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
Twenty-Fifth
Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6
Gospel: Luke
13:10-17
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by
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 –
- NO
Young Adult Group
Monday - First
Hour,
- Advent Paraklesis,
Tuesday - Third Hour,
- Men’s Lunch,
- No
Choir Practice
- Catechumen/Inquirer’s
Class,
Wednesday - Third
Hour,
- Akathist,
- Wednesday
Dinner,
- St.
Nicholas Play,
Thursday - Third
Hour,
Friday - First Hour,
-
Third Hour,
-
Stay & Play Group will meet in the fellowship hall after third hour
Saturday - Work Day at the Church,
- Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday -
- Orthros,
- Divine Liturgy,
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy Sunday, December 14th
PRIEST: Fr.
Basil HOMILY: Fr. Basil
DEACONS: Dns. Charles
& Tim READER:
HOLY BREAD: Laura Graham USHER:
ALTAR SERVERS: Ethan, J. Morgan, Luke L., Benji
COFFEE HOUR:
Memorials ~ Today
Marguerite Farha (Kim and Terry’s grandmother) – 3 year memorial
Emily Day (Kim and Terry’s aunt) – First year memorial
COMMEMORATIONS
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.
December 8: Patapios the Righteous of
Thebes; Sophronios, bishop of
December 9: The Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by
Righteous Anna.
December 10: Martyrs Menas, Hermogenes and Eugraphos of
Alexandria; Venerable Thomas of Bithynia; Joasaph,
bishop of Belgorod; Angelina of Albania, mother of Blessed John, king of
Serbia.
December 11: Venerable Daniel the Stylite,
Luke the New Stylite, Noman
and Leontios; Martyr Barsabbas
of
December 12: Spyridon the Wonderworker,
bishop of Trymithous; John, metropolitan of Zichnon.
December 13: Martyrs Eustratios, Auxentios, Eugene, Mardarios, and
Orestes at Sebaste; Virgin-martyr Lucia of Syracuse; Hieromartyr Gabriel, patriarch of
December 14: Martyrs Thyrsos, Leukios and Kallinikos of Apollonia; Martyrs Philemon, Apollonios,
Hypatios and Arrianos of
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY
SCRIPTURE
Sunday Ephesians 4:1-6 Luke
Monday I Timothy 1:1-7 Luke
20:27-44
Tuesday I Timothy 1:8-14 Luke 21:12-19
Wednesday I Timothy 1:18-20; 2:8-15 Luke 21:5-7, 10-11, 20-24
Thursday I Timothy 3:1-13 Luke 21:28-33
Friday I Timothy 4:4-8, 16 Luke
21:37-22:8
Saturday Galatians 3:8-12 Luke 13:18-29
Sunday Colossians 3:4-11 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
–
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 – LOOK
FOR OUR NEW CHRISTMAS CDs!!
There is also a new CD for children
– a great stocking stuffer!
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
TODAY! December 7th after coffee hour (see
elsewhere in the bulletin for details)
~ Secret Sisters ~
Secret Sisters is starting
again!. Sign-up forms are on the piano in the parish
hall.
Please return them to
~ Book Club ~
The
January ~ at Kh. Pamela
Mashburn’s home ~ The Hiding Place by Corrie TenBoom
February ~ The Purple Mantle
~ Women’s Teaching ~
Upcoming Dates ~ January
8th ~ February 5th ~ March 12th
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.
CAROLING THIS THURSDAY! We will again
be singing Christmas carols at Kings Daughter’s & Son’s Home in
Join us at
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.
Pro-life
Corner – The current version of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)
removes all language (found in earlier versions) ensuring that taxpayers will
not be forced to pay for abortions.
Instead, the language stating that governments may not “discriminate”
against abortion in publicly funded programs almost assures the taxpayers will
be forced to pay such costs.
Bulletin
Boards – Remember to check the bulletin boards!!
LIBRARY LINES
– Thursday we commemorate two men who
spent years on pillars. These stylites are considered fools-for Christ. Bishop Kalllistos Ware has a brief and very readable explanation
of this in our library’s The Inner Kingdom (CAT/GEN/WAR).
The Venerable Daniel
(12/11) received his name in an unusual manner.
His mother had been barren for a number of years and promised to
dedicate her son to God if He granted her petition for a son. His parents said
that since their child was a gift from God, then God should name him. He was
taken to the monastery where the abbot randomly opened the Bible to the book of
Daniel. He went to live there at age 12
and was visited frequently by his parents. He excelled in his ascetical efforts,
and St. Simeon the Stylite predicted his life of
healing and counsel during his 33 years on a pillar. St. Luke the New Stylite was a wonderworker of the tenth century who lived
for 45 years on a pillar.
The Blessed Angelina
(12/10) was a Serbian princess. She and her husband Stephan were the parents of
St. John of Serbia. They were threatened
by the Turks and fled to
St. Spyridon
(12/12) was born in
See icons of these saints
and their stories in St. John Library.
Teen Group Events
TODAY,
AFTER LITURGY –
ALL St.
Nicholas Play cast members must be present!
Beginning in January – We have typically done vespers on Wednesday evenings. In January, we initiate some variation in our
mid-week prayers. In general, we will
pray:
First Wednesday – Lesser blessing of the water
Second and Fourth Wednesday – Vespers
Third Wednesday – a selected Akathist
This will give us some
variation and introduce these services to our parishioners.
Baby Shower for
TODAY!! Sunday, December 7th
after Coffee Hour – Lunch will be
served
At the home of Kh. Pamela Mashburn
Worship and liturgical reminders - What follows is a rerun of a
“guest submission” I ran over two years ago. It is from the weekly bulletin of
another Orthodox Church. I have noticed
that we have a great deal of “in and out” of the nave during the liturgy. Aside from a genuine need by parents for care
of their children or an emergency, we should all be in the nave during the
services rather than visiting in the parish hall. For parents, it may necessitate your
reminding your children to take care of needs before the liturgy starts. - Fr.
John
“I’m told that many people constantly go
in and out of Church by the side door during the services. If you were in the
presence of an important person, or a person you love, would you constantly
leave that person or wander in and out of his presence? Let’s give God the
honor of not wanting to leave His
Remember
we will have our annual St. Nicholas play Wednesday evening, December 10! That night we will pray the Akathist to St. Nicholas rather than vespers, beginning at
Since we anticipate a much larger than usual crowd for
the meal, PLEASE remember to SIGN UP so we can have enough food. If you are bringing or inviting visitors, please
place their names on the list as well.
As guests, you should tell them they do not need to pay the $3.50 per
charge. If you can pay
it for them, great. If not, that
is great as well. We love to have
visitors, and this is a good service for it.
It is also a good time for us to bring lenten deserts for visitors as well as our own
members.
Schedule of services for the Nativity
Wednesday, 12/24 – Royal Hours,
Vesperal
Divine Liturgy of St. Basil,
Orthros
for Nativity,
Divine Liturgy of
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).