St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Please be reminded of the immediate services and accompanying activities:

Saturday, July 22nd
Feasts of St. Mary Magdalene and St. Markella the Virgin Martyr
Orthros, 9:30 am
Divine Liturgy, 10:30 am

Sunday, July 23rd
Parish Name Day Picnic
Canyon Rim Park, 3:00 pm

Monday, July 24th
Dormition (Falling Asleep) of St. Anna, the Mother of the Theotokos
THIS IS OUR PARISH NAME DAY
Great Vespers with Artoclasia, 5:00 pm
Our “Pioneer Day.” Please be in church!

Tuesday, July 25th
Dormition (Falling Asleep) of St. Anna, the Mother of the Theotokos
THIS IS OUR PARISH NAME DAY
Orthros, 9:30 am
Divine Liturgy, 10:30 am

THIS SUNDAY, JULY 23RD IS AN ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT DAY IN THE LIFE OF OUR PARISH. PLEASE BE IN CHURCH, AND ATTEND THE PICNIC IN ORDER TO RECEIVE IMPORTANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CRITICAL AND ONGOING EFFORTS OF OUR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN AND THE GROWTH OF OUR BUILDING FUND. YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS OUT!!!

“Rejoice, divine and blessed Anna! Grandmother of Christ our God! You are the blessed ground who caused to blossom the earth which brought forth God for the world! You unceasingly studied the law of God, inscribing grace for all! By your giving birth you broke the bond of barrenness; you overcame death with incorruption; you passed over to divine splendor, after you gave birth to the Theotokos, the Light-bearing lamp. Pray with her that great mercy may be granted to our souls.” – Vespers Hymn for the Dormition of St. Anna

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I pray that you have all enjoyed a blessed week. I must say that our experience up at Strawberry Reservoir for our annual Parish Fishing Trip was a weekend filled with Christian fellowship and great fun. We prayed, ate, danced, ate, fished, ate, laughed, ate…you get the idea.

What a great time! God bless our trip organizers, Chuck Karpakis and Mark Vrontikis. We enjoyed the company of over 140 people who came up during the weekend, and around 70 people who remained for the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. This is continuing to be a lovely July tradition in the life of our community.

July is just full of traditions. We’ve already celebrated Independence Day. Fireworks, BBQ’s, parades, and fun. Every other year (when I’m not attending the National Clergy/Laity Congress) I very much enjoy spending the 4th of July with family and close friends. And let’s not forget our own local holiday toward the end of the month. Pioneer Day! Yeah!!!

So here it is: this message is meant to serve as an important announcement, as well as an appeal to your spiritual sensibilities. While the customs and traditions of our own parish are still growing and forming, I feel it necessary to still send out the reminder that the Feast of the Dormition of St. Anna, our Parish Name Day is the 25th of July.

What does that mean, practically? And what should be developing in your mind’s summer calendar?

Firstly, that while your neighbors and co-workers are commemorating their ancestral journey into this Valley, and celebrating their pioneer spirit, we will be celebrating Great Vespers on the 24th of July.

Great Vespers for the Feast of the Dormition of St. Anna is on Monday, July 24th at 5:00 pm.

I scheduled the service in the late afternoon in case you have evening plans that are also long-standing traditions. Since more and more places are outlawing areal fireworks, your night should be freed up to attend church for your PARISH NAME DAY. Yes…capitalized for emphasis since, I pray, we really should come together, in the church, to honor the Mother of the Theotokos and our Matron Saint Anna.

Please plan on being with us that evening for services, including the Artoklasia, or the Blessing of the Five Loaves.

Secondly, the Divine Liturgy will naturally follow the next day. While I am aware that it is not possible for everyone to take the morning off of work to come to church, but I am really imploring all of you, who are able to be in church, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in commemoration of our Parish Feast.

The Orthros and Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Dormition of St. Anna is on Tuesday,
July 25th at 9:30 am and 10:30 am, respectively.

Thirdly, please remember that our Parish Name Day Picnic is on Sunday, July 23rd at Canyon Rim Park. This will be our opportunity to gather around each other, commemorate our Third Anniversary as a parish and give thanks to our loving Lord for putting our spiritual home in the hands of Christ’s Maternal Grandmother. I will never, ever, cease praising and thanking God for the name He bestowed upon us.

Our church family is united with a member of His family.

Our mystical identity is forever intertwined with His identity.

Our sacred Mother is the Mother of His Mother.

