December2007 - Greek Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos

Father's Challenge

Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem. So close that you could walk it in less than two hours. Today Bethlehem is like a suburb of Jerusalem. Back then people lived in Bethlehem and went to Jerusalem to buy and sell and to go to the Temple. It was an easy journey on good roads.

Six miles. It's not a great distance and yet none of the scribes or Pharisees cared enough to go and check out the rumor that the long-awaited Messiah had been born. Six miles from Jesus. Six miles from salvation. Six miles from forgiveness. Six miles from eternal life. They were too busy studying the Scriptures to see for themselves.

Six miles isn't very far. It's not quite five miles from the church to downtown Greensboro. If we took the whole congregation and started a leisurely stroll down Friendly Avenue, we would travel five miles in about 90 minutes. But the scribes didn't care enough to get involved. They wouldn't even go six miles.

So close, yet so far. All that knowledge did them no good. The Magi on the other hand knew so little, yet traveled so far. The scribes knew so much, yet they wouldn't even venture six miles down the road.

Many members of our parish live in close proximity to the church. Traveling by car, it is not a long drive. Yet many people, like the scribes and Pharisees, are so involved in their own lives that they neglect to travel the short distance from their home to go to church on a regular basis. How sad, because it is a loss for them and for the community. For the Body of Christ is incomplete. St. Paul writes, "For the body is not one member but many" (1 Cor. 12:14) and "If one members suffers, all the members suffer with it." (1 Cor.12: 26)
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When we come together as a community of faith, it is a holy moment. For God Himself is present with us. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20) It is a time to be strengthened spiritually through prayer and the Eucharist.

The custom of Christians coming to Church only on the high holy days such as Christmas or Easter is a modern innovation. Scripture itself records that coming together weekly on the Lord's Day was the norm, not the exception. It is written, "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight." (Acts 20:7)

Coming together regularly on Sunday mornings is a beautiful and visible expression of our love for God. It is part of our worship to God. As the psalmist wrote, "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise him." (Psalm 22:22)

As we prepare to celebrate the Blessed Nativity of Our Lord, let us resolve to worship and welcome the Prince of Peace not just on Christmas, but each Sunday of the year. The journey, my brothers and sisters, is not far in terms of miles. The distance is great only in our hearts.

In Christ,

Fr. Dionysios

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Father Gregorios Tatsis, from the Atlanta Metropolis, will be visiting us Sunday, December 2, through Tuesday, December 4, 2007.� He will be with us for a Divine Liturgy for Saint Barbara on Tuesday, December 4, Orthros and the Liturgy will begin at 8:00am.

