If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll be using this platform to broadcast Divine Liturgies onto the television now in the  Fellowship Hall.

Thank you to all who helped in one way or another last week with Ed Hojnicki's funeral. Those two days were “nonstop” and showed the impact of Ed’s life on our parish and the community. Despite the worldly recognition that he earned, he reposed well in the Lord - in humility, his eyes on the Lord, and with the hope of the resurrection to come.

This Sunday is the Liturgy of St. Basil. If you are using one of the service books to follow along, note the transition at the litany for the catechumens - turn to pg. 81.

We still need Counselors & Staff for the upcoming summer camp. Please register ASAP!

This fall there will be a diaconal vocations program hosted at the cathedral in Philadelphia. If you have an interest in pursing the diaconate, please see Father.

Please see the flyer at the entrance of the Fellowship Hall. You can also check out the Orthodox Tours website. The tours are lead by Fr. Ilya Gotlinsky, an OCA priest up in Binghamton, NY. 

One man and at least two women are needed to be counselors at the upcoming Teen Retreat.  The retreat will be held on the weekend of February 9th - 11th. Please consider volunteering!

Note that we will begin celebrating Matins as a permanent addition to our Sunday services starting Sunday, January 7th.

Our nomination committee for this year is Fr. Dn. James and Elizabeth Clause. We have three positions open for election, each with a 3-year term: Vice President, Financial Secretary, and a general Council Member position. All three of the current council members in these positions - John Hill (VP), Susan Skomorucha (FS), and Chris Carey (CM) have said they are willing to be re-elected. If you would like to run for one of the positions, please speak with Fr. Dn. James or Elizabeth.

Anyone desiring to run for a position need to be in good standing as defined by our bylaws and have Father’s blessing.

Please consider an offering to help needy Veterans. Offerings can be designated online, on your check, or placed in the specially designated basket.

7th- 12th grade - see the link in the weekly email. February 9 - 11. Counselors needed as well. See the weekly email update for links.

Pardon the temporary ugliness of our back wall, which has been prepped for the iconography install. Next Sunday it will look very different, glory to God!

Fr. Timothy Hojnicki will be presiding over the services this week beginning with the Moleben on Thanksgiving day through the Divine Liturgy on Sunday.

Please note that there will be no confessions on Saturday, November 25th and no Church School or  Foundations Class on Sunday, November 26th.

We have quite a collection of items again in the Lost & Found basket - see the table in the bookstore area.

This week the Holy Synod unanimously proclaimed the glorification of the Righteous Olga of Alaska.

St. Olga of Alaska, pray to God for us!

Veteran’s Day was yesterday (November 11th) - Thank you to all who have served our country in the armed forces!

Thank you to all who participated. We raised over $1200 for Paws & Affection!

The November calendar is now available. It is a busy month! Note our patronal feast, youth events, and other services throughout the month.

There is now seating upstairs in the loft.  Please be advised that no children should be upstairs without adult supervision.

Thank you to all who have donated thus far. Today (November 12th) will be our final day to receive donations to help our seminarian.

We’ll have the pumpkins set out next weekend and do another fundraising contest.  More details to come next weekend!

Don’t miss out on the Great Feasts due to school - Father can provide school excuses for children who miss class due to attending Liturgy. Next up, our patronal feast day on November 8th - this should be near Pascha level importance for us all!

Just a reminder that if you have any outstanding IOUs, Please make them good.

Additionally, please consider rounding up anytime you purchase a book. That helps us keep our library stocked with new books.

From Maria Sue: Thank you to all who volunteered and contributed their time, treasure, and talent to this past week’s Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition. Your work is a blessing to many.

Help support our future clergy! Can you be a St. Tikhon’s Sustainer? The Seminary is looking to have consistent donors, donating on a monthly basis. Any amount is welcome.

https://www.stots.edu/donate

In preparation for Church School this fall, Anna Wales sent out an email last week asking for all parents to reply. If you received it, and have not yet replied, please do so ASAP. If you did not receive it, and have a child who is 4 or older, please let her know you did not receive the email or email her at wales.anna@gmail.com.

Note that we have several weekday liturgies and their corresponding Vespers services - 3 weeks in a row! See the front of the bulletin and our September calendar.  This week it is the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (August 29th). Next week it is a great feast - the Birthday (Nativity) of the Theotokos (September 8th). The week after is yet another great feast - the Exaltation of the Lifegiving and Precious Cross of our Lord (September 14th).

Take note of a number of new books in our bookstore from a recent Ancient Faith order. We pass along our cost, which is cheaper than buying from them directly. Please consider rounding up your purchase to help us stock the library.

Stephanie and Jeremy Riley are happy to announce the birth of their son, Michael James Riley. A mealtrain is setup, please see the weekly email for the link or ask one of our hospitality team members. May God grant Michael and his family many years!

Our parish grounds need some “T.L.C.” - lots of weeds are popping up and even some poison-ivy (south altar exit).  Please see John Hill if you would like to volunteer.

Elizabeth now resides at the memory care unit of Kutz Senior Living, 1221 Lodge Lane, Apt.108, Wilmington, DE 19809. Visitors are welcome, mornings are best.

The August calendar is now available. Note the Dormition Fast services as well as the Great Feasts.

Last Sunday Cædmon Earendel Stultz was born. Many years!  A mealtrain has been setup for Enoch & Lily. See the weekly email for the signup link or check with Laura Whalen.

Take note of our new books and prayer ropes along with other prayer corner items.

Please gently blow out the candles. Wax tends to get sprayed on the stands and even the floor if they are blown out too hard.

Phew! What a week, glory to God! Thank you to all who devoted their week to the camp this year. We literally could not have had camp if not for the time and talents invested by you all.

Father Silouan uses an opt-in email service to send out his communications (such as the Weekend Update) to the parish.  This is a different service than the parish Listserv.

To sign up, click on “The Latest” in the menu above.  Then click on "Email Signup" which is the first item in the drop-down menu.

Don’t forget you can give tithes and offerings online, including designated funds. There are two ways to do this.  First, you can use the green "Give" button on Father Silouan's "Weekend Update" emails.  Second, you can use the menu on this page.  Click on "The Latest," then click on "Church Connect."  Finally click on the blue "Give Online" button.

Attention all cleaning volunteers - we now have a new checklist to use. A copy is under the glass in the Candle Room and some extra printed copies are in there as well.

Thank you to all the Saint Michael’s volunteers who contributed to this past week’s Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition. Your efforts have brought comfort, sustenance and hope to needy families in our community.

- Sue D’Orazio

We are looking to get the St. Michael’s Sisterhood re-established. Anne Riley has offered to co-chair. We need an energetic younger woman willing to co-chair with her. Contact Father if you are interested in helping lead.

All those who still have not submitted their summer camp paperwork, please do so by the end of this week!!!

Troy (Constantine) & Ekaterina Bergwall are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Margarita. She was born on Tuesday, weighing in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Please continue to keep the family in prayer as they recover. A mealtrain has also been organized for them.

Thank you to all who expressed their sympathy at the passing of my mom. The outpouring of love is appreciated. We look forward to being back home and celebrating Pentecost with you all.

     -Father & Madrecita

Volunteers are needed to help in a regular rotation for transporting Eric (Moses) Jennings to and from services, particularly Sunday morning. He lives off Maryland Avenue in Wilmington. Please let Christopher Carey know if you can help.

We have some new stock from St. Tikhon’s! Not only are there some new books now on display, but also two hand carved wall crosses (in the display tower), some beeswax votive candles, and incense for your prayer corner.

Perpetua (Colleen) Shatley sends her thanks as we were able to collect enough items during Great Lent to make six full “Welcome Baby” baskets for expecting mothers.

The diocese has launched the spring fundraiser for the seminarians. Please help! Designate your offering (online or physically) for the Seminarians.

Please check out the April calendar and note all the Holy Week services.

The sign-up sheets are now available in the Narthex for:

• The Holy Friday Tomb Watch
• The 15 Old Testament readings read during the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy
• The reading of the Book of Acts on Holy Saturday evening

Thank you to all who have donated!  There are some items that we still need:

• Boys outfits
• Girls onesies
• Hooded towels
• Baby wash and lotion

Please be reminded that we are celebrating St. Basil the Great’s liturgy today. If you follow along with one of the new service books, begin with the St. John Chrysostom liturgy section, but turn to page 81 when we begin the “Litany of the Catechumens” (when the catechumens go forward).

A variety of Lenten reading is available. We have Meditations for Great Lent by Archimandrite Vassilios for $10 (several excerpts in past bulletins are snippets from this book). Fr. Thomas Hopko’s Lenten Spring is on clearance for $7.

It was agreed at the parish meeting to add a $500/month line-item to our budget to hire someone to clean the Fellowship Hall and Church School (contract labor). Anyone interested should email Father at frsilouan@stmichaelsdelaware.org. Please include your qualifications. The Parish Council will make a decision at the next meeting on March 9th. NOTE: This cleaning is in addition to the hard work done by our volunteers.

The Lost & Found basket in the Fellowship Hall next to the Food Pantry shelf is still quite full, mostly with children’s clothing.  It is now sitting on the counter at the bookstore.  Please see if you recognize anything in it.

Please remember to clean-up after yourself and your children. Dispose of your trash or recycle waste in the appropriate containers and wipe up any messes.

Thank you to all the Saint Michael’s volunteers who contributed to this past week’s Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition. Your efforts have made such a difference to needy families in our community.

Please consider a monthly donation to the Good Samaritan Fund. As mentioned in the annual meeting, over $20,000 passed through this fund last year helping many that were in need in our parish.

Any in need are welcome to help themselves to the Food Pantry in our Fellowship Hall. It is well stocked at the moment.  Also, feel free to take food from the food pantry to give to someone you know who is in need.

Tabby Wojciechowski and her dog are looking to be a roommate, or to find affordable accommodations. She is looking to make the move ASAP.  Please contact her at tabbywoj@udel.edu if you can help.

The Panera Bread on Concord Pike in the Fairfax Shopping Center will now be donating their leftover breads and sweets to us on Saturday evenings. Thank you to Emmelia Peck for setting this up! Emmelia would appreciate help in fetching the leftovers, especially when she is unable to. For example, she and Sbdn. Basil will be out of town next weekend, on February 11th. Please let her know if you can help.

Please submit all of your forms, and adults please perform your background checks and referrals.  We need these ASAP - Father can accept them.

If you can’t make it to confession after Tuesday or Saturday Vespers, please note that Father is available by appointment during other times of the week, including before both Vesper services.

Church Open time will resume during Great Lent.

Please see Madrecita Emilia to schedule a house blessing. Father and family are available this Sunday evening and Monday evening.

I have updated our “Wish Book” of liturgical items. New to the book is a Litya tray to replace our current one, which is not in good condition. Donations can be made towards this fund either by designation on your offering or made online.  Your donation toward an item does not have to be the full amount.

Please refrain from leaning on the walls in the Nave that have iconography on them, and please encourage children to show respect for them as well. Thank you.

Our current slate of nominees is listed below.  Please let Fr. Dn. James or Mark Bunitsky know if you have additional nominations.

• President (3-year term): Laura Najemy
• Vice President (1-year term): John Hill
• Treasurer (2-year term): Sbdn. Basil Peck (re-election)
• Secretary (3-year term): Rdr. Andrew Ashton
• Financial Secretary (1-year term): Susan Skomorucha (re-election)
• Council Member 1 (1-year term): Alice Morjana
• Council Member 2 (2-year term): Sue D’Orazio (re-election)
• Council Member 3 (3-year term): Luke Wales
• (Non-Council) Auditors: (3-year term): Jon Whalen & Sergey Baldytchev (both re-election)

The January calendar is now available. House blessing season will be starting up after Theophany, which is Friday, January 6th. Scheduling for house blessings will begin next weekend.

