Vol. 23 , No. 5 Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church 2501 S. Wolf Rd. Westchester, IL September 2018708.562.2744 www.holyapostleschurch.com

Why Be Orthodox?This summer our

Archdiocese hosted theClergy-Laity Conferencein Boston. “All ThingsAre Possible to the Onewho Believes in Christ”(Mark 9:23) was theweek’s theme. A recordnumber of church com-munities from across the

country participated. Archbishop Demetriosof America’s keynote address reminded us thatthe Church has always encountered chal-lenges. He outlined four distinct challengesfacing our Church.

People “Disconnecting from the Church”was addressed in a workshop. “Why BeOrthodox?” was presented by Dr. AristotlePapanikolaou who is the Professor of Theologyat Fordham University and co-director of the

Orthodox Christian Studies Center. He beganby quoting St. Paul who writes that nothingcan separate us from the love of God. (Romans8:38) Unfortunately some of our people donot understand this. We have a growingamount of NONES. They believe that theydo not have to affiliate with a church to bereligious or spiritual. A Public ResearchReligious Institute study revealed that people

From Father Nicholas

MosaicComing together, we form an icon of God’s Kingdom

...See Fr. Nicholas on P. 3

The Gathering PlaceGrand Opening

Months of planning and construction culminatedon August 19 at the Blessing and GrandOpening of The Gathering Place. Above left,Presbytera Effie Chiganos cut the ribbon assist-ed by her son Phil. Above, she chats with JohnStathopoulos prior to the service. At left, Fr.Nicholas and Fr. Panayiotis convey God’sblessings by sprinkling holy water on the entirearea following a brief Agiasmos service.

Photosby ScottSanders

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 2

Gavel to GavelMinutes of the July Council Meeting BY TOM GREGORY

Present: Fr. Nicholas Georgiou, Fr.Panayiotis Hasiakos, Peter Bell, JimFotopoulos, George Alex, Terry Chiganos,Spyro Demakis, Tom Gregory, CindyClark, Nick Kouchis, Norm Pomrening,Peter Poteres, Lou Katzioris, AliciaMagas, Nick Kirkeles, Jim Maragos, andSteven Savas.

Meditation:º Fr. Nicholas reported on the recent Clergy

Laity Conference in Boston. TheConference theme was: “All Things arePossible to the One Who Believes inChrist.” Archbishop Demetrios ofAmerica delivered the keynote addressand discussed how the Church has alwaysencountered challenges, the greatest ofwhich were in the early centuries ofChristianity. Since we are an integral partof the Orthodox Church, His Eminenceanalyzed the following four challenges weall face: a) the non-stopping change ineverything; b) economic pressure andpoverty; c) disconnecting from theChurch; and d) attacks against theChristian Faith. To successfully overcomethese challenges, His Eminence said, wehave to undertake a number of importanttasks and put forth specific goals and proposals.

Stewardship/Finance Reportº Norm Pomrening gave the Financial

Report. From January to June, revenuewas $531k and expenses were $484k leav-ing $46 in profit/net revenue.

º The amount pledged is down by $12,700.The number of pledges is down by 35.The average pledge, however, is up.

º Norm Pomrening said that at the recentfinance committee meeting, the commit-tee discussed the upcoming budgetprocess.

Updatesº Golf Outing: Nick Kouchis reported that

the golf outing exceeded expectations.There was excellent participation for bothgolf and dinner. Feedback from partici-pants has been excellent.

º Youth Protection: A new manual wasapproved at Clergy Laity. New plan to beeffective September 2019.

Old Businessº Back Room: President Bell reported that

the designer met with the parish recently.Material cost is higher than expected. TheParish Council has authorized $40,000,but when labor is added, the cost is likelyto exceed $40,000. Alicia Magas made amotion to increase the funding from to$50,000 for both rooms (including thePhiloptochos Room). After further discus-sion, Alicia Magas made a motion to tablethe motion to increase the funding to$50,000. The secondary motion passedunanimously and the motion to increasethe funding to $50,000 was tabled.

