Thank you to all who made our patronal feast day a wonderful day! Many visitors came from throughout the Detroit Metro area to bolster the number of those praying with us for the feast and we are very thankful for them, for our choir, for those who served in the altar, and for all who made the day a special one. Congratulations again to all our parish family and friends with the feast of St. Vladimir!

Its bell season again - time to form some new teams and learn some new rings! I'd like to encourage anyone interested in ringing, but especially girls age 9 - 12, to come to a rehearsal and ring for church services. Rehearsals will be on Sundays from 1:00 to 1:30 (toward the end of the coffee hour) and will start June 13th. I also need a few volunteers to help with cuing the bells during the Liturgy. Please email me individually (jbfurr@umich.edu) if you know the service well enough that you would be comfortable doing this. I can provide you with detailed information on when and how to give the cues via a walkie talkie.

Many Thanks!
Jennifer

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults. Parents are asked to review the children’s portion with their children. It is very important for us to attend the Divine Services on Sundays and whenever else we are able, but in addition it is our spiritual responsibility to educate ourselves and our families in the faith. It is our hope that this mid-week offering will be an aid in this regard. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or suggestions.

For Adults – the explanation of last Sunday's gospel reading from the Blessed Theophylact:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/gospel-c ... pentecost9

For Children – Various activities for various ages based on the last Sunday's Gospel reading:

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/antioch ... -07-25.pdf

On August 22 Riasaphore Nun Rebecca will present our next spiritual lecture during our coffee hour. This will be on the topic of monasticism and looks to be a very interesting and firsthand account of this most radical expression of Christian life. Please do join us! September’s lecture will be on the topic of Constantine the Great and will be presented by Reader Basil Wolff. This lecture is purposefully designed to be from a more academic point of view rather than a hagiographic point of view and will pose the question of whether St. Constantine was indeed the first Christian Emperor. The date of this lecture is September 12.

Tomorrow the Holy Church celebrates the commemoration of the Holy Great Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles. This is our parish feast day – the second Pascha of our parish! Please plan to join us for Vigil at 6:00 p.m. tonight and Divine Liturgy tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. The life of St. Vladimir is presented below. Congratulations to all with the feast of St. Vladimir!

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=102031

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life6508.htm

Yesterday Seraphim R. Gan, the father of Bishop Peter's Protodeacon Vadim Gan, fell asleep in the Lord. We ask your prayers for the repose of the soul of the newly-departed Seraphim, as well as for the family as they bid him farewell on his final journey. The funeral will be in Monterey, CA with internment at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY.

As of the end of the Divine Liturgy yesterday we had collected nearly 20% of the funds needed to build our new kitchen. Please see the link below for more information. Thank you to all who have supported this project so far - please support us if you can!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... -26-10.pdf

In order to help increase the general knowledge of scripture in our parish family we present here for your edification the scripture readings for the coming week. At least one Gospel Reading and one Epistle reading are assigned for each day of the year. Hearing or reading only those readings appointed for Sunday merely scratches the surface of the great spiritual wealth that the scriptures provide us. Some of the readings are easily understandable – others are less so. As Orthodox Christians we do not make private interpretation of scripture, but rather consult the fathers of the Church for their explanations to aid us in our understanding. Those wishing to have access to such explanations are asked to contact Fr. Gregory or inquire in the kiosk for further reading in this regard. Bibles may also be acquired in the kiosk.

Monday: I Corinthians 15:12-19 & Matthew 21:18-22
Tuesday: I Corinthians 15:29-38 & Matthew 21:23-27
Wednesday: I Corinthians 16:4-12 & Matthew 21:28-32
Thursday: II Corinthians 1:1-7 & Matthew 21:43-46
Friday: II Corinthians 1:12-20 & Matthew 22:23-33
Saturday: Romans 15:30-33 & Matthew 17:24-18:4

Please find below several very nice articles on how to read the scripture from an Orthodox point of view.

