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St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2017-12-03
Bulletin Contents
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St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (203) 375-2564
  • Street Address:

  • 1240 Broadbridge Avenue

  • Stratford, CT 06615


Contact Information




Services Schedule


Divine Liturgy - Sundays and Feast Days : 9:00 am

Great Vespers - Saturday Evenings: 5:00 pm

Great Vespers - Eve of Great Feasts: 7:00 pm

Moleben to St. Nectarios - Second Tuesday 7:00 pm 


Past Bulletins


Lectionary & Typicon


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TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Forefeast of The Entrance of the Theotokos
 Gregory the Righteous of Decapolis

December 3, 2017


    Epistle : Ephesians 5:9-19
  Gospel: Luke 12:16-21


Resurrectional  Tone 1

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Church Services and Events

  • Calendar

    December 3 to December 17, 2017

    Sunday, December 3

    9:00AM Divine Liturgy

    10:45AM Church School

    Monday, December 4

    9:00AM Divine Liturgy - Entrance of the Theotokos

    Tuesday, December 5

    7:00PM Teen Catechism Class

    Wednesday, December 6

    7:00PM Adult Scripture Study

    Thursday, December 7

    7:00PM Pan Orthodox Unction Service - St George Church, Trumbull, CT

    Saturday, December 9

    9:00AM Pastry Roll Workshop

    5:00PM Great Vespers

    Sunday, December 10

    9:00AM Divine Liturgy

    10:45AM Church School

    Tuesday, December 12

    7:00PM Moleben To St. Nectarios

    7:30PM Parish Council Meeting

    Wednesday, December 13

    9:00AM Pastry Roll Workshop

    7:00PM Adult Scripture Study

    Saturday, December 16

    11:00AM Christmas Bread & Pastry Roll Pickup.

    5:00PM Great Vespers

    Sunday, December 17

    9:00AM Divine Liturgy

    10:45AM Church School

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Parish Stewardship

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DATE COFFEE HOUR HOST HOURS EPISTLE
Dec 10 Bilcheck Holly Bilcheck Matt
Dec 17 St Nicholas Brunch Pani Carol Cantors
       

2017 STEWARDSHIP

     YTD: $59,298.00  As of 11/26/17  Goal: $68,000.00

 

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Announcements

PRAYERS FOR PEACE - Please do not forget that Bishop Gregory has asked all of us to pray a special prayer for peace  each night during our evening prayers.  It is included in this bulletin for your convenience. 

ADULT EDUCATION - Our Orthodox Boot Camp begins again this Wednesday at 7:00 pm. We will be turning our attention to Holy Scripture. Our study will be of a practical nature:  we will learn about the basics of the Bible, its origin and how to  read it and will focus on how the bible offers answers to the struggles we face in everyday life. Those who are interested in taking part in the class either in person or by telephone or video conferencing are kindly asked to contact Fr. Peter. 

GIVING TREE - Our annual Christmas Outreach Project will involve providing personal care items for the needy of Stratford,  donating and preparing food for a Christmas Dinner at the Lord's Kitchen on  Wednesday  Dec 20th.  We will also be assisting a needy Family in the Greater Stratford Community.   To participate, please select one or more items you would like to donate from the "Giving Tree" in the Church hall. With the exception of certain items of prepared food we are asking for cash donations of varying amounts to cover the personal care items which the Church has already bought in bulk at an incredible savings.  Please be generous.  See Fr. Peter with any questions. 

COMMUNITY SUPPER - Our next meal will be  Wed Dec 20 at Christ Church in Stratford.    Please See Mary or Eve to help. Help is needed preparing some of the food at home.  See The Giving Tree. 

COOKIE BAKING PROJECT -  Many thanks to Pani Carol and  the church school students who baked over 20 dozen cookies for the Christmas meal at The Lord's Kitchen.  

CHRISTMAS PASTRY ROLL WORK SESSIONS -  Help is needed making pastry rolls on the following days:  Sat Dec 9 and Wed Dec 13th. Please see Pani Carol to offer your help. 

