PRESENTATION OF CHRIST GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

CURRENT JANUARY 2021 Dear Parish Family,

The past month was an eventful one for our community. We saw the continuation of our usual outreach programs. We decorated our Church grounds for Christmas so that we could shine the Light of Christ even more brightly. We moved our Church School and Adult Education programs to an on-line format so that we could continue to grow in our faith. We held our second annual gift-drive for “Beverly’s Birthdays.” Finally, we expanded our outreach efforts to include an Angel Tree for the children who live on Electric Avenue.

I list these events not to boast, although, by the Grace of God, our community has accomplished much in the last year. Rather, I do so to illustrate how much God can do through us when we choose to prioritize using our time, talent, and treasure for His Church.

As we enter the calendar year 2021, there will be much talk of resolutions. Some of us will join a gym. Others will resolve to reassess our finances. It is a good thing to put our lives in order. But let us not forget the momentum we have built as a church community.

In 2021, I invite all of us to prioritize using our time to safely be together at Church. Then, let us pray that God will continue to use our worship, ministries, and other gatherings unto His Glory and the building up of the Body of Christ.

See you at Church!

Fr. Dean A Note from President and Stewardship Chairman Steve Markantone

Let It Go!! To Grow!! Happy New Year! 2020 brought challenges to each of us and as we start the New Year, it is important that we reflect on how far we have come. Reflecting allows us to acknowledge the struggles and hardships that the year has given us and provides us with the opportunity to let go of what no longer serves us.

It is important that we learn from the past, but not get trapped in the past; reflecting on how as a community we were able to come together to still put on an amazing food festival and by how many sandwiches our parish was able to provide for the homeless. It was also a year with challenges of staying home and being more separate. We have become creative in ways to stay together as a community. I am so humbled by how many people attend church on Sundays in person or via online. This has demonstrated yet again the strength of Ypapanti.

This is a new year with new opportunities and experiences awaiting us. We cannot change the past only the future. Throughout our lives everyone experiences setbacks and conflict. How we choose to deal with these setbacks and conflicts is up to us. It is important that we do not let our anger and desire to settle the score consume our lives. Most of the time when we are plotting to even the score the negativity only affects us. When we are focused on someone else we are not focusing on ourselves and what we can do to improve ourselves.

I read this interesting fable which really hits home. I do not know the author but wanted to share it.

There was a snake that crawled over a saw and was cut. In anger the snake wrapped the saw with its thick body and proceeded to squeeze the life out of the saw.

With each angry squeeze it felt more pain but continued because it was not going to let this saw get away with the pain it caused. The snake, refusing to let go of the saw, eventually died; not knowing the whole time, it needed to let go of the initial pain and focus on the future and where it was going. Instead the snake unfortunately, lost its life and did not even see it coming.

Control your anger, forgive those that hurt you, and do not give people or things power over you. It will ultimately kill you.

I am excited to see what the New Year will bring with the lessons of this year being patience and understanding.

Best wishes for the new year and may we continue to learn together. Photos!

Thank you to all who donated to our Angel Tree!

Beverly’s Birthdays was a success!

Thank you to everyone who decorated the church! Join us for the Services for The Feast of Theophany

Tuesday, January 5

9:00 AM Royal Hours of Theophany Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil with Great Blessing of Water 5:30 PM

Wednesday, January 6 Feast of Theophany 8:30 AM Matins 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy with Great Blessing of Water ALL SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE TO WATCH ON

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A Good Word—Λόγον Αγαθόν Monthly Newsletter of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Volume 4 No. 1 (Issue 31) — January 2021

Longing for Christ and for One Another

Archpastoral Message for Christmas 2020

It seems appropriate that, maybe more than ever before, we are longing for celebrations – Christmas and New Year’s among them. We are longing for the feast as we know it (or have romanticized it in our minds) and not the version that we seem to have received in 2020. We are longing for family and friends, coworkers and customers, safety and health and goodness.

The world was longing for its Savior, suffering under the consequences of humanity's sin, when the Lord chose to become human. His response to our longing was to enter the world, taking on our nature, loving us intimately, suffering for us, and liberating us. For He, too, longs for us - to throw off the shackles of our corruption and slavery to sin, and to find the promised life with Him in eternity.

