It is time now to volunteer for this September's Festival! The Festival will be here before you know it, and as our biggest missionary effort of the year we need all hands on deck to help make it a huge success! At the Festival we have many guests who learn about our parish and Orthodox Christianity for the first time. We are all missionaries in our community – sign up now to work at the festival! Is it hard work? You bet it is! Is it fun? You bet it is!!! Don't miss it! Sign up today!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LiLL9esKU3ZpsV8NZZXRPdIui7gu93Q-Kr1z5y6dGHg/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

As is our usual parish practice, we will hold a moleben for the beginning of the school year this Sunday, September 6, immediately after the Divine Liturgy. Please plan to join us for this moleben whether you are a student, teacher, or parent of either!

You can only make a first impression once. That is why it is so important, and the responsibility of each and every one of us, to warmly welcome visitors to our parish. Is the visitor not acting “appropriately”? Assure them that all will be fine and lovingly help. Is the visitor’s child fussy? Assure them that we welcome children in the church and not to worry. If they ask for a place to go to quiet the child please point out the nursery – do not push them out the door. Does the visitor have questions? Answer them if possible, and if not, refer them to someone who can. A smile and a welcoming word can make the difference in someone’s spiritual life both in this life and the next. Please show love one to another so that people will know that we are Christ’s disciples! We want to be known for our warm hospitality as was Abraham – but we all must work together to make our parish as welcoming as we possibly can!

We are pleased to announce our Marriage and Family Retreat this year will take place the weekend of October 24-25. We are also pleased to announce that with the blessing of Bishop Peter, Archpriest David Moser will lead this retreat. Fr. David has been a priest and a family counselor for many years and his insights from both his spiritual and secular work will benefit all our St. Vladimir's families. Please reserve the dates now for this retreat! Worried about how to deal with your kids at the retreat? Don't be - we will provide babysitting FREE! Please plan to join us! More information coming soon...

We have reached the point in our excavation that there will be no parking allowed on the gravel lot this weekend. It is a muddy mess and anyone who tries to park there will need to be removed by a tow truck – and no one wants that! If you want to drop someone off at the church, the asphalt drive will be open, and there will be handicapped parking and drop off access there, but no parking on the gravel lot at all. The kind folks at Daily Rain have agreed to let us access our grass lot through their driveway – two drives west of our at 10000 Jackson Rd. Please be extra careful as you drive on the grass lot but please park only on the grass – not on the gravel. THIS IS A TEMPORARY SITUATION and we thank you for your understanding! This is also GOOD NEWS! Our project is moving forward rapidly and we should be thankful for that – despite this temporary inconvenience.

This fall is shaping up to be quite busy at St. Vladimir's. For that reason we are going to move The Way to after Nativity. This will give us a bit more time to get this all together, advertise broadly, and make this a wonderful offering that is positive for our parish and for those who will join us from without. But we still NEED YOUR HELP. “The Way” is an introduction to Orthodox Christianity for those interested, and a great opportunity for those of us who are already Orthodox to learn more about our faith. People will be needed to help prepare meals, lead discussion groups at the Monday sessions, and help with logistics. First and foremost we need a leader – someone to oversee the whole thing and organize the volunteers. This will be a great opportunity for our parish to introduce many new people to our Orthodox Faith – if we do it right. And with God's help and our hard work we WILL do it right! Please contact Fr. Gregory if you can help and especially if you are willing to be the leader. Please join us as we run The Way! Learn more about the web site below:

http://www.iocs.cam.ac.uk/courses/courses_way.html

Church School begins this year on Saturday, September 26. A detailed schedule will soon be available, but we can say unquestionably that classes will begin at 5:00 p.m. with Vigil to follow each Saturday at 6:00 p.m. More information will soon be available, including registration information. But for now – all parish parents of children ages 4-13 – please set aside Saturday afternoons and evenings this coming school year for Church School and Vigil. After the Divine Services the most important ministry in our parish is our Church School. Please join us!

Please find our schedule of Youth Group meetings at St. Vladimir's at the link below. All groups meet monthly. PARENTS - since most of our young people do not drive we depend on you to help us facilitate these meetings! Please take a moment now and put these meetings on your and your child's schedule so that you won't miss one of them! The Teen Youth Group is likely to have some additional activities involving social outreach throughout the fall and early winter. More to come in that regard. In the mean time, please see the schedule below!

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

St. Vladimir's Adult Group meets monthly. All are welcome! Topics are published at least a week before the event to allow for appropriate preparation. The format is a short presentation by Fr. Gregory, then discussion with tea and sweets.

Find the full schedule of Adult Group Meetings here:

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

Registration is open for the Walk of Life procession over the Labor Day Weekend! Please visit the link below for more information and register now!

http://goo.gl/forms/QHpB75DC6T

MORE THAN 35 PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY REGISTERED - DO NOT MISS YOUR CHANCE - REGISTER NOW!!!

Flyer for event to share (PLEASE SHARE!):

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/wa ... 5flyer.pdf