LEAF RAKING SESSION -  We are asking all able body parishioners and especially our youth  to assist with clearing the Church property of leaves on Sunday Dec 10th.  Following Divine Liturgy.  Many hands will make light work.  We should complete the entire property in a matter of a couple hours.  Please let Fr. Peter know if you can help. 

CHURCH SECURITY - At the November Parish Council Meeting it was decided that for security reasons the side door to the Church will be locked at all weekday services,  and at 9:15 am on Sunday Mornings.  No key is needed to exit the Church.  The front door will remain unlocked as usual.      

EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGES – We have instituted a parish email system.  For correspondence with Fr. Peter please use the following email address: priest@sjoc.org  For parish bulletin or monthly newsletter submissions or questions please use news@sjoc.org 

ST NICHOLAS BRUNCH - Our Annual St. Nicholas Brunch will take place on Sunday Dec 17, 2017 following Divine Liturgy. A visit from St. Nicholas will be the highlight of the Dinner. Cost is  $10.00 per adult; children 5  up: $4.00; children under 5: free. Please add your name to the reservation sign-up sheet in the Church Hall. Reservations must be made by Dec 10, 2017.  Parents are kindly reminded to bring a wrapped present for each of their children present.  Please mark your calendar and plan on attending.  

LOTS O LUCK CALENDARS - Now on sale in the Church hall. Cost is $25.00.  Proceeds support Diocesan Mission Fund and other charitable works of the ACRY.

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES 
Dec 7 Brendan Bilcheck  Birthday
Dec 9 John Mihaly  Birthday
Nov 22 Florence Gachi  Birthday
 
FINANCIAL STATISTICS 11/26/17
First Sunday Collection               10.00
7 Day Candles                 6.00 
Metropolitan Fund Collection               10.00
4 Hour CandlesPew Collection               81.00
Pew Collection             553.00
TOTAL           $677.00 
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Saints and Feasts

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December 03

The Forefeast of the Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple


Allsaint
December 03

Gregory the Righteous of Decapolis

Saint Gregory who was from Irenopolis of the Decapolis of Asia Minor, was the son of Sergius and Mary. He became a monk as a young man, and after struggling for many years in virtue and prayer under obedience to a wise spiritual father, he was informed by revelation that it was the will of God for him to live, like the Patriarch Abraham, with no certain dwelling, moving from place to place. His journeyings took him to Ephesus, Constantinople, Corinth, Rome, Sicily, Thessalonica, and again to Constantinople, where, after many labours in defence of Orthodoxy against Iconoclasm, he reposed in peace in the first half of the ninth century. He had two disciples, one of whom was Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (see Apr. 3), who wrote the Menaion service for Saint Gregory, his father in Christ.


Allsaint
December 03

Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople

Saint Proclus lived during the reign of Saint Theodosius the Younger. A disciple and scribe of Saint John Chrysostom, he was ordained Bishop of Cyzicus about the year 426, but because the people there unlawfully elected another bishop before his arrival, he remained in Constantinople. In 429, Nestorius, who had been Archbishop of Constantinople for about a year, and had already begun his blasphemous teaching that it is wrong to call the holy Virgin "Theotokos," invited Bishop Proclus to give a sermon on one of the feasts of our Lady, which he did, openly defending in Nestorius' presence the name "Theotokos," that is, "Mother of God." Saint Proclus was elevated to the throne of Archbishop of Constantinople in 434. It was he who persuaded Emperor Theodosius the Younger and his holy sister Pulcheria to have the most sacred relics of his godly teacher Saint John Chrysostom brought back from Comana, and triumphantly received them upon their return to the imperial city (see Jan. 27 and Nov. 13). He reposed in peace in 447.


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

The Reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 5:8-19

Brethren, walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light." Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.


Gospel Reading

The Reading is from Luke 12:16-21

The Lord said this parable: "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." As he said these things, he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."


