Brothers & Sisters - St. Vladimirians,

Thank you to all who participated in our extraordinary meeting yesterday! 90% of those present voted for us to move forward with our new church! So onward we go!

And now the work really begins. We must have faith in God – that He will bless our work if we just get started. But we must be wise too. And so, trusting in God, we will reaching out to each and every one of our parish members to discuss the support that all can provide for Phase 5. We understand this support will be in three possible variants, and likely mostly a combination of several of these variants for most people:

TIME
TALENT
TREASURE

There will be opportunities to utilize all these in Phase 5. In the end, we’ll have to average $3700 per adult member to make Phase 5 work. Based on how God has blessed us materially some will pay more, some will pay less, very few should pay nothing (only those truly destitute). Karl made a very good point yesterday at the meeting that the most equitable way to make this all work is for everyone to tithe. If you haven’t seriously considered tithing yet now is probably the time to do so. But if one of us can’t make that $3700 work personally, we can use our time and talent in sweat equity to make this project happen. EVERYONE should participate using those three factors above on some level.

We are about to undertake the biggest project in the history of our parish. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you make the time to read the file found here - expect to spend 10 to 15 minutes on this, plus time for prayer afterwards:

NEW CHURCH COMMUNICATION
So far we have successfully executed the first four phases of our master plan. We asked for your support, you gave it, and we delivered. There is no reason to believe that this project will be any different, if we all play our part. As a parish family we have shown time and again that with our effort, and seeking the Lord's blessing, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. If we follow that pattern in the next phases of our construction (we make our sincere effort and ask God to bless our labors) I believe we can have hope that we will be successful in the coming work also.

There will be much more coming soon about how we can contribute to make Phase 5 a success. For now, the most important thing is to pray. Yesterday, it just so happened (obviously this was God’s providence, since we didn’t plan it this way) that we celebrated the feast of Venerable Gabriel of Georgia for the first time in our parish. He built and rebuilt his chapel many times – as many times as the Communists would tear it down. It seems to me that he is a very good saint for us to ask for prayers before the Lord for the success of this project! You can read his life here:

LIFE OF ST. GABRIEL
We will soon have St. Gabriel’s icons for sale in our parish kiosk, and a prayer available that we will ask every one of our parish family to say (men, women, and children) each day at least once. These prayers will be the MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION to the success of this project! If we get this part right, we can have hope, just as in ever past instance in our parish, this project will found to be pleasing to God, and will reach fruition.

I'm excited to begin this next phase of our master plan as a parish family, and I hope you are too!

In Christ,

Fr. Gregory

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NEW CHURCH PROJECT/SUPPORT HERE

"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: Colossians 2:13-20 & Luke 10:22-24
Tuesday: Colossians 2:20-3:3 & Luke 11:1-10
Wednesday: Colossians 3:17-4:1 & Luke 11:9-13
Thursday: Colossians 4:2-9 & Luke 11:14-23
Friday: Colossians 4:10-18 & Luke 11:23-26
Saturday: II Corinthians 5:1-10 & Luke 8:16-21

Понедельник: Кол. 2:13-20 и от Луки 10:22-24
Вторник: Кол. 2:20-3:3 и от Луки 11:1-10
Среда: Кол. 3:17-4:1 и от Луки 11:9-13
Четверг: Кол. 4:2-9 и от Луки 11:14-23
Пятница: Кол. 4:10-18 и от Луки 11:23-26
Суббота: II Кор. 5:1-10 и от Луки 8:16-21

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

By St. Justin (Popovich)

By Bishop Kalistos (Ware)

Today's Liturgy is live now at following link:

ST. VLADIMIR AUDIO LIVE STREAM
Please remember - the stream only broadcasts live services. If you would like to listen to previously recorded and edited services please visit our sound blog:

SOUND OF THE PARISH BLOG

Our parish Sunday publications are available now at the link below. Find our Prayer List, "Good News", and "Sunday Reading", plus other parish publications!
PARISH PUBLICATIONS ENGLISH + РУССКИЙ

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!

CONFESSION AND COMMUNION AT ST. VLADIMIR'S
PRAYERS BEFORE COMMUNION - PARISH PRAYER KIT

Tonight's Vigil is live now at following link:

ST. VLADIMIR AUDIO LIVE STREAM
Please remember - the stream only broadcasts live services. If you would like to listen to previously recorded and edited services please visit our sound blog:

SOUND OF THE PARISH BLOG

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Please find the November schedule of services posted at the following link:
NOVEMBER STV SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
PLEASE ESPECIALLY NOTE:
NOVEMBER 1: ST. JOHN OF KRONSTADT
NOVEMBER 2: EXTRAORDINARY PARISH MEETING: NEW CHURCH
NOVEMBER 5: ST. JAMES BROTHER OF THE LORD
NOVEMBER 8: GREAT MARTYR DEMETRIUS
NOVEMBER 15: DEMETRIUS SOUL SATURDAY
NOVEMBER 21: ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS
NOVEMBER 22: ST. NECTARIOS OF PENTAPOLIS
NOVEMBER 28: NATIVITY LENT BEGINS