october 2014 monthly newsletter

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church! ! !

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!608 SOUTH COLLEGE ROAD • WILMINGTON, NC 28403 • (910) 392-4444 • FAX (910) 392-4905

!www.stnicholaswilmington.org

October 2014

The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas October 6, 2014

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014

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Fr. Jon Emanuelson

Parish Priest !

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Office Phone: 910-392-4444 Office Fax: 910-392-4905

Fr. Jon’s mobile number: 910-685-0080

!Office Email: [email protected]

Fr. Jon’s Email: [email protected]

!Church Website: www.stnicholaswilmington.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StNicholasWilmington

2014 PARISH COUNCIL

Officers Members

Emanuel Miliotis (President) Kim Dandulakis Maria Stasios

Evangelos Fragos (Vice President) Peter Malahias Tina Bostic

Irene Sotiriou Vogiatzis (Secretary) Debbie Rallis John Burgee

Barbara Reynolds (Treasurer) Nick Saffo

CHURCH STAFF

Angelique Skandalakis, Parish Office Administrator

Religious Education...Richard Reynolds, Ministry Chair

Adult Education...Richard Reynolds

Youth Catechism...Courtney Malahias, Director

Bookstore/Library...Mary Ann Wall

Oratorical Festival...Courtney Malahias

!Hellenic Culture...Kitsa Wiersteiner, Ministry Chair

Hellenic School...Anetis Logothetis, Acting Director

Romiosini Dance Group...Zaharoula Katsikis

Zoyra Dance Group...Kitsa Wiersteiner

Choral...Dr. Michael Rallis

Special Activities...Kitsa Wiersteiner

!Youth Diakonia...Koula Katsikis, Ministry Chair

GOYA...Dr. David Snow, Irene Sotiriou Vogiatzis,

Mary Beth Miliotis, Tina Bostic, Advisors

HOPE/JOY...Sophia Brewer, Jaime Saffo, Connie

Ronner, Joyce Patsalos, Renee Karonis Psilos

!Liturgical Life...Dr. Michael Rallis, Ministry Chair

Liturgical Music...Dr. Michael Rallis

Acolytes (Altar Boys)...Doug Brown

Neokoros/Sexton...T. Keith Anderson

Communications - Technology Ministries...

Alexandros Theodoropoulos, Ministry Group Leader

Webmaster...Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Publications...Stella McTaggart & Angelique Skandalakis

Technology...Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Media/Community Relations...Beth Burgee, Debbie Rallis,

Alexandros Theodoropoulos !Parish Family Life...**Volunteer Needed**

Parish Life Night...**Volunteer Needed**

Men’s Group...Rick Reynolds

Women’s Group...**Volunteer Needed**

Forever Young...Stella Vallianos

LOVE...Stella McTaggart !Outreach & Evangelism...Diane McGowan

OCF...Fr. Jon & Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Hospitality...Ed & Kathleen Mayorga

Community Service...Christina Mount

Parish Care...Pat Poulos & Tina Stamatakis !Philoptochos...Thalia Kefalas, Chapter President !Stewardship...Debbie Rallis


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From The Desk of Father Jon !What a wonderful weekend we had with our Metropolitan Alexios! After Great Vespers, where his Eminence

chanted along with our beloved choir members, we gathered at the Olympia Restaurant with the Parish Council

members and Council of Ministries leaders. His Eminence spoke beautifully about the Orthodox Church in the

world, in the Archdiocese and in the Metropolis. Fr. Regis Alexoudis and Fr. Nicholas Spirakis, both former

pastors of St. Nicholas, joined us.

!On Sunday, September 21, we celebrated a wonderful hierarchial Orthros and Liturgy. We memorialized the

Orthodox who died in Turkey in the 20th century. May their memory be eternal! After, His Eminence tonsured

Manny Miliotis, Rick Reynolds and Doug Brown as readers of our Church. Next, Metropolitan Alexios

tonsured the high school altar boys for service in the altar. This included Peter Vogiatzis, Pantelis Poulos,

Christopher Lucas Bostic, Alex Manolukas, Conner Snow, Demetri Brown, George Fragos, Nicholas Elfter,

George Malahias, and Tommy Malahias.

!Although this was already a full day, we were not finished. His Eminence, along with David Snow and Manny

Miliotis presented a wonderful donation check to the Good Shepherd House from the proceeds of the festival.

In addition, we gave them an icon of Christ the Good Shepherd that many Church Members signed the week

before. Last but certainly not least, Manny presented two envelopes from our community in support of the

Diakonia Retreat Center and the Metropolitan Alexios Agape Fund. Through the generosity of our St. Nicholas

Greek Orthodox Church and some giving souls in our community, the vibrant ministry of our Metropolitan was

enhanced. May God grant him many years.

!Lastly, the day was perfect for our local Cross Dive. In the afternoon, through the efforts of many people and

the opening up of the dock and home of David and Daphne Snow, we celebrated a blessing of waters and a local

Cross Dive. This year, I asked Ed Mayorga to prepare two beautiful olive wood crosses. Why? You might ask.

Glad you asked. After seeing the cross dive last year, I realized that the opportunity for the young ladies to

retrieve the cross was not there. Thus, this year we had a dive for young ladies and young men. It turned out to

be more challenging than we initially thought because the waters of the intercoastal waterway are a bit murky.

