ST. JOHN ORTHODOX CHURCH

 

1663 TUTWILER AVENUE

MEMPHIS, TN 38107

(901) 274-4119

www.stjohnmemphis.org

 

V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman               V. Rev. Fr. John Troy Mashburn, Jr.                  Rev. Fr. Donald Berge

                                                                              Assistant Pastor                                            Pastor                                               

 

GREAT VESPERS                       ORTHROS and CHURCH SCHOOL    DIVINE LITURGY

Saturday, 6:00 p.m.                                    Sunday, 9:00 a.m.                                    Sunday, 10:00 a.m.

 

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

“…the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch!”

Acts 11:26

 

Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council

July 13, 2008

Epistle:  Romans 6:18-23           Gospel: Matthew 8L5-13

                                                                                               

The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Christi Yadron.

 

Welcome to all those visiting St. John Orthodox Church.  We are honored by your presence.  It is our sincere desire that your participation today in the Divine Liturgy will draw you closer to Christ and His Church.

 

If you are from a non-Orthodox background you may see new things such as icons, incense, the sign of the cross, the veneration of saints, and a great deal of standing.  These can be perplexing to the uninitiated eye.  Rest assured that everything we do has a solid biblical foundation and a long history among Christian people.  Please feel free to participate where you feel comfortable, and feel equally as free only to observe when you prefer.

 

The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of Christian unity.  While it is our deepest hope that Christendom will one day fulfill Christ’s desire for true unity among all those who claim His name (John 17:21), the unfortunate reality of our day is that the various segments of Christendom are not unified with the historic Orthodox faith.  Since participation in the Eucharist expresses a unity with all the dogma and practice of the Orthodox Church, non-Orthodox guests do not receive Holy Communion.  The Holy Eucharist is reserved for those members of the Orthodox Church who have prepared themselves by prayer, fasting, and recent confession.  All visitors and unprepared Orthodox are invited to partake of the blessed bread as they come forward to venerate the cross at the end of the Liturgy.  Thank you for your understanding.

 

 

 

 

 

ST. JOHN CALENDAR                                       July 13th – July 20th (Wed. & Fri. Fast)

Sunday            - No Teen Group

- No Young Adult Group

Monday          - First Hour, 6:45 a.m.

                        - Teen Group, Lunch & Movie, contact Joshua if you are interested

Tuesday          - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.

- Choir Practice, 6:45 p.m.

- Catechumen/Inquirer’s Class, 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday     - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.

                        - Ninth Hour and Vespers, 6:50 p.m.

Thursday        - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.

                        - Men’s Lunch, 12:00 p.m.

Friday             - First Hour, 6:45 a.m.

                        - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.

                        - Stay & Play Group, following third hour in the fellowship hall

                        - Sixth Hour, 12:00 p.m.

Saturday         - Ninth Hour and Great Vespers, 5:50 p.m.

Sunday            - Orthros, 9:00 a.m.

                        - Divine Liturgy, 10:00 a.m.  

 

Schedule for Divine Liturgy                                                           Sunday, July 20th

PRIEST:                       Fr. John                                    HOMILY:                    Fr. John

DEACONS:                 Dns. Charles & Tim                  READER:                    Owen White

HOLY BREAD:           Laura Graham                          USHER:                       John Sneed

ALTAR SERVERS:     Ethan, J. Morgan, Luke L., Benji

COFFEE HOUR:         Frank & Betsy Larker, Mary Ann Coccaro

           

COFFEE HOUR SCHEDULE – The schedule for coffee hour for the months of July, August & September is in the parish hall. Please take a moment to sign-up to serve.

 

Fr John travel – Fr John will be out of town quite a bit in the next several weeks:

            July 1-16                      France                                      Pilgrimage

            July 21-25                    Antiochian Village                     Clergy symposium

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Monday, July 14th – St. John Potluck Pool Party – 7:00 p.m. at Rhodes Pool

 

July 28th – August 1st – VCS – Icon: Windows to Heaven

Please register your children. There are forms in the fellowship hall.

 

COMMEMORATIONS**

 

July 13:  The synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel.  Venerable Stephen of Mar Sabbas monastery and Heliophotos; Martyr Golinduch.

 

July 14:  Apostle Aquila of the Seventy; Joseph the Confessor, archbishop of Thessalonika; Peter, bishop of Crete; Venerable Onesimos of Magnesia and Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain (Hagiorite).

 

July 15:  Martyrs Kyrikos and his mother Julietta of Tarsus; Great Prince Vladimir (Basil) of Kiev, equal-to-the-Apostles.

 

July 16:  Hieromartyr Athenogenes, bishop of Herakleopolis; the 15,000 martyrs of Pisidia.

 

July 17: Great-martyr Marina of Antioch in Pisidia; Venerable-Irenarchos of Solovsky.

 

July 18:  Martyr Emilianos of Silistria in Bulgaria; John, metropolitan of Chalcedon; Stephen, patriarch of Constantinople.

 

July 19:  Venerable Macrina, sister of St. Basil the Great; Venerable Dios of Antioch; Theodore, archbishop of Ephesos; uncovering of the relics of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov; Stephen Lazarevic.

 

July 20:  Prophet Elijah (Elias); Righteous Iliya Chavchavadze of Georgia.

