Christmas Dinner for the Homeless - Another part of the parish's ministry at Christmas is to provide a sit down dinner for the homeless on Christmas day. Below Fr. Jacob stands with some of the people who were served. This year about a hundred men and women were provided dinner. Glory to God! You can click
here to see more pictures of the dinner.
Easy Rental Donates - As they have done every year for the past 10 years, Easy Rental donated 10 turkey dinners to our Loaves and Fishes Christmas Program.
Christmas Program Donation - Aftan Romanczak (in the center below), of Steak-Out Franchising, Inc., delivers the Loaves and Fishes Food Program 366 cases of meat for us to serve the poor food throughout the year. You can click
here for more pictures of the food being delivered.
New Catechumens - Paul and his wife SoPaul and Natalie Sanders were made catechumens in the Orthodox Church Sunday, December 17, after Divine Liturgy.
St. Herman of Alaska - A vigil for the Feast of
St. Herman Wonderworker of Alaska and
Virgin-Martyr Lucy of Syracuse was held Tuesday evening, December 12. Below, Anna Lee Rose stands during the Lity in the Vigil dressed as The Virgin Martyr.
Virgin Martyr Lucy Commemorated - During the Vigil for St. Herman and the Virgin Martyr Lucy, some of our young girls are dressed in white, in honor of the purity of St. Lucy and passed out blessed buns between Vespers and Matins.
A Princess with a Princess - Mary Evelyn, along with her parents, got to make a trip to Disney World recently. Below she get's to meet one of the Disney Princesses.
Pilgrimage to St. John - Angel and Mary Ocasio from New York City visit the shrine of St. John the Wonderworker seeking healing for
their ailments. The picture below shows them are wrapped in St. John's robe and holding his thigh shield.
Member Has Art Show - Chantel Trauner, church member and prosphora maker, is also an artist. Sunday, December 10 she had
a showing of her artwork.
Vigil for St. Nicholas - The Vigil for St. Nicholas was celebrated Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, at the church. Below, Fr. Jacob blesses the wheat, wine and oil during the lity.
Preparation of Lity Loaves - Below Russ McDaniel prepares the Lity bread for the feast of St. Nicholas with the precision of a master baker. The seal is of St. Nicholas with which Russ imprinted the frosting on the loaves.
Monastic Visitors - Sunday, December 3, Abbot Gregory and Hieromonk Damian of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos monastery (OCA) of Asheville, North Carolina, visited our Parish along with the rest of their monks, Hierodeacon Nicholas and Monks Mark and Seraphim. We were blessed to have them concelebrate the Liturgy. Below, Father Jacob introduces them to the congregation after the service. Click
here to see more pictures of their visit.
Sunday School at St. John's - Classes for a variety of age groups meet after coffee hour at St. John's. Below, our young Sunday School class with teacher Angie Nazrallah study the icon of the Lord. You can click
here to see a couple more Sunday School classes in progress at St. John's.
Engagement Announced - Brett (Innocent) Neal hold an icone of St. Innocent and St. Melanie he had painted for the occassion of asking Melanie Reed (far left) to marry him. She said YES and they are now engaged. The icon was painted by iconographer Matthew Garrett.
Baby Baptized - Beshoi (Paisius after St. Paisius the Great) son of Shady (Moses) and Kimberly (Elizabeth) Eldaieef was baptized and chrismated after Divine Liturgy Sunday, October 29. You can click here to see more pictures from the service.
21st Birthday Celebrated - Rebecca Showalter, almost literally born in the Church, turns 21 today as you
can tell from the excited look on her face....Many Years Rebecca!
Parish Couple Expecting - Reader Gabriel and Sheila Aldridge announced after Divine Liturgy Sunday, Oct. 15, they are expecting their first child. This is an answer to prayer. Below Sheila bows her head as her husband makes the announcement. Congratulations Gabe and Sheila!
Newly Illumined - Savannah (Sophia) McCullom was baptised on Saturday October 14, 2006. You can click
here to see more pictures from the service.
New Book on Georgian Saints - Aka and Nino, Georgian members of our church, are presented
with a new book from St. Herman Press,
The Lives of the Georgian Saints.
Greek Cathedral Donates to Loaves & Fishes Food Program - Our thanks to our Brother Greeks for the wonderful Chicken and trimmings sent to our Loaves and Fishes Program following their successful Greek Festival last week. Below, happy people share in the joy of the Greek Festival.
