Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2025-08-31
Bulletin Contents

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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 408.605.0621
  • Street Address:

  • 9th and Lincoln

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 5808

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921


Contact Information




Services Schedule

 

Weekend services: the weekend schedule is fixed for most of the year. The services take place in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at All Saints Church, lower level, 9th and Lincoln.

Saturdays: 5:00pm Vespers

Sundays:   8:30am Matins

                   9:45am Liturgy

Week-day services: during the week we may celebrate the major feast days of the Church either in Carmel or in Salinas. Please check the calendar! The schedule pattern is:

Wednesdays:  6:00pm Paraklesis

Eve of feasts: 6:00pm Vespers

Feast days:    8:30am Matins

                       9:45am Liturgy


Past Bulletins


Schedule of Services

Note: Our services are posted on Zoom unless specified otherwise.   

Friday, August 29 Beheading of St. John the Baptist
    8pm Basics of Orthodoxy for Explorers - closing class!
Saturday, August 30

    5pm Vespers
Sunday, August 31
    8:30am Matins
    9:45am Liturgy
    12:30pm Catechism Class
    6pm Vespers
Monday, September 1
New Ecclesiastical Year
Tuesday, September 2
    4pm IHELP - Ladies
Wednesday, September 3

    9:30am Book Forum
    6pm Paraklesis
    7pm Enduring Love - Marriage Class
Friday, September 5
    7pm Journey to Fullness for Explorers - Beginning of a new cycle
Saturday, September 6
    5pm Vespers
Sunday, September 7
    8:30am Matins
    9:45am Liturgy
    11:15am Evangelism Season Kickoff
    12:30pm Beginning of the Sunday School year

    12:30pm Catechism Class
    6pm Vespers

Zoom with video here.  For more information, go to  //www.stjohn-monterey.org/parish-calendar

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You are invited

 
Saint John's
Second Evangelism Season
Kickoff
Sunday, September 7, after Liturgy
 
The Evangelism Season is the time of the year when we dedicate two months to the more focused effort of prayer for the ones missing God in their lives. Just like last year, we will be collecting their names from those attending the liturgy on September 7 and 14. Here is what we will do:
  • We will turn to this year's intercessor, Saint Photini (the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well). We'll bring her icon in the middle of the church and we will learn about her life and why she was an extraordinary evangelist.
  • You will write down on prayer cards the first names of those (non-Orthodox) for whom we should be praying.
  • Our team will collect these prayer cards, scan them, and return them to you.
  • You will be praying for the people on your prayer card every day, through September and October.
  • We will pray together the Paraklesis to Saint Photini on Friday evenings for the two months.

Then, we will thank the Good Lord for blessing our effort. Glory be to Him, our Lord and God!

Lving the Gospel
 
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News & Events

OUTREACH MINISTRIES - LADIE'S I-HELP ON THTE 5TH THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

Ministries led by Despina Hatton

LADIES I-HELP: 

  • Tuesday, September 2. Cooking: 4pm. Dinner with the ladies: 5:30pm.
  • Thursday, October 7 and 30. Cooking: 4pm. Dinner with the ladies: 5:30pm

FOOD BANK:

  • Tuesday, September, 9.  9:00 -10:30am @St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Seaside.

Community


NEW: JOURNEY TO FUlLNESS TO BEGIN A NEW CYCLE

A Ministry led by Edward Mar

This 16-session class is offered to exploreres of Orthodoxy, a great opportunity to learn how the Orthodox Church sees herself. We will follow the brief lectures of Father Barnabas Powell and we will have the chance to discuss the material and to share personal experiences for each of the topics. The class will be run by Edward, who himself attended it as a student not too long ago...

Friday, September 5, 7pm

Journey to Fullness

Session 1: Is This trip really Necessary?

The class will meet online via Zoom.