º Treasurer’s Assistant: President Bell report-ed that a new (non-Parish Council) posi-tion is being created to assist the treasurerwith financial reporting.

º Nick Kouchis made a motion to spend upto $15,000 to hire the Treasurer’s Assistantas an independent contractor to work 15-20 hours per week at $33 per hour, butnot to exceed $15,000 in pay throughDecember 31, 2018. The motion passed.

º A CPA candidate has been interviewedand offered the position. The candidatewill be an independent contractor and theposition would initially run throughDecember 31, 2018.

An InvitationTo A Banquet

From Father Panayiotis

Wisdom has built a housefor herself, and set up sevenpillars…she has mingled herwine in a bowl and preparedher table…and to them thatwant understanding, she says,‘Come, eat of my bread, and

drink wine which I have mingled for you.’ (Prov9:1-5)

In the Scripture, there are a number ofinstances where someone is being invited to a ban-quet. In the passage above, it is Wisdom (personi-fied) who is inviting us to a banquet. It would seemodd for anyone to refuse such an invitation. Whodoes not wish to acquire wisdom, at least in princi-ple? We all want it, but the real question iswhether we are willing to travel upon the paththat brings us to it. Wisdom is acquired throughexperience, and experience often entails painfulmistakes and being corrected. Some of the wis-dom we acquire is learned ‘the hard way.’

We can make this process of acquiring wisdomeasier if we have the right attitude. To this point,let us read further from Proverbs:

“Rebuke not evil men, lest they should hatethee; rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will bewiser.” (Prov 9:8-9)

In other words, when we are corrected, wehave two options: to despise the person correctingus, because we dislike being corrected, or to lovethe person correcting us, because he is giving usan opportunity to become wiser. The secondoption is clearly what God wants for us—but ofcourse it is not the easy option, since our fallennature protests being corrected. The “old man”(or “old self”; cf. Eph 4:22) is stubborn and wantsto stay as he is, but in our baptism we have put onChrist; we are called to become new people inChrist. We are called to see these painful experi-ences (when we fall or when we are corrected) as“opportunities,” as Solomon says. A wise manloves the one who corrects him; he sees this personas his great benefactor! And sometimes, it is notanother person who corrects us, but God Himself,when He allows us to stumble a little. In theseinstances, we realize that we are not perfect, andGod shows us something in ourselves that needsour attention. If we are wise, this will not make usupset at God, but we will love Him even more. Wewill say to Him, “thank you, Lord, for not aban-doning me as I am now but instead trying to bringme where I need to be. Thank you for calling metoward the banquet you have prepared for us.”

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all of ourdaily struggles, no matter how painful they maybe, let us always accept God’s invitation to thebanquet of Wisdom, that is, the banquet of Hiskingdom, the banquet of our Lord and God andSavior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, now andalways. Amen.

An all-you-can-eat deluxe PancakeBreakfast, hosted by the Adventure Theater,will take place on Sunday, October 7, immedi-ately following the Divine Liturgy. Besidesdelicious pancakes, the menu will includescrambled eggs, sausage, juice, fruit, milkand coffee.

This is our main fundraiser for the year.A portion of the proceeds will be used to buymuch-needed Bibles for our Sunday School.

Persons 12 and older $10.00; ages 5through 11 $5.00, and children 4 and under,free of charge.

Adventure Theater members will begin

taking reservations in the multi-purpose roomfollowing the Divine Liturgy on Sunday,September 16 and again, on September 23and 30.

Or, you may contact Mr. D. at his hometelephone number 708.562.4926, or e-mailhim at fanari@me.com. See you on Sunday,Oct. 7, and the Bears aren’t playing that day!

Bring your appetite to Adventure Theater’sPancake Breakfast on October 7

BTW: It's time to start work on a new

Parish Directory, and volunteers areneeded. If you are interested contact PeterBell at dokphoto@yahoo.com.