Calvin and Timothy Prepare the food sent after the Greek Festival.
Baby Beshoi Named - 8 day old Beshoi (Beshoi in English is Paisius after St. Paisius the Great) son of Shady (Moses) and Kimberly (Elizabeth) Eldaieef/Singh was named Sunday, October 1, and brought before the icon of the Lord in the sanctuary.
Clergy Wives' Retreat - Priests' wives of our Southern Diocese, including our own Matushka Rebecca, attended the Clergy Wives Retreat
last weekend at Sts. Mary & Martha Monastery in South Carolina. The abbess, Mother Techla is on the far left standing.
New Arrival - Shady (Moses) and Kimberly (Elizabeth) Eldaieef/Singh with their new son, 2 day old Beshoi (Paisius). He weighs 7lbs 8 oz. His naming will be October 1, 2006.
St. Tikhon Trio - Our seminary students on Elena Bucks birthday. Elena sits with her husband Bill and our adopted student Photios.
Repose of blessed spiritual daughter of St. John - On our site you can
read about the relationship between St. John Maximovitch and Zinaida Julem
when St. John was in France. She reposed recently and our dear nuns from
Greece, Abbess Monica and Sr. Joanna (named after St. John) rushed to France to
be pay their last respect and be present at her funeral. They will be publishing
the pictures in their magazine. If you want to read about the death of Zinaida
and see more pictures email Sr. Joanna at:
agnektar@mes.forthnet.gr
Marriage Celebration - Celebrating nearly 15 months of marriage, Bru (Niphon) and Theofola Wallace
share a moment of their joy together after Divine Liturgy, Sept. 17.
Baby Named - Gabriel Lawrence Nazrallah, born to Matthew and Angie Nazrallah, was name after Divine Liturgy Sunday, September 3. Click on the picture below to see a larger version. You can also see more pictures from the naming
here.
Saying Goodbye - Over the summer St. John's has hosted seminary student Photios. Sunday, August 27, we said "goodbye" to him and he was presented a check for his continuing education at St. Tikhon's Seminary. He leaves for the seminary on Tuesday. It was a joy to have him with us and he will be greatly missed!
New Catechumen - Charles (Sergius) Duncan,
a professor of Humanities at Clark Atlanta University became a catechumen in the Orthodox Church Sunday, August 20. His patron is
St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Professor Duncan is also a classical guitarist and teacher. His interesting web
site where you can download a video of him playing classical guitar is:
http://www.duncanguitar.com
Heartfelt Goodbys - Fr. Jacob blesses Irina Pashkova,
mother of Elena Myers, after Divine Liturgy Sunday, August 20. Irina has
been visiting from Russia for the Summer, and is leaving to return to
Moscow.
Newly Illumined - Ian Erickson was chrismated Sunday, August 13. His saint's name is John for St. John the Evangelist. Below Fr. Jacob annoints him with Holy Chrism. You can see additional pictures
here.
Baptism at St. John - Saturday, August 5, saw two catechumens at St. John's newly illumined. Below is the newly illumined Marina who was baptized along with Elizabeth standing to the left. You may see a slideshow of the sacrament here.
Tapestries for Morton Hall - We recently acquired four new tapesties to hang in Morton Hall (our fellowship and multi-purpose room). Below are pictured two of the tapistries, one with Reader Seth and St. Seraphim of Sarov and the other with Mark in front of the Rublev Icon of the Trinity.
Lity Bread for the Transfiguration - Russ McDaniel holds up the Lity bread he's made for the Vigil for the Transfiguration of our Lord. The icing is blue in honor of the Theotokos, whose image is imprinted in the icing.
Abba Moses Clinic - Dr. Carla (Panteleimona) Thomas, one of 7 doctors we are blessed to have as members of St. John's, was recently written up in an Alabama business magazine for her charity work for with the poor at the Abba Moses Clinic in Anniston, Alabama. Click
here to read the article.
Pictures from Shanghai - Katherine Vance, a member of our parish, was in Shanghai two weeks in July and was able to take pictures of St. John's
Cathedral there. The Cathedral is being turned into a museum. Let us pray that God will one day restore this holy site to worship of Him. See a slideshow
here.