Education


NEW: CHILDREN'S EDUCATION PROGRAM TO BEGIN SEPTEMBER 7

A Ministry led by Presbytera Ana

The Orthodox Montessori Spiritual Formation Program will re-open for the new school year with its first meeting on Sunday, September 7, after the Agape Meal. The program is open to children ages 3-6 years. Please contact Presbytera Ana for more information.

Education


WELCOMING AND HOSPITALITY: SERVING THIS SUNDAY

A Ministry led by Miriam Aguilar

Thank you for your effort and participation in bringing a dish to share for our Agape Meal. If you cannot participate when it is your turn, kindly make other arrangements for someone to cover for you and let your team leader know.

Sunday, August 31
   Parish Council Representative: Mary Kanalakis
   Greeter:  Jesse Juarez
   Agape Meal: GOLD TEAM – Thank you to Christine T, Presbytera Ana, Mary, and Eleni

Sunday, September 7
   Parish Council Representative: Dr. Michael Bachik
   Greeter: Miriam Aguilar
   Agape Meal: ORANGE TEAM - Thank you to Melanie, Miriam, Marissa, and Irene.

Community


BASICS of ORTHODOXY to CLOSE the CYCLE

A Ministry led by Edward Mar

The class is a pre-requisite for those who pursue the path towards becoming catechumens. It is meeting online in order to offer to those who inquire and explore the Orthodox faith the space to learn and find answers to their many questions. The class meets on Fridays from 8pm via Zoom.

The next class: Friday August 29, 8pm:

Basics of Orthodoxy:

#12. Basics Holy Mysteries II - Marriage and Monasticism, Confession, Ordination, Unction

Outline:

1.   Basics Spirituality I - Salvation, Ascetic Life

2.   Basics Spirituality II - Prayer

3.   Basics Spirituality III – Repentance

4.   Basics Holy Tradition

5.   Basics Church History I - Through the Councils

6.   Basics Church History II - From Great Schism

7.   Basics Holy Trinity

8.   Basics Divine Liturgy

9.   Basics Icons and Architecture

10. Basics Theotokos and the Saints

11. Basics Holy Mysteries I - Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist

12. Basics Holy Mysteries II - Marriage and Monasticism, Confession, Ordination, Unction

Education, Living the Gospel


MARRIAGE CLASS

A ministry led by Ali Castañeda

We will dive in the material by looking at God's desin for marriage.  The targeted audience ranges from young adults to couples who have been married for decades. The classes will take place right after the Wednesday Paraklesis service from 6:45pm. They are also an opportunity to build community.

See the bookstore for the required textbook ($30).

About the leader: Ali is a licensed marriage and family therapist, working in the field for 5 years. He holds a bachelors degree in psychology, a masters degree in counselingand advanced training with couples. Ali was received into the Orthodox Church in 2024. He and his wife Marissa are married since 2022 and they are expecting their first child this year.

Enduring Love #5:

Sex and Romance

and 

#6: Children and parenting

Wednesday, September 3, 6:45pm (after Paraklesis)

Outline:

1. God's Design for Marriage
2. Love and Expectations
3. Friendship and Goals
4. Communication and Conflict
5. Sex and Romance
6. Children and parenting
7. Roles and responsibilities
8. Finances
9. Spiritual Life
10. Enduring to the End

Living the Gospel, Community


ADULT SUNDAY EDUCATION/ CATECHISM

A Ministry led by Father Ion

The class will meet after the Agape meal in Saint Nektarios chapel. 

Living the Gospel

 


BOOK FORUM

A Ministry led by Kathy Shaw

We continue to meet on Wednesdays, from 9:30am and we are now reading Everyday Saints and Other Stories, by Archmandrite Tikhon (Shrevkunov). It can be purchased HERE.

 Education, Community


ONLINE RESOURCES

Most of our services and some ministry meetings are available online. Zoom with video here. Liturgical texts at Ages Initiatives here.


