Dormi on of the Theotokos

ORTHODOX ORACLE MAY 2020

Our mission … is to become Disciples of Christ, through thought, word and deed, humbly submitting to the will of the Father, while seeking the Holy Spirit to achieve Salvation.

Our Vision … with the Grace of God, is to provide a loving community where all belong to Christ, through worship, sanctification, education, witness, Compassion and fellowship.

Christ is Risen! He is Truly Risen! – Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti! When You, the Redeemer of all, were placed in a new Tomb for us all, Hades, the respecter of none, crouched when he saw You. The bars were broken, the gates were shattered, the graves were opened, and the dead arose. Then Adam, gratefully rejoicing, cried out to You: “Glory to Your condescension, O Merciful God.”

Page 3 MAY 2020

Beloved Faithful in Christ! Christ is Risen! He is Truly risen! Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti! It is my fervent prayer that with the Lord’s grace, all of you continue to stay safe and healthy, and above all that you had a wonderful Pascha (Easter) with your families and cracking Easter eggs even during the pandemic. May the peace of His holy resurrection hover over you and your families in abundance of health always. I admit that the Easter service was unique, not only of the time - as we celebrated it in morning instead of midnight - but also without your presence in the church, since we were accustomed to chant together the “Christos Anesti.” Although you were not there bodily, the Holy Saints took your place in the pews to make sure that you received in spirit the Easter blessing, in the Lord’s own words, “peace be with you!” Indeed, it was incredibly unique! In the service, as I was accustomed to come out from the Holy Altar with “light of the Holy Resurrection” to share with all of you in pre-sumably dark church, I felt your presence! Glory be to God! In the Orthros Holy Gospel reading that articulates Christ’s resurrection, emphasizing the empty tomb where “Peter and John” “stooped in” to look into, - I envi-sioned that all of us were there as well - we hear that alt-hough the Lord was not visible that “they saw and be-lieved.” Yes, the Lord is nowhere visible. Yet, Peter and John ac-cording to the Gospel “saw and believed.” So, what did they see to make them believe? It was the burial shrouds lying on the floor of an empty tomb. Maybe that convinced them that He had not been moved off by grave robbers, who usually stole the expen-sive burial linens and left the corpses behind. Why would the robbers do just the opposite? In addition, in the reading we also hear the repetition of the word “tomb”—seven times in nine verses. They saw the “empty tomb” and they believed what He had promised: that God would raise Him on the third day. In the Epistle reading we read how the Disciples were the chosen ones to be His “witnesses,” and they were “commissioned…to preach…and testify” to all that they

had seen—from His anointing with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan to the empty tomb. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sa-maria and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8

And now by their own experience, Pete and John could “understand the Scripture,” and now are able to teach us what He had told them—that He was “the Stone which the builders rejected,” the Savior, “my Lord and my God” as the Apostle Thomas cried out! My beloved, Through our Orthodox Faith and our Baptism, we are the children of the apostolic witnesses. That is why we still gather early in the morning on the first day of every week - Sunday - to celebrate this feast of the empty tomb and give thanks for “Christ our life.” Baptized into His death and Resurrection, we live the heavenly life of the risen Christ, our lives “hidden with Christ in God.” We are now His witnesses, too. Because we testify to things we cannot see – hear only - but only believe; we seek in earthly things what is above.

We live in memory of the Apostles’ witness, like them eating and drinking with the risen Lord at the altar. And we wait in hope for what the Apostles told us would come—the day when we too “will appear with Him in glory.” I believe in one holy catholic (For all - united) and ap-ostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. Our Faith Creed. So, let us all as apostolic witnesses, praise each other for our efforts in church, encouraging each other to grow in church, be glad for each other for using our stewardship talents in church, forgive each other for our misdeeds, assist each other in all things in church, and love each other. WHY? Because it is the apostolic teaching taught by Christ Himself, the teacher of all! It is the message of His Holy resurrection. It is the message of our faith, the message of our church.

