St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

Apart from love nothing whatever has existed, nor ever will. Its names and actions are many. More numerous still are its distinctive marks; divine and innumerable are its properties. Yet it is one in nature, wholly beyond utterance whether on the part of angels or men or any other creatures, even such as are unknown to us. Reason cannot comprehend it; its glory is inaccessible, its counsels unsearchable. It is eternal because it is beyond time, invisible because thought cannot comprehend it, though it may perceive it. Many are the beauties of this holy Sion not made with hands! He who has begun to see it no longer delights in sensible objects; he ceases to be attached to the glory of this world.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

St. Symeon the New Theologian writes of love in the most eloquent of terms. He extorts that all that has ever existed is through love. Love’s marks and properties and too innumerable to comprehend and too indistinguishable to understand. He who abides in love and strives to live in, through and by it…through the love of God, that is, cares less for that which is of this world, and lives for the Kingdom of God.

If you are a person who loves God in this way. Or at least are attempting to serve Him in this way,

And if you have a prayerful love for our Matron St. Anna, and have an awareness of her continual and loving guidance in our lives as individual households, and as a blessed parish,

And if you feel that the love you have for the Lord and His Church can be put to use for His glory,

And if you feel that the gifts and talents that you have been given from above can be put to good use, through dedication, humility, and steadfastness, for the benefit of the people,

And if you feel that you have time to offer, leadership to share, ideas to celebrate, and thoughts to contribute,

And if you recognize that the coming months and years are, indeed, historic and fantastic times in the life of our community, through the efforts to acquire a property for our Church home,

And if you see yourself as part of loving team, void of personal agenda or ambition, but can visualize yourself as accountable before God and Man,

And find yourself with a desire to serve, guide, lead and be lifted up as an Orthodox Christian example as a true servant-leader,

You may want to prayerfully consider running for the Parish Council in the December election.

I quite realize that our email list is more far-reaching than our parish members itself. So it is important that you know the qualifications to run.

So I invite you to contact me, personally, if you are interested. I will also be available, this Sunday, following the divine Services and worship to give you the application.

You can reach me by email, or at 801-824-3987.

Do you want to lead?

Do you want to serve?

Do you want to express your love for Christ, His Church, and our parish?

Prayerfully consider your participation in this capacity.

With Much Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you are well aware, we are actively involved in a Capital Campaign to purchase property for our permanent church home. While we await the final analysis of the exploration of our due diligence process, we are working with the knowledge that we plan on a 50% down payment of $1,500,000.00. We are tracking to be on track with this goal in that as of today, we are 78% there. We have allot of work to do, but we are well on our way.

That we may remain focused on our objectives and reasons to obtain a church property, The Capital Campaign Committee prayed about, and wrote down the Vision Statement for this God-ordained project. We are confident that this purchase will, indeed, become a reality. And when it does, we will have the sacred responsibility of putting our facility to work for the greater good of our community.

Our efforts to obtain a place to call home will not be self-centered and introspective. We hope to serve and witness Christ as we serve and witness our need to worship, teach, learn, grow and serve. We pray that we all can share in this special vision. It speaks of partnerships.

And once again, I take this opportunity to remind you, that this partnership begins with each and every one of us. We truly pray for our parish’s 100% participation in this effort. The amount we give is not nearly as important as the fact that we gave at all. Please take the time to read our Project Vision Statement. Catch the vision. Participate in it. Become partners in its cause.

St. Anna Capital Campaign Project Vision:

As we stand together, with God, our fellow parishioners, the people of our surrounding neighborhood, and our greater community, we at St. Anna’s strive to be capable and humble:

Philanthropy

Awareness

Ritual

Teamwork

Needs

Evangelism

Reverence

Shrine

In true partnership with our church and community, we will further engage ourselves, and our new church home to become generously involved in Philanthropic endeavors. We will have an Awareness of the needs around us and strive to have our neighbors be aware of who we are. We are a Eucharistic and Christ-centered community that witnesses our Lord through service and sacred Ritual. We work together with those within our parish, and our friends outside of our church, dedicated to coordinated Teamwork for the benefit of all, and to serve the Needs of those we can help. We share our precious faith, traditions and the Gospel of Christ through the practice and spirit of Evangelism. We hold dear, the love which God has for all humankind and approach His goodness through Reverence. And we do all this under the prayerful and watchful guidance of our Matron Saint Anna, the Mother of the Virgin Mary, whose precious Relic is available for veneration in our Shrine that is dedicated to her life in Christ. Presently, we do these things through financial assistance and the dedication of time. Once we are blessed with a permanent home to base our services, sacraments, ministries, and outreach, we will then be able to reach new heights, set new goals, and further galvanize our people as true Partners in our community. We are the St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church of Utah. We are grateful partners.