NEW: JOURNEY TO FUlLNESS TO BEGIN A NEW CYCLE


NEW: JOURNEY TO FUlLNESS TO BEGIN A NEW CYCLE


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Saints and Feasts

August 31

The Placing of the Honorable Sash of the Most Holy Theotokos

Although the historical accounts differ somewhat, the Deposition that is celebrated today took place most likely during the reign of Emperor Arcadius (395-408), when the precious Cincture of the Mother of God was brought from Zela of Cappadocia to Constantinople, and placed in the Church of the Theotokos in the section of Chalcopratia.


August 31

Saint Cyprian the Hieromartyr & Bishop of Carthage

Saint Cyprian was born of pagan parents in Carthage of Roman Africa about the year 190. An eloquent teacher of rhetoric, he was converted and baptized late in life, and his conversion from a proud man of learning to a humble servant of Christ was complete; he sold his great possessions and gave them to the poor, and because of his zeal and virtue, was ordained presbyter in 247, then Bishop of Carthage in 248. He was especially steadfast in defending the sanctity and uniqueness of the Baptism of the Church of Christ against the confusion of those who would allow some validity to the ministrations of heretics; his writings continue to guide the Church even in our own day. Having survived the persecution of Decius about the year 250, he was beheaded in confession of the Faith during the persecution of Valerian in 258, on September 14; that day being the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, his feast is kept today.


September 01

Ecclesiastical New Year

For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was reissued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the fifteen years. This imperial decree, which was issued before the season of winter, was named Indictio, that is, Definiton, or Order. This name was adopted by the emperors in Constantinople also. At other times, the latter also used the term Epinemisis, that is, Distribution (Dianome). It is commonly held that Saint Constantine the Great introduced the Indiction decrees in A.D. 312, after he beheld the sign of the Cross in heaven and vanquished Maxentius and was proclaimed Emperor in the West. Some, however (and this seems more likely), ascribe the institution of the Indiction to Augustus Caesar, three years before the birth of Christ. Those who hold this view offer as proof the papal bull issued in A.D. 781 which is dated thus: Anno IV, Indictionis LIII -that is, the fourth year of the fifty-third Indiction. From this, we can deduce the aforementioned year (3 B.C.) by multiplying the fifty-two complete Indictions by the number of years in each (15), and adding the three years of the fifty-third Indiction. There are three types of Indictions: 1) That which was introduced in the West, and which is called Imperial, or Caesarean, or Constantinian, and which begins on the 24th of September; 2) The so-called Papal Indiction, which begins on the 1st of January; and 3) The Constantinopolitan, which was adopted by the Patriarchs of that city after the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453. This Indiction is indicated in their own hand on the decrees they issue, without the numeration of the fifteen years. This Indiction begins on the 1st of September and is observed with special ceremony in the Church. Since the completion of each year takes place, as it were, with the harvest and gathering of the crops into storehouses, and we begin anew from henceforth the sowing of seed in the earth for the production of future crops, September is considered the beginning of the New Year. The Church also keeps festival this day, beseeching God for fair weather, seasonable rains, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. The Holy Scriptures (Lev. 23:24-5 and Num. 29:1-2) also testify that the people of Israel celebrated the feast of the Blowing of the Trumpets on this day, offering hymns of thanksgiving. In addition to all the aforesaid, on this feast we also commemorate our Saviour's entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He was given the book of the Prophet Esaias to read, and He opened it and found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for which cause He hath anointed Me..." (Luke 4:16-30).

It should be noted that to the present day, the Church has always celebrated the beginning of the New Year on September 1. This was the custom in Constantinople until its fall in 1453 and in Russia until the reign of Peter I. September 1 is still festively celebrated as the New Year at the Patriarchate of Constantinople; among the Jews also the New Year, although reckoned according to a moveable calendar, usually falls in September. The service of the Menaion for January 1 is for our Lord's Circumcision and for the memorial of Saint Basil the Great, without any mention of its being the beginning of a new year.