Wedding at St. John's - Daniel Williamson and Grace Deleo, the son and daughter of Orthodox Priests, were married at St. John's this past Sunday, July 23. You can click
here for a slideshow of the wedding.
Communion at St. John's - Fr. Deacon Seraphim is assisted by Sub-Deacon Basil Moses and Reader Photios during communion at St. John's on Sunday, July 30.
Click on the picture to see it enlarged.
Visiting Priest at St. John's - Father Peter Smith, Dean of the Southeastern Deanery of the OCA Diocese of the South and pastor of St. Mary of Egypt parish in Norcross, was at St. John's Sunday, July 16, while Fr. Jacob was in Kentucky participating in a wedding. You may hear the homily Fr. Peter gave by clicking
here.
Patronal Feast - After Divine Liturgy we celebrated with a feast. Everyone brought their favorite dish in honor of St. John.
Kneeling Prayers - The congregation at St. John's kneels during the traditional Kneeling Prayers. These prayers mark the beginning of the practice of kneeling during the Liturgy at the time when the holy gifts of bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. The practice of kneeling has been suspended during the Paschal season.
New Catechumens at St. John's - Sunday, May 21, saw a whole family become catechumens at St. John's. Welcome to Theodore, Julia, and their two children to the Holy Orthodox faith!
Moleben Served for Mary Evelyn - A Moleben after Divine Liturgy on Sunday, May 21, marked the end of our "vigil" for the healing of Mary Evelyn. Her treatment is finished and she is officially in remission. A moleben of Thanksgiving was served for her healing.
Baby Baptized at St. John's - The daughter of Eli and Natlie Sanders, Andola (Angelina) Sanders was baptised today. She is named for
St. Angelina of Serbia.
New Seal of St. John of Kronstadt - Levan Lapiashvili finishes carving his newest seal of St. John of Kronstadt. The seal will be sent to
Prosphora.org to be dulicated so others will be able to have this seal as well.
IOCC Official Serves the Poor - Dan Christpulos, the Acting Development Officer for the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) stopped by our Loaves and Fishes Program to serve the poor with the left over food from the IOCC Run/Walk held last Saturday. $30,000 was raised for the IOCC at the annual event by the Orthodox people of Atlanta.
Newly Illumined at St. John's - Holy Saturday saw three catechumens baptized and/or chrismated at St. John's. The three are Julia Antipina, Chesley Richards and Jason Carter. You can see more pictures
here.
Blessing of the Palms - St. Johns' celebrated Palm Sunday in the traditional Orthodox manner beginning with the blessing of the Palms (below) during Matins Palm Sunday morning.
After the blessing, Palm branches were handed out to parishoners upon entering the church.
The branches are then traditional thrown on the floor in front of the priest during the Great Entrance in the Divine Liturgy.
Lenten Class on Wounded by Love - Our class on Elder Porphyrios' book,
Wounded by Love, finished up Tuesday, April 11. You may listen to audio of the classes
here.
Lenten Class on Wounded by Love - Our class on Elder Porphyrios' book,
Wounded by Love, started Tuesday, March 14. You may hear an audio of the class
here. You are invited to attend this class each Tuesday evening, 7:30 PM, in Lent at St. John the Wonderworker parish.
Forgiveness Sunday at St. John's - Mutual Forgiveness was asked from the pastor and all the members of the Parish Sunday, March 5 in preparation for entering into Lent the next day.
From the Nuns of St. Nectarios Monastery - Calvin, who has been very sick, was sent a relic cross in honor of his recent Chrismation and a beautiful letter from their Abbess Monica.
With permission, here is the lovely letter:
Dearest Calvin,
I'm writing this letter with a lot of joy to send to you, although I would rather see you in person. I am the Abbess of the Monastery of St. Nektarios Trikorfo-Greece, and my name is Monica. Fr. Jacob has told us about you and your problem with your health. All the Sisters and myself pray for you. This trial that you are going through will bring you closer to Christ. Every time you receive Holy communion you must know that you unite yourself with Christ. This will make you stronger both bodily and spiritually.
You are very blessed to have a spiritual family that really loves you and is much more precious than any other bond...and always remember as Christ says "I will never leave you as orphans, I will come to you.... Keep in mind that you also have 15 sisters who pray for you here in Greece and will always be by your side!
With love in Christ,
Abbess Monica
Juliana's Second Communion - Juliana Myers partakes of the Holy Mysteries for teh second time Sunday, February 26.