The teams have been formed! If you still need to be plugged into a team, please let Juliana (Carolyn) Peck know. For 2023, the teams have been expanded and a Potluck day has been assigned for every month. Helpers have also been assigned for set-up and clean-up on the potluck days, but please remember to wash and take your serving dishes.

If you like to use offering envelopes, please pick up a box at the candle room. Please be sure to record your name next to the number on the box that you take

In accordance with our new bylaws, a nomination committee has been formed. Fr. Dn. James and Mark Bunitsky comprise the committee. Please let them know if you are willing to serve or would like to nominate someone to serve on the council in addition to the names below. They will verify if the nominee and add them to the list. Keep in mind that one must be in good standing in order to serve on the parish council. Good standing requires that the member:

1. Is a baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christian;
2. Is at least eighteen (18) years of age;
3. Partakes of the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion in this Parish regularly;
4. Submits a signed statement of intent to be a voting member of the Parish;
5. Has been a parishioner of this Parish for a prior consecutive 3-month period; and
6. “Good standing” is determined solely by the Rector.

This initial election also sets up rolling, 3-year terms so that in subsequent years only a few are up for election. For example, in 2024 only Vice President, Financial Secretary, and a general Council Member will be elected. Currently those willing to be elected are:

• President (3-year term): Laura Najemy
• Vice President (1-year term): John Hill
• Treasurer (2-year term): Sbdn. Basil Peck (re-election)
• Secretary (3-year term): Rdr. Andrew Ashton
• Financial Secretary (1-year term): Susan Skomorucha (re-election)
• Council Member 1 (1-year term): Alice Morjana
• Council Member 2 (2-year term): Sue D’Orazio (re-election)
• Council Member 3 (3-year term): This could be you!!!
• (Non-Council) Auditors: (3-year term): Jon Whalen & Sergey Baldytchev (both re-election)

As we progress through the Nativity Fast, please consider a donation to:

• Good Samaritan Fund - Our Good Samaritan fund is depleted, which is a good thing! Help us build it back up for this holiday season.
• Seminarian Appeal - Archbishop MARK has sent out a letter asking us to help our seminarians. We currently have four of them, 3 with families. We will take up a special offering on Sunday, December 11.  If you would like to contribute now, please designate “Seminarians.”  The final day of this appeal will be Sunday, December 11th.
• Veterans - Please help support the purchase of grocery gift cards for local veterans. Donate online or designate “Veterans” on your check or an envelope.  The final day of this appeal will be Sunday, December 18th.

Thank you to all the Saint Michael’s volunteers who contributed their time, talent, and treasure towards the Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition.

Thank you to all who decorated pumpkins as well as to all who donated. We raised just over $2,100 for the Brasowski family! Glory to God!

It’s time to volunteer for 2023!  Sign-up sheets are now available for cleaning, service duty (candle desk), fellowship hour, and prosphora baking.

Olga (Kendreia) Rhine works with a downtown ministry aiding inner city youth in Wilmington, and they need help. Want to help out? Talk to Olga and learn more about it.

Thank you to all who helped paint and clean during our Church Beautification Day on Saturday, October 8th.

The “Cloud of Witnesses” will be a wall of icons for our children to venerate composed of icons currently in our Church. Due to the iconography project, most of the small icons will be removed.  Please place a sticker on any icons you wish to either take home or have placed elsewhere, such as the candle room.

As a reminder, Church School will be held outside or where possible while renovations continue downstairs. The flooring will be installed this week. Over the next month the partitions and furniture will follow.

• HELP! - More items (whiteboards, bulletin boards, etc.) need to be removed. Please take a moment to lend a hand in sorting out the items, or take an item.

• Icons - As a reminder, the plan for all the icons currently on our walls entails many of them becoming the “Cloud of Witnesses” downstairs. Some icons will be kept here in our temple, but most will be used for our children. A sticker system will be used to determine the use of the icons.

Someone is trying to impersonate Father using a fake email address with “rev” in it. The emails he uses for ministry are frsilouan@stmichaelsdelaware.org and frsilouanburns@gmail.com. Any request for money or funds will always be through the Church.

The October calendar is now available.  Take note of the change-up in “Tuesday” Vespers services.  Two liturgies have been added for October. There are two significant saints celebrated, so the "Tuesday" Vespers has been moved to match with the eve of those days.

Archbishop MARK has sent us a thank you letter for the donations we have made to the diocese. The letter will be available in the Narthex.

The flooring has been removed in the basement / Church-school area. Please stay out so that glue or other debris does not end up tracked upon the new carpet.

Don’t forget you can give tithes and offerings online, including gifts designated funds. Use this link to go to the online giving page.

Want to prepare something for a potluck or Fellowship Hour? We have funds available to help! Check with Father or Sbdn. Basil Peck.

Thank you to all who volunteered and contributed to this past week’s Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition. Your efforts have brought comfort, sustenance and hope to needy families in our community.

The finalized September calendar is now available online and a stack of printed ones is located in the Narthex. Please note our Great Feast days this month and let us worship  together.

Our food pantry (shelf in the Fellowship Hall by the beverage tables) is well stocked. Please be sure and help yourself or help someone else.

Our 2022 Annual Parish Meeting is around the corner (October). Offices that need to filled are: President, Vice President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Trustee (Buildings & Grounds).

Did you know you can subscribe to our parish calendar on your smartphone? Find our calendar page under “The Latest” tab on our webpage and click on the iPhone or Google Calendar buttons to subscribe.

We had a good turnout for a Monday morning last week (Great Feast of Dormition) - let’s build on that! Please note the upcoming significant liturgical days we’ll be celebrating and let us worship together!

On Saturday, August 6th we welcomed two new members to St. Michael's.  Photine (Celeste) Bond was welcomed into the Church by the sacrament of Chrismation.  Theophan (Mahcia) Davis was welcomed into the Church by the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation.  May God grant health, happiness, and many blessed years to Photine and Theophan!

Just a reminder that Father Silouan's email announcements to the parish are sent from an opt-in email service.  If you don't sign up for the service, you will not receive the emails.  To sign up, click on "THE LATEST" in the menu at the top of this page.  Then click on "Email Signup" which is the first item in the drop-down menu.

A number of our young adults have volunteered to host Fellowship Hour on July 24th. Thank you! The rest of the year is covered now.

It has been a few months since the prayer list was refreshed. Many of the names have been removed that were over a month old. Please let Father know if you would like someone put back; and of course, any new requests are welcome.

Volunteers are needed for the Fellowship Hour on July 24th.  Please let Father and Juliana (Carolyn) Peck know if you are willing to volunteer.

Some old and new selections have been added.

Also, the "IOU" box has a collection of slips now.  Please remember to "make it good" when you are able.

The new chandeliers are up and operational!  There are a few bugs to work out with the big chandelier (dimming currently not working.)

From Sue Marie D’Orazio: Thank you to all the Saint Michael’s volunteers who contributed to this past week’s Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition. Your efforts have made such a difference to needy families in our community.

Please help yourselves to the extra Sunday School lessons in the Narthex. They are good for all ages and a nice way to review the Gospel.

Take note that this week is fast-free in celebration of Pentecost!

Congratulations to Sylvia Bachinsky (University of Delaware), Cole (Eustace) McElmurray (University of Delaware) and high-school graduates Emma Long and Christian Afeworki.

The flooring is now finalized - note the wood floors upstairs and the new carpet in the stairwell. A few other spot fixes were performed as well.

Next up: Update of our emergency lighting and install of the chandeliers.

Two of our expecting mothers are no longer expecting - we have two new baby girls: Rachel Shatley gave birth to Emery Cedella (Thais) and Christina Tice gave birth to Emilia Barbara. Meal-trains have been set-up (see Listserv and Father’s weekly email) - please help!

Please be mindful that the post communion prayers are being read while we are venerating the cross at the end of service. It is proper for us to not only hear them but listen - making them our own.

There will not be a set time for St. Michael’s to be open this week, but Father is available by appointment. Father will be out of town Wednesday afternoon and most of Thursday due to required continuing education by the diocese.

The diocesan summer camp is July 3 - 9 this year for children ages 7 - 17.  To sign-up, please find the forms on the website: www.sttikhonscamp.org.

Note: Counselor application forms must be postmarked by May 20, 2022.  Camper registration forms must be postmarked by June 23,2022.

• Bridegroom Matins - served Sunday through Tuesday evening as a reminder to be prepared; to be watchful for the Bridegroom’s (Our Lord’s)  coming, for none of us know our day and hour of repose.
• Pre-Sanctified Liturgy of Holy Tuesday - A reminder of the Final Judgment and the return of our Lord at the end of time.
• Holy Unction - The sacramental prayer of healing as well as the uniting of the sufferings of our body and soul with that of Christ.
• Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil - celebrated on Holy Thursday morning - the Last Supper and institution of the Eucharist as well as our Lord’s betrayal and arrest.
• Passion Gospel Matins - celebrated on Thursday evening - the crucifixion of our Lord as accounted for in all four Gospel accounts. After the 5th Gospel reading, the cross is processed out and placed in the middle of the Church and then the body of our Lord is placed upon it.
• Royal Hours - Recounting the Passion of our Lord through Old Testament prophetic readings, the Epistles, and the Gospel.
• Holy Friday Vespers - The burial of our Lord: the removal of the body of Christ from the cross and wrapped in a winding sheet by our children. The
placing of the burial shroud in the tomb.
• Holy Friday Matins - the Lamentations - A service of lament over our Lord’s death but also of wonder as “a tomb holds Him who holds creation in the hollow of His hand.” During this service the Myrrh Bearing Women (any of our nicely dressed women and girls) sprinkle rose water upon the tomb and toss rose petals around it. Towards the end of the service we will process with the shroud around the exterior of the Church. After the conclusion of the service, the “Tomb Watch” begins - the Psalter being read before our Lord’s tomb throughout the night.
• Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil - The vesper’s portion emphasizes the “harrowing of Hades” - our Lord’s defeat of sin and death, and includes 15 Old-Testament readings prophesying our Lord’s resurrection. This service transitions us into the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection. After the Epistle Reading, while “Arise, O God, and judge the earth” is sung, the clergy and servers switch to white vestments and all the cloths in the Church are changed over to white.
• Great and Holy Pascha - the evening begins with readings from the Acts of the Apostles and formally begins at 11:30 p.m. with Nocturns.

Two weeks from today we’ll have already celebrated Pascha! It is tradition to prepare a food basket that will be blessed after the Paschal Liturgy. Please
see the guides printed in the Narthex.

More April calendars and Holy Week schedules have been printed and are available in the Narthex.  The calendar and schedule are also available on the Church Calendar page of this web site.

Sign-up sheets are in the Narthex on the table. We still need volunteers for the reading the Book of Acts and the reading of the Gospel in different languages for Agape Vespers.

Please remember Jim Hicks and Anna Herko love to have visitors. Both facilities are completely open with only a mask mandate. Both of them also can leave their facilities but need someone to drive them.

Fr. Victor just shared with us that these are happening again. Next weekend’s is at the cathedral, St. Stephen’s, in Philadelphia.

A number of options to aid those in Ukraine are now available. Archbishop Mark has asked that we send relief via the partnership that has been made between our Church (OCA) and the Polish Orthodox Church. The link has been provided via our email newsletter and can be found on the OCA website as well.

We have a section of Lenten reading in our library, and we now have a cart prepared at the bookstore.

Acquiring the Mind of Christ by Abbot Sergius is available in the bookstore and the library. This will be the theme for his talks on March 19th.

It’s that season! The pussy willows are beginning to bud.  Now is the time to cut them and store them (moist refrigeration) if you plan to do so for Palm Sunday.

Don’t forget we have a library downstairs! Take advantage of it and check out a book to read for Great Lent.

Thank you to all the Saint Michael’s volunteers who contributed to this past week’s Family Promise meals program for homeless families in transition. Your efforts have brought comfort, sustenance and hope to needy families in our community.

