CONFESSIONS SCHEDULE
Father Demosthenes is available for confessions on Saturday evenings after the Great Vespers service or during the week by appointment. Call the office to set up a time for confession.
HEART FUND LUNCHEON
St. Anna Philoptochos cordially invites you to our annual Heart Fund Luncheon which will be held in the Small Hall on January 25 at 12:30pm, after the second liturgy. Open Donation with all proceeds going to the many philanthropic Philoptochos projects. For more information: Terry Kylan 408 504-1501, Rhylan478@aol.com or Sofia Papanicolaou 408 926-6557, Sofoula2004@yahoo.com.
GREEK DANCE CLASS FOR ALL AGES
Please save Monday, January 26 at 7:00pm, for Kali Parea's meeting at Saint Nicholas. Peter Panayotopoulos, very generously, will be directing the group again for a session of great dances from the Pontic dance selection. Dancers of all ages are encouraged to participate. Please contact Roula Demertzis at 408 268-7645 for more information.
SCOUT SUNDAY
Attention all Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts! Sunday, February 8, 2015 is Scout Sunday! Scouts should wear their uniform to church! If your scout completed the requirements for receiving the Saint George Award, please have one the priests sign the form and bring the award to church on Scout Sunday.
IT'S GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME
Our very own Girl Scout Troop here at St. Nicholas will be selling Girl Scout cookies on February 8 in the courtyard after church. There will be a very limited number of boxes available. If you prefer to order cookies online and have them shipped directly to you, please contact mariatrapalis@yahoo.com
CRAB FEED
Mark your calendars for the 20th Annual "All You Can Eat" Crab Feed that will be held in our Community Center on Friday, February 6, 2015, beginning at 6:30pm Social Hour, 7:30pm Crab Feed. Cost is $50 Adults, $25 Children, and tickets MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE. Seating is limited. To order by mail please contact Kathy Mockler 408 867-6495 or kmockler50@aol.com.
ADULT EDUCATION: CONTEMPORARY ETHICS ISSUES
His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas will resume the Wednesday class sometime in January from 6:30 p.m. following the Paraklesis service. Watch the Sunday bulletin for the exact date. Send your questions or issues of interest to Teena at teena.claudatos@me.com Paraklesis service is held at 5:30pm, and the class follows at 6:30pm. The class is open to everyone.
ADULT EDUCATION: BOOK STUDY
Join the group for the in-depth reading of the book Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism by Father Alexander Schmemann. The group will resume on Monday January 26, at 1:30pm in the Boardroom. Will end Chapter 3.
ADULT EDUCATION: CATECHISM CLASS
The Catechism class will meet Tuesday, February 3, at 6:00 pm in church. We will talk about Death, Funeral and Repentance.
APOKREATIKO DINNER DANCE
Please join us for the Annual Apokreatiko Dinner Dance to be held in the Community Center Saturday, February 21, 2015, beginning at 6:30pm with the Social Hour. Live music by Mythos and featuring a special guest. The event is hosted by Hristos & Meropi Spilios, John & Sofia Kouretas, Elias & Demetra Tsigaris, and Nick & Evagelia Pries. Tickets may be purchased from any of the hosts. The entire proceeds from the event will go toward paying off the mortgage for the community center. There will be no expenses to the church.
BE HOLY! - SUMMER CAMP OPEN FOR REGISTRATION
Theme: “You shall be holy, for I am Holy.” 1 Peter 1:16
The dates for the 2015 Metropolis Summer Camp at Saint Nicholas Ranch are:
- Staff Orientation Week: June 30 – July 4, 2015
- Session 1: July 5-11
- Session 2: July 12-18
- Session 3: July 19-25
All three sessions are for campers ages 8 – 18.
Pricing for 2015:
- $475 Early Registration (December 1 – February 28)
- $500 Normal Registration (March 1 – April 30)
- $525 Late Registration (May 1 – June 15)
All siblings receive a $25.00 discount.
MISSIONS THOUGHT
II Peter 3:9, 12 ".....not wanting anyone to perish." This is the love of Christ.
CROSSROAD SUMMER PROGRAM
HOUSE BLESSINGS AFTER THEOPHANY
There is a tradition of our Church to have houses blessed with the water from the Great Blessing (done on January 5 and 6) on the days following the Baptism of the Lord. Call the office if you would like Father Demosthenes or Father Ion to come to bless your house. Please indicate your address and a few options for days and times that work for you. It is recommended that the whole family living in the house is present at this beautiful visit to receive the blessing.
PHILOKALIA BOOKSTORE
Last minute shopping. Stop by the PHILOKALIA BOOKSTORE for a meaningful gift. Select from among books for children and adults, beautiful icons, vigil lights, prayer bracelets, carved beeswax candles and much more. The small Potamitis books at $4.00 will make great stocking stuffers for the children. All other children's Christmas books are on sale at 20% off.