Baptism at St. John's - Julia Myers, daughter of Al and Elena Myers and niece of our Pastor, Father Jacob Myers, was baptized Sunday after Divine Liturgy. Many years!
New Members at St. John - We welcome Shady (Moses) and Kimberly (Elizabeth) Eldaieef/Singh to St.
Johns as the newest members of our church
Clergy of the Southern Diocese meet at St. John's - The parish hosted the clergy meeting of the Southern Diocese Tuesday evening and Wednesday. Below is a picture of the clergy in Morton Hall.
New Members at St. John - We welcome Shady (Moses) and Kimberly (Elizabeth) Eldaieef/Singh to St.
Johns as the newest members of our church
New Seal of St. Seraphim of Sarov - A member of St. John's, Levan Lapiashvili (below) has carved a new seal of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
Feeding the Homless on MLK, Jr. Day -
On the national holiday dedicated to Martin Luther King, 15 men and women
from all over the city volunteered to help in our Loaves and Fishes Food
Program. The King center gave us some money with which we bought hamburgers
and hot dogs and trimmings for the homeless men and women. Robert Mason,
from the St. Josephs Mercy Care Center, came and gave the volunteers an
edifying talk on how their facilities extend the care the Loaves and Fishes
give in our food program.
House Blessings for St. John's Parishoners - as is traditional during the season following Theophany, parishoners of St. John parish are having their houses blessed by our priest, Fr. Jacob Myers. Below is the first home to be blessed. You can see more and read a brief explanation of the blessing of a house
here.
Homeless served Christmas Dinner - On Christmas Day Orthodox Christians from all over Atlanta gathered at St. John's to serve a hot meal for the Homeless. About 150 people were served. See a slideshow of the meal
here and another slideshow of the many people we served
here.
Our Christmas gift to
everyone this year is the book, MY LIFE IN CHRIST, the wonderful meditations of
St. John of Kronstadt. We are putting the book up on Dec. 20th, which is his
Feast Day. Download the complete book in Microsoft Word format
here.
We have an index
(not included in the book) to My Life in Christ here.
Loaves & Fishes Christmas Program - Day 1. The Christmas program was divided into two days this year. Many people volunteered to work the first day (below) and we served 60 families with over 300 children. You can view a slideshow of the day
here.
Vigil for St. Herman of Alaska and Virgin Martyr Lucy - was celebrated at St. John's Monday evening, December 12.
The young girls dressed in white, AnnaLee Payne was St. Lucy this year and wore the candles on her head. The girls brought hot cross rolls and came forward to have them blessed and then passed them out to everyone during the vigi. Click
here
to see more pictures:
Loaves & Fishes Annual Christmas Program - sign-up of families for participation was held recently at St. John's (picture below). The program will be held December 17 at St. John's. Click
here for more information and see how you can help!
See more pictures of the sign-up day
here.
Click
here to hear our catechist, Reader Gabriel (Alridge) singing
O Holy Night.
Parish Member Speaks at Prison - On November 30 Bru Wallace accompanied Dennis Dunn to Hays State Prison where he taught a class on Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He spoke for about 30 minutes to a group of 40 to 50 inmates. You can read Bru's entire account
here.
Frederica Mathewes-Green Introduces New Book - At St. John's to witness the baptism of her newest grandchild,
Eudora Irene, introduced her newest book as well,
First Fruits of Prayer: A Forty Day Journey Through the Canon of St. Andrew, published by Paraclete Press.
Archbishop Dmitri at St. John's - His Eminence Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South (
right) was at St. John's for Vespers Friday evening, November 4. At the end of the service, His Eminence tonsured three Readers, one of whom was also tonsured a Sub-Deacon along with one other Sub-Deacon. You can see a slideshow of the evening
here.
Last Class on I Corinthians - Reader Bru Wallace (below), a doctoral candidate at Emory University, concluded his series on 1 Corrinthians Sunday, Nov. 13, covering chapters 15, 16. You can see more pictures
here and listen to Bru's lectures
here.
Loaves & Fishes Annual Christmas Program - will be held December 17 at St. John's. Click
here for more information and see how you can help!