By St. Justin (Popovich):

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/bible_how.aspx

By Bishop Kalistos (Ware):

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx

This short article explains to us not just HOW to read the scriptures, but also what our goal should be in reading the scriptures. A short read and well worth it:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/reading-scripture

As noted in the article above we need God's help and blessing to read and understand the scriptures correctly. What better way to entreat God's help in this regard than through prayer? Please find the prayer before reading the scriptures here:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/prayer-b ... -scripture

Our weekly bulletin, "Sunday Reading", has been posted at the following link:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... eading.pdf

Please keep our parishioners, friends, and those who have asked us in our unworthiness to pray for them in your prayers this coming week. Our parish prayer list can be found here:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... erlist.pdf

Dear parishioners,

In the role of Head Sister of the Sisterhood, I wish to extend my warm invitation to all St. Vladimir’s parishioners to share in the regular coffee-hour efforts. Namely, I want to ask every family and single parishioners to consider volunteering their time, energy, and/or resources once, twice or three times per year (more, if you wish). I would appoint an experienced sister to guide and help you every step of the way in arranging an easy and pleasant coffee-hour for the parish. This will allow everyone to participate in this meaningful and highly satisfying endeavor. If you are unable to stay for or help during the coffee-hour, but still would like to participate, we are accepting donations to cover the coffee-hour expenses. And vice versa, if you are able to help, but wish to be reimbursed for the expenses, we are glad to do that as well. Please contact me ASAP with your availability, preferred degree of participation and questions. My email is headsister@stvladimiraami.org or cell (734) 717-6814.

Thank you!

Zhanna Skalitzky

Today the Holy Church celebrates the feast of St. Olga, Equal to the Apostles. We congratulate our many parishioners who bear this name and wish them many years with their name’s day! Please find a short life of St. Olga below:

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=102003

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life6777.htm

Our Orthodox Christian faith is a great gift given to us by our Lord and Savior Himself. As with any gift we should be grateful for this one, but realize also that it is our responsibility not just to be grateful in the abstract, but to delve into our faith, to lean about our faith, to know our faith – not as an abstraction, but because it is helpful for our salvation to understand the gift that the Lord has given us. To learn more about your faith please visit the special web page we have created on our site for this express purpose. The address is found below. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions regarding this or any spiritual topic.

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/orthodoxinfo.shtml

Our St. Vladimir’s Family is continuing the practice of serving a short molben at the conclusion of each Sunday Divine Liturgy to St. Xenia of St. Petersburg. St. Xenia is known as a heavenly intercessor that is especially helpful to those looking for employment. Given the difficult economic situation in Michigan right now we feel it is important to seek St. Xenia’s intercessions before the Throne of our Lord for our friends and loved ones so diligently searching for work. To have your name or the name of a friend or loved one included in those prayed for at the molben please contact Fr. Gregory or Fr. John or simply hand a commemoration slip (the same ones used to send prosphora into the altar) to Fr. Gregory once the moleben has begun.

Confession and Communion are the two sacraments we most often partake of as Orthodox Christians and thus it behooves us to learn about these, how to prepare for these, and how to best take advantage of the Grace that our Lord freely gives us in these sacraments. At St. Vladimir’s we have created a special web site for this purpose with much information in this regard. Please find the web site listed below and please contact Fr. Gregory with questions!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/communion ... nion.shtml

We have recently found things damaged in and around the church – sometimes things that are somewhat expensive – because someone didn’t know how to use these things and subsequently destroyed them. Please, if you don’t know how to use something or how to do something: ask! We VERY MUCH APPRECIATE everyone’s willingness to help, but we ask that if you get into a situation in which you aren’t sure how to run a piece of machinery or use a certain chemical or open a locked area, etc., that you call our Starosta at 734-945-0490 or Fr. Gregory at 734-649-5746. It is our Christian obligation to be good stewards of those things the Lord has given to us. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Did you know that some (in fact many) companies offer matching funds for donations made to non-profit organizations such as our parish? To find out more please contact your Human Resources department at you place of employment. Did you know that if you donate your used car to Charity Motors you can direct that the proceeds from the sale of the car go to our own St. Vladimir parish? You can find out more at their web site: http://www.charitymotors.org Please consider these options to support your parish!

We’ve discussed our Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America Pastoral School extensively over the last few years at our parish. Please understand that the school is for those interested in serving the Holy Church as clergymen, BUT ALSO for those interested in learning more about their Orthodox faith - both men and women. You can learn more by visiting the Pastoral School web site – please see Fr. Gregory with questions.:

http://www.orthodoxtheologicalschool.org/

The services dates and times for St. Vladimir's day will be the following:

Tuesday, July 27
Vigil: 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 28
Divine Liturgy: 9:00 a.m.

Please be sure to attend the Divine Services on this “Second Pascha” of our parish – out patronal feast day!

