ST.
JOHN
ORTHODOX CHURCH
1663 TUTWILER AVENUE
(901)
274-4119
www.stjohnmemphis.org
V.
Rev.
Pastor
Assistant Pastor
V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman Rev.
Fr. Donald Berge
Associate
Pastor
Attached
GREAT
VESPERS ORTHROS and
Saturday,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
“…the
Disciples were called Christians first in
Acts 11:26
Commemoration
of the Holy and Glorious Apostle Andrew the First-Called
Epistle: I Corinthians 4:9-16 Gospel:
John 1:35-51
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Anne Dugan.
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
Sunday - Teen Group –
- Young
Adult Group, at Fr. John & Kh. Pamela’s home,
Monday - First
Hour,
- Advent Paraklesis,
Tuesday - Third Hour,
- Men’s Lunch,
- No
Choir Practice
- Catechumen/Inquirer’s
Class,
Wednesday - Third
Hour,
- Vespers,
- Wednesday
Dinner,
-
Wednesday Teaching,
Thursday - Third
Hour,
Friday - First Hour,
-
Third Hour,
-
Stay & Play Group will meet in the fellowship hall after third hour
-
St. Nicholas Great Vespers,
Saturday - Divine Liturgy for St. Nicholas of
Breakfast Coffee Hour to follow in the
fellowship hall
- Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday -
- Orthros,
- Divine Liturgy,
Divine Liturgy for St. Nicholas of
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr. John
DEACONS: Dns.
James & Charles READER: Subdeacon
Joshua
HOLY BREAD: Karen Wells ALTAR SERVERS: Any who can
COFFEE HOUR: The Willams
Family
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy Sunday, December 7th
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr. John
DEACONS: Dns. Tim
& James READER: Mickey Hodges
HOLY BREAD: Jack Turner USHER: Matt Spinolo
ALTAR SERVERS: Caleb, Luke S., Alex, Deon
COFFEE HOUR: Klimkowskis,
Mary Ann Coccaro
Upcoming memorials on December 7:
Marguerite Farha (Kim and Terry’s grandmother) – 3 year memorial
Emily Day (Kim and Terry’s aunt) – First year memorial
COMMEMORATIONS
Nov. 30: Apostle
Andrew the First-Called; Frumentios, archbishop and
enlightener of
December 1: Prophet Nahum; Venerable Philaretos
the merciful of Amnia; Martyr Ananias the Persian; Theoklitos, archbishop of Lakedaimonias.
December 2: Prophet Habakkuk; Martyrs Abibos
the New and Myrope of Chios; Venerable Theophilos and Andrew of Egypt; Urosh,
Serbian king; Venerable Ioanikios of Devitch.
December 3: Prophet Zephaniah (Sophonios);
Martyrs Agapios and Seleukos;
New-martyr Angelis of Chios; Venerable Theodoulos of
Constantinople; Hieromartyr Gabriel, patriarch of
Constantinople; Venerable Cosmas of St. Anne skete on Athos; Venerable Sabbas
of Zvenigorod, disciple of Sergios
of Radonezh.
December 4: Great-martyr Barbara of Heliopolis in
December 5: Venerable Sabbas the
Sanctified; Martyr Diogenes; Venerable Nektarios of Iagri Kelli and Philotheos of Karyes on Athos; Venerable-martyrs from the kellia of Karyes on Athos; Gurios, missionary bishop of Kazan; Venerable Nektarios of Bitolj.
December 6: Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in
December 7: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan; Martyr Athenodoros
of Mesopotamia; Venerable Gregory, founder of Gregoriou
monastery on Athos; Venerable Gerasimos; Venerable
Anthony of Sia and Neilos
of Stolb Island; Venerable Philothea
of Thrace.