Sitka Mother of God Icon at St. John's - On Friday, October 28, 2005, the Sitka Mother of God icon was at St. John's for Akathist (
right), Healing Unction, Vigil and Divine Liturgy, with a Romanian Akathist in between! The evening began at 7:00 PM with the Akathist and ended about 2:30 AM Saturday morning at the end of Divine Liturgy. We have seven priests for the Healing Unction service and great grace was experienced in the presence of the icon. The church was packed to capacity, with more people than have ever been at St. John's for one service.
St. John's hosted the first meeting of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship on October 30. We were pleased to have a number of Orthodox college students from around the area. You can see more pictures
here.
The Loaves and Fishes resident poet, Benjamin (with Fr. Jacob, below) shares a poem that he wrote.
Click here for the whole story.
St. John's will be hosting the first meeting of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship on October 30.
Click
here to see a flyer with the details.
Greek Festival Benefits Poor - Many thanks to our generous brothers and sisters at Holy Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church for keeping the Greek Festival going another week and providing food for the poor in Atlanta (right). See
here for additional pictures.
Sitka Mother of God Icon to visit St. John's - On Friday, October 28, 2005, we will host a night of prayer, vigils, akathists, paraclesis, etc., in honor of the miracle working Sitka icon of the Mother of God. See the
announcement of the icon's pilgrimage and keep up with her journey through the "lower 48" states
here on the
OCA website.
Christmas Basket Program - Saturday, December 23, saw the annual Christmas basket program for the poor and needy families of our community. Below is a picture of all the volunteers from the area Orthodox parishes who came and helped distribute boxes of food for the families and toys for the children. This year we were able to serve 75 families and over 400 children. You can click
here to see more pictures of the program.
Donated Toys - Toys donated for the Loaves and Fishes Christmas Program are stored and organized by age groups. The families that come pick out their own toys for each child in their family.
School Teachers given Luncheon - The Parent Teacher Organization of St. Nicholas Orthodox Academy served a luncheon for the teachers of St. Nicholasm who are show below with Fr. Jacob. You can see more pictures of the luncheon
here.
Clergy Brotherhood Supports Christmas Program - Some of the Orthodox Priests of the Clergy Brotherhood of Sts. Cyril and Methodius write a check for the Loaves & Fishes Christmas Program. The donation will be used to provide food and toys for needy families this Christmas. Read how you can help the Christmas Program
here.
Loaves & Fishes Christmas Program - On December 1st, the Feast Day of
St. Philaret the Merciful, we began taking names of families for the Loaves and Fishes Christmas program (below) . Some people came at 2:30AM to wait in front of the church to be put on the program. When we begin Matins at 5:30AM, we already had twenty five people waiting in line. Lets make this a great Christmas for all of these families.
It is a great blessing to have St. Philaret inaugurate our program. He had complete faith in God, and gave everything
he and his family had away, only to be blessed with his daughter marrying the Kings son and becoming wealthy again, and
still continuing his great giving to those in need.
Breakfast for the Poor - The Loaves & Fishes Program served breakfast to the poor at St. John the Wonderworker parish. Click
here to see a couple more pictures of this ministry. You can read about how you can help with the Loaves & Fishes Christmas Program
here.
Postcard from St. John - Mary Evelyn holds a postcard given to our church that was written by St. John Maximovitch in 1959 to Zinaida Julem in France.
Dear All who have prayed for the healing of Mary Evelyn,
We were so grateful
yesterday to hear that Mary Evelyn's CT scan came back clear again! Her cancer
is one of the deadliest forms of childhood cancer and although she is in
remission, the threat remains. If the cancer comes back, there is probably
nothing that they can do to save her life. As I waited for the results
yesterday, I was very worried. The thing that helped me the most was remembering
the Unction Service at church when the Sitka icon was here. That night, Mary
Evelyn was anointed by seven priests in a beautiful service and it almost looked
like she was glowing. I knew then that no matter what happens, she is safe in
God's loving arms.
We can consider Mary Evelyn "out of the woods" if she is still free of cancer in four years, so you
see how much we appreciate your continued prayers. God has shown great mercy to
our little one so far, and we hope to be able to continue to share good news
with you and everyone else. Her next scan will be in February.
It is a great blessing
to see Mary Evelyn blooming with good health right now. Her only side effect
form the treatment so far appears to be hearing loss, which is a price we are
glad to pay for the chance of saving her life.
Mark, Mary Evelyn and
I will be celebrating her clear scans next week when we take a trip to Disney
World, thanks to the Make-A-Wish charity!