A word of thanks to Christine Roberts who helped us procure 100 COVID rapid test kits, which were given out during Fellowship Hour today.

Every year Fr. Jonathan Bannon prepares a nice graphic chart with a breakdown of “Our Journey to Pascha.” The Journey begins next week! Copies are available in the narthex.

Please see Madrecita Emilia to schedule a house blessing. Our evening schedule is full, but we do have spots during the day, and we can do them after Pascha too!

Family Promise Volunteers are needed to cook or provide take-out for approximately two homeless families. Please sign up on the poster board in the Narthex or contact Maria (Sue) D’Orazio.

It is time to formalize some of the groups mentioned at the All Parish meeting in November. In addition to our current service groups, please let Father know if you are interested in being part of one or more of the following:
• Community Outreach (the local poor & needy)
• Homebound / Nursing Home Outreach (for our own)
• Maintenance / Inspection
• Gardening
• Hospitality (providing meals, hosting showers, etc)
• First Responder (hospital or crisis)

A binder is now on the glass cabinet in the narthex (entrance). This is a wish list of items we could use - altar server vestments in the colors we lack, gold chalices, censer stand, etc. If you are willing to sponsor an item please let Sb.Dn. Basil Peck or Father Silouan know.

Please remember to check under the baby's seat when you are about to leave Fellowship Hour. Some of the little ones leave quite the mess!

Our 2022 calendars have arrived! Please feel free to take one from the stack in the Narthex.

Coats, scarves, and caps that are in good condition are now being accepted (box in the entrance to the Fellowship Hall.)  They will be donated to those in need.

As a reminder, we have a fund to help those who are in a tight spot as well as some other resources. If you are struggling, please speak with Father - we are family, and we bear one another’s burdens.

Coats that are in good condition are now being accepted (box in the hall to the Fellowship Hall.) They will be donated to those in need.

The donation bags are now available! Two dozen were put together - thank you to everyone who made it happen.  Please take one only if you see a homeless person on a regular basis and can pass it on.

If you still need to to sign up for our new email communication platform, click on this link.

Beginning in 2022 we will begin using a new software system that has a suite of features - Accounting, membership management, giving management as well as online giving support, event management, etc. One of the neat features is everyone can have a personal login which allows you to access your information as well as update it and even add a photo.

Olga Maloney is managing our Google Docs directory and is looking to make sure it is as accurate as possible for 2022. Please let her know if you have had any change of address, phone number, or a new addition (with name & birthday). Email Olga at: olgamaloney1@gmail.com and please be sure to copy me at frsilouanburns@gmail.com.

This week through next Sunday we will finish up collecting goods for the Blessing Bags to give to the homeless and/or needy. Items can go in the box at the Fellowship Hall entrance and monetary donations to help purchase items for the bags can go in the collection plate (memo: Blessing Bags.)

The finished blessing bags will be available to parishioners (i.e. kept in cars) to give to a person in need.

Several new books are available. Father is requiring all the catechumens to read “Arise, O God” by Fr. Andrew Damick - it’s a short read, explaining the  Gospel from the original Christian (Orthodox) perspective. The new service books (Liturgy / Vespers) are also available from St. Tikhon’s.

Thank you to all the Saint Michael's volunteers who contributed their treasure, time, and talents to this past week's Family Promise meals program. Your work is a blessing to many.

-Maria (Sue) D’Orazio

Thank you to all who have so willingly supported the renovations at the rectory and even contributed towards it. We are thrilled with the results; it is starting to feel like home.

Several submitted reviews this last week, thank you! We could use a few more - this is a great opportunity to evangelize by sharing your journey to Orthodoxy or how your life was changed here at St. Michael’s.

Sunday School (K - 12) launched last week. It begins around 11:30 AM - listen for the bell at that time.

There is still plenty of space - check your pantries or add an extra item or two to your basket next time you shop.

Here are a few suggestions, but certainly donations are not limited to this list:
• Clif Bars/ Energy or Protein Bars
• Canned soups with easy open tops (eg Amy's Organic)
• Soups in boxes with plastic lids (eg Pacific)
• Various soups in paper cups with easy tear-off tops
• Salmon, tuna, or chicken in cans*
• Brown rice
• Dried peas or lentils
• Canned tomatoes, beans, jars of pasta sauce
• Whole grain and gluten free pasta
• Other healthy options

I can be reached at frsilouanburns@gmail.com or through the website.  If you want to give out my number to someone outside the parish, please use the number on the back of this bulletin or what I have on the website, which is (302) 283-9335. This number reaches my cell and can be texted, but it is screened.

We had two prayer lists being maintained (the bulletin and what was used at services were separate lists) and are now down to one - the one on the back of the bulletin. If your name or the name of a loved one was inadvertently dropped, please let me know.

Things are still in progress at the rectory and my office is literally boxed & piled up at the moment. I have a tentative Daily Vespers on the calendar for next week - that will not happen. I’m going to aim for October. Having said that, it would be nice to have a few people willing and able to chant the service. The plan is to do them at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. If you are interested, even if you have no experience, let me know. I’ll work with you to help prepare you for when we do start.

I will have the Church open on various days of the week from 9:30 AM until Noon. (See the calendar for tentative dates.)  I will be available for counsel, confession, to pray for you or any requests you have including prayer for others; or feel free to light a candle and pray silently on your own or any combination of the above.

I would be happy to schedule an appointment to meet anyone who would like to do so at your home, the coffee shop, or at the Church (if the normal times I have it open don’t work for you) for confession, communion, counseling, a social visit, etc. Just ask! 

The website had a minor facelift and we now have public Facebook and Instagram (stmichaelsdelaware) pages. A “Daily Readings” tab has been added as the final option on the website home page - read the Scripture readings of the day along with the lives of the saints of the day.

Please be patient with me… Several tentative items are on there marked with (TBD) for “to be determined” that I plan to give a trial run. Volunteers needed to make some of these ideas successful, no experience is necessary, just a desire to learn. Let me know!

Welcome to the newly Chrismated John Hill, Chrismated this morning (August 15th). May our Lord bless and keep John for many blessed years!

Welcome to the newly illumined Ephraim Makarios Peck Baptized and Chrismated this morning (Sunday, August 8th). May our Lord bless and keep the newly illumined Ephraim, his sponsor, and family many blessed years!

Thank you to all of our St. Michael’s volunteers who prepared and delivered meals to our families in need. The Family Promise ministry continues to be one of the most successful in DE. Your caring and generosity are very much appreciated by the families! There will be more upcoming opportunities to serve in the future if you missed serving this time. Thanks everyone for your continued good works!

Now that the nice weather is upon us, recharge your spiritual life by checking out one of the books at the library table in the Church hall. There's something to inspire everyone: Saint's lives, books on the spiritual life, books on prayer, and books for the kiddos. Check it out today!

We are looking at our ministry needs for the Fall. And are planning on a robust return to our normal Fall activities. These activities include Church School for our youth and election of officers at our All Parish Meeting. St. Michael’s needs volunteers to serve as teachers for our Church School and Council members to serve in parish administration. One particular need that will be coming available is our parish treasurer’s position. Please prayerfully consider serving in either or both of these parish ministries. If interested in teaching or helping with Church School, please see Fr. Barnabas. If you would like to serve on parish council, please see Mark Bunitsky or Jeff Kendall. Thanks to all who continue to serve Christ’s Holy Church.Our parish council is looking at our ministry needs for this Fall. We are planning on a robust return to our normal Fall activities which include Church School for our youth and our All Parish Meeting. St. Michael’s needs volunteers to serve as teachers for our Church School and Council members to serve in parish administration. One particular need that will be coming available is our parish treasurer’s position. Please prayerfully consider serving in either or both of these parish ministries. If interested in teaching or helping with Church School, please see Fr. Barnabas. If you would like to serve on parish council, please see Mark Bunitsky or Jeff Kendall. Thanks to all who continue to serve Christ’s Holy Church.

Our Study group will be taking a break for the Summer months of June /July/August. Thanks to all who participate in this parish education opportunity.

Church Library Summer Reading: Now that the nice weather is upon us, recharge your spiritual life by checking out one of the books at the library table, in the Church hall. There's something to inspire everyone: Saint's lives, books on the spiritual life, books on prayer, and books for the kiddos. Check it out today.

We will continue moving forward with our coffee hour for any who wish to participate. We are now at the point that we would like to create a volunteer rotation schedule once again for this duty. Please email Juliana Peck to help with coffee hour. We are hoping to put a schedule together in the next couple weeks. Thank you in advance for your help and hospitality!

Memory Eternal to Vera Chalfant on the ten year anniversary of her falling asleep in the Lord (May 10, 2011). We will remember her along with all of our departed Mothers following Liturgy. Memory Eternal!

Thanks to Jim and Anne Riley for arranging the Pascha flowers as well as everyone who helped decorate the church for Pascha! Anyone who would like may choose a plant to take home.

A special thank you to Paula Daubert, our parish choir, our altar servers, and all who helped make our Lenten and Paschal experience so fruitful! May our Lord continue to bless the parish of St. Michael’s with health, happiness, and many blessed years!

Yesterday (April 24th) and today (April 25th) we welcomed into the Church Cole (Eustace) McElmurray and Andrew (Andrew) Ashton, through the sacrament of Holy Chrismation. May God grant them many blessed years!

We are having a modified coffee hour for any who wish to participate. Participation is entirely voluntary; and participants should understand that it is impossible to eliminate all risks with respect to COVID-19. Therefore, each coffee hour participant assumes their own risk in deciding to participate. However, with that said, we are taking common sense steps to make fellowship safer, and would ask that participants please observe the following:

1) maintain social distancing at all times when in the fellowship hall, whether standing or seated;

2) continue to wear masks when not actively eating or drinking;

3) sanitize hands before using the coffee pot;

4) wash or sanitize hands before eating;

5) initially food will not be provided but you may bring your own;

6) please use the Clorox wipes on the table to sanitize your spot at table, and your chair before leaving.

We would also ask that all participants be gracious when reminded of these rules.

Thank you to all who came to the church cleanup on Saturday, April 17th. Many years!

Saturday we welcomed into the Church through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Micah Brasowski. Micah is the son of Stephen and Beth Brasowski. Many blessed years to the newly illumined Micah and his family!

This past Tuesday Fr. Deacon James’ mother, Alma, fell asleep in the Lord. May her memory be eternal! Please keep Fr. Deacon James and his family in your prayers.

Thank you to all six of our St. Michael’s volunteers (and a special shout out to young Nadia) who prepared and delivered meals to our families in need in the Family Promise ministry last week. Your caring and generosity are very much appreciated by the families! There will be three more upcoming opportunities to serve in 2021 so no worries if you missed serving this time. Thank you all!

This past week Fr. Barnabas & Sue (Maria) D'Orazio represented St. Michael’s at the 57th annual Eastern PA Diocesan Assembly. A special thanks to Sue for offering her time for this important work in our diocese. Fr. Barnabas will offer a brief report on the assembly after services.

We still need volunteers to help wipe down surfaces following Liturgy on Sundays. Please see Susan Skomorucha or Sue D'Orazio to find out how you can help. This cleaning is additional, we will still need our weekly “church cleaners” to take care of the rest of the cleaning.

We would like to thank everyone that donated to our VETERANS Acme gift card collection. By God’s grace and your charitable alms, we raised $800 to give to needy veterans who served and sacrificed for our country. Thanks to Sam Sylvest and Ellen Gundersen for suggesting and organizing.

Holy water will be available in the Nave this week and available throughout the year upon request. Home blessings will be on hold until later date. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Fr. Barnabas has had close contact with a Covid-19 case and needs to observe another quarantine. As per the diocesan policy and procedures, Fr. Barnabas will quarantine for the next week to prevent any possible unknown spread. We will not be able to serve the Theophany services this week but plan to be back to services next weekend and will bless Holy Water next Sunday (January 10th). We will still have in person services at St. Michael's January 4th with Fr. Deacon James Carpenter leading the Sunday Typika at 9:00 a.m.

