Cathedral News Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral Volume 61, Issue 8, August 2019 Reflection on Camp Good Shepherd-Virginia 2019 Now that almost two weeks have passed since our week of camp for Camp Good Shepherd – Virginia, I have been reflecting and digesting all that took place in such a special week. This past week however, has been a tough one for me and possibly some of the youth of our community as well. We have been suffering from something known as “post camp depression” If your not familiar with this, it’s what happens to campers and staff after camp is over and they are back at home. Symptoms of moping around the house, not knowing what to do, and for the staff catching up on much needed sleep. This year we had a great week at Camp Good Shepherd- Virginia. This was the fifth year of the camp which started with less than 40 campers and a handful of staff. This year we had 83 campers, 14 staff members, 2 nurses and 5 clergy. 31 of Camp Good Shepherd—Virginia 2019 those campers were first time campers, two of the staff members were first time counselors. The theme for the week was “Who is it that they say that I am?”, which comes from the gospel of Matthew, when Jesus asked his disciples who people thought he was. This theme focused on our identity as Orthodox Christians first. Through out the five days of camp, the campers along with counselors and clergy sought to answer five questions through conversation, personal experiences and our Orthodox teachings. The questions were as follows: “Who am I?”, which focused on how we as individuals identify ourselves and everything is secondary to intensifying as Orthodox Christians. “Who is it that they say that I am?”, which focused on how others see us and how do we reflect the image of Christ to others. “Who is God?”, where they discussed our understanding of God and how our relationships with him are personal. “Who Are We?”, and finally, “How Does God See Us?” Our days at camp consisted of a typical camping schedule, we began and ended each daylight a short service where hymns were lead by campers at the chant stand. We ate meals as a community, we discussed our faith, experiences and personal struggles as cabins, we participated in activities like canoeing, high ropes, archery and various others. And finally the campers grew closer and learned to lean on one another and of course had fun during evening activities and countless other times throughout the day. Throughout the week, I would find myself getting caught up with logistics, the program and day to day concerns, and I would lose focus of why we were all at camp in the first place or staying present in the moment. When this would happen, however, there would be little things from the campers or staff or clergy that would snap me out of whatever I was thinking about and reorient me back into the right mindset. I would like to share a couple of those with you right now. On the very first night the campers were at camp, Sunday night, I had been running around all day, making sure campers were in the right cabins, seeing that counselors had all they needed, calling parents back and forth about them dropping their kids off a little late, and most importantly, that we had marshmallows for the S’mores at the camp fire. I had a lot going through my mind that night and it was hard to focus on any one thing let alone the mindset we should have for camp. During this a camper was walking a little behind her group so I asked her “are you excited for the week??” She said: “yes I am and I’m just really happy to be back home” When she said this, I almost stopped dead in my tracks. Everything that I had been worried about sort of fell from my mind and I just smiled. Continued on page 3 Serving Schedule Sunday, August 4, 2019 Sunday, August 11, 2019 Seventh Sunday of Matthew Eight Sunday of Matthew ’ H’ 8:15 a.m. Orthros (Morning Prayer) 8:15 a.m. Orthros (Morning Prayer) 9:30 a.m. The Divine Liturgy 9:30 a.m. The Divine Liturgy Epistle Reading: Romans 15:1-7 Epistle Reading: I Corinthias 1:10-17 Reader: Daniel Bazianos Reader: Ben Loucas Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:27-35 Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:14-22 Acolytes: Daniel Bazianos*, James Seevers*, Acolytes: Nikos Mouris*, Theodore Singletary*, Anthony Maratos, George Sotos, Nikolas Stratiou, John Galanides, Spencer Warner, Ben Loucas, Christopher Chavez, John Seevers, Nicholas Meyers, Christopher Singletary, Luke Branch, James Bobrovsky, Elias Sotos Niko Loucas, Elliott Sweeney Parish Council Liaison: John Ashikis Parish Council Liaison: John Ashikis Ushers: David Preddy, Paul Christofakis, Peggy Christofakis, Ushers: John Toutsi, Tom Kapsidelis, Ricky