Christ is risen! He is truly risen!

A Message from Fr. Sarantis Loulakis

ORTHODOX ORACLE Page 4

Fred & Michelle Akbary Cecelia Antahades Mary Anton Nick Bar s Jacob & Shannon Bishara Erin & Kris Blindenbacher Sofia Calis Brad Caplanides Chris na & Graham Childs Gabriella Christy Carl & Maria Colozzi Maria & James Cropper Hamp & Lula Culler Demetri & Joy Dascalakis Nikolaos & Alexandra Diamandis Mike Doliani s Paula Doumas & Brad Van Laningham Ron & Sondra Freeman Brier & Elaine Gay Clarke & Nina Gilliam Pete Graham Sco & Christa Graham Maher & Niveen Hanna Eleni Harrison Rob & Missy Harrison Ike & Cindy Hatzisavvas Michael John James Dina & Theodora Katsis Nihad & Sana Ka an Barbara Kazazes Angelo N. Kontoulas Greg & Eleni Kuhn Shawn Kuhn Michael & Lydia Long Fr. Saran s & Presv. Norma Loulakis Joanne Macropoulos Chris & Maria Mandaleris Vickie Matsakides

79 families have filled out & returned a 2020 Stewardship card as of April 15: THANK YOU!

STEWARDSHIP MESSAGE

You are the Voice of Christ in a Changing World

 

The base from which we serve as the Voice of

Christ in a Changing World is the parish.  A 

strong parish provides opportunities for 

sharing the Good News of Christ, for wel-

coming those that are searching for a spiritu-

al home, and a base from which we are sent 

out into the world. The parish also provides a 

place for worship, community and education 

in the faith. To be stewards of the Gospel, we 

need to be stewards of our parish. This re-

quires the vision and inspiration to see the 

parish, not as it is, but as it could be. We are 

called to offer ourselves and our treasure to 

make our local church all that is can be.  

“As soon as the word spread, the people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field.” 2 Chronicles 31:55

Lampros & Theodora Megremis Eddie & Maria Merrell Emily & Sam Mihelich Panayota & James Mo Samer & Rania Mushahwar Nicholas & Hollis Oberlies Dimitrios & Anastasia Papadopoulos Michael & Nina Pasick John Pa erson Vasiliki Pa erson Peter & Phyllis Poulos Julie & Adam Powell Larry & Minerva Ross Panagio s & Barbara Sabanis Chris & Ardele Sakellaris Bernade e Shepherd Roger & Celia Sims Bessie Sipsis Jimmy & Linda Sipsis Joseph & Nectaria Smith Mikhail & Ginah Soufia Heidi & Ralph Stucki Catherine & Jim Stuman Kirk & Kiki Tarasidis Christos & Ashley Thalassenos Danny & Maria Thanos Tom & Michelle Thompson Art & June Toompas Zack & Sheila Touloupas Ted Trian s Nafsika Tsintzos Mark Tzouvelekas David Valavanis Yianni & Effie Vari midis Kimmon & Gwen Varsamis Philip & Teresa Vavalides Kay & David Williams Marshall & Patricia Yandle Doris Zaharias Zoe Zaharias Shadi & Maureen Zeidan

Page 5 MAY 2020

URBAN MINISTRY: This is just a reminder that, in light of the many uncertain-ties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we will NOT be serving dinner at Greensboro Urban Ministry on Monday, April 20th. Though we are disheartened not to be able to provide the dinner service, the health and safety of our parishion-ers and our fellow community members must come first. We will, however, still be providing financial sponsorship for the meal. If you are interested in providing fi-nancial support for any of our meals this year, please contact Scott Graham (scottalgraham@gmail.com) or Pete Graham (petegraham88@gmail.com). Thank you for your continued support of this important ministry!

Orthodox Fellowship Lunch: Will not meet this month.