BAY AREA GOYA CALENDAR
2014 – 2015 BAY AREA GOYA MONTHLY EVENTS
FEBRUARY - FDF
ADULT EDUCATION: CATHECHISM CLASS
The Catechism class will meet Tuesday, November 18, at 7:30pm. The class targets three backgrounds:
- People exploring the Orthodox faith wishing to prepare to join the Church through baptism and chrismation.
- Interfaith couples, married or anticipating marriage.
- Orthodox faithful interested in learning more about our faith.
This session will meet mostly every other week until Holy Week 2015 on a day of the week, in the evening, that is convenient to all. The participants will be encouraged to:
- Attend the church services regularly and observe the main feasts of the Church.
- Read the assigned readings per class Syllabus.
- Attend the class and actively engage in class discussions.
- Participate in other preparatory activities such as group visit to Life Giving Spring Monastery and ministries exploration.
If interested, please contact Father Ion.
HAVE YOU READ IT?
Please reply to this email message if you did read this Sunday Bulletin at least up to this point. It will help gathering statistics about how many people we reach. You do not have to include anything in your email, but if you do have comments, please include them. Thank you, Father Ion
Daisy Girl Scout Troop Update
You may have noticed our adorable little Girl Scouts in their blue uniforms at our church. The topic at their first meeting was "Honest and Fair" and the girls have already earned their first 2 patch awards! They also made puppets and put on a puppet show for their parents and siblings, demonstrating how to be honest and fair.
We are now able to include 1st grade girls in our new troop! All Kindergarten and 1st grade girls are welcome to join at any time during the year. Time commitment is just one hour per month for meetings, which are held from 12:30-1:30pm at St. Nicholas, following Church School, from October to May. Girls may receive a packet of supplies from any meeting they may have missed.
Our next meeting is Sunday, November 2nd, and our topic will be "Friendly and Helpful" for which the girls will be making friendship dolls. Moms and their daughters are invited to join us and participate for a day. Please contact Maria Trapalis (415) 572-5213 or mariatrapalis@yahoo.com if you're interested in trying it out or have any questions.
SAINT NICHOLAS GOYA
The St. Nicholas GOYA will kick off a new season of faith, fun, and fellowship on Saturday, October 25, 2014 from 4:30pm to 9:00pm in the small hall, with its annual barbeque and elections for the new GOYA officers for 2014-2015. In addition to the barbeque, participants are asked to bring a potluck dish and a pumpkin to the event. An email will be sent to participants for the potluck sign-up. If you have questions or concerns, please contact our GOYA advisors: Nick Tziavaras 847-293-9028 or NTziavaras@aol.com and Stephane Asimacopoulos Tziavaras 847-830-2585 or pksimo@yahoo.com.
CHURCH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE
There will be Church School Open House this morning for Grade 6 (Room 12). Parents, you are invited to join your students in their classroom when they are dismissed for class, following Holy Communion.
THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING DINNER FUNDRAISER
Please join us on Sunday, October 12, 2014, at 6:00pm in the St. Nicholas Community Center for the annual fundraiser for the Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring. We will be blessed to have with us Metropolitan Gerasimos, Metropolitan Nikitas, and Gerontissa Markella. Cost is $60 adults, $30 children under 12. You may purchase tickets from Maria Anagnostos 408 316-6609 or meroulas@yahoo.com. The dinner is hosted by Paul, Nick and George Pries. All proceeds will go to the monastery.
Bay Area Young Adult “St. John Maximovitch Tour”
When: Saturday October 11, 2014 - 10am - 3:30pm
St. Nicholas college students and young adults are invited to join young adults from around the Bay Area for a short one day pilgrimage to San Francisco to learn about Saint John Maximovitch as led by Fr. James Corazza. We have scheduled a tour of the “Old” Cathedral on Fulton Street where St. John served (a special prayer service where they wrap you with St. John's vestments!), the St. Tichon’s Orphanage where he used to live (you get to go inside his cell where he lived!) and a final stop at the “New” Holy Virgin Cathedral on Geary Blvd. to venerate his holy relics.
OLIVE OIL FOR THE MONASTERY
We had the opportunity to share some of our extra bottles of olive oil with the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos /the Life-Giving Spring in Dunlap. The Monastery has a great need for olive oil for the many kantelia (oil-burning vigils) which burn continuously throughout the year. Gerontissa Markella and all the Sisters were so happy and appreciative to receive this unexpected gift from us. We would like to continue this practice by providing olive oil to the Monastery on a regular basis. If you would like to participate in this unique and blessed project, we ask that you purchase only ONE bottle of Virgin Olive Oil once per month and bring the oil to the church office. Parishioners from St. Nicholas visit the monastery often and would be able to take the oil with them.