What a blessing! Katerina Katsikis, on her 16th birthday, retrieved the cross. And for the young men, Lucas

Bostic retrieved the cross. May God bless them abundantly in this new ecclesiastical year! Please see our

Facebook site for the parish and our website in the near future for many, many photographs!

!A special thanks to everyone who made this weekend a special time. A special thanks to Calvin McGowen and

Zaharoula Katsikis for all the photo ops!!

!Looking forward to the month of October, we are blessed to have many ministry events planned. Please plan on

being a part of “lifting up our Church” each and every week. As we say in the Liturgy, “Let us lift up our

hearts.”

!Love, Fr. Jon

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From Emanuel Miliotis, Parish Council President

!Well it’s been a busy fall already. We had a special blessing from Metropolitan Alexios who visited our

community on Sunday, September 21. It was great a blessing for us. It was especially nice to be able to present

our host charity, the Good Sheperd Center, with a donation from our festival proceeds in the presence of his

Eminence’s. Additionally we were able to present his Eminence a check to the Diakonia Center, which is a

favorite location for many youth in our church and throughout our Metropolis.

!In addition to the normal ministries now in full swing and on our calendar, I would like to promote two things.

!• 11/1 St. Nicholas Golf Tournament: Calling all golfers…We will be meeting at Echo Farms. It will be a

great event and an opportunity for fellowship with others in our community and their friends. Be on the

lookout for registration information. Additionally we are also looking for anyone who would like to sponsor

a hole, either advertising your business or in memory of a loved one. See the office or Nick Saffo for more

information.

!• 11/2 General Assembly/Nominations for PC: We will be holding our General Assembly meeting on

Sunday 11/2 after church. Please make every effort to attend. We will be presenting our draft budget for

2015. Also if anyone is interested in running for Parish Council please reach out to Fr. Jon or the election

committee for details. It is a great opportunity to serve your church with other committed men and women

leaders from our community.

!In Christ’s service !!

!

!4

!Save the Date - November 2014

!November 1 – Golf Tournament

!November 2 - General Assembly Meeting

!November 15 + 16 - Philoptochos Bake Sale

!November 22 - First Annual St. Nicholas Talent Show


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Outreach and Evangelism Diane Kastran McGowan

!“Lifting up the Church”, our theme for the new

ecclesiastical year, is evident throughout our parish

and we are pleased to announce that many generous

stewards have stepped up to volunteer to fill the needs

of our ministries.

!One of those stewards, Christina Mount, has

demonstrated a passion for the community outreach

segment of our ministry, and has volunteered to be the

lead position of Community Services. Benjalee

Pittman, is also very enthusiastic about generating our

involvement, and has stepped up to assist in our

efforts. Christina has been instrumental in involving

our parish for the first time in the Habitat for

Humanity sponsored, “Interfaith Build” where we will

join many other faiths in helping to build a Habitat

home, on Saturday, October 11, 2014. Call the Parish

Office or Christina Mount for details. We have also

invited Mrs. Pat Poulos and Tina Stamatakis to join

our Parish Care Committee, where we had an opening

and they have graciously and generously accepted.

Both ladies are long standing members of our St.

Nicholas parish.

!The Good news is that we can always use more help,

so please attend our meetings or call to ask how you

can participate. Listed below are a couple of event

dates:

!Saturday, October 11, 2014: Habitat Interfaith Build

!Saturday, December 13, 2014: STOP HUNGER

NOW - this year - at St. Nicholas Parish Hall once

again. Those who have participated in the past know

that the effort promotes a true feeling of team work

and accomplishment work in among our parish along

with the satisfaction of feeding many hungry people!

!Please visit our event website at:

https://stophungernow.secure.force.com/events/

SA_EVENTS__Home?id=70170000000lJo2

Stewardship Debra Rallis

!When we speak of stewardship and family we must

also consider stewardship of family. Most often, we

stress the importance of stewardship of the great

gifts of God’s material world, but which of God’s

gifts is greater than family?

!Throughout our life’s journey, our family will take

many forms. For a child, the family is parents,

siblings, grandparents, cousins, godparents and

individuals with significant roles in the child’s life.

As we mature, we become stewards of our parents

as they also are of us. We are stewards of our

siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and more. We are

called to encourage and support our family members

to grow in the faith. We are also called to encourage

and support them in developing their God-given

gifts and talents to the full for the glory of God. If

we are blessed with a spouse, our concept of family

expands and our stewardship of family expands with

it.

!As our role within our family evolves, we become

stewards of the authority and influence which we

hold in the family. This requires balance tempered

by love and respect. A spouse or parent with

authority must also relate to family members with

respect and humility. St. Paul writes to the

Ephesians, “Submit to one another out of reverence

for Christ” (5:21). St. Paul further instructs us,

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the

church and gave himself up for her” (5:25). And in

Colossians 3:21, St. Paul instructs, “Parents, do not

embitter your children, or they will become

discouraged.”