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY
SCRIPTURE
Sunday Ephesians 2:14-22 Luke
13:10-17
Monday II Thessalonians 1:1-10 Luke 19:37-44
Tuesday II Thessalonians 1:10-2:2 Luke 19:45-48
Wednesday II Thessalonians 2:1-12 Luke
20:1-8
Thursday II Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 Luke 20:9-18
Friday II Thessalonians 3:6-18 Luke 20:19-26
Saturday Galatians 1:3-10 Luke 12:32-40
Sunday Ephesians 4:1-6 Luke
Pray for our catechumens: In
In Tupelo - Shane Davis, Justin & Tifphanie Franks (Paris), Justin & Brandy Williams,
Leah Hardy, Adam Clay, Casey & Jessica Hardy (Davis) and Justin Stevens.
Please remember in your
prayers: His
- ALMS-GIVING
-
FOOD PANTRY –
There have been large donations to the food pantry in the last couple of weeks.
Thank you to all who have chosen to give
alms in this way, your gifts will be a great blessing to those who will
receive from the food pantry.
OTHER CONTINUING ALMS-GIVING
OPPORTUNITIES
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity
Orthodox Church –
Christmas
shopping on your mind? Shop at the
BOOKS – with many new titles
of books
ICONS – a bountiful selection
MUSIC
CDs – ask
Sh. Corinne Elliott for recommendations
CHILDRENS
BOOKS –
look for these new titles:
Children’s Bible Reader – It is Orthodox
with beautiful iconographic illustrations.
The Miracle of St. Nicholas by Gloria
Whelan (look
for review in coming Evangelist)
2009 CALENDARS – marked with the Church’s feast &
fasting days
GIFT CERTIFICATES to the St. John Bookstore – These gifts
give
in two ways!
They would provide an opportunity for the recipient
to purchase an edifying
book, CD or icon and at the same
time support the ministry of this parish. To
purchase a gift certificate just
contact
Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar
~ Baby Shower ~
for
NEXT Sunday, December 7th
after coffee hour (see elsewhere in the bulletin for details)
~ Secret Sisters ~
The ever popular Secret
Sisters is returning. Forms will be given out in a few weeks so we can
begin in January. See Sh.
Corinne Elliott or Judy Terry if you have any questions.
~ Women’s Teaching ~
Upcoming Date ~
December 4
~ Book Club ~
The
January ~ at Kh. Pamela
Mashburn’s home ~ The Hiding Place by Corrie TenBoom
February ~ The Purple Mantle
SAVE
THE DATE ~ Friday & Saturday, January 30th~31st, 2009
Apartment for Rent - The first-level apartment in the duplex next door is
available for rent. It has two bedrooms, an office and one bathroom. If you are
interested or have any questions, please contact the church office.
Bulletin
Boards – Remember to check the bulletin boards!!
St. Nicholas Play moved to December 10
Our annual play to remember
the Great Wonderworker, St. Nicholas, will follow vespers and our parish meal
on Wednesday, December 10 instead of the evening of December 5. Due to schedule conflicts, this will free up many
of our “cast members.” Mark your
calendars. We will still have vespers
the evening of December 5, but without the play.
Thank you “Caitlyn and those with her” (A familiar phrase in hagiographical writing) – Many
thanks to Caitlyn and those who regularly help her clean up on Wednesday
evenings after our meal. We could use more hands. If you are interested, please contact her
directly, or the office.
LIBRARY
LINES – This week we commemorate
lesser known individuals among well known categories of saints.
The Apostle Andrew (11/30)
was the First-Called disciple, although not in the “inner circle.” He was
devout from his youth and chose to never marry. He and
During December we
commemorate and honor in the Advent Akathist the minor
prophets. Nahum (12/1) prophesied the destruction of the
The prophets Zephaniah
(12/3) and Habakkuk (12/2) were both descended from the tribe of Simeon.
Zephaniah was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah. He called for the
people’s repentance and helped the righteous King Josiah destroy idol worship.