September 01

Symeon the Stylite

Our righteous Father Symeon was born about the year 390 in a certain village named Sis, in the mountain region of Cilicia and Syria. Having first been a shepherd, he entered the monastic discipline at a young age. After trying various kinds of ascetical practices, both in the monastery and then in the wilderness, he began standing on pillars of progressively greater height, and heroically persevered in this for more than forty years; the greater part of this time he spent standing upright, even when one of his feet became gangrenous, and other parts of his body gave way under the strain. He did not adopt this strange way of life out of vainglory, a charge that some of his contemporaries made against him at the first: because he was already famous for his asceticism and holiness before ascending his first pillar (in Greek, style, whence he is called "Stylite"), many pious people came to him wishing to touch his garments, either for healing or for a blessing; to escape the continual vexation they caused, he made a pillar about ten feet high, and then higher and higher, until the fourth and last was about fifty feet high. The Church historian Theodoret of Cyrrhus, an eyewitness of his exploits who wrote of him while Symeon was yet alive, called him "the great wonder of the world." God gave him the grace to persevere in such an astonishing form of asceticism that multitudes came to see him from Persia, Armenia, South Arabia, Georgia, Thrace, Spain, Italy, Gaul, and the British Isles. Theodoret says that he became so famous in Rome that the Nomadic Arabs by the thousands believed in Christ and were baptized because of him; the King of Persia sent envoys to inquire into his way of life, and the Queen asked to be sent oil that he had blessed. He also was a great defender of sound doctrine, and confirmed the Orthodoxy of the Holy Council of Chalcedon for many who had been beguiled by the teachings of the Monophysites, including the Empress Eudocia, widow of Theodosius the Younger. After a life of unheard-of achievements and struggles, he reposed in peace at the age of sixty-nine, in the year 459.


September 04

Moses the Prophet & Godseer

The Prophet Moses-whose name means "one who draws forth," or "is drawn from," that is, from the water-was the pinnacle of the lovers of wisdom, the supremely wise lawgiver, the most ancient historian of all. He was of the tribe of Levi, the son of Amram and Jochabed (Num. 26:59). He was born in Egypt in the seventeenth century before Christ. While yet a babe of three months, he was placed in a basket made of papyrus and covered with pitch, and cast into the streams of the Nile for fear of Pharaoh's decree to the mid-wives of the Hebrews, that all the male children of the Hebrews be put to death. He was taken up from the river by Pharaoh's daughter, became her adopted son, and was reared and dwelt in the King's palace for forty years. Afterward, when he was some sixty years old, he fled to Madian, where, on Mount Horeb, he saw the vision of the burning bush. Thus he was ordained by God to lead Israel and bring it out of the land of Egypt. He led Israel through the Red Sea as it were dry land and governed the people for forty years. He wrought many signs and wonders, and wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, which are called the Pentateuch. When he reached the land of Moab, he ascended Mount Nabau, on the peak called Phasga, and there, by divine command, he reposed in the sixteenth century before Christ, having lived for some 120 years. The first two Odes of the Old Testament, "Let us sing to the Lord" and "Attend, O heaven, and I will speak," were written by him. Of these hymns, the first was chanted by the shore of the Red Sea as soon as the Israelites had crossed it; the second, in the land of Moab, a few days before his repose. The Holy High Priest Aaron was the elder brother of the Holy Prophet Moses. He was appointed by God to serve as the spokesman of Moses before the people, and also before Pharaoh, in Egypt. Afterwards, in the wilderness, he was called to the ministry of the high priesthood, as narrated in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in the Old Testament. The name Aaron means "enlightened."


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

First Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Matthew 28:16-20

At that time, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Amen."


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 3rd Mode. Luke 1: 46-48.
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
Verse: For he has regarded the humility of his servant.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 9:1-7.

BRETHREN, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.


Gospel Reading

12th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 19:16-26

At that time, a young man came up to Jesus, kneeling and saying, "Good Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."


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