Baughan Joseph Torrice Narthex Duty: Lindsey Pantele, Zachary Matzanias Narthex Duty: Stephen Julias, Maria Reed Welcoming: Olga Vess Welcoming: Mark Chronis Sunday, August 18, 2019 Sunday, August 25, 2019 Ninth Sunday of Matthew Tenth Sunday of Matthew ’ ’ 8:15 a.m. Orthros (Morning Prayer) 8:15 a.m. Orthros (Morning Prayer) 9:30 a.m. The Divine Liturgy 9:30 a.m. The Divine Liturgy Epistle Reading: I Corinthians 3:9-17 Epistle Reading: I Corinthians 4:9-16 Reader: Mercer Reed Reader: Zach Edwards Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:22-34 Gospel Reading: Matthew 17:14-23 Acolytes: Mercer Reed*, Andrew Vithoulkas*, Acolytes: Yianni Spears*, Zach Edwards*, Blake Georges, Stamate Theofanos, Nicholas Spears, Manoli Loupassi, Nikolas Chupp, Nikitas Karousos, Yorgos Flegas, Christos Rubis, George Tsekouras, Thomas Halsey, Symeon Moss, Ioannis Bissi, Vassilios Ringas, John Tsengas Jack Christ, Nicholas Blankenship Parish Council Liaison: John Ashikis Parish Council Liaison: John Ashikis Ushers: Stephen Halsey, Ken Collins, Tony Spears, Andy Ziu Ushers: Philip Mourtzakis, Jonathan Loucas, George Miller Narthex Duty: Jim Katsaros, Angelo Phillos Narthex Duty: Lex Dunn, Scott Stolte Welcoming: Dianna Gettas Welcoming: Tom Kapsidelis Page 3 Volume 61, Issue 8 Continued from first page Another time this happened was in the morning at the Orthros service, which is how we begin every day at camp. Throughout the week we give the counselors the opportunity to give little sermonettes after the services. They could speak on the theme of the week, the gospel reading for the day, what we were discussing in our Orthodox Life sessions, really any thing we wanted. That morning we had a young woman from our community that shall remain nameless. When she was about to go up, I got a message from the facility director saying that something happened and he asked if we could alter our schedule for the day. Again, my mind was not in the moment and was definitely not focused on anything happening in Campers canoeing on Piankatank River church. But then this staff member began to speak and gave a beautifully simple explanation and analogy for prayer. She compared it to conversations with a friend from college. At first neither of them knew each other or knew what to say, it was awkward at times and seemed forced, but they started talking and hanging out more and more, eventually getting to the point where they had become closer, the conversation was easy and they truly relied on one another. She said it is the same with prayer, at first it feels weird, it feels forced and even awkward. But gradually it becomes easier, more personal, and eventually it will feel easier than talking to a close friend. Hearing her say this to the campers and really the staff as well, in the exact style they needed to hear, once again helped me to remember why we were all here. There are countless other stories I could share with you about the week and camp in general, but I’ll stop there. The truth is there are much better people to ask about camp and that is the campers themselves. They experience the program in a way I just couldn’t, they are the best spokespersons available to share the word of just what we do at camp and how we all grow in so many different ways in just one short week. This is such an important ministry in our church, camp is how many people including many of our parishioners, have grown closer to our faith. Camp is what made me decide to work in the church, it is where I fell in love with youth ministry, and made it clear how I was to serve the Lord and others. Camp has giving me some of the most important aspects of my life including my wife Victoria and the foundations of our relationship. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the entire community of our Cathedral for the continuing support of the Camp Good Shepherd – Virginia ministry. Whether you are a parent of campers, entrusting us with your children, someone who has donated money to go towards scholarships for campers, or just simply supporting through your prayers and kind words, this ministry would not be able to happen without you. Please keep spreading the word of CGS- VA with others, encourage your children to come or if they have already, to share their experience with other kids. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Thank you. Dean Tiggas Page 4 Volume 61, Issue 8 A Thank You to Cathedral Sanctuary Tours “Thank you for sharing your beautiful Sanctuary with us!” – spoken by visitors and written multiple times and years in the tour guestbook Our Cathedral Sanctuary tour guides and greeters perform each year a par excellence service to our many guests at the Greek Festival.