At Christmas we celebrated the initiation of the plan to fulfill our longing with His presence, His grace, and His transformative love. While following His Nativity there were still years of difficulty, work, and suffering, it was all bearable because of the ultimate purpose - our Salvation, which was assured by His Incarnation. His acts of self-sacrificial love gave true satisfaction to our longing and showed us a path beyond the suffering of this life to the place for which we truly yearned.

We are called, in imitation, to see the longing in our fellow human beings - longing for joy in place of fear or sorrow or distress, longing for love in place of indifference or hatred - and to meet that longing with His love and our faith. While the days of difficulty are not over, and we still have a period of physical separation and work and sacrifice ahead, we must take the strongest lesson of the pandemic - that we desperately long for Christ and for one another - and find a way to meet that longing with His compassionate grace. Like He did, we must show mercy, reach out, excel in charity, and put others before ourselves. And when we're met with their fear, distress, sorrow, or anger, to respond with the love that is longed for at the deepest level - a love that counts not the wrongs, but sees the inherent dignity in each person. The dignity that Christ came to redeem and restore through His Nativity. Christ is Born!

Support His Eminence and the Metropolis Ministries

It costs approximately $1,000 per day to operate our Metropolis—including Metropolitan Savas’s pastoral visitations, preparations for Summer Camp and GOYA retreats, our vital registry (tracking marriages, baptisms, chrismations, and deaths), and more. Please consider sponsoring a day in the life of the Metropolis. To contribute, visit https://pittsburgh.goarch.org/support Serving the Least Among Us

The Gospel commands us to “…feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit the imprisoned…” (Matt. 25:35-36). Below is a sample of the Outreach work done in the parishes of our Metropolis (to account for all such good works would require far more space than is available here): St. John the Divine, Wheeling, WV – Its “Open Door” food- Annunciation, Akron, OH - Timely and compelling medical kitchen remains a staple in the Centre-Wheeling neighborhood information about COVID-19 was shared by Holy where visitors receive a hot meal, drink, and dessert and a two to Unmercenaries Medical Society (HUMS) – which includes three day supply of groceries experts in infectious disease. They presented necessary information, vaccine news, and actionable steps. Holy Cross, Pittsburgh PA – The parish’s Agape Fund recently donated $50,000 to the “Neighborhood Resilience St. Nicholas, Bethlehem, PA - The #FeastDayRundown is the Project” (NRP) in the “Hill District” to help furnish the free work of the parish GOYAns. They research a saint or feast and clinic being constructed at its new headquarters with Fr. Alexey and parishioner help, create one-minute video about the day. See them all at www.instagram.org/ Kimissis Tis Theotokou, Alliquipa, PA – The parish held its 4th feastdayrundown annual Thanksgiving food drive to provide turkeys and complete dinner boxes filled with non-parishable goods to 250 families (or Transfiguration Mission, Lititz, PA – The parish supports the more than 760+ individuals). residents of the Gatehouse Recovery for Men with stockings and gift bags (with cards for Christmas) containing personal care St. Demetrios, Rocky River, OH - During Christmas time, the items and snacks. These remind the men they are seen and cared JOY group is collecting infant and toddler winter outerwear for about. the free store at Zoe House in Parma, Ohio. Zoe of Life! serves women in crisis pregnancies and mothers in need. St. Haralambos, Canton, OH – The parish offers relief to individuals and families for food, utility bills, medical bills and St. Paul, North Royalton, OH – Organized by the stewardship rent through organizations like the Salvation Army Food Bank, committee, the parish prepared, packaged and delivered 150 Stark County Hunger Task Force and the Canton Community meals to St. Herman’s House (FOCUS Cleveland), which feeds Christmas Giving Tree Project. GOYAns pictured below. the homeless daily.

St. Demetrios, Warren, OH – The parish has ongoing outreach to the needy and addicted with ministries that include providing monthly food cards for impoverished families, access to clothing – especially winter coats – as well as prayer, drug rehab referrals and job possibilities.

