THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE APRIL 2021 Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church P.O. Box 427 Newport, RI 02840 tel: (401) 846 -0555 www.stspyridonchurch.org Dear St. Spyridon Church Family, April 4th If life is a fruit, then it is up to us to squeeze out the juice. (If 2020 tasted like a lemon, you may want to add some honey.) Veneration of the Cross Some key components of the “juicer” mechanism called Great Each Wed. of April Lent are: humility... repentance… gratitude... prayer... the sacraments of confession and communion. Perhaps you would Pre-Sanctified Liturgy add to this list? What components have yielded the most 5:30 p.m. “juice” in your life? What ones do you need to develop? May we squeeze the “juice” - the grace of God- out of this Lenten First Three Fridays season, out of this very day, because it may be our last. Salutations, 6:00 p.m. — April 12th Presvytera Amelia and I have been blessed and supported by Teen Youth Group, 6pm your many expressions of concern and your prayers on the April 24th passing to the next life of her brother Job, who died in a skiing Lazarus Saturday, accident on February 23. Thank you for your love! Liturgy 10am, Palm May his memory be eternal. folding after — See page 4 for The Parish Council and I are enthusiastic as we glimpse the schedule of Holy amazing potential of our church community of St. Spyridon’s. We continue to admire the energy and commitment of so Week Services many of our member for pursuing parish health. ALL SERVICES ON The theme of our stewardship campaign this year is Health LIVE STREAM and Healing in Christ. As you will note in this month’s stspyridonchurch.org/live Stewardship Report, our stewardship pledges and giving have made tremendous progress. On the Metropolis level, the Parish Council and I, as well as two of our youth and young adult leaders, are engaging in a PAGE 2 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE S AINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH www.stspyridonchurch.org, (401) 846-0555 Reverend Fr. Aaron Walker [email protected], (617) 733-1045 Fr. Aaron’s Office Hours always available for emergencies. Please Tuesday and Thursday 2-5pm, Friday 12- call me regardless of the time in the case of 3pm; and other days and times by death so your loved one may receive the appointment. traditional prayers for repose of the soul. Other Visits: Please let me know if you Church Secretary, Kathy Lewis Saleh: would like a visit, house blessing, or to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from meet at the church. I am reachable by phone 10:30am to 4:30pm, I check messages throughout the day. I am [email protected] Parish Council Gia Harrigan, President ST SPYRIDON VOICE: Maria Holder, V.P.; Maria Stefanopoulos Editor—Aliki Cooper Johnson, Treasurer; Zoe Adamedes, ([email protected]) Secretary; David Jasinski; Steve Mellekas; IT Team: Leon Amarant Peter Petrou Bible Study: Frank Fowler Choir Director: Zoe Adamedes Religious Education: Marianne Menas Affiliated Organizations Stewardship: Gia Harrigan AHEPA President: Basile Panoutsopoulos Philoptochos President: Zinovia Canale Daughters of Penelope President: Soup Kitchen: Elaine Brown Ellen Anagnostos Hellenic Dancers: Anna Kyriakides Island of Skiathos Organization: Bookstore: Despina Haralambidis Christina Logothets Greek School: Loula Eliopoulos & Eleni Anagnostopoulos SERVICE TIMES Sunday Winter Hours, Weekday Services Matins 9am Divine Liturgy 10 am The Saint Spyridon Voice is a monthly publication of St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church, 390 Thames St., Newport, RI 02840 APRIL 2021 PAGE 3 Lilly Foundation grant initiative called “Thriving Congregations.” This is a five-year process. Each year we will go through the following four-phase cycle: 1) Understanding Social and Cultural Context; 2) Deepening our understanding of Mission and Vision; 3) Cultivating Authentic Christian Practices; 4) Sustaining Ministry. The first year of this cycle will begin this September. This “Thriving Congregations” program is an excellent fit for our vision to move toward greater parish health. The goal of this program is for all of us members of St. Spyridon’s to develop understanding of the needs and interests of people today, to create real relationships with people in our neighborhoods, to help us all connect more deeply with God and each other, and to contribute to the flourishing of our church and of the communities that surround us. For more information please contact Gia Harrigan, our Parish Council President. On a related leadership note, Gia and I have invited all the members of the Parish Council to set SMART goals for our council and for ourselves individually in 2021. (SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-limited.) At a recent