Thanks so much for your prayers!
Love,
Edna
(Mary Evelyn's Mom)
Church get's a Cleaning - Shawn pressure washes the front steps of the church.
Treatment Concluded - Father Jacob offers up a prayer of thanksgiving (below) on the occasion of the conclusion of Mary Evelyn's cancer treatment. Mark announced today, the Sunday of the Raising of Jarius Daughter, that after six months of in-patient treatment and six months of out patient treatment, all indicators are still good for Mary Evelyn. He also announced that Mary Evelyn is expecting a little brother or sister. Congratulations and Many Years to Mark, Edna and Mary Evelyn!!
Impromptu Concert - After Divine Liturgy Sunday, November 5, Dennis Dunn (left) and AlexanderPonomarenko (right) gave a down home concert in the park.
Parish Harvest Fair - Our annual Church Fall Harvest Fair was at the Rodens this year. You can see a few more pictures by clicking
here.
Baby Naming - Aidan Hill O'Beirne is presented for for naming after Divine Liturgy, Sunday, October 22. Aidan is the son of parish members Coleman and Phoebe and is named for
St. Aidan of Lindesfarne.
Parish Member travels to Rome - Raphael Valez, one of our parish youth, will be travelling to Rome, Italy for eight weeks. He will be helping with a project to paint a mural on a building in the city.
Member Celebrates Birthday - Marcia Shaffer celebrates her 21
st (!) birthday with a cake at the Church standing with Fr. Jacob. Marcia is much loved and a tireless worker in the parish. Congratulations and Many years, Marcia!
New Baby Born - Aidan Hill O'Beirne lies with his mother, Phoebe. Aidan is the son of parish members Coleman and Phoebe and is named for
St. Aidan of Lindesfarne. Congratulations Phoebe and Coleman!
Sunday School Begins - Sunday school for our youth and children began this Sunday, October 8. We have four different levels, below, Matthew Nasrallah teaches the youth class. You can click
here to see additional pictures.
Baby Baptized - Young Gabriel Nazrallah is Baptised before his supporters at our parish Sunday, October 1. You can click
here to see additional pictures.
Parish Member on Border - Jonathan Azar, a member of our church, is stationed with his National Guard unit at the US/Mexican Border in Arizona. Please
pray for him.
Back at School - Photios Kayonjo, our beloved seminary student from Uganda who visited us this summer is
now back at St. Tikhon's Seminary. Below he is in class continuing his education.
Parish Feast - Russ McDaniels and Mark Wedge prepare a feast after our Liturgical Feast this Sunday. Both Russ and Mark are amateur gourmets and their food is always a treat for the parish. Click
here for more pictures from our feast.
Marriage Blessed - Dennis and Karen Dunn receive a blessing from Fr. Jacob after Divine Liturgy Sunday, August 20. They are celebrating the 32
nd anniversary of their wedding. Many years!! You can see additional pictures
here.
Two Ninas - Standing before an icon of the Mother of God (one of our new tapesties in Morton Hall), two ladies both named Nina meet at St. John's during coffee hour.
Dr. Carla Thomas and Photios - below, stand in front of the original icon of the African Saints
located in our church. The book,
The Saints of Africa just published has this icon
on its cover. Click the cover below to see a larger version. You can order the book
here.
Children are Blessed - Sunday, August 13, marked the last day of summer vacation for most of our young students. Below Fr. Jacob blesses them for returning to school.
Fr. Thomas Hopko - Fr.
Thomas was the keynote speaker at the recent Diocesan Assembly of the Diocese of
the South in Dallas at the end of July. Four of Fr. Thomas' talks are
here. A slideshow of Fr. Thomas speaking can be seen
here.
Clergy of the Southern Diocese - The clergy of the Diocese of the South of the OCA met this past week, July 24 through 28, in Dallas, Texas. Below is a picture of the clergy. You can download a high resolution image
here
and then right click on it and save. You may also see a slideshow of some of the
events of the Conference
here.
From Russia with Love - Drs. Chesley and Sophia Richards, members of St. John's parish, are in Russia together. Click
here to see a brief slideshow of some of the sights they've visited.
Seminary Studen at St. John's - Sub-deacon Theophan (Bill) Buck and his wife Elena were home in Atlanta this past week. Bill is a seminary student at St. Tikhon's.