Ypapanti, East Pittsburgh, PA - During the Nativity Fast the church collects toys and clothing for children aged 2-21 for local charity “Beverly’s Birthdays.” The parish also does an Angel Tree to collect Christmas gifts for the kids that live on Electric Ave

Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh 5201 Ellsworth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 - http://pittsburgh.goarch.org - [email protected] 412-621-5529 (Main) - 412-465-0460 (Camp) - 412-621-8543 (Youth) - 412-621-1522 (Fax) His Eminence Metropolitan SAVAS of Pittsburgh, Presiding Hierarch Fr. George Callos, Chancellor ADn. Ryan Gzikowski, Asst. to Metropolitan & Registrar Rhea Ballas, Youth & Young Adult Ministries Director Marina Papafil, Camp Ministries Coordinator Stacey Stathulis, Stewardship Ministries Coordinator Maria Stamoolis, Director of Greek Education and Culture ~ Tentative ~ January - 2021 ~ Tentative ~

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Feast of Saint Basil Circumcision of our Lord

New Year’s Day 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8:30 AM, Matins 9:00 AM Feast of Synaxis of 2:00 PM, 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Royal Hours Theophany St. John the Baptist Take down church of Theophany 8:30 AM, Matins 8:30 AM, Matins Christmas decorations 11:00 AM, 5:30 PM, 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Vasilopita Cutting Vesperal With Water Blessing Come take a Divine Liturgy Poinsettia! 4:00 PM, With Water Sunday School Blessing

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 8:30 AM, Matins 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy 2:00 PM, 7:00 PM, Dinner prep for the 12:00 PM, Parish Council Neighborhood Philoptochos Meeting Meeting Resilience Project

4:00 PM, Sunday School

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 8:30 AM, Matins Martin Luther King 10:00 AM, 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Pop Up Food Pantry

4:00 PM, 11:00 AM, Sunday School Hot Meal Distribution

24/31 25 26 27 28 29 30 8:30 AM, Matins Feast of the Three Saint Gregory 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy 7:00 PM, Hierarchs the Theologian Sandwich prep for 8:30 AM, Matins 9:30 AM, 4:00 PM, Rankin Christian 9:30 AM, Divine Divine Liturgy Sunday School Center Liturgy

All listed activities are contingent upon ’s Covid Response Reopening Guidelines. Please check the Church’s Online Calendar and Father Dean’s Weekly Emails for the most up to date information. Presentation of Christ Greek Orthodox Church 1672 Electric Avenue, PO Box J, East Pittsburgh, PA 15112 - 412-824-9188 Website: www.PresentationofChristPgh.org …… Follow us on Facebook @PresentationofChrist

Under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, His Eminence Elpidophoros Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and His Eminence Metropolitan Savas. The mission of the Presentation of Christ is to proclaim with joy the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to teach and spread the Orthodox Christian Faith and to be a community devoted to and energized by the love of God and our neighbor.

Rev. Fr. Constantine Kokanos Sunday Services Cell Phone: 412-760-7203 Matins – 8:30 AM Email: [email protected] Divine Liturgy – 9:30 AM

Stefanos Giannikas, Chanter Paraklesis Service – Wednesday at 6:30 PM Filia Arvanitis, Chanter Orthodox Adult Education - Wednesday at 7:30 PM Thomas Rosvanis, Chanter

Nancy Philpot, Admin Assistant Email: [email protected] Nancy’s Office Hours: 9 to 3, Tuesday to Friday Office Phone: 412-824-9188 Office Fax: 412-824-9740

2020 Parish Council Members Steve Markantone 724-325-1729 Paula Borsch 412-721-1840 President Treasurer Stan Prestogeorge 412-824-5033 Anastasia Andrews 412-398-3194 Vice President Treasurer Tom Rosvanis 412-373-5057 Vice President

Peter J Anthony 412-596-5348 Petros Mantzouridis 412-780-0201 Tasso Athans 724-864-5252 Jaime Orfanopoulos 412-302-1495 Deborah Grysiak 412-371-2465 Tootie Pranis 412-373-1270 Ernie Kampetis 412-892-9096 Richard Voltz 412-798-8177

Organizations & Committees Y.A.S.O.U. Tootie Pranis, Co-President; Mike Orson, Co-President Philoptochos Sylvia Graziano, President Choir Tom Rosvanis, Director & President Organists Marguerite Ellis; Roula Kyros Young Professionals Steve and Chris Burns Y.A.L. Nick Stupakis; Dean Leventopoulos Grecian Odyssey Mary Doreza, Director; Elias Bardis, President Dancers Junior Olympian Michelle Kotsagrelos, Director; Jamie Orfanopoulos, Director; Elias Dancers Bardis, Asst. Director; Maria Bardis, Asst. Director GAPA Elias Bardis, President Book & Icon Store Deborah Grysiak