Thank you to everyone who gave donations for Holy Week and Pascha…. Especially: Nafsika Tsintzos for the candles for the Holy Thursday night service, the Passion (12 Gospels); Kirk & Kiki Tarasidis for the flowers for the kouvouklion; Eleni Kuhn for the Paschal candle

Condolences to Clarke Gilliam, Ted Triantis, Eleni Harrison and family — Nina Gilliam fell asleep in the Lord on April 4th Ourania (Nina) Triantis Gilliam passed away suddenly on Saturday, April 4, 2020. She was born in Greensboro, N.C., on Sept. 15, 1960, the daughter of Theodore and Antigone Triantis, and was a graduate of Page High School, class of 1978. Nina was a kind, selfless soul. She was a rock to all she knew and loved, always there with a hug and a smile on her face. She shared her impeccable cooking skills with grace and dashes of love at every oc-casion, whether at her High Point home or her special place in Beaufort, N.C. Nina prided herself as "the hostess with the mostest," and her spirited hospitality and zest for life will be immeasurably missed. Nina was predeceased by her mother Antigone K. Triantis. She is survived by her adoring husband, Thomas Clarke Gilliam; her loving father, Theodore Triantis; her cherished children, Antigo-ne Perry and her husband Daniel, Eleni Hedrick and Mad-ison Hedrick; her devoted siblings, Eleni T. LHarrison and Gus Triantis and his wife Debbie; her nieces and nephews, Hannah and Anthony Harrison, Nia Gillespie and Ted Tri-antis; and her stepchildren, Andrew Gilliam, Brenden Gilliam and his wife Rhonda, and Courtney McLeod and her husband Payne. She also leaves behind her precious granddaughter, Sophia Marie Perry, and many loyal, life-long friends. Proud of her Greek heritage, Nina was a member of Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church, Daughters of Penelope and Philoptochos Society,

which brought her a great feeling of community and love. She gave of herself tirelessly and with love for their involved ministries with her commitment to each. May her memory be eternal!

Condolences to Heidi and Ralph Stucki: Vasil (William) Chirigotis, father of Heidi Stucki, husband of Mar-garetha Chirigotis, and father of Anthony Chirigotis, fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, April 7th. Please keep Heidi, her mother Margaretha, and her brother Anthony, along with the entire family in your thoughts and pray-ers during this very difficult time.May his memory be eternal

ORTHODOX ORACLE Page 6

The Teachings of the Church Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home by Anthony Coniaris Excerpts from pages 39 & 63-64

The Family Table

It has been said that the most important piece of furniture in the house is the family table. Edmund Barbotin calls it, “...the social furnishing. It is … made for reunions. Being accessible from all sides the table is made to be surrounded.… It is here that the family, daily scattered is daily reunited.” However well or poorly made, the table is the family’s treasure. Gathered at table, every meal is called to be a communion in its sharing of food, in our conversation, in our prayer. The great religious festivals of the Old Testament were celebrated, and are still cele-brated today by our Jewish brethren, around the family table. We often forget that we Orthodox Christians come out of the Old Testament. Our roots are there.

We need to reclaim the practice of celebrating the great festivals of the Church year in our home around the fam-ily table. This is how they become real and indelible to our children. St. John Chrysostom in a sermon instructed husbands in the procedure of the family meal: “After eat-ing they are to stand up with their wives and children and sing hymns together. The whole proceedings are to conclude with a prayer….” some families place a small icon of Jesus on the dinner table, with a votive light be-fore it. The children take turns lighting the candle. They hold hands together as dad offers the prayer. After dinner they have a devotion and discussion. They talk about what they believe. They share their Christian values. They read God’s word together. They tell stories. They share what happened during the day. And they conclude with prayer. Dr. Lee Salk, a noted child psychologist, wrote,

Mealtime is incredibly important. People used to talk and listen at meal time, but now they sit in front of their television set with their TV din-ner. I don’t care how busy you are—you can take that time with your children. You can talk about your dreams; you can talk about your day; you cam talk about your frustrations. The busier you are, the more valuable mealtime is for your child. If we don’t spend this time with our youngsters, they are not going to develop healthy attitudes towards family life.