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 3

Fr. Nicholas from P. 1

At the conclusion of the DivineLiturgy Sunday, August 19, there wasan unexpected event honoring Fr.Nicholas.

During the recent Clergy-LaityCongress, Parish Council PresidentPeter Bell and other Council mem-bers selected a new pectoral cross forFr. Nicholas. He is permitted to wearthe ornate cross following his recentelevation to the rank of Oikonomos.

The pectoral cross was to be asecret with only a few people in onthe plan to present it to Fr. Nicholas.

He was successfully kept in thedark and was surprised when PeterBell approached him after theLiturgy and presented the cross tohim.

A Surprise For Fr. Nicholas

Why Be Orthodox? ...stop attending church because they no longerbelieve in the religious teachings. Some peo-ple believe that our Faith is about rules.Orthodoxy is not about rules but a relation-ship with Christ. The four Sunday Gospelreadings leading into Lent reinforce this.Humility is the focus of the Publican andPharisee (Luke 18:10-14) reading. ThePharisee is pleased with himself because heexternally complies with the rules and reli-gious regulations. But the deeply faithfulPublican humbly cries out, “Lord have mercyon me.” The next week the father welcomesback the rule-breaking prodigal son withmercy and great love. (Luke 15:11-32) LastJudgement Sunday (Matthew 25:31-46)reminds us that we will be judged by how welove and care for others. Forgiveness Sunday(Matthew 6:4-21) commands us to forgive eachother. God’s grace makes it possible to loveour enemies and strangers. If you are wonder-ing if you truly love your enemies, try this test.Do you truly believe that the person hurtingyou can be transformed by the Lord? Can wesee the divine potential in others? Do webelieve they can experience theosis andbecome like Christ? Notice that these are allinternal Christian virtues affecting our rela-tionship with Christ and not the mere follow-ing of external rules. St. Maximos theConfessor provides internal signals that denotea Christian truly experiencing God’s love.They will experience less fear, less anger andless hatred.

The discussion then returned to answeringthe question, “Why be Orthodox?” Dr.Papanikolaou provided an excellent illustra-tion. He spoke about his college students whowere dancers. They challenged him to begindancing. Initially, he was a terrible dancerwith no interest in learning. To appease hisstudents, the professor started taking dancelessons. He grudgingly went through themotions, attending the lessons, executing thedrills and exercises not knowing what he wasdoing. The professor kept attending eventhough he did not enjoy dancing. Throughdiscipline and constant attendance, he slowlystarted to enjoy it. The professor evenimproved without realizing it. He advanced tointermediate and advanced dance and beganloving to dance. Because he was spending somuch time dancing, he began to learn aboutthe politics at the studio. Some people did notget along and disagreed with each other. Theprofessor merely wanted to dance and notworry about the political and personnel issues.The dance had overtaken the dancer. TheWilliam Butler Yeats poem titled: AmongSchool Children was quoted: “O body swayedto music, O brightening glance, How can weknow the dancer from the dance?” Our

Christian faith becomes part of us. We areOrthodox because of what we do. FamousOrthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky wrotethat the point of dogma is to live the dogma.The dancer becomes the dance.

Our Orthodox Christian Church is thedance studio. The Church is a spiritual hospi-tal that heals our souls. It is also a trainingground. Christ-like transformation can takeplace in our lives even if we do not realizewhat is happening. We come to the Church toallow the Holy Spirit to transform us. Ourcapacity to love God and others grows. TheChurch is a training ground that teaches us

how to dance or live as Christians in the diffi-culties and messiness of this life.

The presentation concluded with lyricsfrom U2’s The First Time: “I have a lover, alover like no other, My father is a rich man,He wears a rich man’s cloak, Gave me the keysto his kingdom coming, Gave me a cup ofgold, He said I have many mansions, Andthere are many rooms to see, But I left by theback door.” Unfortunately, some OrthodoxChristians leave by the back door. Keep com-ing to Church to experience our living God,become like Christ and experience the dancerbecoming the dance.

tt

Noah Ernst listens to Faith Christy as Fr. Nicholas looks on.

