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
“…the
Disciples were called
Acts 11:26
Sunday
before the Nativity of Christ
Epistle: Hebrews 11:9-10;
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
The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or
Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of
No
fasting from Dec. 25 – Jan. 4)
Sunday - NO Teen
Group this week
Monday - First Hour,
- Advent
Paraklesis,
Tuesday -
Third Hour,
- Men’s
Lunch,
Wednesday - Third Hour,
- Vespers,
- Story time for the children is
directly following Vespers
- Wednesday dinner,
- NO Wednesday teaching
Thursday -
Royal Hours,
- Vesperal Divine
Liturgy,
- Orthros for Nativity,
- Divine
Liturgy of
Friday -
Office Closed
Saturday -
Divine Liturgy at St. Paul Skete,
- Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday - Orthros,
-
- Divine
Liturgy,
Divine
Liturgy for the Nativity of our Lord Thursday, December 24,
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr. John
DEACONS: Dns. James & Charles READER: Owen White
HOLY BREAD:
ALTAR SERVERS: any who can
WELCOME TEAM:
Divine
Liturgy Sunday, December 27,
PRIEST: Fr.
Nicholas HOMILY: Fr. Nicholas
DEACONS: Dns. Tim & James READER:
HOLY BREAD: Christy Yadron USHER:
ALTAR SERVERS: Ethan, Luke S., Luke L., Joe
COFFEE HOUR: Keith & Sarah Parker, Rawad
& Shanna Massouh
WELCOME TEAM:
COMMEMORATIONS
December
20: Hieromartyr Ignatios
the God-bearer, bishop of
December 21: Virgin-martyr Juliana of Nicomedia;
Martyr Themistokles of Myra in
December 22: Great-martyr Anastasia and her
teacher the Martyr Chrysogonos.
December 23: Ten martyrs of
December 24: Venerable-martyr Eugenia of
December 25: The Nativity in the Flesh of our
Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
December 26: Commemoration of Joseph the
Betrothed, David the Prophet and King, and James the Brother of the Lord. The Synaxis
of the Theotokos; Euthymios the Confessor, bishop of
December 27: Proto-martyr Stephen the archdeacon;
Venerable-confessor Theodore the Branded.
DAILY
SCRIPTURE
Sunday Colossians 1:12-18 Luke 18:16-27
Monday Hebrews 3:5-11,
17-19 Mark
Tuesday Hebrews 4:1-13 Mark
10:2-12
Wednesday Hebrews 5:11-6:8 Mark
10:11-16
Thursday Hebrews 7:1-6 Mark
Friday Hebrews
Saturday Ephesians
Sunday Colossians 3:12-16 Luke 18:35-43
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Rachels’ Kids, Inc. |
Diocese of
Michael
Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity Orthodox Church –
Pray for our catechumens: In
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, December 20 – Nothing this
week
Next week, December 29 – tba
This year’s Deanery
Youth Retreat is approaching. It will be Friday, January 29 - 31
at
Inquirers/Catechumen
Class will resume in January
ATTENTION
LAST MINUTE SHOPPERS!!! St John
Bookstore has just gotten eight new titles of children's books and restocked
some CD's. Stop by and see if they're good for your shopping list. Gift certificates are also available in the
office.
Weekly Paraklesis services – During the Nativity fast, we will continue to pray
the Paraklesis service on Monday evenings at
Chrismation Today – Rod, Trish, Jake
& Cailyn Ratliff will be Chrismated today between Orthros and Divine
Liturgy.
Please sign up
– We need to place the order for the food for the Nativity tomorrow!
As of last Friday, we only had 75
people signed up for the celebration after the Nativity Liturgy. We
just want to be able to make a “best guess” when placing our food order.
It will really help if you will put your name and how many will be eating on
the sign up sheet in the fellowship hall. And if you forget to sign
up, don't worry. We always have plenty of food!
Second Day of Christmas - Everyone is invited to St. Paul Skete
to celebrate the Second Day of Christmas. Fr. Nicholas will serve Divine
Liturgy for the Synaxis of the Theotokos at
Iconography Work – The iconographers have finished! I could not be more pleased with
the result. It has exceeded my expectations. Regarding future iconography,
Dmitry and I have spoken, and I am very excited about seeing the remainder of
the work completed. However, we have depleted the iconography fund.