!We are stewards of our family through the influence

that we have upon them. This influence may be for

good or for evil. In The Moral Intelligence of

Children, Robert Coles writes, “…the child is an

ever-attentive witness of grown-up morality – or

lack thereof; the child looks and looks for cues as to

https://stophungernow.secure.force.com/events/SA_EVENTS__Home?id=70170000000lJo2

https://stophungernow.secure.force.com/events/SA_EVENTS__Home?id=70170000000lJo2


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how one ought to behave, and finds them galore as

we parents and teachers go about our lives, making

choices, addressing people, showing in action our

rock-bottom assumptions, desires, and values, and

thereby telling those young observers much more

than we may realize.” We exercise our stewardship

of family by our actions more than our words.

!Throughout our lives and the roles we assume

within the family, we are stewards of the love,

authority, trust and respect

that exist among members

of the family. Unlike

material possessions,

these are not diminished

by use. But if mishandled,

they can be lost. Love,

authority, trust and

respect require the most

diligent stewardship,

because once they are

lost, they are most

difficult to recover.

!The Divine Liturgy of

Saint Basil the Great

includes beautiful silent

prayers expressing the

Church’s concern for the

family: “…remember,

Lord, the people here

present and those that are

absent with good cause.

Have mercy on them and

on us according to the multitude of your mercy, fill

their store-houses with every good thing; maintain

their marriage-bonds in peace and concord; nurture

the infants; instruct the young, strengthen the aged,

encourage the faint-hearted, gather together again

those that are scattered; bring back those who went

astray and unite them to Your holy, catholic and

apostolic church; defend the widows; protect the

orphans...”

As Orthodox Christians, we are also stewards of our

Church family – those with whom we worship,

fellowship and serve the community. In the same way

that we care for our immediate family, we also care for

our Christian brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, sons

and daughters. In his book on the Eucharist/Divine

Liturgy, Fr Alexander Schmemann explains that in the

early church, the Eucharistic sacrifice was offered by

all the members of the church. Each person coming to

the gathering of the Church brought with them

everything they could spare

for the needs of the

Church. This meant for the

sustenance of the clergy,

widows and orphans, for

helping the poor, and for

all the good works of the

Church. This is the Church

that we as Orthodox

Christians claim to be.

!In the Gospel of Saint

Matthew (6:19), Jesus

instructs us, "Do not store

up for yourselves treasures

on earth, where moth and

rust destroy, and where

thieves break in and

steal….” Often in life, we

pursue and collect those

things that do not last. We

must ask, “One hundred

years from now, where

will our possessions be?”

Our greatest blessing is our family. As Orthodox

Christians, we are called to be stewards of this great

gift. If we are faithful to this calling, perhaps our Lord

will say to us as he did to the faithful steward, “Well

done good and faithful servant” (Mt 25:23)

!Source: http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/stewardship/resources/2015/brochure-2015.pdf

http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/stewardship/resources/2015/brochure-2015.pdf

http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/stewardship/resources/2015/brochure-2015.pdf


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Youth Catechism Courtney Malahias

! “Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in

the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 17:8

!This week at my school we have started an apple

unit. Fall is upon us and with that, apples are all

the talk in first grade. Harvesting apples is a lot of

work and there is quite a bit of beauty in this work.

It helps tie in the ‘7 habits of Highly Effective

People’ - you reap what you sow…...and after hard

work, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

It got me thinking about that popular phrase - “you

are the apple of my eye.” Where did it come from?

The old testament refers to this numerous times and

to be the ‘apple’ of someone's eye is to be their

beloved. WE are the apple of God’s eye. We are

his beloved people and we should hold Him as the

‘apple of our eye’. We need to remember that we

are all connected and children of God, so therefore

you could also say we need to hold each other as

the apple of our eye. Treat everyone as the most

special person you could ever meet! Another neat

fact is that an apple tree cannot be fruitful, at its

best, without other apple trees around it so it can

blossom and bear a lot of fruit. The same can be

said for us: We need each other but most of all , we

need God in our lives.

!Sunday Church School is so fruitful! The

classrooms are all full - even to the point where we

have had to add more chairs!! This is because of

YOU! You are definitely putting the

U in CH RCH!!

!I am enrolled in a new Montessori on line class this

fall to better serve our k-2 group. Our program is

growing each year and we are well pleased with our

group of teachers. We could not be any more

fortunate! They only have your childs best interest

in mind. Keep in contact with them and with me

and let me know your thoughts, ideas and interests

in our curriculum.

!Thank you for all you do! We will be starting some

Good Shepherd House projects soon and will need

some volunteers and donations. Let me know if you

would like to be part of this.

!Happy Autumn and may your harvest be fruitful!

!Grateful to be in His service,

Courtney Malahias

Hellenic Culture Kitsa Weirsteiner

!OXI Day is coming! Please join us on Sunday, October

26, after Divine Liturgy for the OXI Day celebration in

the Hellenic Center. Our speaker will be Dr. Kathleen

Anagnost. This festivity will also include poems,

dances, songs, and lunch. This will be a fund raising

luncheon for all the dance groups.

!This OXI Day program is sponsored by the Hellenic

Culture special activities committee, choral group,

This year we will be having Sunday School

each and every Sunday.

!For the first Sunday of each month St.

Nicholas will now hold Youth Sunday

Sermons. Fr. Jon will prepare special

sermons, which will take place right after the

gospel reading, focused on different age

groups of our Sunday School. Please be on

time so our children don't miss out on this

special time! After Communion all children

of Sunday School ages are invited to go to

their respective classrooms. We can't wait to

see all the families with children in church

every Sunday for Sunday School and Youth

Sunday sermons.