The Purpose of the “Little Church”: To Produce Champions for Christ

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul says, “Greetings also to the church that meets in their house” (Romans 15:5). Even today the home is called in Greek ekkle-sioula, the “little church”. It is established as such by the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony where husband and wife are literally “crowned” by God with authori-ty and responsibility for the home, and by the Sacra-ment of Chrismation by which we are ordained into the royal priesthood of believers, becoming in effect priests of the “little church,” the home. It takes not one but two sacraments to ordain parents to serve as “priests” in the home. Holy Matrimony and Chrisma-tion. “Marriage is the union of man and woman that creates the little church, “ said St. John Chrysostom. Our purpose as parents is to create a miniature of God’s Kingdom of love in our homes.

When young couples came to Fr. Yakov in the for-mer Soviet Union to be married, he would ask them, “Can you give birth to a saint? If you are prepared to and can, then marry; if not I shall not bless you!” in-deed, the purpose of marriage, according to St. John Chrysostom, is to produce “champions for Christ.” he further defines the family as a training ground for virtues. St. Theophan clearly told parents of their re-sponsibility to raise their children not only as Chris-tians but as holy Christians.

Elder Joseph tells us that both his parents loved to go to church and they often read spiritual books, espe-cially the Lives of the Saints. Thus they set a good example both in their personal prayer life, and in their active concern for others. Their mother also led her six children in daily prayer. On feast days, she woke early for Matins. Elder Joseph tells how as a child he really didn’t want to go to church! But once he did, he would be so happy the rest of the day. Be-tween Matins and the Liturgy, they would go home and she would have John read an Akathist to the Sav-ior or to the Mother of God while she censed the whole house. It is such godly homes that produce “champions for Christ.”

Page 7

MAY 2020

Sunday School Class Spring Schedule

Classes are cancelled until further notice

ATTENTION!!! FORMER PHILOPTOCHOS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Graduation Sunday has been postponed and will be rescheduled after Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted. At that time, High School and College Graduates, the 2020 Philoptochos and Pete Harris Scholarship recipients, and former Philopto-chos Scholarship recipients will be honored. We are asking this year’s graduates and former recipients (or family or friends of graduates or former recipients) to please send their email addresses to Catherine Stuman, (ccstuman@yahoo.com) by May 17 so they may be contacted.

Page 8 ORTHODOX ORACLE

Parish Counci l Corner

Christ Is Risen Χριστός Ανέστη

المسيح قامХристос воскрес

The Parish Council would like to wish anyone cele-brating their name day during May, Χρόνια Πολλά. Many thanks to Father Sarantis, the chanters and read-ers who made it possible for us to celebrate Pascha re-motely. They risked their own health to bring the ser-vices to you. This is the true meaning of stewardship. Thank you to everyone who brought flowers for the various Holy Week services. Father was able to use all of them. We also want to give a special thank you to the parishioner who decorated the icons and Kouvouklion for Holy Week.

Following directions from our Heirarchs the church remains closed to the general public. The office is also cosed to all visitors. Father continues to serve the Di-vine Liturgy on Sunday morning with the aid of two chanters, and we are streaming the service on both You Tube and Facebook Live.. All parishioners are encouraged to watch our streaming services and to fol-low along. If you wish to follow the service but don’t have a book, an excellent resource is AGES Initiatives (http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/dcs). This is the resource that the chanters use in singing the Orthros services, and the text is the same that we use during the Divine Liturgy.

We intend to continue to stream our services even when the Covid-19 crisis abates. We will have to purchase some equipment to make this a reality so that both the sound and picture are much better quality. Donations are welcome.