If you are pleased with what we have done to date and want to contribute to the
completion of the work, please do so, noting “Icon fund” on your check or
envelope. Dmitry would love to see the
finished product within the next year – and I am sure many of us would as well. ~
Father John
NATIVITY
PLAY TODAY! Parents please bring your
children to the room next to the kitchen immediately following Liturgy. We
welcome any parents that would like to help get the children dressed in their
costumes! (If that room is unavailable, we will meet on the 3rd floor in Kh.
Pamela's classroom.)
The Nativity Fast is divided into two periods: We are
today entering the 2nd period is December 20th throu
Do
You Like to Have Fun? Do you like to get
together with friends? We’re looking for YOU to set up for or clean
up after the Nativity Feast. We need men
(for clean up) and women (set up and clean up) to volunteer. If you cannot sign up to help with the
Nativity Feast, you can always volunteer to help with the Feast of St. Basil! If you have any questions, see
Antiochian Women of
Women’s Book Club
Our next meeting will
be on January 4,
We will be discussing Gown
of Glory by Agnes Turnbull.
*Please note change of
location for this month
Women’s Teaching
We will meet on Thursday,
January 7,
Women’s Crafts Club
We will resume on
January 11,
aa LIBRARY LINES aa
John of Kronstadt
is not listed in the names of those saints on our list for this week; however,
we honor this pious man on December 20.
St, John library has the following books by and about him: The
Bible and the Holy Fathers. REF/PAT/COM/MAN. See
p. 1068 in the index and accompanying legends, My Life in Christ by St. John of Kronstadt,
On Prayer by St. John of Kronstadt, Spiritual Counsels by St. John of Kronstadt.
Are you looking for a special
way to connect with your young children and encourage them to love learning?
Begin during Advent by reading to them at bedtime from books about the Nativity
of Christ and the life of the Theotokos. Choose from these books on display in
St. John Library: The Annunciation and The
Nativity of Our Lord by Sister Elayne, The Coin , The Wise Man Artabanes and His Gift to Christ,
Jesus Is Born, Mary
and Joseph's Journey to Bethlehem, The
Miraculous Child, The Story of the
Nativity of Christ and The Story of
Mary: the Mother of God.
Then take time to treat your
own soul to The Winter Pascha by FR. Thomas Hopko.
You will find these books on
the display cart in the library.
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES FOR THE NATIVITY
~ Thursday, December 24th~
Royal Hours,
Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St.
Basil,
Orthros for Nativity,
Divine Liturgy of
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NATIVITY CELEBRATION
aa
We
will have a light celebration after Divine Liturgy on December 24. As in the
past, the church will provide deli trays and bread for sandwiches as well as
drinks. Please let us know if you are planning on attending so we can order an
appropriate amount of food. There is a
sign up sheet downstairs.
Also,
feel free to plan to bring any side items and/or desserts to share. This will be a great opportunity to share and
enjoy holiday goodies & tasty treats that are a part of each family’s
Christmas traditions.
**NOTE** If
you bring items to share, please label your dish with your name. This will help us to return anything left
behind to its rightful owner in a timely manner. If you do need to use trays,
bowls or other items from the kitchen, please be sure to put them away before
you leave. We can show our appreciation
for those who have volunteered to clean up by not adding to their work. This
will also help to insure that we are all able to get home at a reasonable hour
on Christmas Eve. Thank you so much for
your help in making this a wonderful and memorable evening for the parish.
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Upcoming
special services for the remainder of the fast and the Nativity season
through Theophany (1)
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Monday, December 21
Paraklesis,
Thursday, December 24
Royal Hours,
Vesperal
Divine Liturgy of St. Basil,
Orthros
for Nativity,
Divine Liturgy of
Saturday, December 26
At St. Paul Skete Divine
Liturgy, 9:00 AM
Thursday, December 31
Great Vespers for the Feast of St. Basil,
Tuesday, January 5
Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great,
Wednesday, January 6
Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,
(1) Remember
that December 24 and January 5 are fast days.
There is NO fasting from December 25 through January 4.
(2) There
will be a finger food potluck following Vespers – please bring something to
share. Please sign up on the sheet
downstairs to volunteer for set up and/or clean up.
Special note: Theophany House Blessings – Be sure and
sign up in the parish hall for times and days that are possible times for one
of the priests to bless your home.