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Hellenic School, and the Romiosini and Zoyra

dancers.

!There will be practice for those reciting OXI Day

poems on Sunday October 12 and Sunday October 19

during the fellowship hour. Anyone who needs help

with their poems, please come and we will have

someone there to help you.

!Orthodox Christian Fellowship

Alexandros Theodoropoulos

!Please be reminded that our OCF group has informal

Open Forum lunch meetings with Fr. Jon and Fr.

Timothy (from St. Basil) at the Varsity Cafe in the

UNCW Fisher Student Center starting at 12:00 pm

and going on until at least 2:00pm on every

Wednesday. All are welcome to join! In case you

know of any students that would be interested, please

encourage them to attend.

!On Sunday, August 24th, our OCF group had its

2014-2015 Kickoff meeting at the St. Nicholas

Hellenic Center. What a blessing it was to see our

students and host families enjoying an evening of fun,

food, faith and fellowship! Among others, Emma

Sieck, our president, and Eleni Carros our VP were

there.

!Also, on August 27th, our OCF chapter participated in

the UNCW’s 2014 Annual Involvement Carnival that

is the most important campus event offering student

organizations great exposure and recruitment

opportunities. Our group as well as Fr. Jon and Fr.

Timothy interacted with several students that visited

our booth, and overall we had a successful presence.

!Furthermore, our parish had the joy to receive His

Eminence Metropolitan Alexios at our beloved St.

Nicholas church on Saturday, September 20th and

Sunday, September 21st ! It was so awesome to have

our President, Emma Sieck and our VP, Eleni Carros

at the Great Vespers and Liturgy on the occasion of

His Eminence’s visit. They represent the OCF

beautifully. His Eminence is a fervent supporter of

campus ministry and has expressed his joy over how

many Orthodox students we have at all the colleges

and universities in our area.

!Good news! The OCF Workdaze Retreat is back!

Mark your calendars for October 24-26, 2014

weekend. This event is FREE for students. That is

correct, FREE! Please check the facebook page for

ocfsoutheast our group for details. We would like to

welcome all the students back and God's blessings to

you in this new academic year!

!We would like to congratulate our OCF member

Andrew Whitley for completing successfully his

Physics and Physical Oceanography master’s

program at UNCW and for getting admitted into the

PhD program at the Texas A&M University in

Galveston TX this Fall semester! Andrew defended

his master’s thesis successfully on August 4th . It

should be noted that, as a good Orthodox Christian,

he had asked for the blessing of our Church by also

inviting Fr. Jon to his defense while he also made his

cross as he was starting his presentation … We feel

so blessed to have the Whitley family in our parish

and we would further like to wish Andrew Δύναµη

(Strength), Enlightenment and every success on his

new academic endeavor!

!Finally, we would like to congratulate our recent

UNCW graduate and instrumental OCF member

Nick Syrpis for getting admitted into the Master of

Divinity program at the Holy Cross Seminary in

Massachusetts this Fall! We would like to wish Nick,

for responding to the Call, Δύναµη (Strength),

Enlightenment and every success on his new spiritual

journey!

!A personal note from Alexandros

Theodoropoulos:

As both the OCF academic advisor and one of Nick’s

master thesis committee member at UNCW, I feel


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the need to share my joy for Nick’s

accomplishments to finish his degree here at

UNCW and getting admitted to the Holy Cross

seminary! At the same time, I feel sadness because I

will greatly miss him … Nick was so instrumental

in helping to start our OCF chapter about three

years ago being one of its founding members … I

can also find no words good enough to describe his

dedication and amazing and hard work for our OCF

group, being there and representing it, even under

rainy weather conditions, in pretty much all the

numerous events on campus that gave us the

opportunity to have a presence, doing true Outreach

and Evangelism missionary work, helping our

priests to spread our Lord Christ’s teachings

through the Orthodox Christian Faith …!

Sometimes, being the only ones manning our booth,

giving the fight as a true soldiers and servant of

God, working and progressing one visitor at a time

… Keeping the light of our ministry’s lighthouse on

…

!Nick, thank you so much for all you have done for

our OCF ministry! I too have learned so much from

my interaction with you and all these experiences

we shared working for our campus ministry … For

this reason, I feel I have formed and will always

have a special connection with you that has been so

spiritually rewarding, it has really been a journey …

For all the above, I would like to express my

gratitude … I would further like to wish you

Δύναµη (strength) and all the best as you continue

your spiritually journey in life at the Holy Cross

Seminary! Please stay in touch …….

!Philoptochos

!Ladies of Philoptochos, please join us for a

wonderful workshop on October 25 from 10-4pm in

the Church Hall. It will be led by Ms. Dee

Nicholau who is the Philoptochos Regional

Metropolis President.

Please note we have our kickoff meeting on

Saturday, October 4 at 11am. All ladies in the

St. Nicholas community are invited to attend. !

Hope/Joy Joyce Patsalos, Renee Psilos, Sophia Brewer, Connie

Ronner, Jamie Saffo

!Dear Joy/Hope Families,

!We had a great time at our kick-off event last

month with lots of backyard waterside fun!