On Saturday, July 17 Matthew Apostolou was baptized at St. Vladimir Church. The sponsors were Dimitry Apostolou & Sophia Apostolou. Congratulations to the newly baptized, the sponsors, the family and friends and especially our parish family! May God grant many years to his newly-enlightened servant Matthew!

Please find our annual service schedule at the link below. This schedule is posted to aid those who would like to plan vacations and other activities with the Divine Services in mind. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions.

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/calendars ... le2010.pdf

The latest schedule of services and activities at St. Vladimir's has been posted on our web site and will be distributed via our email and mailing lists to our parishioners in the next few days. Please click the "Related Link" below or see the link at the top of the page entitled "Complete Schedule of Services". To join our mailing list please email info@stvladimiraami.org.

The St. John Kochurov society promotes and supports major diocesan initiatives:

The Diocesan Pastoral School
Diocesan Youth Ministry
Mission Planting
Support of our Hierarchs

It is our goal that our parish have the most members of the St. John society of any parish in the diocese! Please view the St. John society's pamphlet below, print it out, and make your pledge today!

St. John Kochurov Society Flyer:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/st ... ociety.pdf

To view a smaller version of the flyer in a lower resolution please visit this link:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/st ... -small.pdf

On Sunday, July 11 a general assembly of our parish approved a proposal to expand our parish’s kitchen. This proposal had been unanimously recommended for passage by the Parish Council. The Parish Council is of one mind that attainable, visible, value-added projects will continue the momentum in our parish begun with the expansion of our parish church and that these projects will allow the parish to see and feel that we are moving forward as a parish family. Our former Rector, Fr. Paul Karas, always reminded us that a parish can only move forward or move backwards – it cannot stand still. Successfully completing such projects will allow us to move forward to a large church and social hall as soon as possible, while continuing to grow our community and spread the Orthodox Faith in the interim. It is our hope to complete the kitchen expansion project in 2010, a picnic pavilion project in 2011 (this proposal will be brought to a subsequent parish assembly for approval), and to begin fundraising in earnest for the next step, a large parish church and hall, shortly afterwards.

We intend to complete work on the kitchen project this construction season, but in order to do that we will need YOUR HELP! We are committed to completing this project without incurring debt for the parish, which means we need to raise the funds to do the work as soon as reasonably possible. If you can help please do so! The parish general assembly approved a maximum expense of $15,000 for the kitchen expansion, but we intend to complete this work for much less. Our goal is to spend $10,000 or even less. Still, we cannot do the work without your financial support. Our Sisterhood is collecting the funds for this project, so please see one of our Sisterhood officers to make a donation so we can get started on the work right away! Progress on fundraising will be tracked in our weekly bulletin, so please keep up to date by reading the bulletin. It is important to note that the first donation has already been made – and that by someone who voted against the proposal. This parishioner noted that although he did not vote for the project he felt it was necessary for us all to come to together to support what had been decided by the parish and he wanted to do so visibly and materially and we thank him for his donation and this important lesson for us all!

Thank you in advance for your support and thank you for helping us to accomplish the kitchen expansion as part of the greater plan to move us as quickly as possible to the new church and social hall. Most importantly – we ask your prayers for the success of this project and of our parish as a whole, that we may bring more and more people to the knowledge of the truth for the salvation of their souls!

With Love in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Fr. Gregory Joyce, Rector
Karl Meyer, Starosta

The economy in Michigan is poor. Many people have lost their jobs. If you have gotten to the point that you cannot afford to come to St. Vladimir’s due to the travel costs involved PLEASE contact Fr. Gregory (ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org or 734-649-5746). We have limited resources, so this program is only for those in truly difficulty circumstances. However, if you cannot afford to come to church we will make every effort to help you. We can only help if you ask – so please do! We WANT to help! St. Vladimir parishioners that would like to help with this program by making donations are asked to contact our Treasurer, Eugene Poplavsky (treasurer@stvladimiraami.org) or our Starosta, Karl Meyer (starosta@stvladimiraami.org).

During the warm spring and summer months, just as during the cold winter months, we sometimes forget the necessity of dressing appropriately for church services. We include below a helpful guide for appropriate dress in church. Thank you very much for supporting our parish family by conforming to these important standards (which are applicable to all Divine Services – not just Sunday Divine Liturgy)!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/properattire.pdf

In the winter months we don’t really have to think about things like dresses that do not cover the shoulder or short pants, but in the summer we do. A few practical tips in this regard:

• If you have a dress that does not cover your shoulders that you would like to wear to church that is just fine, but please cover your shoulders with a shawl or light sweater while in church
• Shorts are not appropriate in church. Somehow we struggle with this every spring and summer as a parish family. This is likely because this has not been made clear in the past and we ask the forgiveness of all for not being as clear as we should have been. So, to be as clear as possible: shorts should not be worn in church by anyone of any age at any time.