Here they received a check to help them with their expenses next year.
New Catechumen at St. John's - Marina Antipas became a catechumen today. Her Godfather is Shalva Sikharulidze.
She will become Orthodox on Saturday, August 5th at 9:00 AM.
Feast Day of St. John - The entry into the Church on the Feast day of St. John Maximovitch, July 2. Click
here to see more pictures from our Feast.
Baby Baptized - Madeline Elaine Bradhorst was baptised this Saturday, June 17 at St. John's.
Seminary Student Introduced - Photios, from Uganda, was introduced to the congregation at St. John's Sunday, June 11, after Divine Liturgy. Photios is a 4th year student at St. Tikhon's Seminary and is visiting us for the summer. He will be helping out with the Loaves and Fishes Program as well as with the Liturgical Services over the summer. He is accepting invitations to dinner...
Baby Baptized at St. John's - The daughter of Eli and Natlie Sanders, Andola (Angelina) Sanders was baptised today. She is named for
St. Angelina of Serbia.
Retired OCA Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, of the
Orthodox Monastery of New-Ostrog,
with the blessing of our Archbishop Dmitri, visited St. John's on his way to a seminar he is conducting in Florida. After Matins today he incensed some of our icons...
Officer Jackson joins the force ...the Loaves and Fishes force that is, along with Rob and Jim Derr and our newest permanent worker Dwayne Hardy. Officer Jackson, of the Atlanta Police Department, wanted to serve the men food every other week or so as he often sees in many of them "other capacities."
Wedding at St. John's - Dr. Chesley (Luke) and Dr. Sophia Richards were married Sunday, May 7, at St. John's.
Mary Evelyn at Church - Mary Evelyn gets a blessing before her last week of radiation. Mary Evelyn has just one more week of radiation and then she will be done with her treatment.
Decorating the Bier - Young ladies of St. John stand with the decorated Bier in the Nave of St. John's church. On Good Friday evening, the epitaphion (a large piece of cloth, embroidered with the image of the Crucified Christ) is placed in the bier, representing Christ in the tomb.
Bridegroom Vespers - Moving from one feast to another, we pass from Palm Sunday to the Lords'
Passion at Vespers Sunday eveing. Our young girls, many dressed in white,
accompany the icon of Extreme Humility to the Analogion.
Class on 2nd Corinthians Ends - Below Reader Bru Wallace teaches the adult class on the Holy Apostle Paul's 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians. Sunday, April 9, was the last session and you may listen to it
here. You can list to previous lessons
here.
New Baby Naming - Andola Lorien Sanders was named after St. Angelina of Serbia today. You can read about the life of St. Angelina
here.
Hot Soup on a Cold Day - On a very cold and rainy day in March, delicious hot soup, with all the
trimmings, was served in the Loaves and Fishes Program.
Sunday of Orthodoxy - Orthodox Christians in the Atlanta area met at Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Marietta to celecbrate the victory of the Orthodox faith over iconoclasm. You may click
here to see more pictures.
Fried Chicken Served - Elphidia Trettle and Larry White serve the poor fried chicken and all the trimmings.....
Sunday School starts Back - Sunday School began again at St. John's Sunday, March 12, after Divine Liturgy. Below Reader Bru Wallace teaches an adult class on the Holy Apostle Paul's 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians.
One of our children's classes begins a new session of Sunday School.
Friday Night Fellowship - Members of St. John's enjoyed a meal following Presanctified Liturgy on Friday evening in the first week of Great Lent. Asia Muhlfelder prepared a lovely meal which was attended by about 40 people.
Baptism of Jacob Stiles - Jacob Stiles Herzinger was baptized Saturday, March 4, 2006 at St. John's. Godparents are Chad McFarlin and Shelia Aldridge. You may see more pictures by clicking
here.
Archbishop Dmitri Preaches to the Southern Diocese Clergy - At the clergy conference for the Southern Diocese of the OCA, Archbishop Dmitri delivered a sermon at St. John. Pictured is St. John's own Sub-Deacon Basil Moses holding the Gospel as the Archbishop reads.
Two New Catechumens - We are blessed to have two new Catechumens, Chesley Richards, a doctor who
has taken as his saint, St. Luke the Surgeon, and Jason Carter, who has take Blessed Augustine as his saint.