Thank you to Sophia Brewer for hosting us at

her home. We have lots more fun and

fellowship planned over the next few months

and hope you are able to join us. Here are some

dates for our upcoming events so please mark

your calendars:

!•October 12 (Sunday) – Joy/Hope will host the

coffee hour after church. All Joy/Hope

families are asked to bring a food item to

share. **Please note this has been

rescheduled from September 28 to October

12**

!•November 1 (Saturday) – Mike’s Farm, 1600

Haw Branch Rd, Beulaville, NC, ~3:00pm.

Bring the family and enjoy hayrides, barn

animals, fall festivities, and more! Save the

Date – more details to come!

!Look forward to seeing everyone!

In Christ's Service,

Jamie Saffo, Sophia Brewer, Joyce Patsalos,

Renee Psilos, and & Connie Ronner

!Communications/Technology

Alexandros Theodoropoulos

!We were so moved to hear back from our

beloved parishioner Toula Markatos and her

daughter Artie Dixon … Please find below the

pertinent postings of Artie on both her and our


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St. Nicholas Facebook pages along with the relative

photo of Toula:

!“Thanks to the Communications ministries of the St.

Nicholas church, my mother, Toula Markatos, who

moved from Wilmington to Durham this summer, can

enjoy the services of her beloved church (of 8

decades) on her computer from the comfort of her

home in Durham! We can’t thank you enough! Σας

ευχαριστώ πολύ!”

!Dear Toula, we miss you so much … We send you our

love and may God always bless you with good Health

and longevity in order to enjoy your family in

Durham! We would further like to thank Jimmie

Stasios for providing Artie with the web link to our

streaming service.

We would like again to remind you of the live

streaming of our services at St. Nicholas that our

Technology ministry has implemented following

requests from parishioners of ours that travel or are

sick or homebound. The live streaming has been set

up and can be seen on our website directly at

www.stnicholaswilmington.org/LiveStreaming.html .

In case you would like to view our services on your

mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, iPads etc.), you

could still use the afore-mentioned link however there

is also an app available that is more suitable for this

purpose. For information on how to set your device up

with this app, you can contact Alexandros

Theodoropoulos at

[email protected] . Please

check our calendar for a schedule of services

and feel free to try it and offer us feedback

when you have the chance. Also, please stay

tuned for more updates on this project.

!Furthermore, we too would like to

congratulate our youth members Lucas Bostic

and Katerina Katsikis who are our cross

retrievers for this year at the 2014 annual

CROSS DIVE event that took place this past

Sunday, September 21st! Please follow the

link below to access the pertinent article on

the Lumina News website.

http://luminanews.com/2014/09/teens-dive-in-

century-old-greek-orthodox-church-tradition/

#ath

We would like to thank Lumina News for

working with our St. Nicholas

Communications ministries on the

arrangements involved and being willing to

come out to the site and cover our Cross Dive

event!

!Moreover, please be reminded of the special

hearing aid system we recently acquired that

is now connected to the sound system in the

sanctuary and our hope is that this will allow

our older especially parishioners with hearing

issues to better listen and follow our services.

The system has, at this point, four receivers

available that are simple in their use, feature

volume controls and are carried by each

parishioner individually. These receivers are

located at the Pangari (candle stand) in the

Narthex area so, in case you feel you would

like to try one of these, please see one of the

pangari attendants on duty. We would be glad

to receive any feedback you might have. In

case we see a great demand, we will proceed

with expanding the system with more

receivers so that more of our parishioners will

be able to use them.

!

http://luminanews.com/2014/09/teens-dive-in-century-old-greek-orthodox-church-tradition/#ath


http://www.stnicholaswilmington.org/LiveStreaming.html

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.stnicholaswilmington.org/LiveStreaming.html



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In addition, in case any of you has photos and

videos from our Cross Dive and His Eminence

Metropolitan Alexios’s visit to our parish on

September 20th – 21st as well as from any other of

our parish life events, please consider sharing

them with our Communications Chair and our

church office using the the email addresses listed

at the end of this article. We are trying to collect

all these items for our publications and online

media.

!Finally, please be reminded that our church has a

pretty active facebook page that can be accessed at

https://www.facebook.com/StNicholasWilmington

. We would appreciate very much any of your

efforts to help us further promote our FB page

now that such social networking media have been

becoming more popular. Also, our church’s email

list has been growing as well. If you know of any

parishioners or others that are not in our list and

would like to receive our church’s email

communications, like our weekly email bulletin

and so on, please have them forward their email

addresses to our church office.

!In case you have any suggestions or feedback that

could help us in our continuous effort

communications publications/media please contact

our church office at (910) 392-4444 or

[email protected] or our

Communications Chair, at

[email protected] .

!Hellenic School

Anestis Logothetis, Interim Director

!The Greek school started as of Friday Sept. 12

with Ayiasmos and a short service by Father Jon.

We are pleased to have a fair number of students

attending. There is a class for the 5-7 yr old, a

class for the 8-11 yr old and a class for adults. If

there is interest for kids between 12-14 we may be

able to start a class as well. We are delighted so

many adults are interested in either learning or

improving their Greek. We may have to split it

into two sections.