President's Message

In Sunday's News and Record, there was an article on the front page of the 'ideas' section that caught my attention.� The article was titled "25 reasons to be thankful, from A to Y".� Curious, I read it.� The article was very basic in that the author just told the reader what makes him thankful.� So, I thought about what makes me thankful and so this message was made! Reasons to be thankful, for our church from A to Z.� A is for the Agapion, Alesce, Amprazis, Andreescu, Andrews, Anghelescu, Antahades, B. Anton, C. Anton, S. Anton, Athanas families:� B is for the Bailey, Bakas, Baker, Barbee, Barteris, Bartis, N. Bartis, Benson, Bilous, E. Bishara, J. Bishara, J. Bishara, Blavos, Boll, Boukas, Bouras, Brown, Bundros, families; C is for the Chamis, Chininis, Clark, Collins, Colozzi, Constantinou, A. Contogiannis, E. Contogiannis, L. Contogiannis, M.A. Contogiannis, J. Contogiannis, Contos, Cooper, Corcoran, Corey, Crist, Cropper, Culler, Cvijanovich families; D is for the D. Dascalakis, M. Dascalakis, Dermatas, Dolianitis families; E is for the Efstathiou, Eustathiou families; F is for the Faycurry, Fenger, Fesenko, Fiouris, Fox, Freeman families; G is for the Galloway, Ganim, Gay, Gradinaru, Graham, Grecu families; H is for the Halthis, Hanhan, Hanna, Harrison, Hartigan, Hatzisavvas, Havraniak, Heath, Hedrick, Hognoj, Hudak & Huey� families; J is for the James family; K is for the Kalligairdes, Kalogiros, Karas, Katsikas, Kattan, Kayiales, Kazazes, Klenos, Koko, A. Kontoulas, A & B Kontoulas, C. Kontoulas, G. Kontoulas, J. Kontoulas, M. Kontoulas, R. Kontoulas, Koronis, Kotsikorou, Krinos families; L is for the Lane, Lawrence, Laza, Liinangi, Lipovan, Listerman-Vierling, Long, Lundberg families; M is for the Mabe, Macropoulos, Mandaleris, Martin, Mastrogianakis, Matsakides, Megremis, Merrell, Michaels, Miller, Moraru, Mott families; N is for the Nicholson, Nicolaescu, Novikov families; O is for the Oncea, Onisko, Orfanedes families; P is for the Palamaris, E. Pappas, M. Pappas, P. Pappas, Pascu, Pasick, C. Patterson, V. Patterson, Perrou, Pesirithes, H. Peterson, S. Peterson, Petrovic, Pitu, Pond, Popescu, K. Poulos, P. Poulos, Pradetto, Price families; R is for the Ragsdale, Raxter, Ristanovic, Rodete, Roros, Ross, Rueppell families; S is for the Carroll, Sakellaris, Schermerhorm, Shepherd, Silos, R. Sims, M. Sims, G. Sipsis, J. Sipsis, Sirbu, Sontag, Soufia, Stuman families; T is for the Tarasidis, Taylor, Tetteris, Thanos, D. Thanos, Thevaos, Thompson, Tivasova, Toompas, J. Touloupas, Z. Touloupas, G, Triantis, T. Triantis, Trigonis, Tripp, Tsaros, Tselides, Tsintzos, Tzavaras, M. Tzouvelekas, N. Tzouvelekas families; U is for the Uwanawich family; V is for the Valvanis, Vandoros, Vaporis, Varitimidis, B. Varsamis, K. Varsamis, K. Varsamis, Vasilescu, B. Vaughan, E. Vaughan, Vavalides families; W is for the West, White, Woods families; X is for the Xixis family and Z is for the Zaharias family!� As I typed all these names, I thought about the contributions that each individual makes to our church.� Let us all be thankful for each other.� May we have a very blessed and enriching Christmas Holiday.

Kiki Tarasidis

KICK-OFF!!!�� 2008 STEWARDSHIP DRIVE

"Let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God."
�� That is a verse that we are all familiar with.� A verse that each one of us recognizes and has memorized since our youth, yet I cannot find a better phrase that can describe stewardship. At this point I would like you to take a moment and read that celebrated verse aloud.� (Yes, out loud!)
�� WOW!� Did you feel that?� The power of that verse is something that we cannot deny.� If you were not moved, l beseech you to continue to read it aloud until you feel it, feel the true meaning of what stewardship is all about.�
�� How often do we take blessings for granted?� I believe that we are all guilty of doing that.� If we start to look at and identify our blessings more often, then we will begin to feel as if we could never reimburse GOD the debt that we owe Him.�
�� Look back and recollect how much your parents provided for you as their child.� Once they had children, they no longer lived for themselves, but for us, their children.� Likewise, as Orthodox Christians every time we partake in Communion we pledge to, "no longer live for myself, but for You, our Master and Benefactor".� We all know that we could never re-pay our earthly parents for all that they have done for us, now we need to realize that we could never re-pay our God for all he continues to do for each and every one of us!
�� I challenge you; try to never say NO to GOD.� It will not be easy, but He never said that it would.
"Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
�the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain."� (I Cor. 15:58)

Yours in Christ,
Stewardship Committee

THE TREASURER'S NOTE
October 2007:
Income ��$�� 8,072.21
Expenses��$ 15,790.50
Difference�� $ - 7,718.29
"As we are getting close to the end of the year, please keep in mind that in order to be able to use your pledge/donation to the church as a tax write off for this year the check needs to be deposited in 2007. If a check is deposited after December 31st that check cannot be used as a tax write off for the year 2007, regardless of the date on the check. To ensure that this does not happen, please make your pledge/donation by December 15, 2007. Thank you."