Blessing of a new Catechumen - James Dickerson was made a catcheumen after Divine Liturgy, Sunday, December 18. James patron saint will be
Great Martyr St. James of Persia.
Loaves & Fishes Christmas Program - Day 2. Sunday afternoon, Dec. 18, more volunteers gathered to help provide the poor in our area a Merry and Blessed Christmas. Orthodox from all over the city participated.
By the end of Monday the total we served in the two days plus was
130
families and
680 children got presents. A slideshow of pictures of the second day is coming.
Orthodox Hierarch Serves Poor - Metropolitan Alexios of the Greek Archdiocese put on an apron and served the poor of Atlanta. You may see a slideshow
here.
Meat Slicer Donated to Loaves & Fishes - a brand new meat slicer was given on Thursday, Dec. 22, to the Loaves & Fishes program. The slicer was needed because to slice the turkeys donated to make sandwiches for the daily meals provided by the program at the Church. The turkey
this year was not sliced and God provided a slicer for them! Glory to God!
Christmas Tree Put Up - on the Feast Day of St. Nicholas the annual Christmas tree (below) was put up and decorated at our parish. As always it is beautiful and the participants all did a wonderful job! Many thanks to those who helped!
Sr. Joanna, a nun of St. Nectarios Monastery in Greece who is named after
St. John, has given us a
detailed pictoral account of the making of Lity
bread with the new St. John seal. In her kindness she sent us the first loaf she made (below) and it arrived on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas. We blessed
it in the middle of the Lity bread. See more pictures from the lity
here.
Father Gregory Mathewes-Green (below)
was at St. John's for the baptism of his newest grandchild. He also
gave the sermon at divine liturgy. Fr. Gregory was accompanied by his
wife, Fredericka Mathewes-Green and a number of parishoners. A brief
slideshow of the baptism may be seen
here.
Prosphora Seal Duplicated for St. John - Father George has created a mold of a prosphora seal (right) from an original, hand carved wooden one and made them available at
Prosphora.org. Read the rest of the story
here and see other uses for the seal
here.
Click
here to see a Nun
named after St. John make holy bread with the new St. John Seal.
Fifth Class on I Corinthians - Reader Bru Wallace (below), a doctoral candidate at Emory University, continued the series on 1 Corrinthians Sunday, Oct. 23, covering chapters 11, 12 & 13. You can see more pictures
here and listen to Bru's lectures
here.
Prosphora Seal Duplicated for St. John - Father George has created a mold of a prosphora seal from an original, hand carved wooden one. Read the rest of the story
here.
Catechumen has Art Exhibit - Desiree Watkins (below), a catechumen at St. John's, stands in front of an exhibit of her pictures of Northern Ireland. The pictures were taken during the five and a half yars Ms. Watkins resided in Ireland. The pictures will be on exhibit for a month at the Main Branch of the Fulton County Library of the Fulton County Public library. See more photos here.
Disaster leads to Baptism at St. John's - October 1 we were privileged to hold the baptism of the newborn son (below) of an Orthodox couple who were caught in the Hurricane Katrina while the wife was in labor.
A member of our church,
Mary Evelyn (who turned three on Aug. 29th) has
Stage 4 Cancer. We are boldly asking St. John's intercession and have people all over the world praying for her. The nuns of St. Paisius Serbian Orthodox Monastery have generously allowed us to use the
Akathist to the Mother of God, the Healer of Cancer that they print. Would you please regularly pray this Akathist for the Healing of Mary Evelyn?
Bishop Tikhon blesses our seminary student, Bill Buck to wear his robe at seminary.
Dr. Carla, helping in our Loaves and Fishes Program takes Roger's
blood pressure (08/26/05).
Parish begins new Sunday School Program - On October 2, after Divine Liturgy, St. John's began holding Sunday School Classes for all ages in the Church. Below, Bru Wallace, a doctoral candidate at Emory University, teaches a class on Corinthians. Click
here to see more pictures.
On Sunday, September 25, after Divine Liturgy we called Mary Evelyn forward (below) and placed on her a small piece of a shirt worn by
Saint Nectarios of Aegina, a great intercessor for healing of cancer, as we prayed.
After Divine Liturgy Sunday (Sept. 25
th) Jonathan Azar (right), an Orthodox Christian and member of St. Johns' who has just returned from serving with the 190th Unit of the National Guard in New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina, gave a short talk on his experiences in the relief effort.