leadership retreat we identified three opportunity areas for us as a council: 1) Growing the individual spirituality of our members; 2) Helping all members get reconnected with the church, recovering connection lost due to COVID precautions; 3) Empowering parishioners to engage in church life and leadership. First, to grow the individual spirituality of our church we must lead by example. We are challenging ourselves and each member of the council to set a goal for progress in own spirituality, which means growing as student followers of Christ. We will share our goals with a buddy and check in with our buddies throughout this year. You are encouraged to do likewise. Second, we as a Council are resolved to helping all members get reconnected with the church, especially to recover connection lost due to COVID precautions and lack of attendance. We believe this reconnection can be helped, along with the goal of fostering engagement, as follows. Finally, the Council reached consensus on the need to empower parishioners to engage and lead. The Council is too often reduced to a combined finance-stewardship-maintenance committee. Throw in a few dozen random issues that arise in the life of any parish and that is the council’s job description. But in their recent retreat, the Council expressed its unique value to the church not primarily as “doing” or even managing the operations of the church. Rather, the council has a unique responsibility to be engaging everyone and leading them to more fully offer their greatest gifts. As this engagement emerges, the Council must also harmonizing all our offerings within one unified body, working together with a clear vision of Church Life in Christ. Christ gave the church its leaders for this purpose: “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 12-13). To this end, Gia and I have asked ourselves and all Council members to split up the membership roster and to reach out to all of our people in the next three to four months, to connect with you, to learn how you are doing, and to get to know you better. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you seek faithfully to fulfill our Lord’s will through this prolonged time of pandemic, even as we engage in the magnificent season of repentance and renewal known as Great Lent and Holy Week — Yours in Christ, PAGE 4 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE HOLY WEEK SERVICES Service times posted on our website: stspyridonchurch.org/holy-week Saturday, April 24 Lazarus Saturday Matins, 9am Divine Liturgy, 10am Palm Folding after Liturgy Vespers of Palm Sunday, 5pm Sunday, April 25 Palm Sunday Matins, 8:45am Divine Liturgy, 10am Bridegroom Service, 6pm Monday, April 26 Bridegroom Service, 6pm Tuesday, April 27 Bridegrm. Svc., Hymn of Kassiani, 6pm Wednesday, April 28 Sacrament of Holy Unction, 3pm Thursday, April 29 Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, 8am Holy Passion of the Lord - Service of Twelve Gospels, 6pm Friday, April 30 Royal Hours at the Cross of Christ, 8 am Youth Retreat, 1:45 pm Removal of Christ from the Cross - Apokathilosis, 3pm Lamentations - Engomia, 6pm Saturday, May 1 Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, 9am Pre-Resurrection Service, 11:30pm Resurrection Service, 12 midnight Paschal Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Sunday, May 2 Agape Vespers of Pascha, 12pm Easter Egg Hunt at King Park, 1:30pm Tuesday, May 4 Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, Matins, 9:30am; Liturgy 10am Friday, May 7 Friday of Bright Week—Life Giving Spring, Matins 9am Divine Liturgy, 10am Your list of names of the departed that you would like commemorated during the evening service on Holy Friday may now also be submitted online: https://stspyridonchurch.org/holy-friday-names/ APRIL 2021 PAGE 5 PRE-S ANCTIFIED LITURGY 5:00 p.m.: Service of the Ninth Hour. Our tradition is to pray this service of the ninth hour prior to the Pre-sanctified Liturgy. It is another taste of the “joyful sadness” characteristic of Lenten services. The Ninth Hour prayers includes the Prayer of St. Ephraim, which we are saying in our daily prayers at home, but which makes no other appearance in the weekly Lenten prayers at our parish, currently. Hope to see you then. 5:30pm: THE PRE-SANCTIFIED LITURGY, is an opportunity to receive the life-giving and spiritually nourishing Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ midweek, as well as praying for our catechumens during special litanies that occur in the middle of this service. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions in response to COVID, we will not have our traditional LENTEN DINNER AND FELLOWSHIP, along with a talk to educate and inspire us in our Lenten journey. We look forward to restoring our dinner and fellowship tradition for Lent 2022.