Please, never let the knowledge of this great honor diminish or fade.

Also, please be mindful that we will be discussing some extremely important details concerning our ongoing Capital Campaign at the Picnic. This effort will take the sacrificial and generous support of all of us to have any hope for success.

So there you have it: our July Traditions. Sacred Traditions. Fellowship Traditions. Holy Traditions.

Wow. Just wait until August…

With Much Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony

“Build the house, that I may take pleasure in it, and that I may be glorified.”
– Haggai 1:8

Dearly Beloved in the Lord,

Please take a moment to read the above-cited scriptural verse. Read it again. Meditate upon it. Close your eyes and allow a visual image to take form. Hear God’s commandment that a home should be built unto His glory. Hear the sounds. See the sights. Feel the excitement.

This short verse, from the equally-short Book of Haggai will be embedded in the minds and inscribed on the hearts of the good people of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church. For this scriptural command is our clarion call to rise up, become prayerfully motivated, and set our sights on the most important goal that we as a community of believers, will ever hope to accomplish.

This Verse is the theme for our Capitol Campaign, dedicated to the purchase of land for our eventual and permanent parish home. Hear the sounds. See the sights. Feel the excitement.

It has been a few weeks since I have had the opportunity to properly address you, using this, my favorite medium – these Thursday Evening/Friday Morning messages. I feel deeply connected to you, every time I sit down to write down the contents of my thoughts and prayers. While I was away on vacation (and on a brief hiatus from my pastoral messages), I quietly reached a great mile stone in my humble ministry. On June 15th, I celebrated the 20th Anniversary of my ordination to the Holy Priesthood.

Twenty years is a long time. Sometimes the days have been long, but the years have gone by quickly. Far, too quickly. In the span of two decades, I have experienced incredible blessings and have suffered some pretty substantial challenges. I have shared in the absolute joy of God’s children, and have been witness to the most traumatic and horrific times in people’s lives. We’ve lived in three states and have served two Metropolitans.

I’ve read the prayers of healing, forgiveness, marriage, baptism, chrismation, funerals, sanctification, protection and travel. I’ve blessed hundreds of babies and couples. I’ve blessed thousands of luncheons and dinners. The opportunities to stand before the faithful, and beside the bishop, are equally humbling and exhilarating. I won’t lie: I completely love being fully vested, unto God’s glory – not mine. And I take pride in a near-spotless altar (minus the continual wax drippings).

It’s all been beautiful. Even the most challenging of times have been filled with countless blessings, and opportunities to learn, grow and mature. I’ve enjoyed long-lasting relationships and have endured broken ones, as well. Some of those fractured relationships have been my fault. Other have not. I lament them all, none the less. I ask forgiveness of the people I’ve hurt. And I extend forgiveness to those who have crushed my spirit. It’s all fascinating. It’s all written by the hand of God. Every moment of the past twenty years has been filled with wonder.

But please permit me to speak (or rather, write) as plainly, and as precisely as possible, when I state that:

There is nothing that I have accomplished, worked towards, dreamed of, prayed about or acted upon, within the life of the Church, more significant, than our eventual goal of building our church. Building St. Anna’s Church. Building Christ’s Church.

To be sure, we are just taking the first, little, baby steps towards this lofty and sacred task. We have received the scope of our project through the voice of the Parish Assembly – $3,000,000.00! We have received the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver to proceed. We have begun meeting with individuals and families in the parish, whom we hope and pray will take the lead responsibilities in financing our holy project.

And if you will please read the announcement in this week’s Bulletin, you will learn of our plans to reach out to every, single individual, couple and family, who call St. Anna’s, their spiritual home. Our in-home meetings are not only for those blessed with wealth or resources. The opportunity to hear our plans, share our vision and actively participate is for everyone. And everyone will have, just that opportunity. Hear the sounds. See the sights. Feel the excitement.

Up until now, our rollout has been subtle and understated. But from now, be prepared to hear the message at every gathering and to measure our progress at every turn. The time has come to plan for our future and secure a place that will eventually house our weddings, baptisms, funerals and Liturgies. It is in this future space, where we will hear the Gospel, listen to the Word, partake of the Mysteries, and sing His praises. The time is at hand, that we build the house, that he may take pleasure in it, and where He may be glorified.

Hear the sounds.
See the sights.
Feel the excitement.
Pray the prayer.
Read the Announcement!

With Much Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony

(Hey – we’ve been given the opportunity to do something that is literally once in a life time. Can you believe it?!?)