During this time our financial obligations continue. Meeting our obligations is one of our greatest concerns. We are trying to take advantage of various government programs that may assist us. If you are in a position to continue to make your stewardship and reg-ular Sunday donations please do so. Through the hard work of a dedicated parishioner we have been able to add links to our the church’s web site that allow you to make your donations through secure electronic links.

If you don’t wish to contribute electronically please take a moment and mail your stewardship contributions to the office. We will have a parish council member in church each Sunday to light candles for you. If you would like one or more candles lit, please send your request and donation to the office so that it is received by Friday. In addition we are lighting all of the votive candles for the entire parish every service. Donations are welcome.

We are currently in the process of refinancing the loan on the Ministry House. We still owe approxi-mately $30,000 for the property. There is a balloon payment due in September 2020. Please keep this in mind as you make your donations. The parish coun-cil is looking at a number of fund raising ideas but until we know the short and long term impacts of the Covid-19 situation we cannot proceed with any of them. If you have any ideas for new fund-raising events, please contact any parish council member. We do not yet have any news about the festival. We are carefully monitoring the official government in-structions, and we are closely watching what hap-pens as the country begins to reopen. We are also aware that many of our volunteers are in high risks groups. While the fellowship from the festival is priceless, we do not want to do anything that will risk anyone’s health. We hope to be able to give you an detailed update in the June Oracle, though it may be July before we know how we are going to pro-ceed. Please direct any comments or questions about the festival to the parish council president, Philip Vavalides

Page 9

MAY 2020

ATTENTION!!! HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE GRADUATES

OF THE CLASS OF 2020

Please note that we have extended the deadline for the Philoptochos and Pete Harris Applications to Sunday, June 7 at 12 noon. Please contact Gwen Varsamis, Chapter Corresponding Secretary, 336-601-6717 or email her at gwen.varsamis@gmail.com, if you need additional information or to request an application electronically. Completed applications may be emailed to Gwen or mailed to her home at 808 Rollingwood Drive, Greensboro, NC 27410.

Thank you from Nina Gilliam’s family Thank you for all the cards, the calls, the show of support and sympathy on behalf of Clarke, her husband, Theodore Triantis, her father, Antigone, Eleni and Madison, her children and Eleni Harrison, her sister. We really appreciate everyone’s love and concern. The Gilliam/Triantis/Harrison family

To Soteria Dascalakis for the Wreath for the holy Week Services

Page 10

MAY 2020

LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY NEWS Christos Anesti! Your Ladies Philoptochos Board prays that everyone is well and adjusting to our new way of living during this COVID-19 crisis. If Philoptochos can assist with a need you may have, please contact Catherine Stuman, cell #336-392-4264 or email ccstuman@yahoo.com. If you need grocery items, we have members who will shop on your behalf, then drop them off at your front door. Remember, too, that a telephone call to some-one you haven’t seen during the stay-at-home period these past six weeks, can brighten up your day. We are very aware that the economic impact is great throughout our local community. There-fore, our Ladies Philoptochos Board researched greater Greensboro’s non-profit organizations and made the decision for our chapter to send a $500 donation from our Emergency/Discretionary Fund to A Simple Gesture, an organization that seeks out and as-sists the neediest Food Banks in our area such as Backpack Beginnings and Out of the Gar-den. An additional $500 was sent to United Way of Greater Greensboro’s Virus Relief Fund to assist the neediest non-profits who provide services to families, individuals, and small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We also expedited our 2020 budg-eted donation of $1000 to Greensboro Urban Ministry that is currently helping individuals recently unemployed, children and families fac-ing financial hardships and food insecurities, and the homeless. If possible, we encourage you to assist a local non-profit that is working tirelessly to help individuals, families, and small businesses in financial crisis during the corona-virus pandemic and aftermath. We also encour-age all members to remember that although our church doors are closed, our church relies on our stewardship financial commitments to meet their annual budget. Additionally, donations may be made in honor of or in memory of loved ones. These donations can assist with lost revenues anticipated from the Spring Greek Food and Pastry Drive Thru. Please note that we have extended the dead-line for the Philoptochos and Pete Harris Applications to Sunday, June 7 at 12 noon. Please contact Gwen Varsamis, Chapter Corre-sponding Secretary, cell 336-601-6717 or email her at gwen.varsamis@gmail.com if you need additional information, or to request an applica-