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS

A General Assembly was held on October 29, 2007 with almost 60 people in attendance. The 2008 budget was approved. The 2008 Stewardship Drive was addressed as we are kicking off the campaign in the last quarter of 2007. It was reported that the overall festival income increased in 2007 and was the highest in the history of our Parish.
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It was reported that Goya is going strong under the dedicated new leadership of Craig and Amanda Corey. Ideas and communication were sought to increase the involvement of our younger parishioners and their parents in Sunday School.
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Other topics discussed included: more community events; the possibility of participating in the building of a Habitat House together with a Methodist Church and a Baptist Church; and the Greek Flag donation in front of the Church.
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Nominations were taken for the Parish Council, the Audit Committee and the Elections Committee. Elections for Parish Council will take place on December 9th.
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Submitted by Theodora Vaporis

DAUGHTERS OF PENELOPE
We would like to thank those of you who came to support the Ahepans for the Greek Chicken meal as well as the Daughters bake sale on Sunday, November 4.� This was our annual fundraiser to earn monies for various charities and for the church.� We very much appreciated those of you who supported us and missed those of you who were unable to attend.

PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS� - By Georgette Galloway�
��A special thank you to all Philoptochos and GOYA members that volunteered for the Salvation Army Bell Ringing on November 17 at Macy's, Friendly Shopping Center.�
�Our annual Membership Drive will continue through the month of November.� All ladies eighteen and over are invited to join us.� Yearly membership fees are $25 and may be paid at this time.� Look for our table set up in the Hall.
�Our Annual Craft Show and Bake Sale will be held on December 1.� This is a perfect time to Christmas shop for family, friends, teachers, and co-workers.� You will find unique gifts made by local North Carolina crafters plus DELICIOUS holiday pastries baked by the ladies of our community.� Volunteers are needed throughout the day.
Philoptochos and the Parish Council will host the December 2 coffee hour in honor of all new members.�� Please make every effort to attend this event.
�Mark your calendars for Monday, December 3, for our Ladies Philoptochos Christmas Dinner at 6:00 p.m. at Anton's.�� Friends and spouses of members are invited.� Reservations will be accepted through November 29.� Please contact Lula Culler at 854-8235.� Members are asked to bring canned foods to this dinner to help replenish our Food Bank for the Holidays.�
�Philoptochos will host the Christmas Lenten Reception on Sunday, December 23 directly after Church.� All members are asked to bring a Lenten appetizer or dessert item.
�We have begun our Annual Christmas Project for Families in Need.�� Chairpersons Georgette Galloway and Catherine Stuman have organized a gift giving procedure for several children and families referred to us from a local school.� This information is posted in the Hall.� Monetary donations will be accepted to purchase additional items needed by the families.
If you are interested in hosting the Sunday Coffee hour or donating flowers for the Altar, please check the sign-up sheet located in the Church Hall.
�Our next General Meeting will be Monday, January 8, at 6:45 p.m.� A Board Meeting will take place at 6 p.m. before the General Meeting.
�The Ladies Philoptochos Society wishes everyone a safe and blessed holiday.

AHEPA by Dimitrios Efstathiou
I would like to express my appreciation to our AHEPA brothers and Daughters of Penelope sisters for their hard work on our AHEPA family annual fund raising event on November 4th.� AHEPANs will have their annual Christmas Dinner on Wednesday, December 12th at 7:00 pm at Acropolis Restaurant (416 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, tel: 336 273-3306). The AHEPANs extend an invitation to the
Daughters of Penelope to join us to our Christmas Dinner. Please RSVP to Matthew Pappas (336 292-5130) or Dimitrios Efstathiou (336 286-1187) by Sunday, December 9th.� Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

50+ Club will not meet in December due to the holidays.

PARISH NEWS AND NOTES

THANK YOU
Nina Hedrick for donating 25 sheet pans and parchment paper for the kitchen.� This is a very generous gift!

The "Baking Committee" would like to thank everyone who went through Harris Teeter many times buying and donating enough flour for most of the pastries for Festival 2008 when it was on sale for 69 cents a bag.� The 5 pound bags are in the freezer now awaiting all the hands needed
when baking begins early spring!
Thank you! Thank you!

WELCOME
to all new members:
On December 2nd, the 2007 Parish Council and Ladies Philoptochos will
sponsor a special coffee hour after Sunday Service to honor our new
members.