

the Hieromartyr

Small Paraklesis 6 pm

Taverna night

Pelagia the Righteous Pelagia of Antioch

Midcities Greekfest

James the son of Alphaeus Andronicus & Athanasia of

Egypt

Midcities Greekfest

Eulampios & Eulampia Theophilus the Confessor

Ve

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 7th Ecumenical

Council

8:30 am Orthros

9:30 am Divine Liturgy Catechism Class

Philip

the Apostle of the 70 Theophanes,

Bishop of Nicaea

Symeon the new Theologian

Provos, Andronicus, & Tarachos

Carpos, Papylos, Agathodoros, &

Agathoniki Benjamin the Deacon

Nazar, Gervasios, Protasios, & Celsius

Kosmas the Hagiopolite


Special prayers for Festival

Loukianos of Antioch Savinos, Bishop of

Catania

Longinos the Centurion

Hosea the Prophet

Cosmas and Damian of Arabia

Vespers 5pm

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Saint Luke

The Evangelist

8:00 am Orthros

9:00 am Divine Liturgy

Luke the Evangelist

Marinos the Martyr

Joel the Prophet Varys the Martyr

Arthemios of Antioch Gerasimos

of Cephalonia

Hilarion the Great Relics of

Christodoulos of Patmos


Averkios of Hierapolis Righteous Rufus

James the Apostle Ignatius, Pat. of Constan

Arethas the Great Martyr Sebastiane the Martyr

Vespers 5pm

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 6th. Sunday of

Luke

8:30 am Orthros

9:30 am Divine Liturgy

Catechism Class

Marcianos & Martirios

Tabitha, raised by Peter

Great Earthquake Constantinople

Demetrios the Myrrh-Streamer

Nestor of Thessaloniki Kyriakos, Pat. Of

Constan

Oxi Day

Holy Protection of the Theotokos

Terrence & Eunice


Anastasia of Rome Avramios & Maria

Cleopas of the 70 Zenobios

& Zenobia

Stachys of The 70 Nicholas the new Martyr

Vespers 5pm

303 Cullum Dr. Euless, TX 76040 Tel 817 283-2291 Return Service Requested

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

W E ’RE ON THE WEB AT HTTP : // STJOHNDFW . INFO

NONPROFIT

Sponsorship for This Month’s Forerunner

Holy P

rotection of the Theotokos

October 1st , 2015

TH

E F

OR

ER

UN

NE

R

Vol. X

XX

II No. 10 O

ctober 2015

Documents

Forerunner October 2015