On Thursday, December 31, 2020, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America has issued an encyclical entitled, “We Rejoice Even in Tribulation”: An Encyclical of Hope. The Holy Synod offers this work out of love and gratitude to its faithful at the end of this year. The Synod also intends for the encyclical to be seen as an encouragement for the year to come. In the encyclical, the Synod seeks to find meaning in the year that has past, which has been marked by a pandemic, political polarization, economic anxiety, and civil unrest, and calls the faithful to a renewed faith and hope in Jesus Christ, and service to one another.

Presently the encyclical is available as a PDF for download here. In January 2021, printed copies will be mailed to all parishes, monasteries, and institutions of the Orthodox Church in America. Please take the extra time and read this important document!

Thanks to Jim and Anne Riley for their time, work, and donation of the Poinsettias for Christmas. Anyone who is interested may take a poinsettia plant home today following the liturgy.

This morning (December 13th) we welcomed into the Church, Shawn (Alexis) and Jenn (Genevieve) Vojacsek, through the sacrament of chrismation. May our Lord bless and keep them as they begin their life in the Church. May God grant you many blessed years!

Thank you to everyone who helped serve for Family Promise. We are grateful to God that we are able to serve our brothers and sister even during a pandemic. Thank you to all the volunteers and we look forward to being able to aid Wilmington’s homeless in the future.

We want to thank all for their continued prayers and supplications. We pray for a safe and healthy return for everyone next Sunday, December 13th. We are encouraging everyone to monitor themselves for any symptoms of COVID-19. If any parishioner is sick with any of the following symptoms, stay home: fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, chills, shaking with chills, loss of smell or taste, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, or headache or congestion or runny nose without a known cause such as allergies.

Welcome to our newest member Edward (John) Jones. Edward (John) was welcomed into the Church prior to Liturgy this morning (Sunday, November 22nd) by the sacrament of Chrismation. May our Lord grant the newly Chrismated John Many Blessed Years!

We continue look for help with our live streaming services. Please see Thaddeus (Scott) Lewis if you are willing to help.

Welcome to the newly illumined Emilia Riley, daughter of Jeremy and Stephanie Riley. Emilia was Baptized and Chrismated Saturday morning (November 14th). May our Lord grant Emilia and her family Many Blessed Years!

After discussing with our Parish Council we will wait a few more weeks before we offer any Coffee Hour. Parishioners will be allowed to gather outside the church after the Divine Liturgy to talk and visit. We continue to ask everyone to wear masks and to practice social distancing when masks are not possible.

This morning (Sunday, October 18th) we welcomed our newest Catechumen, Andrew Ashton. We are happy to welcome him as an “official” learner and look forward to his future reception into the Church.  May our Lord grant him a prosperous Catechumenate and Many Blessed Years!

Recognizing the need for many to quarantine due to the deadliness of the pandemic, Fr. Barnabas is available to meet individually on Wednesdays and Fridays to offer Confession and Communion for those still at home. Fr. Barnabas is also willing to meet in other creative ways, like on your porch, to assure everyone remains connected. Please email or call the office to set up a time for the Sacraments.

In light of our Archbishop MARK’s recent urging, our Parish Council, along with Father Barnabas, met this past week to discuss easing restrictions on our in person worship. Our Parish Council will also meet again this week for our regular monthly meeting and to continue the discussion of easing restriction in a safe manner. For the time being we will be continuing with limited in person worship. Next week we will invite parishioners alphabetically “A”- “M”. We continue to ask everyone to wash hands, wear masks, and social distancing when masks are not possible. We will continue to stream our services for those who are at home and we hope to have some streaming upgrades for better sound and video quality soon.

For now the measures concerning the easing of restrictions;

- Parishioners may resume lighting their own candles.

- Parishioners may visit and chat outside following Divine Liturgy w/masks or social distance.

- We also hope, next week, to resume the individual offering of small prosphora.

We will offer ongoing updates as we make the plans to return. We ask continued patience going forward. Please pray for our Parish Council as we navigate the pandemic safely.

After discussing with our Parish Council this past week, we will wait a few more weeks before we offer any Coffee Hour. Parishioners will be allowed to gather outside the church after the Divine Liturgy to talk and visit. We continue to ask everyone to wear masks and to practice social distancing when masks are not possible.

This morning (Sunday, October 11th) we welcomed into the Church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, Stephen Elliot, son of Joseph and Colleen Elliot. May our Lord grant the newly illumined and his family Many Years!

Fr. Barnabas is hearing individual confessions on Saturday evenings following Vespers. We will still be offering confession with social distancing.

Archbishop MARK is encouraging parishes to have simplified outdoor coffee hour with social distancing. Fr. Barnabas hopes to arrange outdoor coffee hour in the next couple weeks. Please see the enclosed attachment of the October monthly calendar. Participation and preparation for coffee hour will be voluntary. We hope to have more details for everyone soon.

This past Friday the clergy from the Diocese of Eastern PA met via Zoom with His Eminence Archbishop MARK. During this meeting His Eminence encouraged clergy and parishes to ease some restrictions and move towards our more traditional activities, practices, and schedule. His Eminence reported that,

“By the grace of God, we have had no issues within any of our parishes. That being said, the negative effects of mitigation measures, fear, anxiety, isolation, depression and lack of social interaction need our attention… If we have learned nothing else during the last several months, hopefully, we have learned that we need each other. We need to be in one another’s presence, and we need healthy interaction.”

Therefore, heeding this call from our Archpastor, we will, in the coming weeks, be taking steps to safely go back to more familiar Liturgical and Social activities. Fr Barnabas will try to meet briefly with the parish council this week to formulate a plan to safely resume some of our normal activities and practices. We will provide more information to everyone as it comes available. Again, please continue to pray for and support our parish and diocese as we face these challenging times.

to all the wonderful cooks who prepared meals and delivered them to Family Promise this week and to Susan Skomorucha for coordinating all the details. We are grateful the gift of compassion for our homeless continues to be a light for us!

Calling all cleaning and service duty personnel. We are hoping to get back to our rotating schedule for church cleaning and Sunday service duty. Once again, no one is required to serve due to the pandemic. However, if you feel comfortable, take the necessary precautions and would like to serve in these capacities, then we could use the help. For cleaners we have put together a detailed list for cleaning, however cleaning will be done immediately following Sunday Liturgy. We will assist and train everyone since these duties have changed. Those individuals cleaning and on service duty are invited to attend the liturgy on their assigned weeks.

Fr. Barnabas will be hearing individual confessions with social distancing. Confessions will be available on Saturday afternoon from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. prior to Vespers. Please email Fr. Barnabas for an appointment. We will also be temporarily offering the Prayers in Preparation for Confession (General Confession prayers) prior to every Divine Liturgy until the restrictions are eased.

The Holy Synod of Bishops has offered guidelines and requirements for the re-opening of our parishes. The parish council has from a sub-committee that will organize and implement St. Michael’s re-opening. There is a lot to do in preparation for re-opening, we ask your patience and understanding. Please look to your email or our parish web site for ongoing updates.

We were unable to finalize our plans for re-opening this week. We hope to have our final, blessed Phase One plan for you this week. Please be patient as things seem to change daily. Our plan will include a details for all. It will include the scenario with about 30 people at a time attending Divine Liturgy. We are looking to Sunday, June 14th as opening date for Liturgy. In the meantime, we will still be serving the Divine Liturgy on Sundays with our skeleton crew. Even though we are still streaming only, we pray that we will continue to bring our liturgical life back to a more normal rhythm. The committee will continue to discuss our plans this week. Please continue to pray for and support our committee as they face these challenging decisions.

During the last 10 weeks Fr. Barnabas’ has received an incredible increase in emails. The emails range from the national church, the diocese, parish council, parishioners, as well as many searchers who are looking for help. Please forgive emails that have gone unanswered. It is near impossible to keep up with all the correspondence. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

On Sunday, May 10th, following the Typika and Molieben we offerd a memorial for Peter Melnik on the 1 year anniversary of his falling asleep in the Lord.

Memory Eternal!

Thanks to all who participated in the Diocesan survey. The results of the survey will help us in the steps for reopening. Our own parish results reflect both those who desire to come back immediately and many who hesitate to come back until more time has passed. Our committee is taking all of these into consideration as we try and discern God’ will for our parish. One issue that the survey did not mention is the ongoing risk for the clergy. The clergy are of the most vulnerable due to the intimate nature of their ministry. This is something else to consider and pray about as we look at the movement towards re-opening.

Congratulations to Kristin and Michael Mackenzie on the birth of their son Jack. Many Years to all!

As per the government restrictions and the direction of the synod of bishops, no one should be coming to St. Michael’s without a blessing from Fr. Barnabas. Until further notice due to the pandemic we will not need our regular church cleaners. Please stay home and stay healthy.

Phone confession will be offered for those who feel they need it. Confessions will be by appointment. Regular confession will be available as soon as the liturgical suspension is lifted. During the pandemic, the faithful are not bound to confess but may wait until a time when in-person Confessions will be possible again.

We will be serving an online only schedule at St. Michael’s. This will include Saturday Vespers at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday the Typika service & Molieben at 9:00 a.m. These services can be found on our Facebook page and through the Zoom app. Please give the online services a try!

Congratulations to Nicholas & Susanne DiDonato on the birth of their daughter Mary.

We want to also congratulate Stephanie Paczienza & family on the birth of her son Daniel.

Many Years to all!

The Parish Council requests that everyone please continue their financial stewardship to the Church if you are able.  Be mindful that our facilities’ bills and mortgage continue to be required. For the time being your weekly contribution can be sent directly to the church through the US mail. The Church mailing address is 2231 East Huntington Dr. Wilmington, 19808.Thank you!

On Sundays during the Lenten season we may notice that the Divine Liturgy is a little different. This is because we celebrate the longer Liturgy of St Basil the Great. In the 4th century Church the liturgy of St. Basil was celebrated every Sunday and feast day of the whole year. It was the official Eucharistic Liturgy to be celebrated on a regular basis throughout the year. Towards the end of the first quarter of the second millennium the Liturgy of Saint Basil was replaced by the liturgy attributed to Saint John Chrysostom another 4th century father of the Church. Some say that the celebrating of Saint Basil's liturgy still being done during Lent is because of the conservative liturgical character of Lent. And since it is the intention of the Church to dedicate more time to prayer during Lent, that it is a good opportunity to teach the faithful dogma by offering for their hearing and singing the profound and all-embracing theological elucidations of the Basilian Liturgy. It is also said that it served during lent because of its expressively doctrinal and educational character. Listen and you will hear the wisdom and beauty of this liturgy on the Sunday's of Great Lent. Handouts will be available.

The “Forty Day Club” provides meals for families who have a newborn. This Spring Glory to God, we are experiencing a flood of new babies. For the first time, we will be providing meals for more than one family at a time! We really could use all the help we can get. The process is simple: sign up to bring a meal to church on Sunday and put it in the refrigerator. (Someone else delivers it.) The meal does not have to be fancy or gourmet; simple meals will do. This is a marvelous way for St. Michaels to nurture and care for each other. Please help us! See Juliana Bunitsky to be added to the list.

There will be lots of added opportunities for confessions during the Lenten season. In addition to Saturday evenings after Great Vespers, confession will be available prior to Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday’s from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.

The “Forty Day Club” provides meals for families who have a newborn. This Spring Glory to God, we are experiencing a flood of new babies. For the first time, we will be providing meals for more than one family at a time! We really could use all the help we can get.  The process is simple: sign up to bring a meal to church on Sunday, and put it in the refrigerator. (Someone else delivers it.) The meal does not have to be fancy or gourmet; simple meals will do. This is a marvelous way for St. Michaels to nurture and care for each other. Please help us! See Juliana Bunitsky to be added to the list.