Great weather helped parishioners enjoy food, fun, and fel-lowship following The Gathering Place dedication August 19.At right, Soleil Karounos enjoys a shishkabob.

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 4

Holy Apostles Philoptochos will hold itsannual Membership Night on Tuesday,September 25 at 7:00pm at La Barra – 3011Butterfield Road in Oak Brook. Bring a friendand hear about the exciting thingsPhiloptochos does in our community.Volunteer for a project of interest and makenew friends. RSVP by September 21 to AlekaErnst at 630.561.1660 or alekaernst@aol.com.

The Greek Orthodox Philoptochos Societyis one of the largest Christian women’s organi-zations in the United States. The mission ofthe Holy Apostles chapter, in existence since1958, is to aid the poor, the hungry, the sick,the orphaned, and the victims of disaster.

Philoptochos contributed $55,000 to chari-table causes this past year. Our primaryfundraiser every year is our fashion show.Most of the proceeds from this event benefittwo charities, with the remainder helping tofund our other philanthropic endeavors.

Some of the projects we have been involvedwith this past year that benefit those outside ofour Holy Apostles Community are:

A Silver Lining Foundation (2017 FashionShow Beneficiary) – proceeds funded a pro-gram which provides free mammograms andfollow-up diagnostic testing for the underin-sured and underserved.

Fanari Camp (2017 Fashion ShowBeneficiary) – proceeds assisted children offamilies with financial needs attend Fanari Camp.

Annual Luncheon & Fashion ShowUnder the Big Top will be held Saturday,

October 20, at Abbington Banquets in GlenEllyn. Cocktails and raffle sales begin at 11am followed by the luncheon at 12 pm. Thisyear’s beneficiaries are Gigi’s Playhouse andthe Philoxenia House. Fashions will be pre-sented by Zzazz Productions and models willinclude children from Holy Apostles.

Tickets will be available for purchase in theHoly Apostles multipurpose room onSaturday, September 8, from 9-10 am andafter the Divine Liturgy on Sundays beginningSeptember 9. Please contact Nia Kouchis at630.363.7430 for reservation informationbeginning September 10.

Philoptochos Fall Happening

Blankets of Love – collected knit, cro-cheted, or fleece blankets which were thendonated to the NICU at Central DuPage Hospital.

Family Shelter Service Toy Drive – collect-ed donations with which Philoptochos pur-chased items that those facing domestic abusecould select as gifts for their children from theshelter’s Christmas Holiday Shoppe.

Feed the Hungry – organized volunteers topurchase and serve a hot meal to the needy atAnnunciation Cathedral in Chicago.

Feed My Starving Children – organizedvolunteers to pack specially-formulated mealsfor malnourished children around the world.

Poised for Success – collected new andgently used professional clothing and acces-sories for women who cannot afford appropri-ate clothes for a job interview.

Please consider attending the PhiloptochosMembership Night in September and joiningus in our efforts. The keynote speakers will bethe beneficiaries of this year’s Fashion Show –Gigi’s Playhouse and Philoxenia House.

For more information on Philoptochosmembership, please contact MembershipChair Chrisie Alex at 630.272.0737 orchrisievalex@sbcglobal.net. There are alsomembership envelopes and volunteer formsavailable in the multipurpose room and on thePhiloptochos page of the Holy Apostles web-site:www.holyapostleschurch.com/ministries/philoptochos.

Philoptochos Membership Night

On Sunday, August 5, Faith Christy,Chairperson of the Metropolis of Chicago’sReligious Education Scholarship Committee,presented the Rev. William S. ChiganosScholarship to long-time Holy Apostles’acolyte, Noah Ernst.

This scholarship was named after Fr. Bill,who served as the director of the MetropolisReligious Education Department for many years.Noah, the first Holy Apostles’ parishioner toreceive this scholarship, served as an altar boy,and has been a participant in SundaySchool, the Oratorical Festival, GOYA, Jr.Olympics, the dance troupe, Fanari Camp,and most recently, Ionian Village. He will be afreshman at the Milwaukee School ofEngineering this fall.

