Please note that today marks the beginning of the yearly Apostles' Fast. This is a fasting period marked by less strictness than Great Lent or the Dormition Fast, but we still abstain from meat and dairy products during this fast. Details are available on our parish monthly schedule of services:

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

May the Lord grant a spiritually profitable Apostles' Fast to all!

On Sunday, May 31 materials pertaining to our Extraordinary Parish Meeting set for June 14 were distributed to all present. Those who were not present should receive this information in the mail in the next few days. However, all meeting materials are available at the address below – please do review the materials and please do plan to join us on June 14 for the special meeting!

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/extrao ... -14-15.pdf

Please join us on June 6, 2015 for our next IOCC parish effort. On this day at 3:00 p.m. we will make school kits according to the International Orthodox Christian Charity's guidelines. It is important to understand that there are many countries in the world that DO NOT have free education for their children. Many times children cannot attend school because their family cannot afford the tuition, or more often than not, the children do not have the requisite school supplies. The IOCC school kits provide the supplies that allow children to be educated. Join us - help others! A collection to support this effort will be taken up at the kissing of the cross on Sunday, May 31. To help support this effort or to volunteer please see our IOCC Coordinator, Marina Edwards. Parents are strongly encouraged to bring their children for this event!

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox parish here in Ann Arbor has always be a great partner with St. Vladimir's. For years they hosted our Church School, and they have helped us a lot with their festival. Thus, we should zealous to support them at their festival which is this weekend. And BONUS: Friday IS NOT A FAST DAY THIS WEEK! That is not due to the festival, but because the week after Pentecost is always fast free. Learn more:

http://annarborgreekfestival.org/

This coming Sunday, the Sunday of All Saints, is the Day of Youth in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. In our parish we will make this special day with a celebration of our Church School year. Our oldest class will hold a poster fair of all the poster presentations they have made this year in their class. And there will be much more! We will also take up a collection in support of our Diocesan Youth Fund at the kissing of the Cross. Please join us this Sunday in support of our youth!

We need a host family with NO RUSSIAN SPEAKERS to host the English teacher from the Orthodox School of Sviblovo (Moscow) for the month of July or August. This is the school that our Liza Kiseleva graduated from and which her brother, who is a priest, oversees. This is a great opportunity to help their English teacher to improve her English and for your family to have a wonderful cultural experience. What do you need to do? Be yourselves and don't speak any Russian! Please see Fr. Gregory if you can help/with questions.

Please find this week's "The Path" at our Sound Blog, "The Sound of the Parish", at this link:

http://soundoftheparish.blogspot.com/

We have established a Youth Fund for our parish so that we can support our young people in their travels to youth conferences, on parish pilgrimages, and in other ways that edify them and prepare them for life as adult Orthodox Christians and future leaders of our parishes. Please remember the Youth Fund in your will or otherwise support this worthy undertaking through your philanthropy. More information is available from our Starosta, Nathan Longan, or from Fr. Gregory. Thank you for your investment in the future generations of Orthodox Christians!

With Bishop Peter's blessing, this year summer courses will again be offered in the Pastoral School of the Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America. The following courses will be offered this year – dates for the courses are June 8-July 25, 2015 (Liturgics is slightly longer in duration):

Liturgics
Church Slavonic
Byzantine History
Parish Management and Operations
Thesis Writing Workshop

All Pastoral School summer courses are available to the general public without the need for a formal application to our complete Diploma program. To register please visit the following link:

http://orthodoxtheologicalschool.org/ad ... iew/summer

To learn more about the summer courses and all the offerings of the Pastoral School please visit this link:

http://orthodoxtheologicalschool.org/cu ... scriptions

Course numbers are:

111 Liturgics
112 Church Slavonic
113 Byzantine History
114 Non-Profit Small Business/Parish Management
115 Thesis Writing Workshop

For more information or with questions please contact the Dean of the Pastoral School, Archpriest Gregory Joyce

(fr.gregory.joyce@orthodoxtheologicalschool.org).

Join us for the June Vladcast! See it now at the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzuwfRt7Y80