ST. JOHN ORTHODOX CHURCH

 

1663 TUTWILER AVENUE

MEMPHIS, TN 38107

(901) 274-4119

www.stjohnmemphis.org

 

V. Rev. Fr. John Troy Mashburn, Jr.                                   Rev. Fr. Nicholas Meyers

Pastor                                                                          Assistant Pastor

 

    V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman                                                Rev. Fr. Donald Berge

Associate Pastor                                                                     Attached

 

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

 

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the First Sunday of Luke

September 28, 2008

Epistle:  II Corinthians 4:6-15               Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

                                                                                                                               

The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Sue Ingram.

 

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                                September 28th  - October 5th  (Wed. & Fri. Fast)

Sunday            - Teen Group – Mid-South Fair

- Young Adult Group, meet at Fr John & Kh Pamela’s home,7:00pm

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

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

- Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.

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

Wednesday     - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.

- Vespers, 6:00 p.m.

- Wednesday Dinner, 6:45 p.m. (be sure to sign-up!)

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

                        - Women’s Teaching at Anne Dugan’s home, 10:00 a.m.

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

                        - OCF will meet at Barth House, 7:00 p.m.

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

- Stay & Play Group will meet in the fellowship hall after third hour.

- Sixth Hour, 12:00 p.m.

- AWSJ First Friday Lunch after sixth hour.

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

Sunday            - Church School, 9:00 a.m.

- Orthros, 9:00 a.m.

                        - Divine Liturgy, 10:00 a.m.  

 

 

Schedule for Divine Liturgy                                                      Sunday, October 5th

PRIEST:                       Fr. John                                    HOMILY:        Fr. John

DEACONS:                 Dn. Tim & Charles                   READER:        John Cameron

HOLY BREAD:           Sue Ingram                               USHER:           John Sneed

ALTAR SERVERS:     Caleb, Luke S., Alex, Deon

COFFEE HOUR:         Matt & Lynda Spinolo

TUPELO:                     Dn. James

 

Upcoming Memorial ~ October 12  ~ Urania Alissandratos

 

COMMEMORATIONS

 

 

Sept.28: Venerable Chariton the Confessor, abbot of Palestine; Venerable Neophytos and Auxentios; Martyr Heliodoros; Prophet Baruch; Martyr Wenceslaus, prince of the Czechs.

 

Sept.29: Venerable Kyriakos the hermit of Palestine; Martyr Petronia; Venerable-martyrs Malachi and those with him.

 

Sept.30: Hieromartyr Gregory, bishop and enlightener of Greater Armenia; Martyrs Rhipsime and Gaiana and companions of Armenia; Michael, first metropolitan of Kiev; Venerable Gregory of Pelshma River.

 

Oct. 1: The Protection of the Theotokos; Apostle Ananias of the Seventy, first bishop of Damascus; Martyr Domninos; Romanos the Melode; Venerable John Koukouzelis of the Great Lavra on Athos; Venerable Gregory the Domestikos of the Great Lavra on Athos; Venerable Sabbas of Vishera.

 

Oct. 2: Hieromartyr Cyprian the confessor; Virgin-martyr Justina; Venerable Theophilos; New-martyr George; Blessed Andrew, fool-for-Christ; David and Constantine, prince-martyrs of Georgia; Anna, princess of Kashin.

 

Oct. 3: Hieromartyr Dionysios the Areopagite, first bishop of Athens; Martyrs Eleutherios and Rustikos.

 

Oct. 4: Hieromartyr Hierotheos, bishop of Athens; Apostle Krispos of the Seventy; Martyrs Domina and her daughters of Syria; uncovering of the relics of Gurios, first archbishop of Kazan; Barsanouphios, bishop of Tver; Stephen (Stiljanovich) and Elizabeth.

 

Oct. 5: Martyr Charitina; John, bishop of Euchaita; Venerable Eudokimos of Vatopedi monastery on Athos; uncovering of the relics of the wonder-workers Peter, Alexis, Jonah, Philip and Hermogenes, metropolitans of Moscow.

 

**For reading material on the saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.

 

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS       September 28 – October 5

Sunday                         II Corinthians 4:6-15                Luke 5:1-11

Monday                       Galatians 4:28-5:10                  Luke 4:37-44

Tuesday                       Galatians 5:11-21                     Luke 5:12-16

Wednesday                  Galatians 6:2-10                       Luke 5:33-39

Thursday                      Ephesians 1:7-17                      Luke 6:12-19

Friday                          Ephesians 1:7-17                      Luke 6:17-23

Saturday                       I Corinthians 10:23-28              Luke 5:17-26

Sunday                         II Corinthians 6:1-10                Luke 6:31-36

 

                       

 

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, Joy White (pregnant), Jodi Yzaguirre (pregnant), Alicia Stickle (pregnant), Andrew Alissandratos, 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. If you currently have any hotel-type toiletries accumulating in your bathroom closets, please bring them in...they are of great help to those we give bags of food to.