The owner of the Muffler Man on the west side of Ann Arbor is Elias (Lewie) Karageorge – a St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church parishioner. Lewie has very kindly extended the same offer to our parish that he has to his own: if you take your car to his shop for repair and identify yourself as a St. Vladimir Orthodox Church parishioner he will give you a 20% discount on parts and labor AND donate 5% of your total bill to St. Vladimir’s! Here is their web site with address, phone, and email contact information – note please that they offer free pickup and delivery:

http://www.mufflermanannarbor.com

This year as a parish family we will stress Christian Service at St. Vladimir’s. All are called upon in this year especially to perform good works more zealously in the Lord’s name, following the Gospel’s call: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:31-40) In addition to the examples the Lord lists of serving the poor and afflicted we may say that serving our fellow man by serving the parish and the Holy Church most certainly falls into the category of Christian Service and thus we call all our parish family to perform all such tasks with great intensity in the year 2010 for the salvation of our souls! Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or for suggestions about how best to perform such acts of Christian Service this year.

Spring tends to bring many missionaries to our doors – mostly from the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon sects. In general they ask you to take some of their literature. You should feel completely empowered not to do this, but we also offer here an alternative. That is, we suggest that if you would like to give them some of our Orthodox tracts this may be a good response to their visit. First, it shows Christian Love in that you are expressing your legitimate desire that they come to the Church that our Lord founded for the salvation of all. Second, it shows them that you are not seeking a spiritual home such as they are offering. Third, it exposes them to what they have likely never been exposed to before: the True Faith as taught us by our Lord.

Please find information of a general nature about the Orthodox Church at this page on our web site:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/orthodoxinfo.shtml

A pamphlet specifically for Mormons can be found here:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/pamphlets/mormonism.pdf

A pamphlet specifically for Jehovah’s Witnesses can be found here:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/pamphlets/witnesses.pdf

It is our hope that we can soon begin monthly Adult Group meetings for the edification of our parish family. Our Adult Group effort has undergone a major revision and we are ready now to implement the new meeting structure! Many thanks to Reader Zachary who helped Fr. Gregory with the redesign of our program and Alexandre Alexandrov and Zhanna Skalitzky who translated the information into Russian!

In short, we are asking for volunteers to host monthly meetings in their homes and invite those that are interested (both our present and future St. Vladimir’s parishioners) to join them for spiritual discussion and prayer. Fr. Gregory hopes that there will be many groups formed that meet monthly – some of these groups meeting in English and some in Russian. We will use the outline at the links below, understanding that some of the details may need to be refined as we move forward. Although we have worked this through in great detail we still must admit that this is a work in progress and your feedback is most welcome. Most important – let Fr. Gregory know that you are interested in hosting an Adult Group in your home so that he can help you prepare and make every effort to join you. Bishop Peter has asked that Fr. Gregory give a blessing to each group before it begins its work since we will be the first parish in the diocese to try out this model of Adult Group meetings.

Finally, we ask our parish family to pray for the success of this effort, just as we ask your prayers for the education of our youth. May the Lord bless our efforts!

English:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/sm ... sfinal.pdf

Russian:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/sm ... nal_ru.pdf

This Sunday we will continue to sing “Our Father” together. This will be the case going forward on most Sundays at St. Vladimir’s. Over time, as we become more accustomed to this, we will sing this nearly every Sunday (with the exception of some major feast days). We will rotate singing in Church Slavonic and English using this handout (this will also be handed out on Sundays before we sing for those who would like to refer to it):

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/sheetmusi ... andout.pdf

English speakers will note that we have transliterated the Church Slavonic prayer so that we all may sing together (which is the main thrust of this effort). Please review the transliteration so that you become familiar with it. If you have any trouble with the pronunciation please feel free to ask Fr. Gregory, Fr. John, or one of our Slavonic readers for help.

Bishop Peter asked on his last visit that we also sing the Symbol of Faith together on Sundays. Once we have mastered "Our Father" as a group we will begin to work on the Symbol of Faith. More information in that regard will be forthcoming.