 

 

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS       July 13 – July 20

 

Sunday             Romans 6:18-23                       Matthew 8:5-13

Monday           Romans 12:4-5, 15-21             Matthew 12:9-13

Tuesday           Romans 14:9-18                       Matthew 12:14-16, 22-30

Wednesday      Romans 15:7-16                       Matthew 12:38-45

Thursday          Romans 15:17-29                     Matthew 12:46-13:3

Friday              Romans 16:1-16                       Matthew 13:4-9

Saturday           Romans 8:14-21                       Matthew 9:9-13

Sunday             Romans 10:1-9                         Matthew 8:28-9:1

                       

Pray for our catechumens:  In Memphis - James Pritchard, Leland & Courtney Murphree (Mary Charlotte), Gary & Cindy Karnaghon, Sue Brownlow, Larry Ichniowski, and Kinney Graham. In Tupelo - Shane Davis, Justin & Tifphanie Franks (Paris), Justin & Brandy Williams, Leah Hardy and Adam Clay.

 

Please remember in your prayers: His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN, Archimandrite Roman Braga, Rev. Fr. Mikhail & the faithful of Spaso-Pargolovo (St. Petersburg), Buddy Taylor, Margaret Layman, Chris Hodges, Jonathan Cushman, Jason Cushman, Judy Smith (Julie Sanderlin’s mother), Shirley Gore (Judy Terry’s mother),  Stephen Wright, Linda Starr (friend of Mary Ann Coccaro), Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan’s mother), Mary Clark, Claire van Drimmelen (pregnant), Beauvais George (pregnant), Jodi Elliott (pregnant), Joy White (pregnant), Jodi Yzaguirre (pregnant), Andrew Alissandratos, Chuck Sneed (John’s brother), Ann Hicks (Dianna Hildebrand’s mother), Sue Ingram, Alexandra Dense.

 

 

- ALMS-GIVING -

FOOD PANTRY - Please remember that we give items from the food pantry to a few specific families all year long and this is a wonderful way to give alms all throughout the year.  We will continue to keep a bin just outside the parish hall for collection of these items.

 

HANDS-ON ALMS-GIVING OPPORTUNITIES - Rachel’s Kids – Interested in tutoring one on one, or donating food, drinks or paper serving items? Tuesday nights - Contact Lynda Spinolo, (751-8828), (355-0150), or email lspinolo@comcast.net.

 

 

OTHER CONTINUING ALMS-GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

Diocese of Miami and the Southeast Mission Fund

Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity Orthodox Church – Little Rock, AR

St. Barbara Monastery – for the benefit of Sister Thekla (Anne Marie Harrison)

Project Mexico – www.projectmexico.org

 

 

 

Change in wording for the Anaphora -- You may have noticed that, in the Anaphora, we sing "It is fitting and right...." but the priest expounds, "It is meet and right...."  This is a discrepancy we have been intending to correct for a long time.  At my suggestion, we will begin singing "It is meet and right" instead of "It is fitting and right."  The choir has rehearsed this change; it fits very well and is completely natural with the setting we sing.  -Fr. John Troy

 

 

 

Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar

 

 

**New Event!! - AWSJ – Potluck Dinner**

Monday, July 21st in St. John Parish Hall – more details to follow

 

AWSJ – Bi-monthly Business Meeting

Upcoming dates ~ August 3rd

 

Women’s Teaching

Upcoming Dates ~ Thursday, August 7th, 10:00 a.m. at the home of Anne Dugan

 

Upcoming Book Club Dates:

We will not meet in August

Monday, September 8th – Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

Monday, October 6th - Diary of a Country Priest by George Bernanos

Monday, November 3rd – The Bishop’s Mantle

 

  

 

LIBRARY LINES – This week we commemorate Prince Vladimir (7/15), the Baptizer of Russia. He is the grandson of St.Olga, honored last week. He began the unification of Slavic lands, and St Hilarion referred to him as apostolic sovereign like St. Constantine.

Our Holy Mother Church commemorates many pious and influential women saints in July.  St. Macrina’s feast day is Saturday. A miracle occurred at her birth, resulting in her name being Macrina-Thecla.  Besides being the sister of Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa and six other siblings, she was a beacon of light to her entire family.  Like the Theotokos, she was betrothed but never married.  She cared for her widowed mother’s physical needs and was a standard of asceticism for her. 

St. Marina, commemorated July 17, was also a pious virgin.  However, her life on earth was cut short by cruel tortures. While in a dungeon she battled a dragon and a demon disguised as a black dog. 

See the lives and icons of the prince and these two women, holy in their quietness and courage, in St. John Library.

 

EXCITING NEWS! – Please join me in welcoming Rev. Dn. Nicolai Meyers, Sh. Jeanette, and their daughter Anna Marie Meyers to our parish.  Dn. Nicolai will be ordained to the priesthood as Rev. Fr. Nicholas on July 20 at his home parish, St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, CA.  He has been officially assigned to our parish effective August 1.  Dn. Nicolai is a recent graduate of St. Tikhon’s Seminary.  They will stay with Pamela and me until we leave for France on July 1.  They will remain in our home until they leave about July 15 for his ordination.  Their plan is to leave California about July 28 to return to Memphis with their “California” belongings by August 1.  During the two weeks of July they will be here, they hope to locate housing.  I hope that many of you can take an opportunity to offer hospitality to them in our absence. 

            The clergy, parish council, and I are very positive about the possibilities and opportunities ahead.  May we all prove worthy of the gifts and callings given us by God.

 

 

Website information from Mickey Hodges:  We are currently beginning the process of redoing the St. John website to make it more user-friendly and parishioner-friendly. It may take a while to make that happen. In the meantime, please send any requests for additions or changes in the current website to Mickey Hodges. In the meantime, we'll try to keep information as current as possible. Thanks for your patience.

 

 

Teen Group Events

 

 

Sunday, July 13th – No Teen Group

 

 **** Monday, July 14th – Lunch & A Movie ****

If you are interested in going, please phone Joshua

 

Sunday, July 20th – Pool Party!

 

In the Fellowship Hall - There are two copies of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America’s annual financial report available for you to review. Please do not remove them from the fellowship hall.