!We hope with time more youngsters will attend

Greek School. The Greek language is their

heritage so please, encourage your kids to

attend. There is school every Friday starting at

5 pm sharp. There is no tuition for our

parishioners.

!Romiosini & Zoyra

!Our dancers will continue their weekly Sunday

practices, immediately following coffee hour.

The Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF) will be

held in Charlotte this year. Families planning

to participate need to let Zaharoula know by

mid month.

!Save the date: October 11 yard sale fundraiser.

Please consider donating any gently used

clothing, and furnishings. No broken or

obsolete electronics or computers please.

7:00am – noon. Rain or shine.

!On October 26 we will perform dances for our

church family during the OHI Day celebration. !

LOVE Stella McTaggart

!Attention LOVE parents: As the weather turns

cold outside, please join us for an inside play

date with a provided lunch at the home of

Stella McTaggart on Saturday, October 18 from

12-2 PM. Feel free to get some extra use out

of those Halloween Costumes and let’s make it

a costume party! (RSVP by October 11.)








!

!12

Cross Dive !

CONGRATULATIONS and many BLESSINGS to our youth members Lucas Bostic and Katerina

Katsikis who are our cross retrievers for this year at the 2014 annual Cross Dive event that took place

this past Sunday, September 21! !Please visit the link below to access the pertinent article on the Lumina News website.

http://luminanews.com/2014/09/teens-dive-in-century-old-greek-orthodox-church-tradition/#ath !We would like to thank Lumina News for working with our St. Nicholas Communications ministries

on the arrangements involved and being willing to come out to the site and cover our Cross Dive

event!




!

!13

Metropolitan Alexios Visit

Tonsuring of Readers and Altar Boys

Presentation of Checks to Good Sheperd and to Diakonia

Retreat Center and the Metropolitan Alexios Agape Fund.


!!!

!14

GOYA Koula Katsikis - Mary Beth Miliotis - Tina Bostic -

David Snow - Irene Vogiatzis

!Welcome back Goyans and welcome to our new

members! Goya welcomes all youth in middle and

high school grades. If you aren’t on our mailing

list or email list, please contact one of our

advisors: Koula Katsikis, Tina Bostic, Mary Beth

Miliotis, David Snow or Irene Sotiriou Vogiatzis.

!•Our first get-together of the new school year was

on August 30th at the Snow’s. It was a beautiful

day and everyone had a great time. We welcomed

our new Goyan members and have paired them up

with older buddies. •The Goyans will have Wednesday night

discussion group meetings with Fr. Jon. They

meet at 6:45pm. •October 26th we will help celebrate OHI Day.

Goyans to help recite poems, songs and dance. •On November 1st we will meet at 9:00am for

breakfast at Hoggard High school and help support

the Kiwanis pancake fundraiser. All you can eat

for $6. For advanced ticket sales ($5 each), please

see Jimmy Stasios. All money raised goes toward

local youth agencies. •On November 1st at noon, we will go bowling at

10 Pin Alley. We will get a group rate, so let us

know how many are interested, so we can book

enough lanes. No charge for Goyan bowlers. All

others, approximate cost is $10 for bowling/ shoe

rental.

Community News !

Giving Statements

!You may have received your giving statement from

the Church this past month. If you would like to

receive this electronically in the future, please

contact our Office Administrator, Angelique

Skandalakis (at

"[email protected]")

to let her know about your preference. Please let

her know the email address where you would

prefer to receive your future giving statements.

!Hosting Coffee Hour

!If you would like to sponsor coffee hour, thank

you so much! Please remember to contact the

office via telephone or e-mail to be placed on

the schedule. Thank you.

!JOB OR MINISTRY?

!Some people have a job in the church.

Others involve themselves in ministry.

What's the difference?

!If you do it just because no one else will...it's a

job!

If you do it to serve God...it's a ministry!

If you quit because someone criticized you...it's

a job!

If you kept on serving in spite of

challenges...it's a ministry!

If you'll do it only so long as it doesn't interfere

with other things...it's a job!

If you're committed to staying with it, even

when it means letting other things go...it's a

ministry!

If you quit because no one ever praised or

thanked you...it's a job!

If you stay even though no one notices your

efforts...it's a ministry!

If you do it because someone else said it needs

to be done...it's a job!

If you do it because you sensed God saying it

needs to be done...it's a ministry!

It's hard to get excited about a job.

It's almost impossible not to get excited about a

ministry!

!Some churches are filled with people doing

jobs! A growing church is filled with people

involved in ministry!

!Fr. Nick Louh, ST. JOHN, Jacksonville, FL




!

!

!15

Congratulations

!Please join us in congratulating our recent UNCW

graduate and instrumental OCF member Nick Syrpis

for getting admitted into the Master of Divinity

program at the Holy Cross Seminary in

Massachusetts this Fall semester! It should be noted

that Nick was one of the founding members of the

UNCW/CFCC OCF chapter and very active and

instrumental in helping to establish it as a viable

student organization working as a true missionary!

We would like to wish Nick, for responding to the

Call, Δύναµη (Strength), Enlightenment and every

success on his new spiritual journey!