House blessings are available.  Please see Matuskha Daria or Father Barnabas at coffee hour for scheduling. 

Also, a reminder if anyone needs Holy Water, it is available upon request at any time throughout the year.

This past week Father Barnabas, Fatherr Deacon James, and Sue (Maria) Dorazio represented St. Michael’s at the 56th annual Eastern Pennsylvania Diocesan Assembly at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Harrisburg, PA. Along with the usual business of the diocese we were able to hear a talk by Father John Soroka on parish growth. A special thanks to our Deacon and parish representative for offering their time for this important work in our diocese.

This morning (Sunday, January 19th) we welcome into the Church Mila Christopher Estifanos Waters.by the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation. Mila is the daughter of Estela Estifanos Asfeha and Christopher Waters. May our Lord may grant the newly illumined and her family, health, long life and Many Blessed Years!

St. Michael’s parish son, Archpriest John Zabinko, suffered a devastating stroke nearly 2 years ago. He continues to be wheelchair bound and transportation is a challenge. As a result, he has not been able to get out very often or get to church. A GoFundMe has been established asking for donations to help cover the cost of a “new” used handicap vehicle that has a ramp. A new Handicap vehicle is over $50,000 and a used is half that. Donations can be made online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/fund-raiser-for-father-john-zabinko

Stephen Thomas Elliott was born on Theophany to John (Joe) and Colleen Elliott. (6lb, 12oz) Glory to God!  If you would like send a card and/or gift their address is: PO Box 472, Detroit, Oregon 97342.  Or… you can just pass cards and gift cards for either Target or Amazon to Chris & Nona Carey. They’ll put everything into a ‘care package’ from St. Michael’s at the end of January.

This year, our Parish has achieved a level 5 giving to the Diocese and National Churches. As a result, the assessment for each adult will be $200 per year or $50 per quarter. Envelopes are available in the Narthex for your use and to be used as reminders for you throughout the year. Thank you for your continued support.

Holy water will be available in the Nave for the next two weeks and always available throughout the year upon request. Father Barnabas will also be available for home blessings.  Please see Father Barnabas or Matushka Daria for scheduling.

Many thanks to all who cooked and served our local homeless families through Family Promise last week. You were all so patient and kind with the new arrivals, especially the children. Your compassion for parents with 3 day old infant was instant. Family Promise’s program helps us all become more aware of greater need in this Nativity season.

Anyone wishing to donate poinsettias in memory of a loved one for the Nativity decorations this year can do so by completing an order form which are located in the Narthex. This year we are asking for donations of $10 for each flower. Flowers can be picked up after Divine Liturgy on Sunday December 29. A list of the dedications will be included in the bulletin on December 29. If you have any questions, please see Anne Riley.

Our Parish Bookstore has a wide selection of gifts for this Nativity season. Stop by and pick something up today!

We are currently updating the church directory in preparation for 2020. We are asking parishioners to review the directory in the Vestibule and to make any necessary changes. For new members, or members not currently listed and would like to be included, please add your information--name(s), address, telephone number(s), email address and also birth date(s) for the Birthday List.

Thanks to all who donated to our Veterans collection. A total of $725 was donated. We’ll deliver gift cards to the local VA Hospital. Your generosity helps those who serve our country!

Be sure to check out a book or DVD during the Nativity fast! Remember that continued education in our faith is necessary for effective and enduring discipleship and stewardship.

Thanks to all you participated in our All Parish meeting last Sunday. May our Lord continue to bless His faithful people of St. Michael’s. Many Years! Keep up all the good works!

We are beginning to compile our 2020 stewardship lists for coffee hour, candle duty, and church cleaning. As Julianne Peck mentioned in her email, we are looking for new volunteers to sign up for coffee hour and also candle duty and church cleaning. There will be a signup sheet in the Narthex for any new volunteers. If you wish to work as a team, please identify it on the sheet. Also, let us know if there are any other changes to last year’s list as this will be used as our starting point. Thank you in advance for your service.

At this time of year, as Nativity approaches, we begin buying gifts for our friends and family. This is just a reminder that if you purchase items from Amazon.com, St. Michael’s could benefit from your purchases. Amazon Smile will give St. Michael’s a small rebate for every purchase you make if you use the web address below. This address is specific to St. Michael’s, so it is easy to use. We have already been receiving benefits from this program. Just type the address into your web browser. http://smile.amazon.com/ch/05-0545881

Welcome also to our newest catechumen Kristin Mackenzie. We look forward to being part of her continued journey towards baptism in the Orthodox Church.

Welcome to the newly illumined Eleanor Kendall, received into the church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism and Chrismation on Sunday, October 13th. May God grant her and the entire Kendall family Many blessed years!

St. Michael’s could use your help in baking the holy bread and small Prosphora that is used every Sunday and on Holy Days. If you are interested in participating in this ministry, please see Susan Skomorucha. Baking instruction is available.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Basics/ Inquirer Class the last couple months. We hope and pray that our Lord may continue to lead all to the fullness of Christ.

Many thanks to everyone who cooked and served local homeless families at St. Philips this week. Your encouragement to them is really appreciated. Special thanks to Terry Telep who drove the Family Promise van three evenings for us, for those who played with children and cleaned up after. You're all wonderful.

Thanks to all who participated in our parish picnic last Sunday. It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship. A special thanks to Julianna Peck and Catalina Finck for organizing food and activities.

Father Barnabas will be offering an Inquirer’s / Basics of Orthodoxy Class on Saturday evenings. The class will meet Saturday evenings following Vespers at 6:00 p.m. Any who are interested in finding out more or who are interested in becoming Orthodox should try to attend.

Special thanks and gratitude to Luke & Anna Wales for donating hundreds of books and three large bookcases for our library expansion as well as giving away another hundred books for Good Samaritan and prison libraries.

Father Deacon James is pleased to announce that we will be receiving new altar servers. Service to the Holy Altar is a serious responsibility open to males ages 7years old and older. Those who are interested will be offered some instructional sessions prior to service and must be committed to serve. Serious candidates should see Father Deacon James or Thaddeus (Scott) Lewis for more information.

On Pentecost Sunday we welcomed into the Church Susan “Maria” Dorazio by the Sacrament of Holy Chrismation. Please welcome this newly enlisted warrior for Christ. May God bless and keep her for many years!

Visit the “Orthodoxy in America” website to find an Orthodox Church wherever you are heading. All the canonical Orthodox jurisdictions (OCA, Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, etc.) are listed together on this one helpful site: www.orthodoxyinamerica.org - Check it out! Also, contact the priest ahead of time to inform him that you would like to come for Holy Communion at the Liturgy. May God bless your travels and come back safe and sound!

If you do travel, please do not take a vacation from your financial support of our parish! The Church is here working even when you are not. Thank you for your mindfulness and continued support!

Now that the nice weather is upon us, recharge your spiritual life by checking out one of the books at the library table, outside the Coffee Hour room. Our library team has set out a new selection of books, and there's something to inspire everyone: Saint's lives, books on the spiritual life, books on prayer, and books for the kiddos. Check it out today.

We would like to thank our church school teachers and helpers for the 2018/2019 church school year! Thanks to Stephen Peck, Maria Peck, & Matthew Fravel for teaching of classes. We would also like to thank Paula Dauber for offering her time and talents to help teach our children to sing and offer responses for divine services. Many years to you for your service in the building up of our Lord’s holy church through the education and instruction of our little ones!

Welcome to the newly illumined Rae Dawit Gabriel, daughter of Bisrat Gabriel, baptized this morning. May God grant her and her family long life, health, salvation, and many blessed years!

Father Barnabas is available for the traditional grave blessings during the Paschal season. Anyone who would like to have the graves of their loved ones blessed please see Father Barnabas.

Last Sunday (May 12th) our brother in Christ, Peter Melnik, fell asleep in the Lord. Funeral services were held at St. Michael’s on Saturday, May 18th. Burial services will be Monday, May 19th at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Chambersburg, PA at 11:00 a.m. May the servant of God Peter find blessed repose with all the saints. Memory Eternal!

During the Lenten season Lindsay Construction has been working on several projects around the church building. The project included dome reconstruction and new cross, new siding for the church (which matches the hall), new spouting and gutters, new windows in the Nave, and our electric moved underground. We would like to thank Jeff Kendall, Tom Sulpizi, our parish council, our donors, and all who continued to offer themselves to the building up Christ’s Holy Church. “…for the founders, benefactors, and beautifiers of this holy house, may our Lord remember in His Kingdom always now and ever…” (from the Great Entrance)

We are still accepting Paschal flower donations with or without memorials for Holy Pascha. The slips are in the narthex (or see Jim Riley). Those who give donations may choose a plant to take home after Pascha. Plants will also be delivered to shut-ins and any left will be available for planting in the church flower beds.

Welcome to the newly illumined Rob Jaquette baptized Holy Saturday morning. May God grant him long life, health, salvation, and many blessed years!

Thank you to all who came to the church cleanup yesterday (Saturday, April 13th).  Many years!

If anyone has pussy willow trees and would like to cut pussy willow branches for Palm Sunday we will be happy to distribute them along with palms. Please see Ellen Gundersen or Father Deacon James Carpenter.

There will be a few extra opportunities for confessions during the Lenten season. Confession will be available as usual, following Saturday Vespers and prior to Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday’s from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Confessions will also be available on Thursday’s following study group or see Father Barnabas for appointments or if you have any questions.

Welcome to our newest catechumen Sue D’orazio. May our Lord bless her in her continued journey in the Orthodox Church. Many years!

On Saturday, February 23rd we welcomed into the Church by the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation, Nathaniel Smith, son of DeAnte Smith and Rachel Shatley (Grandson of Colleen Shatley Sylvest). May God grant health, happiness, and all good things to the newly illumined Nathaniel and his family. Many Years!

House blessings are still available. Please see Matushka Daria or Father Barnabas at coffee hour for scheduling.

Our dome renovation project got underway this past week.  Lindsay Construction removed the old siding and began to put up the new, along with the replacement of both windows on the north side of the church.  We look forward to their continued work.  Please be patient with us during the construction.

We continue to progress to the diocesan proportional giving of 10% of our operating budget to the National and Diocesan Church. The yearly National and Diocesan Assessments are determined based on the parish approved budgets. As a result of the approved 2019 parish budget for St. Michael’s and moving to a level 4 Tithing, the annual assessment for each adult over 18 will be $189 per year. This can be paid at one time or easier quarterly payments of $47.25. Envelopes are available in the Narthex if you wish to use them as a reminder. Thank you for your continued support.

Thanks for all who came to the special rehearsal on Saturday February 2nd. A special thanks to Paula Daubert and Juliana Peck for their efforts and sharing their gifts and talents for the building up of our liturgical life. Thanks to all our singers, “…for those who labor, and those who sing, let us pray…”.

We continue to progress to the diocesan proportional giving of 10% of our operating budget to the National and Diocesan Church. The yearly National and Diocesan Assessments are determined based on the parish approved budgets. As a result of the approved 2019 parish budget for St. Michael’s and moving to a level 4 Tithing, the annual assessment for each adult over 18 will be $189 per year. This can be paid at one time or easier quarterly payments of $47.25. Envelopes are available in the Narthex if you wish to use them as a reminder. Thank you for your continued support.

On Sunday morning, January 27th, we welcomed into the Church Jonathan David Finck by the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation. Jonathan is the son of Catalina and Jeremy Finck. May our Lord may grant the newly illumined Jonathan and his family, health, long life and Many Blessed Years!

Holy water will be available for the next few weeks in the church. Holy water is also available throughout the year upon request. Fr. Barnabas is available for home blessings, please see Father Barnabas or Matushka Daria for scheduling.

