St.Vladimir Orthodox Church

September 13, 2024

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Saturday September 14 6 pm Vigil
Sunday September 15 10 am Divine Liturgy
Parish Photo right after Liturgy Please be in the photo*.
Tone 3

*Note: by being in the photo, you are giving permission for your image to be on the Parish Website.

Stuff coming up

• September 14 - 4:30pm Dan's Discussion Group
• September 15 - Parish Photo - please be present also - Children's Clothing exchange (See Alina's email below)
• September 20 - Vespers 6pm
• September 21 - Liturgy 10am Nativity of Theotokos
• September 26 - Vespers 6pm
• September 27 - Liturgy 10am Exultation of the Cross

Way - Way ahead

• October 14 - Liturgy 10am Protection of Theotokos (Thanksgiving)
• October 20 - Parish Annual General Meeting It is really important that you make sure your Membership is up to date. Attached (to the newsletter) is the Membership forms for 2024/2025. This must be filed before the meeting.
• November 28 - Nativity Fast begins
• December 4 - Entry of Theotokos into the Temple

Alina's Email Clothing Swap

Following our first successful event in June, we are going to repeat the children's clothing/gear swap after the Liturgy this Sunday, September 15th, weather permitting.

• Let's focus on fall and winter clothing, cold weather and snow gear, and dance or sports equipment for after-school activities.
• Bring your unwanted items to the church that day. Also have a tarp or an outdoor blanket with you.
• Please don't bring them in advance as there is no space for storage in the church.
• Right after the Liturgy and Parish Photograph, spread your items on a blanket outside the church, then get coffee and a snack.
• During the coffee hour anyone can come and choose what they need for their growing children.
• At the end, either pick up your remaining items, or we collect what is left and donate to local charities.

The rules are simple:

1. All items are free. Give freely without expectations, pick what you need without anyone expecting anything from you.
2. Kids and maternity items only: clothes, shoes, toys, books, dinnerware, bedding, baby-rearing equipment, sport gear for kids.
3. All items should be clean and in good working order, safe and useful for other families (zippers working, Velcro closures holding, puzzles with all pieces, toy cars with all wheels, and so on).
4. No recalled items and no regulated safety equipment (car seats, bike helmets etcetera).
5. No reselling of items you have received. You can donate items to a charity or give them to somebody else when you are done with them.

Dan's Email about: The Fellowship of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria**

Dear all: Another reminder that we will restart our meetings this Saturday, September 14, at 4:30 p.m. before Vigil, in the basement at St Vladimir Parish. We will continue to meet on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, as we did before the summer. Before moving on to a new reading this fall, we will continue our discussion of Way of the Ascetics by Tito Colliander. This classic little book is a short, profound and practical distillation of some essential teachings of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church on the spiritual life. We will try to summarize where we've come with this book so far, and then pick up where we left off around Chapter 17, in the midst of the author's extended reflection on prayer, the foundation of our life in Christ. We look forward to hearing your comments.

Those who can should try to read in advance, but don't rush through it. All are most welcome, including newcomers, visitors, and those who have not had time to read. For those who cannot come in person, we will stream as usual here. Please forward to anyone who may be interested.

**The Fellowship of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria is a parish adult education group that meets before Vespers twice per month. We meet to nourish and strengthen our faith by reading and discussing together classic books and important subjects in the Orthodox Christian tradition, helping one another to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Past topics have included: On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius the Great of Alexandria, Great Lent by Fr. Alexander Schmemann, On Pascha by Melito of Sardis, various aspects of the Divine Liturgy using Let Us Attend by Fr. Lawrence Farley, etc.

Love in Christ,
Daniel

It was so good to see so many Catechumens in Halifax and the Cape, and others, at the first of the current discussion sessions preparing Catechumens for entry into the Orthodox Church. Again, we were blessed to receive a number of candidates into the Catechumenate. If there are any others who wish to become Catechumens and learn about the faith of the Church and eventually be admitted into the Orthodox Church, please contact one of the Clergy - it is not too late to join for this session. The next discussion group meeting for Catechumens is September 22 at approximately 1 pm. It is important that others besides Catechumens attend these meeting both to welcome but also to share experiences with the candidates. We all learn as we go along.

Reminder: The downstairs toilet is no longer to be used, by anyone. We have that beautiful, outdoor, clean, spacious, flushing toilet. You will like it (as much as anyone can like any toilet).

We are still anticipating the start of a youth group. Your ideas would help. Talk to Shauna and Julian. +There is, attached to this bulletin, a Membership Form for 2024-2025. If you fulfil the requirements for membership in this Parish, please do not hesitate, fill in the form, sign it and give it to Dan, or one of the other members of the Parish Council. Only member of the parish can vote at the Parish Annual General Meeting on October 20. Your membership in the parish must be renewed every year.

The committee investigating our future as regards buildings and properties has been extremely busy investigating churches and properties for sale, as well as assessing the site we occupy presently. There will be a reporting to the parish very soon. For there to be any decision regarding the future of the parish, the Parish must vote with a decent majority (please pay attention to that - not the clergy, not the parish council alone, but everyone in the parish and that is YOU).

A difficult problem. Finances and giving are always a difficult and delicate subject. I want to point out a couple is things that you may not know. The Church does not belong to the clergy. Although Father David is the Rector of the parish, and Bishop Irйnйe is the Archbishop of the Archdiocese to which we all belong, neither owns the Church, nor do they own this church building, nor the property upon which it stands. This site, the building and the land used by St. Vladimir Orthodox Church, (that's us) belong to a local parish of the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and PEI. We rent the church for a nominal sum each year. You may have noticed that this church building is not big enough for us, now. That is why there is an active committee looking for a new church site. They are looking at land and at churches for sale, they are also looking into the buying and restructuring of the site we presently occupy. At some point very soon, they will be making a report to us. It will be up to you - the Parish, to vote and decide what to do. There will be guidance, but in the end, it is you who will decide by a majority vote (I think 80%) and it will be the PARISH - YOU who will own the new property and church building. Now comes that delicate part: we all have to look at our personal finances, our purses and be prepared to revise our giving to the parish, or it won't work. The benefits of this over when we bought our own house, or rented our house, or apartment is that we are in it TOGETHER, as a PARISH, as a family, and you know, we are never alone - God is always with us and will help US provide.

Love in Christ,
-- Father David