tion electronically. Completed applications may be emailed to Gwen or mailed to her home at 808 Rollingwood Drive, Greensboro, NC 27410. Graduation Sunday has been postponed and will be rescheduled after Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted. At that time, High School and College Gradu-ates, the 2020 Philoptochos and Pete Harris Schol-arship recipients, and former Philoptochos Scholar-ship recipients will be honored. We are asking this year’s graduates and former recipients (or family or friends of graduates or former recipients) to please send their email addresses to Catherine Stuman, ccstuman@yahoo.com) by May 17 so they may be contacted. Although this is not a chapter election year, our Metropolis Philoptochos President has given our Saint Philothea chapter permission to increase our Board mid-term by an additional 2 to 4 members. This is a perfect op-portunity to be a part of the leadership team and contribute to the yearly planning of our philan-thropic and charitable sisterhood. Please consid-er offering your time and talents. Interested members may contact Catherine Stuman di-rectly or any Philoptochos Board Member (Maria Merrell, Sheila Touloupas, Christa Graham, Paula Cash, Gwen Varsamis, or Lula Culler).

Please note that our May 19 Philoptochos Gen-eral Meeting has been cancelled. When re-strictions are lifted and our lives return to a “new normal”, we will schedule our last meeting before we take a break for the summer months. We will celebrate a unique year and once again enjoy be-ing together. The 2020 Clergy Laity Congress/National Philoptochos Biennial Convention that was to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, June 28 – July 2, 2020, at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown and the Hunting-ton Convention Center has been cancelled for this year. Your Philoptochos Board wants you to please know that although you are out of our sight, you are not out of our thoughts and our pray-ers. Let us all continue to pray for one another, our church family, and our nation. We look for-ward to being together in the near future and worshipping with you at our beloved Dormition of the Theotokos church.

May 2020

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

April 26 Thomas Sunday 9am Matins 10am Liturgy

April 27 April 28 April 29

April 30

May 1

2

3 9am Matins 10am Liturgy

4

5 PC meeting 7:30pm

6

7

8 9

10 9am Matins 10am Liturgy

11 12 PC meeting 7:30pm

13 14 15 16

17 9am Matins 10am Liturgy

18

19

20

21

22 23

24 9am Matins 10am Liturgy

25 26 PC meeting 7:30pm

27

28 29 30

31 9am Matins 10am Liturgy

June 1 June 2 June 3 June 4 June 5 June 6 Saturday of Souls 9:30am Divine Liturgy

During the time that we are staying at home, all services will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube. Service schedule is subject to change.

Dormition of the Theotokos NON PROFIT 800 Westridge Road U.S. POSTAGE PAID Greensboro NC 27410 Greensboro NC Permit No. 293 Return Service Requested

“Work willingly at whatever

you do, as though you were

working for the Lord rather

than for people. Remember

that the Lord will give you

an inheritance as your

reward, and that the

Master you are serving is

Christ.” Colossians

3:23‐24

IN TIMES OF ILLNESS

"Come, O blessed of my fa-ther, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was sick and you visited me." (Matt. 25:31-46).

When a member of our Parish is ill and has been hospitalized or may be recuperating at home, the immediate family of the ill person should contact Fa-ther Sarantis at (516) 526-1475 or call the church office. It is beneficial to both the body and the soul when our priest prays for us when we are healthy or ill.

May 2020

PLEASE NOTE: During the time that we are staying at home, all services will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube. The church office will remain closed during this time. Service schedule is subject to change.