It’s time to order Poinsettias to beautify the church for our Lord's Nativity! Order forms are available in the narthex

We are currently updating the church directory in preparation for 2019. We are asking parishioners to review the 2018 directory in the Vestibule and to make any necessary changes. For new members, or members not currently listed and would like to be included, please add your information--name(s), address, telephone number(s), email address and also birth date(s) for the Birthday List.

Our Parish Bookstore has a wide selection of gifts for this Nativity season. Stop by and pick something up today!

Many years to our Reverend Deacon James Carpenter celebrating the 4th anniversary of his ordination to the Holy Deaconate (November 21st).  We want to thank him for his service to St. Michael's and to Christ's Holy Church.  May our Lord grant him long life, health, happiness, and many years of service.

It is that time of the year where we look to put our stewardship into action. We have been blessed with many gifts and talents at St. Michael’s, it is now your turn to offer your talents in Coffee Hour, Cleaning, Service Duty, Parish Council, etc. Please consider the offering of self as part of your regular stewardship. Sign up sheets will be posted in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please see Father Deacon James Carpenter or Jeff Kendall for more details. Guidelines for Coffee Hour are available in the back of the church.

Thanks to all who helped and donated winter coats for our winter coat collection. We collected 42 coats for donation to the Sunday Breakfast Mission. Thank you to Ellen Gundersen for leading us in this ministry.

It is that time of the year were we look to put our stewardship into action. We have been blessed with many gifts and talents at St. Michael’s.  It is now your turn to offer your talents in Coffee Hour, Cleaning, Service Duty, Parish Council, etc. Please consider the offering of self as part of your regular stewardship. Sign up sheets will be posted in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please see Father Deacon James Carpenter or Jeff Kendall for more details. Guidelines for Coffee Hour will be available next week.

Welcome to our newest catechumen Rob Jaquette. Rob is a master’s student at the University of Delaware. Please remember him in your prayers as he continues his preparation for entrance into the Orthodox Church.

On Sunday, October 7th, we welcomed into the Church Nicholas Thomas DiDonato, son of Nicholas & Susanne DiDonato, through the sacraments of holy baptism and chrismation. May God grant the newly illumined and his family many years!

We are offering church school classes for preschool ages 3yrs - 5yrs and for primary ages 6yrs - 9yrs. We are still looking for volunteers, teachers, and substitutes for the 2018-19 church school year. All those interested in helping with church school please see Father Barnabas.

We are very grateful and thank all you for your continued ministry to Family Promise. It was another job well done. Thank also you to Ellen Gundersen for taking the lead in this ministry!

On Saturday, August 11th we welcomed into the Church Rebecca (Ruby) Mackenzie.by the Sacrament of Holy Chrismation. May God grant the newly chrismated Rebecca, her sponsors, and family many blessed years!

Catalina Finck and Father Barnabas represented St. Michael’s at the 19th All-American Council, with the theme "For the Life of the World" from Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann's book by the same name. It was indeed a fruitful AAC! Everyone is encouraged to visit the Orthodox Church in America’s web site, Ancient Faith Radio, or the Orthodox Church in America’s Facebook page to listen and to see the ongoing work of our Orthodox Church.

Catalina and Fr. Barnabas gave a report to the parish during coffee hour on Sunday, August 19th.  (Anyone with additional questions should feel free to contact them.)  There are also printed materials from the AAC on a table in the entranceway to the fellowship hall.

Below are links to videos of the AAC. You do not need to set up a FaceBook account to view them.  (When the window pops up asking you to log in or sign up, just click on the link that says "Not Now".)

A Welcome to the 19th All-American Council from His Grace, Bishop Paul Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest.

https://www.facebook.com/19aac/videos/1511268558894030/

19th AAC Introduction Movie

https://www.facebook.com/19aac/videos/1931286606892221/

The opening Address of the 19th All American Council by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon. 

https://www.facebook.com/orthodoxchurchinamerica/videos/1894513953920565/UzpfSTE0ODg1MjM4NTExNjg1MDE6MTkzNjg1NjQ5OTY2ODU2NQ/

Videos of 19th AAC, YOU DO NOT NEED a Facebook account.  
Visit: https://www.facebook.com/19aac/
Great videos from plenary sessions, each OCA diocese video, and more. 

Yesterday we welcomed into the Church, through the sacrament of holy baptism and chrismation, Jameson Edward Reed, the son of Leah (Hojnicki) & Christopher Reed. We pray that our Lord will grant Jameson Edward and his family many blessed years!

Welcome to the newly illumined Glykeria Anassa Peck, received into the church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism and Chrismation this morning. May God grant her and the entire Peck family Many blessed years!

Congratulation and Many Years to graduates from St. Michael’s Kate Bunitsky and Nicholas Carey. We want to offer our best wishes and prayers for continued health, success, and length of days. Many Years!

Father Barnabas and Deacon James continue to try and keep up with our ongoing prayer list for the divine services. Going forward, for good order’s sake, they will keep names on the prayer list for about three months, unless told otherwise, or unless there is a long-term need. Please let them know if there are names that have been removed that need to be placed back because of a long-term need. We will try to remind everyone of this policy on a regular basis.

If you are heading out on vacation please do not take a vacation from your financial support of St. Michaels. St Michaels is here even when Her parishioners are away, and She continues to count on Her people for support. If you do travel, also visit the “Orthodoxy in America” website to find an Orthodox Church wherever you are heading. All the canonical Orthodox jurisdictions (OCA, Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, etc.) are listed together on this one helpful site: www.orthodoxyinamerica.org - Check it out! Also, whichever parish you visit on vacation please remember to contact the priest ahead of time to inform him that you would like to come for Holy Communion at the Liturgy. Thank you, God bless your travels and come back safe and sound!

We would like to thank all our church school teachers and helpers for the 2017/2018 church school year! Thanks to:

 - Stephen & Maria Peck

 - Debby Hines

 - Cindy Peck

 - Juliana Bunitsky

 - Nicholas DiDonato

Many years to you for your service in the building up of our Lord’s holy church!

Thanks to Tom Sulpizi, Rashid Elia and all who helped with our Mother’s Day luncheon!

We would like to thank all our church school teachers and helpers for the 2017/2018 church school year! Thanks to:

- Stephen & Maria Peck

- Debby Hines

- Cindy Peck

- Juliana Bunitsky

- Nicholas DiDonato

Many years to you for your service in the building up of our Lord’s holy church!

In response to the Paschal season and after discussions with the parish council we would like to, once again, start a greeter’s ministry. St. Michael’s has been blessed with several guests and visitors and what a better way to respond to those who are sent to us than offering a formal welcome. We are looking for at least two people willing to volunteer to lead and organize this ministry. Please consider your calling to be a greeter and see Fr. Barnabas or Jeff Kendall for more details.

Thanks to Ellen Gundersen and all who helped with Family Promise last week. We pray that this ministry will continue to be fruitful.

Donors of Pascha flowers may choose a plant to take home after Pascha. Plants will also be delivered to shut-ins, and any left will be available for planting in the church beds. Thank you for your donations!

On April 1st, Stephanie Riley was received into the Orthodox Church through the sacrament of Holy Chrismation. We want to welcome her “officially” into our St. Michael’s family and wish her and her family Many Blessed Years!

In response to the Paschal season and after discussions with the parish council we would like to, once again, start a greeter’s ministry. St. Michael’s has been blessed with several guests and visitors and what a better way to respond to those who are sent to us than offering a formal welcome. We are looking for at least two people willing to volunteer to lead and organize this ministry. Please consider your calling to be a greeter and see Fr. Barnabas or Jeff Kendall for more details.

It isn’t too late to offer your Lenten confessions. Fr. Barnabas will try and hear confessions during Holy Week as time and availability permits.

We are planning on putting a small Pascha basket together for Archbishop Mark to share in our Paschal agape meal. Anyone interested in helping put something together please see Fr. Barnabas or Jeff Kendall.

Thanks to all who participated in our parish Lenten retreat. Thanks to Jeff Kendall and all of the faithful of St. Michael’s for a successful Lenten Parish retreat. It was a blessed opportunity for all.

This past Friday evening during our potluck we were able to raise about $2,000 for the Special Olympics. We would like to thank Elizabeth Melnick for offering the Lenten potluck dinner and all of you for your generous donations and alms during this season.

We continue to ask individuals to please park in the designated areas. The parish council realizes that parking close to the church is limited, however for safety sake please do not park in the fire/ambulance lanes. We need to keep these areas open in case of any emergency. We ask that if the parking lot is full please park on the street and be sure not to block anyone in. Thank you!

Attention Ladies: a group of us are meeting during the first part of coffee hour on March 11, to discuss forming a “40 day club” to help moms who have had a new baby, during the 40 days after birth. We’re looking for people to fix meals to be dropped off at the home; and for others to go to the home in teams of two and help out for an evening or two, doing whatever is helpful, playing with siblings, helping with light housework, dishes, laundry, holding the baby while mom rests, etc. This ministry would provide a marvelous time of fellowship and provide wonderful support for the families of our parish. Please come to the coffee hour meeting if you can help in any of the ways listed above, or with organization and coordination. Any questions please see Juliana Bunitsky.

During the Lenten season we may notice that the Divine Liturgy is a little different. This is because we are celebrating the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. In the 4th century Church the liturgy of St. Basil was celebrated every Sunday and feast day of the whole year. It was the official Eucharistic Liturgy to be celebrated on a regular basis throughout the year. Towards the end of the first quarter of the second millennium the Liturgy of Saint Basil was replaced by the liturgy attributed to Saint John Chrysostom another 4th century father of the Church. Some say that the reason for the celebration of Saint Basil's liturgy during Lent is because of the conservative liturgical character of Lent. And since it is the intention of the Church to dedicate more time to prayer during Lent, that it is a good opportunity to teach the faithful dogma by offering for their hearing and singing the profound and all-embracing theological elucidations of the Basilian Liturgy. It is also said that it served during Lent because of its expressively doctrinal and educational character. Listen and you will hear the wisdom and beauty of this liturgy on the Sunday's of Great Lent. Handouts will be available.

On Wednesday evenings we will be celebrating the Presanctified Liturgy. This evening Liturgy consisting of Vespers, followed by a portion of the full Liturgy. The Liturgy of the Presanctified
Gifts comes after a day of spiritual preparation and abstinence. All who plan on participating in Holy Communion for the Presanctified Liturgy, should eat a light Lenten meal in the morning or mid-morning and begin fasting for communion by mid-day. Reminder that our Presanctified Liturgy will be followed by a Lenten pot luck dinner. All are welcome to come and share in the extra fellowship as we make our journeys together to Pascha.

Check out the library table at coffee hour; new books have been put out for this season of Lent. More titles are available downstairs in the library. If there is an additional book that you would like the bookstore to order, please see Juliana Bunitsky or Mary Anne Farrell.

This past Friday Mark Gundersen, husband of Ellen Gundersen, fell asleep in the Lord after a brief illness. Memorial services will be held next Saturday, February 24th at St. Phillips Lutheran Church 5320 Limestone Road, Wilmington, DE. A groupwide email will be sent to all early this week with further details. We would like to offer Ellen our love, support, sympathy and prayers during this time. May Mark’s memory be eternal!

On Wednesday evenings during Great Lent we will be having Lenten pot luck dinners along with a presentation on the life of a saint. All are welcome to join us. Please see Fr. Dn. James if you are interested in presenting or reading the life of a saint.

Check out the library table today at coffee hour; new books have been put out for this season of Lent. More titles are available downstairs in the library. If there is an additional book that you would like the bookstore to order, please see Juliana Bunitsky or Mary Anne Farrell.

During the Lenten season, confessions will be available on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. prior to Presanctified Liturgy. 

Time for confessions is also available on Saturday evenings following Great Vespers.

We would like to welcome to St. Michael’s the newly illumined Gideon Brasowski, baptized on Saturday, February 10th and also Emily Vechorkina baptized on Sunday, February 11th. May God grant them many blessed years!