With the blessing of His Eminence,Metropolitan Nathanael, the Metropolis ofChicago Byzantine Music School will be offer-ing classes at various levels this fall and will be

hosted at Holy Apostles. For more informa-tion, please see the flyer on our parish websiteor contact Fr. Sotirios Malamis at (847)482-1200 or frsotirios@ascensiongoc.com.

Holy Apostles to host Byzantine Music School

Hundreds Attend AnnualChurch Picnic

Rev. William S. ChiganosScholarship Awarded

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 5

Annual Holy Apostles picnicenjoyed by all

A perennial favorite, the sack race, is a big hit with kids and parents alike. At left,another perennial picnic favorite, George Alex, provides guidance for the games.

After lunch, some of the ladies hit the dance floor with accompaniment by a band playing Greek tunes.

Shishkabob chefs, NickKirkeles and Peter Poteresprepare lunch for dozens ofhungry parishioners.

Photos by PeterBell

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 6

The Gathering Place OpensAn Aghiasmos service begins the festivities.

Presvytera Effie Chiganos, 2nd right, cuts the ribbon with help from her son Phil.

Above, EffieChiganos, checks outThe Gathering Placeflanked by her sons,Phil (l) and Billy (r).At right, Fr. Nicholasand Fr. Panayiotissprinkle holy wateron the newly openedarea following a briefAghiasmos service.

Photos by ToniMilak

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 7

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Funeral

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDBELLWOOD, IL.

PERMIT NO. 157

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church2501 S. Wolf Rd.Westchester, Il. 60154(708) 562-2744

Address Service Requested

Postmaster: Please deliver by the 3rd of September

Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Mosaic September 2018 Page 8

John Maniatis

Gust Vlangos

Pauline Vlangos

Fran Katsaros

Dionisios Zontos

George Stathopoulos

Gus Stathis

Mary Stathis

James Stathis

Helen P. Karras

Esther Moustos

Olga Andrejeva

James Feldmann

James Mallon

Louis Chechopoulos

Lynette Hoppe

Ann Kinnas

John Kinnas

Kay Sarantopoulos

Memorials Metropolitan Nathanaelgoes on a Listening Tour

in the MetropolisAnastasia Stefanos and John Vergados

Sponsors: Lia and Peter Chrysanthou

Lauren Hodges and Argiris Sfikas

Sponsor: Demetrios Gianakopoulos

Patricia Chiamas and Nicholas Chiganos

Sponsor: Christopher Apostal

Theodore, son of Kara & Angelo Paleothodoros

Sponsor: John Sarantopoulos

Amelia, daughter of Kristia & James Spalding

Sponsor: Mark Patsavas

John, son of Andrea & George Kourafas

Sponsor: Yianni Kourafas and Theodore Dres

Anastasia, daughter of Christina

& Steven Stavropoulos

Sponsor: Vicky Papadimas

Weddings

Baptisms

On Tuesday evening, July 31, MetropolitanNathanael held a Listening Tour session at St.Athanasios church in Aurora. It was an oppor-tunity for individuals to interact directly withHis Eminence, pose questions, and hear hisviews on a wide variety of topics of interest tothe faithful. The audience was comprised ofparishioners from St. Athanasios; St. George-Dekalb; St. Demetrios-Elmhurst; and high rep-resentation from Holy Apostles.

During the two hour session, His Eminenceaddressed inquiries about religious education,ministries for the youth, seniors, and thosewith special needs, technology, and languageto name a few.

In response to questions, the Metropolitanspoke about several initiatives, including: theformation of a Metropolis Council, the cre-ation of a strategic planning committee to pro-vide guidance for the Metropolis through thecoming decade, and a more formalized bud-geting process for all critical ministries. In gen-eral, His Eminence cited the need to becomemore accountable, transparent, and to conductMetropolis-wide business with integrity.

For recordings of the listening tour sessions,go to www.midwesttour.squarespace.com.