!We would further like to congratulate Andrew

Whitley, also an OCF member, for completing

successfully his Physics and Physical Oceanography

master’s program at UNCW and for getting admitted

into the PhD program at the Texas A&M University

in Galveston TX this Fall semester! Andrew

defended his master’s thesis successfully on August

4th and it should be noted that, as a good Orthodox

Christian, he had asked for the blessing of our

Church by also inviting Fr. Jon to his defense … And

following both the Greek and Orthodox traditions, he

made his cross as he was starting his presentation …

We feel so blessed to have the Whitley family in our

parish and we would further like to wish Andrew

Δύναµη (Strength), Enlightenment and every success

on his new academic endeavor!

!Congratulations to Ms. Julia Horiates, daughter of

Angelo & Mary Horiates of Holly Ridge, NC, who

was selected by the AHEPA Educational Foundation to

receive a 2014 AHEPA Scholarship.

!Please do not forget to inform us about graduation

and/or any other accomplishments of any high school/

college students you might have in your family so that

we could gladly and properly recognize them through

our communication media.

Congratulations to Lenonidas and Eleni Kiliaris

on the baptism of their daughter, Konstandina, on

Saturday, September 6.

!Congratulations to Caleb and Anita Kratsa on the

baptism of their daughters, Stella and Amalia, on

Saturday, September 13.

!!!!

Sympathies and Memorials

!We extend our deepest sympathy to Archie and

Wanda Tsangarides on the passing of their

daughter, Christie Tsangarides Hendrickson,

on September 13, 2014. Christie passed after a

long battle with leukemia. May her memory be

eternal.

!

With the Saints, give rest to the

souls of Your servants, where

there is no pain, sorrow, or

suffering, but life eternal.


!!!!

!16

2014 Stewards as of September 19, 2014

Anagnost, Dr. John & Dr.

Kathleen Jewel

Anderson, Keith & Sally

Angeledes, Angelo & Evelyn

Andrews, Chris

Andrews, Louis & Roula

Athens, Damon

Batis, John & Emily

Balourdos, Karla

Batounis, John & Nancy

Bostic, Michael & Tina

Bouboulis, Nikolaos

Brilakis, Antony & Shirley

Burgee, John & Beth

Burke, Aaron & Maria

Calhoun, Cameron & Pam

Chantiles, Katarina-Maria

Chantiles, Stravros

Cranidiotis, Chris & Joy Faulk

Dandulakis, Gregory & Kimberly

Demas, Ronald & Sharon

Demetriou, Angelo & Emilee

Diakogiannis, Ifiynia

Diakogiannis, Yiani

Dimopoulos, Pete & Katherine

Dimova, Stanislav & Diana

Dukas, Nota

Efstathiadis, Efstathios &

Aphrodite

Emanuelson, Fr. Jon & Presbytera

Barbara

Faraclas, Pearl

Flowers, Larry & Helen

Fokakis, George

Fragakis, John & Sophia

Fragos, Evangelos & Olympia

Gerry, Despina

Haralambous, Irene

Heggler, Charles & Copes,

Sophie

Jefferies, Phil & Irene

Johns, Chris & Shannon

Kaprantzas, Christos & Eleni

Karafas, Steve & Sarah

Katsaros, Constantine & Sharon

Katris, Angelo & Anastasis

Katris, Gus

Katsikis, Basile & Koula

Kefalas, Thalia

Kiliaris, Leonidas & Eleni

Kiliaris, Theodoros

King, Lee & Doris

Kirkby, Matthew & Melissa

Koklanaris, Dena

Koklanaris, Emmanuel & Lambra

Koumparakis-Botbol, Elaine

Kratsa, Perry Caleb & Anita Nagy

Kruczko, Andrew Mark

Lawler, Jessica

Lazaridis, Nick & Nena

Lionikis, Emmanuel & Athanasia

Logothetis, Anestis & Constance

Loizides, Michael & Theodora

Macris, Georgia

Malahais, Peter & Courtney

Manolukas, Dr. Peter & Joan

Margoles, Jaqueline

Markatos, Aristea

Marmaras, Georgia

Marmaras, Mary

Matyushyn, Oleksandr &

Dotsenko, Viktoriya

Mayorga, Ed & Kathleen

Mayorga, Sia

McGowan, Calvin & Diane

McTaggart, Micaiah & Stella

Miliotis, Emanuel & Mary Beth

Nashed, Neemat

Omirly, Roubini

Papakidis, Maria

Papanicolaou, Lambros & Niki

Pappamihiel, Ruth

Pathenos, Alexios

Patsalos, Jimmy & Anna

Pinkston, Anne

Pittman, Brian & Benjalee

Porzio, Andrew & Alexia

Poulos, Dena

Poulos, Emanuel (Mike)

Poulos, Jack & Danielle

Poulos, John & Athena

Poulos, Patricia

Proukou, Theodore & Katherine

Rallis, Michael & Debra Bakalis

Rallis

Reynolds, Rick & Barbara

Ronner, Tom & Connie

Saffo, Marian & Marika

Saffo, Nick & Tia

Saffo, Tony & Jamie

Schaefer, Robert & Rena

Simotas, Spiro & Joanne

Skandalakis, Angelique

Skandalakis, Kay

Sljaka, Sophie

Snow, David & Daphne

Spyropoulos, Maria

Stasios, James & Maria

Stephanou, George & Peggy

Theodorpoulos, Alexandros &

Pappamihiel, Eleni

Theophilos, Plato & Renee

Thomas, Robert & Florence

Tracy, Ernest & Sophia

Tracy, Joshua

Tsangarides, Arthur & Wanda

Tsingelis, Chris & Angia

Vallianos, Stella

Vavalette, Mary Ann

Verikios, Mary Ellen

Vogiatzis, Anastasios

Vogiatzis, Vasilios & Sotirou,

Irene

Voneiff, George & Irene

Wall, Mary Ann

Whitley, John & Helen

Wickersham, Donald Ross

Wiersteiner, Sam & Kyriaki

Woods, William & Eleni

Zaharis, Jason & Julie

Zezefellis, Effie

Zondos, Angela


!!!!