As we progress to our fair share giving of 10% of our operating budget to the National and Diocesan Church, our individual assessments for 2018 are changing. With the approval of our 2018 budget in October, we committed to a level 3 giving as a parish which equates to $177 per adult for this year or $44.25 per quarter. Envelopes are available in the Narthex if you wish to use them as a reminder. Thank you for your continued support.

House blessings are available. Please see Matushka Daria or Father Barnabas at coffee hour for scheduling.

Thank you to Jeff Kendall, Alice Morjana, and all of the faithful of St. Michael’s for your time, effort and hospitality offered to our diocesan brothers and sisters. Our parish is blessed to have so many incredible gifts and talents among Her people. May God grant all of the faithful continued prosperity, health, and all good thing for many, many years!

As we progress to our fair share giving of 10% of our operating budget to the National and Diocesan Church, our individual assessments for 2018 are changing. With the approval of our 2018 budget in October, we committed to a level 3 giving as a parish which equates to $177 per adult for this year or $44.25 per quarter. Envelopes are available in the Narthex if you wish to use them as a reminder. Thank you for your continued support.

House blessings are available. Please see Matushka Daria or Father Barnabas at coffee hour for scheduling.

We are very grateful and thank all you for your continued ministry to Family Promise. The weather was tricky this past week so thank you all for another job well done!

With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop MARK the 2018 parish council consists of:

President Jeff Kendall

V.P. Mark Bunitsky

Treasurer Jon Whalen

Recording Secretary Scott (Thaddeus) Lewis

Trustee Ed Hojnicki

Financial Secretary Sergey Baldytchev

Corresponding Secretary Deacon James Carpenter

Purchasing Agent Mary Anne Farrell.

All will be sworn in on Sunday, January 14th following Liturgy.

House blessings are available. Please see Matushka Daria or Father Barnabas at coffee hour for scheduling.

Thank you to Silvana Oberto and to all of you for your efforts with this year’s Nativity Holy Supper. The dinner was well attended and a blessing to all. We hope and pray that you will all join us for the dinner again next year.

Thank you to Juliana and Kate Bunitsky who continue to do an excellent job bringing library books from the basement library to the more convenient place in the social hall. Thank you very much for giving us interesting Orthodox reading material all year. Everyone is invited to visit our library downstairs. We have more than 500 books available. Check a book out today!

Please consider offering any new or used coats, gloves, hats, or hand warmers to those in need this winter.  Please see Rashid Elia if you would like to donate.

Our Parish Bookstore will be having a sale over the next few weeks. Stop by to purchase gifts for those on your Christmas list.

Please consider offering any new or used coats, gloves, hats, or hand warmers to those in need this winter.  Please see Rashid Elia if you would like to donate.

It’s time to order Poinsettias to beautify the church for our Lord's Nativity! Order forms are available in the narthex.

We are currently updating the church directory in preparation for 2019. We are asking parishioners to review the 2018 directory in the Vestibule and to make any necessary changes. For new members, or members not currently listed and would like to be included, please add your information--name(s), address, telephone number(s), email address and also birth date(s) for the Birthday List.

We would like to thank all who continue to offer themselves in the ministry of the coffee hour. We want to remind everyone that the church will purchase all juice, coffee, nonperishable items such as creamers, butter, cream cheese, jelly, nut butter, plates, etc. Also remember that bagels and breads are available from Acme and Panera for a discount or for free.

Please remember the purpose and spirit of coffee hour. It is an exercise in community building and fellowship. Coffee hour is an offering of hospitality and so with these things in mind please only bring what you can. No one is (or should be) judging the offerings at coffee hour.

We also want to remind All that part of the coffee hour responsibility is cleaning. Please be courteous to those cleaning by clearing up your own table before leaving.  This will ease the burden of those cleaning up. We also ask that everyone take suitable amounts of food.

We want to avoid food waste and we also, ask parents to please supervise your children in the food line so that they take appropriate amounts. We continue to also have a need for volunteers to set up and cleanup for our monthly pot luck. It is our hope that with a little engagement, awareness, understanding, and effort, the coffee hour should continue to be a strength within our community.

Our Parish Bookstore will be having a sale over the next few weeks. Stop by to purchase gifts for those on your Christmas list.

At this time of year, we begin buying gifts for our friends and family. This is just a reminder that if you purchase items from Amazon.com, St. Michael’s could benefit from your purchases. Amazon Smile will give St. Michael’s a small rebate for every purchase you make if you use the address below. This address is specific to St. Michael’s so it is easy to use. So far this year, we have received over $130. Just type the address into your web browser:

http://smile.amazon.com/ch/05-0545881

The book store now has the CD of the Paraklesis to the Most Holy Theotokos, beautifully sung in Byzantine chant by three sisters, ages 11, 13, and 15 from Holy Cross Orthodox Church in Yakima, Washington. We have been singing this version on Wednesday nights. $12.00

Thank you to our parents and families for your continued efforts to build community among our youth. We hope and pray that our efforts to build up our youth will continue to bear fruit.

Many years to the newly illumined Theodore and the Clause family on the occasion of Theodore’s baptism yesterday (October 28th) at Saint Michael’s. May our Lord bless and keep them for many years!

We were blessed at this year’s annual meeting to have such great attendance. Thank you to all who came and participated. A special thank you to our parents for their endurance with our little ones. They too share in the business of our parish! The blessings of our Lord are at work in many areas of our parish life. Please consider the brief presentation on our vision and the need for help in our parish ministries. St. Michael’s parish needs your talents!

Thanks to everyone for making this week’s Family Promise one of the best! Your cooking was excellent as always and you always clean up perfectly and without complaint!! Your fellowship with parents and play time with children were visible and awesome. And you did this with the highest noise level and most energetic group of children we've had. THANK YOU!

Yours in Christ,
Ellen Gundersen

A gentle reminder to everyone to please park in the designated areas. If the parking lot is full please park on Huntington Drive. We realize that the parking lot can be full and hope to address this issue in the future. Please do not park in Emergency/ Fire Lanes directly in front of the church. Thank you all for your attendance and patience.

Our annual parish meeting is coming up in October. Just a reminder that reports in preparation for our all parish meeting should be submitted to Catalina Finck by October 9th. Thank you all for your continued work for St. Michael’s!

We are asking all parents to participate in our Church School Survey. All parents should have received an email with a link to the survey. Any parent who did not receive the link please see Catalina Finck. The survey will help us in our efforts to effectively educate our youth in the Orthodox faith. Please remember that the Church serves as a support on the road to eternal life and teaches that it is the primary responsibility of the parents for the spiritual formation of their children. If anyone is interested in serving as teacher please see Fr. Barnabas or Catalina Finck.  Church School will officially begin Oct. 1st 2017.

Jesus said: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in...I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me."  (Matt 25:35, 38-40)

John (Travis) and Mary (Misty) Robinson have began a project to help alleviate hunger in our community. This project is currently weekend based since Saturday and Sunday are the hardest days for the homeless to obtain food.

This will be an ongoing project, so if anyone wishes to make a financial donation, John has set up a GoFundMe site at:

www.gofundme.com/4b067mg

If anyone would like to donate food and other items, here is a list of items that could be used:

Food Items:

• Applesauce cups
• Jello cups
• Pudding cups
• Bread
• Peanut butter & jelly
• Cases of water
• Vienna sausages
• Mini chef boyardee
• Chips
• Cookies
• Bags of beans (winter)
• Chili
• Vegetable soup
• Coffee
• Hot chocolate

Supplies:

• Gloves (for food preparation)
• Hairnets
• Sandwich bags
• Brown paper bags
• Spoons
• Forks
• Empty boxes for transport

Clothing:

• Gloves
• Hats
• Socks
• Scarves

Thanks everyone for your support!

2017 Vacation Church School was very fruitful. Thank you to our parents (and grand/godparents) for offering their time and talents the building up of the Church through VCS. We pray that God will continue to bless our parish with youth. All are welcome to look out back by the shed to see the new reflection garden.

Attention Parents/Grandparents/Godparents: I wanted to recommend a book in our bookstore called "Parenting Toward the Kingdom" by Dr. Phillip Mamalakis. I put off reading it, (probably because parenting books make me feel guilty, since two of my kids are practically grown...) but I have to admit it really has excellent advice in how to nurture the virtues in your children, and in ourselves. The best part about the book is that it frames children's daily struggles as spiritual struggles, and suggests how parents should respond now, to give their kids the tools to fight spiritual battles long term, in life. Even if your kids are grown, you might want to read it for the grandkids and godchildren .

--Juliana Bunitsky

For those of you that were paying your National and Diocesan Assessments on a quarterly basis, this is just a midyear reminder for paying those assessments. The yearly assessment is $166 per adult or $41.50 per quarter. We have envelopes in the Narthex for your use or you can just make a notation on your check referencing the assessments. So far, we have received about $4,800 compared to the $14,500 that we will be assessed by the end of the year. We still have some ways to go to reach our responsibility to the diocese. Thank you for your continued support.

Yesterday (Saturday, June 10th) we welcomed into the Church Johan Asfeha-Waters by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism & Chrismation. May God bless and keep this newly enlisted warrior of Christ for many years!

We hope that during the Summer months that we can extend our pot lucks to include some extended fellowship outdoors. We invite all to stick around today for our parish potluck and some extended fellowship outside. (weather permitting)

Now that the nice weather is upon us, recharge your spiritual life by checking out one of the books at the library table, outside the Coffee Hour room. Our library team has set out a new selection of books, and there's something to inspire everyone: Saint's lives, books on the spiritual life, books on prayer, and books for the kiddos. Check it out today!

Thank you to all the Family Promise helpers this past week. Everyone continues to do a great job with this ministry. Once again thank you to Ellen and Mark Gundersen for being liaisons of this ministry for St. Michael’s.

Visit the “Orthodoxy in America” website to find an Orthodox Church wherever you are heading. All the canonical Orthodox jurisdictions (OCA, Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, etc.) are listed together on this one helpful site: www.orthodoxyinamerica.org - Check it out!  Also, Father Barnabas can contact a priest ahead of time for you to inform him that you would like to come for Holy Communion at the Liturgy. If you do travel, also please remember to not take a vacation from your Financial support of our parish! We are here even when you are not! Thank you, God bless your travels and come back safe and sound!

Add one more thing to your post-graduation to do list! The Fall issue of Alive in Christ will feature our Diocesan graduates. Alive in Christ would be honored to share your accomplishment with the Diocese. DEADLINE IS JUNE 30 2017! To make this happen:Graduates / Graduate’s Families should submit a photo and brief biography and Photo.Please send a separate JPG image and separate text document attached to email.

doepa.communications@gmail.com

or mail to

Aric Gingo

160 Shadetree Road

Shavertown, PA 18708

A special Thanks to all who helped to make our Lenten and Paschal experience so joyful!  May our Lord continue to bless the parish of St. Michael's with health, happiness, and many blessed years!

This past Lenten season we have been collecting for one of our diocesan clergy who suffered a severe fall.  The funds collected will go towards renovations to his home and for a handicap vehicle for his use.  Please place marked donations in the collection basked or drop alms bags at the candle counter.

This weekend we welcomed two new members to St. Michael’s. Last evening (Saturday, April 8th), Carolyn Peck was received through the sacrament of Holy Chrismation, and this morning (Sunday, April 9th) we welcome Josephine Didonatos the daughter of Nicholas and Susanne Didonatos through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. We want to welcome them to St. Michael’s family and wish them Many Blessed Years!

If you have any pussy willow trees in your yards, will you please cut any pussy willow branches in early spring and bring them to church on Saturday, April 8th. They will be distributed along with palms.

This Lenten season we are collecting for one of our diocesan clergy who suffered a severe fall. The funds collected will go towards renovations to his home and for a handicap vehicle for his use. Please place marked donations in the collection basket or drop alms bags at the candle counter.

Thanks to all who helped with the all parish cleanup on Friday, March 24th and Saturday, March 25th.

