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
!2
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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!
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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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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!9
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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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.
!
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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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
!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.)
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!
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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!
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!
!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.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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!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
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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!
!
!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.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!!!!
!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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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!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%
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!
!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&
&
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& & & & & & & & & & & & & &
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Date&Ordered:&& & & & &
Expected&Arrival&Date:& & & &
Date&Received:& & & & &
Date/Notes&Notification:& & &
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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!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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!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
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church October 2014
!!!!
!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