 

OTHER CONTINUING ALMS-GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

Diocese of Miami and the Southeast Mission Fund

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

Project Mexico – www.projectmexico.org                St. Paul Mission Station – Tupelo, MS

 

 

Candles - There are now six-day candles available for purchase in the narthex in addition to the beeswax candles. They are in purple glass sleeves and are available to be offered before the icons along the side of the church. Once the six-day candle has burned out the glass sleeve will be refilled and available again in the narthex for future offerings.

 

 

Life Chain – Next Sunday, October 5th, is Life Chain. As usual, we participate as a parish. For the last several years we have had about 45-50 people participate. Let’s see if we can increase that number this year. We stand in midtown for only one hour, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., that afternoon. If you plan to attend and would like to have lunch at the church there is a sign-up for pizza in fellowship hall.

 

 

Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar

 

There will be a short AWOSJ meeting next Sunday, October 5th.

We will meet in the room next to the kitchen.

 

Women’s Teaching:

This Thursday, October 2nd at 10:00 a.m.

at the home of Anne Dugan

Upcoming Dates: November 13  ~  December 4

 

First Friday Lunch, Friday, October 3rd at Noon

We will meet in the fellowship hall after sixth hour prayer. Please bring your lunch and join us for a wonderful time of fellowship. Drinks will be provided

 

Upcoming Book Club Dates:

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

Monday, November 3rd – The Bishop’s Mantle

In October & November we will meet at the home of Kh. Pamela Mashburn

 

GOOD LIBRARY MANNERS:  Please do not put library books, tapes, CDs or DVDs back on the shelves. This applies to ones you have looked at and decided not to check out as well as returned items. Recently several new, music CDs have been placed on the wrong shelves and other parishioners have been unable to find them. Unwanted and returned items need to be placed on the second shelf of the circulation cart. 

 

 

OCF – Orthodox Christian Fellowship

Will meet this week at Barth House at 7:00 pm

Any questions contact Ethan vanDrimmelen

 

 

 

Pro-life Corner – Join us for “Life Chain” today, October 5th.

 

 

 

Wednesday Night Service and Meal - We continue our Wednesday night meals this Wednesday.  You will need to sign up on Sunday or call the office Monday and let us know how many in your family will plan to eat. The cost is $3.50.  The service begins at 6:00 pm, and we plan to eat between 6:45 and 7:00.  Come pray and eat with us!!   

 

LIBRARY LINES – We commemorate two groups of saints this week who glorified God through miraculous events in their lives; one quietly and the others dramatically.

We often don’t associate miracles with music, but St. Romanos(10/1) is known for both.  The simple monk possessed a voice unfit for singing or reading in church and was made fun of by those around him. The Theotokos appeared to him and told him to eat a scroll she carried in her hand. His voice then offered beautiful praise to God. Romanos the Melodist composed nearly 1000 hymns before his repose. In fact, one of our favorite Nativity hymns, “Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One “was composed by him.

Sts. Cyprian and Justina(10/2) endured spells and powerful black magic. St. Cyprian was a sorcerer and used his power to help a young pagan man to court the pious Justina. She rebuffed them both, and Cyprian even turned the suitor into a large, black bird so he could fly into her room. Next, he   conjured up demons to trick her. St. Cyprian saw the futility of his tricks, repented and struggled to live a life of virtue.  They were both eventually martyred and are intercessors for the faithful against the powers of darkness.

See their stories in A Child’s Paradise of Saints (KID/MCL) and in Poets and Hymnographers of the Church (HAG/---/TAR) in St. John Library.

 

 

 

Teen Group Events

 

 

This Sunday, September 28th – Mid-South Fair

 

Next Sunday, October 5th – LIFE CHAIN, 1:30 p.m. meet at the church

 

 

COFFEE HOUR SIGN-UP

 

~ Please be sure to sign-up for a week to help out with coffee hour. This is a great way to serve others in the parish. The sign-up sheet is on the table in the fellowship hall.

 

SAVE THE DATE!!

 

Saturday, October 18th 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

 

 

ST.  JOHN PICNIC

 

 

At Municipal Park, Germantown

Stay tuned, more details to follow…..

 

If anyone is interested in volunteering for the picnic for the picnic planning committee, (organizing group games/activities for children & adults, decorations, set-up/clean-up, etc.) please contact Karen Bell.