It is important that we make an effort – a real effort – to refrain from speaking in church. Since we have been outside most of the summer we have unfortunately adapted our outside paradigm to church services rather than our church paradigm to being outside. LET'S NOT DO THIS AS WE BEGIN WORSHIPING IN THE BARN! If one absolutely must have a conversation during the time of the Divine Services this should be done either:

1. In the kiosk area IN VERY HUSHED TONES. The acoustics are excellent in the barn. The choir's beautiful voices carry throughout the space very readily - as do your conversations. :)

2. Outside (but please do not slam the barn door)

3. Most appropriately, unless the conversation involves a life or death situation: at the meal after the Divine Liturgy

4. We ask parents that if they bring toys for their children that these be soft toys that to do not make noise when dropped on the floor or on the benches.

Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or concerns.

With Archbishop Peter’s blessing, it is our practice to serve the beautiful and ancient Liturgy of St. James, Brother of the Lord, annually on November 5. Since this Liturgy is only done once annually it needs a little preparation so it can be executed smoothly and prayerfully.

Choir members who would like to participate: please contact Ken Doll.

Servers who would like to participate: please contact Fr. Gregory.

Please reach out with your ability to help as soon as possible. November 5 will be here before you know it!

Each first Sunday of the month we will have Parish Council members ready to help you during the parish meal. Help you by answering questions you may have about why you should support your parish. Help you by answering questions about how you can support your parish. Help you by assisting you in setting up a recurring donation to support St. Vladimir’s if you would like to do so. No one will attack you. :) But if you would like help, or you have questions, we are setting aside this time specifically for this purpose.

Learn More:
TREASURER’S CORNER

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults on the upcoming Sunday's principle Gospel reading so that all can better prepare for the Divine Services. 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: from the writings of Blessed Theophylact

For Children: from the Antiochian Archdiocese (various age groups)

Yesterday we held our first Divine Liturgy in the barn. You can find pictures here:

PICTURES FROM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020
Overall things went well thank God! And to all who worked so hard, and those who were so flexible in our new space: THANK YOU! We tend to like the habitual nature of church: the Liturgy is essentially always the same(ish) each Sunday. That gives us comfort. But when we move to a new setting it is different – and that is not easy. If you recall, this is just how we felt when we moved outside for Divine Liturgy in the spring. But we got used to that. The same will be the case in the barn. After a few weeks we will become comfortable with worship there as well. But we want your feedback! Please tell us how we can do this better! Yes – it was a little cold. We are working on a better way to utilize the heat sources we have and to keep your feet warm. There were probably other things that we need to change or could do better too. Tell us what you think! Use this form to provide feedback:

BARN WORSHIP FEEDBACK
WHY ARE WE CEMENTING THE BARN FLOOR? Because we need a place to worship as a parish family for the rest of the pandemic. Meeting outside is no longer practical, and meeting in the church proper is WAY TOO SMALL with physical distancing requirements!

Make a donation to help cover the cost of the cement floor here:

HELP US CREATE WINTER WORSHIP SPACE!
Of course, you are welcome to use Tithe.ly or PayPal or any other method to donate – you can find options on our parish Donate page:

ST. VLADIMIR DONATE PAGE
Our corporate worship is the MOST IMPORTANT THING we do as a parish family. We hope that everyone can make a donation to help offset the cost of the floor. Every little bit helps! Participate in this family project with your TIME (more work days are coming), TREASURE (visit the link above), or TALENT (more work days are coming)! May the Lord reward you in this life and the next for your care for His Church!

Please have a look at our Parish Council page. Here you can find our Parish Council members, dates of meetings (parishioners are always welcome to attend), foundational and directional documents, and more:

PARISH COUNCIL PAGE
We welcome your feedback. We know that we have great ideas in our parish – but we fear that many of those ideas are still in our parishioners’ heads. That is – that they have not shared them with us. Please share! Reach out to Fr. Gregory, Jack Mitchell, or use our feedback form:

FEEDBACK FORM

Those of us who grew up in the US have fond childhood memories of Bugs Bunny. One of the most famous Bugs Bunny cartoons has to do with pronouns. Here is the “instructional video” with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd (complete with some cartoon violence):



Sometimes we struggle with pronoun trouble at St. Vladimir’s too. Usually this has to do with a conflict between “they” and “we”. “They” will work at the work day. “They” will cut the grass. “They” will work at the festival. “They” will set up the outside Liturgy. “They” will pay for the barn floor. Etcetera. At St. Vladimir’s we are a family. Families don’t use “they” in this way. The correct pronoun is “we”. “We” will work at the work day. “We” will cut the grass. “We” will work at the festival. Etcetera.

We need some help to align our pronouns to the appropriate spiritual reality. That help consists of our effort and God’s blessing. We need to try our best to make this paradigm change, but we need to ask God to help us if we hope to succeed. Generally we’ve been pretty good at this as a parish family, but we fully understand that many of our parishioners have been really effected by the pandemic. Folks are mentally fatigued. They need a break. They need to get away from the pandemic and political stress that the society is absolutely filled with right now. WE UNDERSTAND. But we think that implementing the “spiritual we” in our lives gives us that break we need. We don’t have to only focus on ourselves, on our problems. It isn’t that those problems are not important or valid. But by focusing on the “we” of our parish family we serve others. We serve God. We realign ourselves with the important Gospel precept:

God is #1.
My neighbor is #2.
I am #3.

This is not a message we hear in our society, in our media, or anywhere else except in God’s House. But this is the truth – the truth our Lord taught us for our salvation. And working within that truth allows us to have a break from the pandemic stress. And as with other spiritual struggles your parish family is here to help. We are all patients in the Spiritual Hospital that is the Holy Church. Improve your treatment by implementing the spiritual we! Ask Fr. Gregory if you need help, if you are struggling, or with any spiritual issues. He is here to help, but needs you to tell him you need help since he cannot, as far as you know, read your mind. :)

If you are not willing to repent through freely choosing to suffer, unsought sufferings will providentially be imposed on you.

+ St. Thalassios the Libyan

"This is the cause of all evils: the ignorance of the Scriptures. We go into battle without arms, and how ought we to come off safe?" -St. John Chrysostom, Homily IX on Colossians.

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 (although during Great Lent the readings are from the Old Testament). 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: Philippians 4:10-23 & Luke 7:36-50
Tuesday: Colossians 1:1-2,7-11 & Luke 8:1-3
Wednesday: Colossians 1:18-23 & Luke 8:22-25
Thursday: Colossians 1:24-29 & Luke 9:7-11
Friday: Colossians 2:1-7 & Luke 9:12-18
Saturday: II Corinthians 3:12-18 & Luke 6:1-10

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

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

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