Alexander Challis, son of Michael and Natalia Challis, reposed in the Lord on Monday, June 26. Our deepest sympathies are with the family with the untimely death of their son and brother. Many of you remember Alex from the excursions he led us on every year at the Forest Hill Cemetery on Thomas Sunday, seeking out (and almost always finding) all the Orthodox Christian graves in the cemetery. Funeral arrangements are the following (from the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church web site):

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We offer our love and condolences to Michael and Natalie Challis on the loss of their son, Alexander, and Peter Challis, on the loss of his brother today, Monday, June 26. Visitation for Alexander Challis will be at the Nie Family Funeral Home on Liberty and Wagner on Wednesday, June 28 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm with the Trisagion at 7:30 pm. The funeral will take place on Thursday, June 29 at 11:00 am at St. Nicholas/Ann Arbor. May his memory be eternal.

God Bless, Rev Father Nicolaos H. Kotsis

Please remember the newly-reposed servant of God Alexander in your prayers and participate in the funeral Divine Services are you are able!

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: from the writings of Blessed Theophylact:

http://chrysostompress.org/c_3rd_pentecost.html

For children, from the Antiochian Archdiocese (various age groups):

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default ... 6-25-b.pdf

Vacation Bible School at St. Vladimir’s this year will be July 17-21. At this point the school will be only in Russian, however, if we can get a minimum of two English speaking volunteers we will very happily offer classes in English as well! Classes will be from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each day. Children must be at least 5 years old to participate. Parents must send a packed lunch with their child. Snacks and water will be provided. The cost of VBS is $50 per child. If this will be difficult for your family please contact Fr. Gregory. On July 18 Liturgy will be served. On this day the children will go to Silver Lake following the Liturgy – we will need parental volunteers on these days for the safety of the children. Sign up your children AND volunteer at the link below:

https://goo.gl/forms/7bNu1LrjMG5i2o4K3

Questions: info@stvladimiraami.org or 734-475-4590

We are pleased to announce that Alexandra Pyrozhenko has taken on the role of Church School Coordinator for the 2017-18 academic year. Alexandra has significant experience both academically and “hands on” in teaching and working with children, and she will add great value to our school. Please join me in welcoming Alexandra to this important position!

Church School will begin this year on Saturday, September 23. Registration will soon be open. PLEASE CONSIDER: how can you help make our Church School, the most important ministry of our parish after the Divine Services, a success? Can you teach? Can you help otherwise? Please contact Fr. Gregory or Alexandra Pyrozhenko if you are willing to help!

TEACHERS: organizational meeting will begin after St. Vladimir’s Day. Look for more information coming soon!

Fr. Gregory

Please join us for our annual spring pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY from June 23-25, 2017. Space is limited - reserve your space today. Contact Parish Council member Dimitry Knysh at church or email info@stvladimiraami.org

Thank you to all who made the visit of Metropolitan Philip of Poltava to St. Vladimir’s yesterday such a resounding success! His Eminence had many good things to say about our parish, which reflects very positively on our parish family. So many people worked diligently to make the weekend a success that it would be impossible to list everyone here. And many worked behind the scenes, so to speak, for the glory of God and the good of the parish He has entrusted to us. Thank you all – this hierarchal visit was a great success – and it was that because we came together to work for the Lord. When we do this we are at our best. Let us strive now not to do so rarely, but often, combining our sincere efforts with God’s Grace. “There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” This saying is at the top of every Parish Council agenda – and it is true not just for the Parish Council, but for our whole parish family! Thank you to everyone for a wonderful weekend!

Fr. Gregory

Fr. Gregory is seeking a volunteer to help him manage the Michigan Deanery web site and Facebook page. The time commitment would be approximately 2 hours per week. Please contact him if you can help or if you would like to learn more.

Roman, Lilia, Vanya, and Sasha have been part of our parish family for many years. Roman has been our Choir Director. Lilia has been our Church School Coordinator. They have worked hard for the success of our parish and our parish family. They will be greatly missed when they move to California this July. Please join us on June 14 at Fr. Gregory’s home in Saline for a farewell reception – to wish them every good in their new lives in California! All are welcome. Please bring a dish to pass, but read this first – we need to coordinate our culinary efforts (don’t forget – we’ll be fasting):

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/farewellvershynins.pdf

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

With the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Peter, Metropolitan Jonah will lead the Divine Services for our parish’s second Pascha – our parish feast day. Vigil for St. Vladimir’s day is set for 5:00 p.m. on July 27, with Divine Liturgy on July 28 at 9:00 a.m.

Please take a moment now to request this day off of work if you have not done so yet. We often under-estimate the importance of our parish feast day. Remember, this is our own SECOND PASCHA. We would never think of missing the Paschal services if there was any way to be there, and this is how we should approach this second most important day of the year for our parish family. Please join us!

A festive meal will be held after the Divine Liturgy on July 28.

NOTE THE EARLY START TIME FOR VIGIL AND DIVINE LITURGY!