On Saturday, March 25th we welcomed into the Church William (Michael) Wennburg by the sacrament of Chrismation.

May God grant him Many Blessed Years!

Thanks to all who came and helped pinch perogies this past week. Perogies are available for sale in the church hall. Please see Elizabeth Melnick. Get them now before they are gone!

We want to thank all of you for your continued stewardship efforts in our Family Promise ministry. It is an
Incredible ministry and we are blessed to be a part of it. A special thanks to Ellen and Mark Gundersen who continue to coordinate and serve as liaisons between St. Michael’s and Family Promise.

Last evening (Saturday, February 11th) we welcomed into the Church Cedric Peck through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. May God grant he and his family health, happiness, a peaceful life, and many blessed years!

As we progress to the diocesan proportional giving of 10% of our operating budget to the National and Diocesan Church, our individual assessments for 2017 are changing. With the approval of our 2017 budget in October, we committed to a level 2 giving as a parish. Although we encourage all to give proportionally, the individual assessment equates to $166 per adult for this year or $41.50 per quarter. Envelopes are available in the Narthex if you wish to use them as a reminder. Thank you for your continued support.

A small food pantry bin is available to place the non-perishables for those who may come to St. Michael’s in need of food. We would like to ask our community to kindly bring food items that are frozen or non-perishable, as nutritious and as minimally processed as possible. We would like to include some items that are easy to open and require little or no preparation for those who might not have fully operational kitchens, (No junk food or highly processed foods please.) If you bring frozen items, please label them as "St Michael's Food Pantry" donation and place in freezer. Thank you!

Thanks to all who have offered their time and talents this past week for the funerals of Joe Wojciechowski and Sofia Puit. Your efforts are an incredible asset to our parish and to those suffering loss. Thanks to all! Memory Eternal!

It’s time to order Poinsettias to beautify the church for our Lord's Nativity! Order forms are available in the narthex.

We would like to thank all who continue to offer themselves in the ministry of the coffee hour. We want to remind everyone that the church will purchase all juice, coffee, non perishable items such as creamers, butter, cream cheese, jelly, nut butter, plates, etc. Also remember that bagels and breads are available from Acme and Panera for a discount or for free. Please remember the purpose and spirit of coffee hour. It is an exercise in community building and fellowship. Coffee hour is an offering of hospitality and so with these things in mind please only bring what you can. No one is( or should be) judging the offerings at coffee hour. We also want to remind all that part of the coffee hour responsibility is cleaning. Please be courteous to those cleaning by clearing up your own table before leaving. This will ease the burden of those cleaning up. We also ask that everyone take suitable amounts of food. We have experienced a lot of food waste with too much being left on plates. Parents please supervise your children in the food line so that they take appropriate amounts. It is truly sinful for us to be wasting so much food. With a little awareness, understanding, and effort coffee hour should continue to be a strength within our community.

Welcome to Archpriest Timothy and Matushka Anastasia Hojnicki and family. Thanks to Father Tim for leading us this morning.  This enabled his family to spend extra time visiting family here while Father Barnabas' family could spend more time visiting their family in Pennsylvania.

Many years to our Reverend Deacon James Carpenter celebrating the 2nd anniversary of his ordination to the Holy Deaconate (November 21st). We want to thank him for his service to St. Michael’s and to Christ’s Holy Church. May our Lord grant him long life, health, happiness, and many years of service.

Thanks to Ellen and Mark Gundersen and all of our volunteers this week. Thank you for your time and talents in this work!

The Bookstore will have an icon sale over the next three weekends. Stop by for discounted prices.

Once again we will be reaching out to “adopt” two adult individuals who need our help this Christmas season (through the Division of Social Services.) These are Seniors on fixed incomes living at home or in nursing homes with little support as well as individuals with disabilities. As we have seen in prior years, these folks are not asking for extravagances, but rather things that we sometimes take for granted.

The sign-up sheet is now in the vestibule.   Please place gifts in gift bags, rather than wrapping, and mark them #1 or #2.   Any monetary donations will be used for gift cards.

Please contact Hope LaChance if you have any questions.

Thank you to the anonymous donor who gave our church library 25 orthodox books and 3 DVDs. We appreciate it very much. Be sure to check out a book or DVD during the Nativity fast!

Thank you all for generously donating to the vets at the Veterans Hospital in Wilmington. They appreciate everything we give them.

Perhaps you have noticed over the last couple of months the changes in the “Children’s Space” of the Fellowship Hall. A new rug, book cart, reading seat, train table, dolls, and wooden developmental materials for all ages have been purchased in memory of Mary Lewis. Now we have a special place for children to play, learn, and socialize during Coffee Hour.

Unfortunately, every week toys (or their parts) have gone missing – most recently the two 12” Corolle baby dolls. We can’t afford to replace these materials, so we need your help in preserving this wonderful space. 

Three simple guidelines to help your children be good stewards of St Michael’s Children’s Space:

1. No food or drink on the rug area.
2. Do not take any toys away from the rug area.
3. Before leaving the rug, return the materials to their appropriate baskets.

Thanks to all who stayed for our annual parish meeting last week. Hopefully we came away from the meeting thanking our Lord for His blessings over the past year in the life of the church.

Please help us collect items for the male and female veterans at the VA Hospital in Wilmington. They currently need: men's undershirts and pants (S,M,L), simple wooden and leather crafts, model cars/planes, women's "spa items" and art supplies (see list on donation bin in social hall). See Ellen Gundersen with questions. The last day we will collect is November 6th.

Thanks to all the cooks who served meals to the homeless in our community and others who shared their hope with the families. Family Promise is very grateful for St. Michael's support. Special thanks for all the toys, games, books and stuffed animals that were donated by Olga Maloney and the Little Angels group. You really made this large group of children smile! Also, thanks those who could not serve physically but made monetary donations to help our efforts.

Perhaps you have noticed over the last couple of months the changes in the “Children’s Space” of the fellowship hall. A new rug and wooden developmental materials for all ages have been donated in memory of Mary Lewis, who loved the youngsters of St Michael’s and them nurtured through her Bible Story program. Now we have a special place for children to play, learn, and socialize. Enjoy the toys only on the rug area. Please do not take toys away from the hall. They are not to be taken into the bathrooms, entry way, ramp, narthex, church, or home. Thank you.

Just a reminder that all reports for the annual meeting should be sent to Catalina Finck as soon as possible in preparation for the all parish meeting.

We are currently compiling the 2017 Volunteer Ministries work schedule and are looking for volunteers. A sign up list is in the Narthex for Fellowship Hour, candle service duty, church cleaning, and the library. Please add your name to the list and if you wish to work with a particular family please add a note to that effect.

At this time of year, we begin buying gifts for our friends and family. This is just a reminder that if you purchase items from amazon.com, St. Michael’s could benefit from your purchases.  Amazon Smile will give St. Michael’s a small rebate for every purchase you make if you use the address below. This address is specific to St.Michael’s so it is easy to use. We have already been receiving benefits from this program. Just type the address into your web browser.

http://smile.amazon.com/ch/05-0545881

We invite everyone to participate in our Parish Health Survey. Your input is important to us. Through your participation in the survey we hope to evaluate the ongoing work at St. Michael’s. We also hope to identify strengths and weaknesses in our overall parish witness and ministry. This week we will be sending out a parish wide email with a link to the survey. We plan to have preliminary survey results at our annual parish meeting. Please look for it in your email, or the survey can be found as on Google forms at http://goo.gl/forms/HsSdzYhIOoerSQPJ2.  Paper copies will be available for all who do not use the computer.

Now that a new church calendar year is upon us, recharge your spiritual life by checking out one of the books at the library table, outside the Coffee Hour room. Our library team has set out a new selection of books, and there's something to inspire everyone: Saint's lives, books on the spiritual life, books on prayer, and books for the kiddos. Check it out today.

The parish office will be closed from Sunday afternoon July 17th through Saturday July 30th. Any parish concerns should be directed to Fr. Dn James Carpenter or Jeff Kendall.  Also any parish emergencies requiring a priest should be directed to Fr. Dn. James at (609) 202-4255.

Reminder: For those of you that were paying your National and Diocesan Assessments on a quarterly basis, this is just a midyear reminder for paying those assessments. The yearly assessment is $160 per adult or $40 per quarter. We have envelopes in the Narthex for your use or you can just make a notation on your check referencing the assessments. Thank you for your continued support.

This year's annual golf outing at St Tikhon's will be on Saturday, August 20 at Jack Frost National Golf Course. If you are interested in playing, we have a signup sheet in the Narthex. The cost is anticipated to again be $100 per golfer. If you have any questions, contact Jim Riley.

There is a new library table put out for your summer reading.  Take a book with you on vacation or to the beach.  Wherever the summer takes you, take a book!

Please note our study group will begin our summer break during the month of July. Thanks to all who continue to help make the study group a blessed time for everyone.. We will resume late summer with the study of The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

We will be offering VCS on Monday, June 20th through Wednesday, June 22nd from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM

• Family Dinner: 5:30 - 6:00 PM
• Activities, Crafts, Skits and more!  6:00 - 7:40 PM
• Evening Prayer: 7:40 - 8:00 PM 

Join us!

This week our Study Group will meet on Thursday June 23rd from 10 AM to noon. We will be finishing our study of 2nd Corinthians.  This will be our last meeting before the start of summer break.

Please note that our study group will begin our summer break starting June 30th. Thanks to all who continue to help make the study group a blessed time for all.

Last week Fr. Barnabas participated in the diocesan continuing education program.  The program was offered by representatives of our diocesan insurance company.  Participants learned and discussed, at length, the liability issues facing our churches today.  The approach that is strongly encouraged by the diocese to address potential liabilities is to be proactive.  This includes being aware of our responsibility as a parish for good order, practice, and safety. Some things may just require common sense. Others requires us to strictly adhere to our parish bylaws and diocesan bylaws and church statutes.

A significant and growing source of liability for churches today concerns our children.  Leaving children unsupervised or unattended can lead to our children coming to harm and to our church being subject to legal action and financial damages.  So parents, please, please, supervise your children at all times. This includes all youth 17 and under. 

Remember, we can protect the church from liability by doing the infinitely more important job of protecting our children from harm.

Also, as a reminder to all, please click the "more information>" link to the right for information on proper church etiquette.  Let's take the time to review these and renew our efforts to adhere to them.  By doing so, we will enhance everyone’s experience of the divine services. 

Congratulations on the birth of the newborn baby Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Nader and Rania Dababneh, born yesterday at Union Hospital in Elkton. Both mother and baby are doing well.

The new Orthodox Study Bible from Concilar Press has arrived. Please obtain your pre-ordered copy from the bookstore.

The 2008 Parish Directory is now available in the narthex. Apologies in advance for any errors or omissions. If you see a necessary correction, please notify Father Andrew or Matushka.

We need extra families for Cleaning & Phosphora baking in 2008. Please see Matushka.

This is the final week that the draft 2008 Parish Directory will be available for your review. Please make your final corrections. It is in the narthex. Volunteers are needed next Saturday night after Vespers to compile the directory. Next Sunday, the new directory will be released, Lord willing.

A Sisterhood Meeting will be held next Sunday, Feb. 17th.

Deadline for Gertrude Hawk candy sales is next Sunday, Feb. 17th. Turn your orders in then. Checks should be made payable to “St. Michael’s”. Candies will be available for pickup on Sunday, March 16th, in time for Western Easter. Thank you all for your support!

If you wanted a set of boxed envelopes and were not assigned one, we have extras. Please ask the Treasurer, James Carpenter, for your set. (Or ask Jon Whalen, Financial Secretary; or ask Fr. Andrew)

Membership Assessments for the Central Administration and Diocese (these monies fund the bishop's office, not St. Michael’s parish) for 2008 are a total of $142 per adult. Envelopes in the candle room are being distributed to everyone. Please pick up yours. Thank you.