(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
“…the
Disciples were called
Twenty-fifth
Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-7 Gospel: Luke 18:18-27
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Margie Yarbro.
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
The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or
Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of
Sunday -
Teen Group – Play practice
Monday - First Hour,
- Advent Paraklesis,
Tuesday -
Third Hour,
- Men’s Lunch,
- Catechumen & Inquirers Class,
Wednesday - Third Hour,
- Vespers,
- Story time for the children is
directly following Vespers
- Wednesday dinner,
- Wednesday teaching,
Thursday -
Third Hour,
-
Women’s Teaching,
Friday - First Hour,
- Third Hour,
-
Sixth Hour,
-
Saturday -
Prayers for the Departed,
- Ninth
Hour and Great Vespers,
- Teen Group’s St. Nicholas Play following Great
Vespers,
with refreshments to
follow
Sunday - Orthros,
- Divine
Liturgy,
- Sons of Thunder, 7:00 p.m. Dn. James’ home
Divine
Liturgy Sunday, December 6,
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY:
Fr. John
DEACONS: Dns. James & Charles READER:
HOLY BREAD: Reem Mansour USHER:
ALTAR SERVERS: Caleb, J. Morgan, Alex, Deon
COFFEE HOUR: Michael & Mindy Williams, Nawar & Reem Mansour
WELCOME TEAM: Billy & Christine Scrantom
Upcoming
Chrismations
Nathan Powell - December 13
Rod, Trish, Jake and Cailyn Ratliff – December 20
COMMEMORATIONS
Nov.
29: Martyrs Paramon
of Bithynia and Philoumenos of Ancyra; Venerable Akakios of Sinai; Hieromartyr Dionysios, bishop of Corinth; Urban, bishop of Macedonia;
Nicholas, archbishop of Thessalonika.
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
- ALMS-GIVING –
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Rachels’ Kids, Inc. |
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity Orthodox Church –
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Sunday Ephesians 4:1-6 Luke
Monday 1
Timothy 1:1-7 Luke
19:37-44
Tuesday 1 Timothy 1:8-14 Luke
Wednesday 1
Timothy 1:18-20, 2:8-15 Luke 20:1-8
Thursday 1 Timothy 3:1-13 Luke
20:9-18
Friday 1 Timothy 4:4-8,
16 Luke
Saturday Galatians 3:8-12 Luke
Sunday Ephesians 5:9-19 Luke
Pray for our catechumens: In Memphis - Maria Cartagena,
Please remember in your prayers: His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, His Grace, Bishop
ANTOUN, Buddy Taylor, Margaret Layman, Chris Hodges, Judy Smith (Julie Sanderlin’s mother), Shirley Gore (
teen Group Events
TODAY, November 29 – Play practice
Next week, December 5 – St. Nicholas
play
December 6 – Meeting with middlers
Inquirers/Catechumen Class Tuesday,
Weekly Paraklesis services – During the Nativity fast, we will continue to pray
the Paraklesis service on Monday evenings at
St. Nicholas Great Vespers – Saturday night, December 5 we will pray great
vespers for the saint. Following
vespers, our teens will again present a short play on the life of the
saint. Afterward we will collect gifts
from the children for the MIFA Christmas store.
Remember, gifts should be new and
not wrapped. Refreshments will
follow for all, including what we hope will be a number of guests. Please bring fasting-friendly finger foods
(cookies, pretzels) to share.
Sons of Thunder – Our next meeting is Sunday, December 6,
THE NATIVITY FAST has begun and is divided into two
periods: The 1st period is November 15th throu
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Iconography Work to Be Done While Dmitry
is Here
I am sure all of us are
anxious to see the new iconography to be installed in the altar. The following is a short summary of the major
things that Dmitry will be doing:
All the “structures” will be
repainted and the “dome” over Christ will be greatly lowered. The background color will be changed to
blue. The following 11 icons will be
added above the Communion of Apostles:
Christ
Enthroned, just below the Platytera; St. Basil the Great;
Theotokos; St.
Gregory the Great;
John the Baptist; St.
Gregory the Theologian;
Archangel Gabriel; St.
Athanasius;
Archangel Michael; St.
Ignatius of
Above the side doors into the
altar will be two cherubim. Above them
will be two Eucharistic icons: Christ on the road to Emmaeus
and Abraham’s sacrifice. Additionally,
all the light blue on the Pantocrator will be covered
with gold leaf. There will also be some
other decorative painting.
During the work, the
consecrated altar will be covered and we will serve the Liturgy on the solea. We have
sufficient funds for this round of work but any additional work on the
remaining portion of phase two, as well as phases three and four, will have to
be funded with future donations.
Keep Dmitry and his workers in your prayers. I am very excited about what I anticipate
will be wonderfully vibrant altar!
-
Father John
Antiochian Women of
Women’s Teaching
We will meet on
Thursday, December 3 at
First Friday Brown Bag Lunch
Bring a lunch and join
us after Sixth Hour prayers.
Prayers for the Dead
The next Saturday
Prayers for the Dead will be December 5 at
Bring a dish to share
for breakfast following prayers
Women’s Crafts Club
Our next gathering will
be at Margaret McKelroy’s home on December 7 at
Please bring a snack to
share.
Women’s Book Club
We will not meet in the
month of December.
We will resume January
4 with Gown of Glory by Agnes Turnbull.
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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
In December we honor Old Testament saints, including
the Minor Prophets. Tuesday we honor the Prophet Nahum(12/1).
He is perhaps the least known of the Minor Prophets. The short book is
considered to be a masterpiece of literature; partially because of his
powerful, short sentences and word-pictures. He employs alliteration and rare
idioms. His writing did not call
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 and is often shows as resembling
The
Recently, a group of Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christian leaders have
united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common
good, and to call upon their fellow citizens, believers and non-believers
alike, to join them in defending these verities. These truths are:
1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and
wife
3.
the rights of conscience and religious liberty.
The
following is an open letter to other Christians to also participate in this
important statement. As of
Dear to
Christ:
We
invite you to join with other Christians across the nation
who support the sanctity of life,
traditional marriage and religious liberty by endorsing the Manhattan Declaration.
Throughout
the centuries, God has graciously provided His people with teachers and
prophetic voices who apply His word to the critical issues of the day and who
lead their hearers to embrace His life-giving authority and counsel in the
midst of cultural madness. The Manhattan Declaration extends and honors that
tradition, and we urge you to join us in affirming it. The Manhattan
Declaration addresses with urgent eloquence the devaluation of human life, the
corruption of marriage, and the erosion of religious liberty. With careful instruction, it brings light and
clarity to all who read it. We trust that millions of believers will sign it,
that countless others will be drawn or driven to give it fair consideration,
and that our society will be changed by its strong yet sweetly reasonable
message.
The
Manhattan Declaration was released today, Friday -
Click
here to view the Manhattan Declaration and prayerfully
consider lending your name to those who have already signed: www.ManhattanDeclaration.org.
+ B a s i l
Bishop of
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
Copies of the Declaration are in
the parish hall for those who
would like to take and read one.