OUR MISSION is to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, sanctify the faithful through the liturgy and the Holy Sacraments, grow the church by receiving new members, live the Orthodox Christian Faith, and serve humanity through Christ-centered ministries.

OUR VISION is to be a loving, caring, and welcoming Christian community where everyone belongs and grows in the Orthodox Christian Faith through worship, witness, fellowship, and service to others.

HOLY COMMUNION is offered to those baptized and confirmed in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Faith who have prepared according to the Orthodox Tradition. Guests and visitors are welcome to worship with us and receive the antidoron “instead of the gifts” blessed bread at the dismissal. Please follow the ushers' directions for the order of Communion.  When you approach the chalice, please give the priest your baptismal name.

GUESTS AND VISITORS: Enter your contact information in the Guest Book at the narthex if you want us to contact you and join us for fellowship hour in our church hall following the liturgy.

8th Sunday of Matthew, August 18, 2024

• 8:30 am - Matins, 9:30 Divine Liturgy
• We welcome Fr. Gregory Rubis who is the celebrant substitute priest.
• Our Philoptochos will host our coffee fellowship hour.

9th Sunday of Matthew, August 25, 2024

• 8:30 am - Matins, 9:30 Divine Liturgy
• We will offer memorial prayers for the peaceful repose of the soul of Theophilos Malitas of blessed memory (3 years).
  
• Our GOYA will host our coffee fellowship hour.

Thursday, August 29
Beheading of the Holy and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John. Strict fast day

• 8:30 am - Matins, 9:30 Divine Liturgy
• 7:45 pm - Help Our Homeless Ministry Serve at Aviation Park

One-stop Youth Ministries online registration here: 2024-2025 Youth Ministries Registration

• Thursday, August 29: Help Our Homeless Ministry Serve at Aviation Park

• Saturday, September 21: Join Us for a Day Trip to St. Tikhon's Monastery

• Sunday, October 27: Get Your Tickets Here for the Philadelphia 13th Annual IOCC Banquet

A. Find a local Orthodox church to attend here
B. Register your child(ren) for fall 2024 Youth Ministries here
C. Continue your church donations through Vanco here

We hope and pray everyone is enjoying the summer in good health. Our next serving date at Aviator Park is on August 29th. Please CLICK HERE if you are able to join us to help serve or would like to donate food.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support! 

“Anyone who tries to make brownies without butter should be arrested.” Ina Garten

How many of us think nothing about baking a little something sweet to indulge our families with? It’s pretty simple for most of us as we reach into our pantries and refrigerators and pull out the necessary ingredients to bake a cake or make cookies. Worse case scenario, we run to the market and think nothing about buying dessert or any ingredients we don’t have on hand for our recipe. We received a monthly blast from Seeds of Hope summarizing their summer and a few other notable things. It really got our hearts pumping and gearing up for the fall as M25 prepared for the new ecclesiastical year. Kay Negley, the pantry’s director, mentioned that numbers didn’t wane over the summer. There is generally a significant drop in shoppers during the warmer months. Sadly, this was not the case due to inflation at the pump, cost to cool our homes, and naturally the rise in the cost of groceries. People with food insecurities just can't seem to catch a break! They sent a photo from the pantry showing a meager baking shelf. We thought to ourselves, why a baking shelf? Easy, everyone wants a treat.

People with food insecurities have birthdays, milestones, and a sweet tooth just like the rest of us. We don’t often think of supplying a pantry with the simple pleasures of baking mixes, flour, sugar , oil, and even chocolate chips. We didn’t come up with this list of requested foods, and we weren’t even planning on asking for these items.. It just felt right to ask our community to help us out and bring small packages of each to church until the middle of September. We would love to make an abundant delivery in the next 6 weeks. How nice for kids and loved ones to come home to fresh baked cookies, cake,bread, or even a healthy muffin? Please consider donating a small bag of sugar or vegetable oil or flour. We would be so grateful. Please drop off any food items in the bin in the cove by the Sunday School classrooms. We will purchase all the perishable foods like we always do. If you prefer a Vanco donation, we encourage this as well, and M25 will pick up some of the requested items for you. We often shop at Walmart for flour, sugar, and oil. Walmart has some of the lowest prices and offers small sizes. If you prefer something healthy, pick up some peanut butter and oatmeal. We will be happy to take anything you deliver that isn’t expired.

Thank you for supporting Matthew 25 and we hope that you continue to enjoy your summer! Enjoy the day and all its beauty.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “Choose to be in touch with what is wonderful, refreshing, and healing within yourself and around you. “
- Nhat Hahn

FOCUS North America is searching for a qualified candidate to fill the position of Center Director for its FOCUS Philadelphia ministry location. Please see the job description and application here.