!17

2014 STEWARDSHIP DRIVE Comp to 2013 STEWARDSHIP DRIVE End of

Last Yr Updated with actual giving

Total Stewards as of 9/19/2014 124 70% Total Stewards as of 12/31/2013 178

Total $ Pledged $218,605 99% Total $ Pledged $221,565

2014 Budget (goal) $244,590 117% 2013 Budget (goal) $208,377

Avg $ pledge per steward $1,763 142% Avg $ pledge per steward $1,245

% Parish participation to date 62% 70% % Parish participation to date 89%

% of total goal 89% 84% % of total goal 106%

Total Giving to date $169,995 74% Total Giving to date $231,101

Total Giving as %age of Pledges 78% Total Giving as %age of Pledges 104%

Total Giving as %age of Goal 70% Total Giving as %age of Goal 111%

Families who didn't pledge in 2013 26 Families who didn't pledge in 2012 43

** Includes 18 new stewards ** Includes 21 new stewards

Pledged in 2012 and not 2013 67 Pledged in 2011 and not 2012 12

Pledged in 2013 and not 2014 78

Number of families pledging > 2013 48 39% Number of families pledging > 2012 46 26%

Number of families pledging < 2013 21 17% Number of families pledging < 2012 28 16%

Number of families pledging = 2013 29 23% Number of families pledging = 2012 60 34%

New pledgers to 2014 vs. 2013 26 21% New pledgers to 2013 vs 2012 43 24%

2014 Pledge breakdown 2013 Pledge breakdown

$1-$599 57 46% $1-$599 95 53%

$600-$999 19 15% $600-$999 36 20%

$1000-$2499 28 23% $1000-$2499 28 16%

$2500-$4999 9 7% $2500-$4999 9 5%

$5,000-$9,999 6 5% $5,000-$9,999 4 2%

$10,000+ 5 4% $10,000+ 5 3%


!

!18

COME%&%SEE!%

Don’t&forget&to&check&out&our&Library&&&Bookstore&

&

It&is&located&outside&the&Church&doors&toward&the&Hall.&

&

You&can&borrow,&

buy,&and&order&books!&

&

We&also&have&icons&and&children’s&activity&books.&

&

Let%us%know%what%the%bookstore%needs!%

&

Would&you&like&to&volunteer&your&time&in&the&Bookstore?&

Great!&&

Please&provide&your&contact&information:&& & & & &

& & & & & & & & & & & & & &&

**************************************************************************************************&

Saint&Nicholas&Greek&Orthodox&Church&

Book&Store&Order&Request&

&

Name:&& & & & & & &Telephone&Number:& & & & & &

&

&

Quantity& & Item&Number& & Item&Description& & & & Price&

&

& & & & & & & & & & & & & &

& & & & & & & & & & & & & &

& & & & & & & & & & & & & &

& & & & & & & & & & & Total& & &

Payment&

! Paid&in&Advance&

! Will&Pay&upon&Receipt&

Date&Ordered:&& & & & &

Expected&Arrival&Date:& & & &

Date&Received:& & & & &

Date/Notes&Notification:& & &


!

!19

YARD SALE

ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

608 S. Co l l ege Road Wi lmington , NC

SUPPORT OUR YOUTH

(al l proceeds to suppor t our Dancer s )

Saturday, October 11th

7:00am rain or shine...

R A I N O R S H I N E


!20


!21

Join us as we Celebrate

OXI Day

after Divine Liturgy

Sunday ~ October 26, 2014

in the Hellenic Center

Guest Speaker: Dr. Kathleen Jewell Anagnost

Dance Groups Fund Raiser Luncheon

Proceeds will go to help all dance groups.

Sponsored By :

Hellenic Culture Special Activities Committee

St. Nicholas Hellenic School

Romiosini & Zoyra Dance Groups


!!!!

!22

2014 ST. NICHOLAS ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

To be held at ECHO FARMS GOLF CLUB

Saturday, November 1st , 2014 SHOTGUN 1:00 P.M. SHARP

Cost: $100 per player

LOOK WHAT YOU GET!

1. Green fees and cart 2. Free range balls 3. A margarita at registration 4. Sub sandwich and chips 5. Beer and soda during play

How can you go wrong for $100.00?

Be there around 12 noon to register, to buy your mulligans, and to go to the driving range.

You can also help by sponsoring a hole in memory or honor of a loved one, or to advertise your business or profession. If you wish to make any other donations, please contact the Church office (392-4444) or Nick Saffo (256-5180).

ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

608 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

october 2014 monthly newsletter

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