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Wisdom of the Fathers

Whenever those who possess in themselves the divine riches of the Spirit take part in spiritual discussions, they draw as it were on their inner treasure-house and share their wealth with their hearers. Those, however, who do not have stored in the sanctuary of their heart the treasure from which springs forth the bounty of divine thoughts, mysteries and inspired words, but who cull what they say from the Scriptures, speak merely from the tip of the tongue; or if they have listened to spiritual men, they preen themselves with what others have said, putting it forward as though it were their own and claiming interest on someone else's capital. Their listeners can enjoy what they say without great effort, but they themselves, when they have finished speaking, prove to be like paupers. For they have simply repeated what they have taken from others, without acquiring treasures of their own from which they could first derive pleasure themselves and which they could then communicate profitably to others.
St. Makarios the Great
Homilies, V: Love no. 88, Philokalia Vol. 3 edited by Palmer, Sherrard and Ware; Faber and Faber pgs. 323-324, 4th century

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Diocesan Stewardship Blog

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On Stewardship and the Orthodox Life - Part 152: Bad Excuses (6/25/17)

05/02/2017

"Honor the Lord with your substances and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” (Proverbs 3: 9-10 RSV)

We tend to shy away from a discussion involving money when it comes to stewardship. The reason lies in the fact that the Western church has put such an emphasis on it in America that even the Orthodox Church has adopted the “westernization of stewardship.” We have tried very hard to present the true biblical connotation of stewardship through the Diocesan Stewardship Commission. Stewardship of your treasure/wealth is an important factor in the church. Without it, the church cannot pay the mortgage, priest salary, utilities and most importantly, outreach efforts.

On Stewardship and the Orthodox Life - Part 151: Giving Away the Kingdom (6/18/17)

05/02/2017

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21: 43 RSV)

The New Testament is full of parables which Christ attempts to teach us using common day examples. We see in Matthew, Chapter 21, several parables. The parable of the two sons (versus 28 -32) and the parable of the wicked tenants (versus 33- 41) both teach us that we are not guaranteed a place in the Kingdom of God. Eternal life is truly a gift that God has given us but how we experience that gift depends entirely on how we use the gifts that God has given us as well as expressing our gratitude for those gifts.

On Stewardship and the Orthodox Life - Part 150: Fairness and Credibility (6/11/17)

05/02/2017

"I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength; yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not permitted him to harm me.”.” (Genesis 31: 5-7 RSV)

Jacob was deceived several times by La’ban. It was not fair how La’ban had treated him yet Jacob persisted until God instructed him to take his wives, children and flocks and leave. I think that most of us at one time or another and to one degree or another have had something happen to us that was just not fair. Most of us took it in stride and continued with other lives. There is an ever increasing movement in this country that there must be an equality of outcomes.
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ACROD News

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Diocesan Family Gathers To Celebrate Bishop Gregory's 5th Anniversary of Consecration

11/28/2017

On Monday November 27, 2017, our Diocesan Family gathered around our Archpastor, His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa to celebrate his fifth anniversary of Consecration to the Episcopacy.

The day began with a quiet celebration of Divine Liturgy at Christ the Saviour Cathedral where His Grace, assisted by the Cathedral Clergy, Seminarians and other clerics of the Diocese offered prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings of the past five years.

In the evening additional prayers of thanksgiving were offered, followed by a banquet at the Holiday Inn in Johnstown. A beautiful evening of thanksgiving and fellowship was enjoyed by His Grace and scores of Clergy and faithful from the Diocese. Special guests included His Grace's mother Antonia, sister Alexandra and nephew Nathan.
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Assembly of Bishops News

Young Adults Study

11/29/2017

The subject of young Orthodox Church members was a major topic on the agenda of the recent Annual General Assembly Meeting. This report was prepared in order to help Assembly address our common concern about the engagement of youth and young adults in the lives of American Orthodox parishes.
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Diocesan Resources

Diocesan Website:  http://www.acrod.org Camp:  http://www.campnazareth.org
Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/acroddiocese
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/acrodnews
You Tube: https://youtube.com/acroddiocese
 National ACRY: http://www.acry.org

 

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