Habakkuk prophesied the Babylonian captivity and the return to
See icons of these men and
their stories in St. John Library
Teen Group Events Today
- Sunday, November 30th – Play Practice & Bible Bowl Next Sunday, December 7th – Meeting with Middlers,
The Nativity Fast continues - This fast is divided into two
periods. The 1st period is November 15th through December 19th when the traditional fasting discipline** is
observed with katalysis (relaxation)
for wine and oil on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for fish, wine and oil on
Saturdays and Sundays. The 2nd period is December 20th through 24th when
the traditional fasting discipline**
is observed with katalysis for wine
and oil only on Saturday and Sunday. **
(Refraining from eating meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and oil. Shellfish is traditionally permitted. It is
good to moderate the amount of food we consume on these days [consider eating
smaller portions] and to refrain from eating between meals.)
Pro-life
Corner – Section 4 of the Freedom of
Choice Act (FOCA) reads: “It is the
policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to
choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or
to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the
life of the woman.” (This language goes
beyond current law. In 1992, seven
justices of the U. S. Supreme court rejected the view that a woman has such a fundamental right, concluding that the
Court’s earlier decisions under Roe had too severely and improperly restricted
a state’s rights to regulate abortion.)
It goes
further to say that “A government may not — (1) deny or interfere with a
woman’s right to choose . . . or (2) discriminate against the exercise of the
rights set forth . . .”
The word
“interfere” is unqualified – which would essentially bar any regulation causing
“interference” however slight. The word
discriminate in law simply means to “treat differently.”
The impact of
this simple, unqualified language is immense.
One effect would be the likely
invalidation of any and all government programs that pay for, provide, or
insure childbirth or health care services, but do not fund abortions.
CAROLING – Mark
your calendars! We will again be singing Christmas carols at Kings Daughter’s
& Son’s Home in
Flowers in the nave – A nice parochial tradition we have is to place flowers before the
icons of the saints. Many times
parishioners will do so for their own name day, or for one of the greater or
lesser feasts. Anyone may bring a vase of flowers to set in front of the icons on
any given Sunday or on other days as well!
Saturday morning, December 6 - We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy for St.
Nicholas on Saturday morning, December 6.
This is also the morning of The St. Jude
Work day at the church
We are planning a "clean-the-nave-day" on Saturday, December 13th.
We will work from
If you can work even part of the time, please email
Karen Bell at
Baby Shower for
Sunday, December 7th after Coffee Hour
At the home of Kh.
If you are interested in contributing to the group gift,
please contact
Alicia is registered at Babies R Us and
Target.
NURSERY – There is a small group of people who have volunteered to be responsible
for the monthly cleaning of the nursery. In order to help maintain a clean,
healthy environment for our children, this group will disinfect the toys, dust
and clean the floor on a monthly basis. In light of this offer to help, we ask
that all parents make a great effort on Sundays to keep the nursery orderly.
Your help on Sundays will make their monthly task lighter. Below are the
reminders that are posted in the nursery:
- Keep all food and
drinks outside the nursery area.
- Put away any toys
you take out.
- Always share and
be kind.
An opportunity to
serve
- We need someone, or several individuals who would function as a team, to take
responsibility for the care and maintenance of the kitchen. Men
and women can apply!! Basically, this involves cleaning counter tops,
putting away dishes where they belong, throwing out unlabelled and expired food
in the refrigerator, cleaning the refrigerators and freezer as needed, and
periodically doing a “deep cleaning.” If
you are interested, please contact Meribeth in the office.
From
the Fathers
“A true
Our sins do not in the least hinder our
word of
the Saviour Himself. He deigned to say: not the
righteous
have I
come to call, but sinners to salvation; there is more joy
in heaven
over one who repents then over ninety righteous ones.
“Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an
arrow from
the enemy
in battle. The true
through
the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland.”
St. Herman of
“Do not wish what concerns you to be as seems (best)
to you, but as God wishes; and you will be free from cares and thankful in your
prayer.”
St Nilus of Mt Sinai
“I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the
world and
I said groaning, ‘What can get through from such
snares?’
Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Humility.’”
St. Anthony the Great