PARISH LEADERSHIP
REV. FR. JON MAGOULIAS
PARISH PRIEST

MICHAEL PAPPAS
PASTORAL ASSISTANT

MICHAEL FOSTINIS
PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT



UPCOMING SERVICES
Saturday, July 14th
Great Vespers 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 15th
SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FATHERS
Epistle Titus 3:8-15
Gospel Matt. 5:14-19
Sunday Divine Services 8:30 a.m.

Friday, July 20th
ST. ELIAS THE PROPHET
Epistle James 5:10-20
Gospel Luke 4:22-30
Divine Services 8:30 a.m.

Saturday, July 21st
Great Vespers 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 22nd
8TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW
Epistle 1 Cor. 1:10-17
Gospel Matt. 14:14-22
Sunday Divine Services 8:30 a.m.



MEMORIAL SERVICES
Memorial prayers were offered today for the repose of the souls of the servants of God:

Argery Pallios 40 Days
John Pallios 5 Years
Jim Pavlakis 1 Year
Janet Brown 1 Year
Anthony Forakis 3 Years

On behalf of the entire Parish we extend our prayers to their family and friends. May our Heavenly Father grant them eternal rest where there is no pain or sorrow, but everlasting life.

ETERNAL BE THEIR MEMORY!

Fellowship Hour will be hosted this Sunday in memory of Jim "Pavy" Pavlakis.



PARISH WEBSITE
We wish to thank Spyridon “Ron” Bowren for updating our Parish Website. Please visit our site at www.goannunciation.org to see the changes that have taken place.



PARISH COUNCIL
Sunday, July 15th - Team 1: Aram Alexander, Paul Forakis, & Mike Fostinis.

Sunday, July 22nd - Team 2: Chris Christie Jr., Jeff Borden, & Peter Stavrianoudakis.



ALTAR BOYS
ALL ALTAR BOYS ARE EXPECTED TO:

* Dress properly, wearing light colored shirt, tie, and dress shoes.
* The Sunday Church School Program now enables an Altar Boy to serve on Sundays when he may not be scheduled. If you wish to put in extra service on days when it is not your group day, you may do so, but following Holy Communion, you must attend Sunday Church School.
* If unable to participate at your scheduled time, please contact your team captain. Please be on time for all services.

SENIOR ALTAR BOYS

John Kocolas,
Manoli Rodarakis

Sunday, July 15th - Team B: Captain: Andoni Kocolas, George Borden, Vasili Giahos, Andrew Gomez, Christopher Pallios, Jimmy Pallios, George Parisis, & Stefan Word.

Sunday, July 22nd - Team C: Captain, Steve Giahos, Alex Aja, James Haskin, Sammer Mitri, Kosta Parisis, Alex Stavrianoudakis, & John Hillas.



STEWARDSHIP 2007
Christian Stewardship is the very essence of living our precious Faith that teaches each of us to return to the Lord a portion of our earnings so that the Church may continue to grow. Every person baptized and/or chrismated into the Orthodox Christian Faith may be a parishioner but a steward is something more! A steward is a baptized and/or chrismated person who understands his responsibility to God and His Church. This understanding directs him to live his life according to the teachings of our Faith and at the same time, offers Time, Talents and Treasure to the sacred work of the Church.

We have a goal to enroll 350 stewardship families who will contribute to the sacred work our Lord’s Church for 2007. We have truly been blessed with tremendous support over the years and we give thanks to God for the generosity and love the stewards of our Parish have offered to His Church!

Our Holy Church emphasizes the truth found in Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition that we must give cheerfully and without reluctance to the sacred work of God’s Holy Church. We encourage you to prayerfully evaluate your budget to make a new commitment this year. We give thanks to God as we have had a number of our stewards increasing their commitment to the Church each year. Last year, we had a number of stewards that increased their contribution above the 10% we hoped for with some increasing their previous year offering by as much as 25%! Please consider increasing your Stewardship obligation in accordance with the blessings you receive from God.

It is important to understand that our Stewardship obligations determine a family (husband, wife, & children) or an individual as stewards of our Parish. Young adults (18 years and older) that have completed their schooling and/or find themselves in the workplace are expected to become stewards of the Parish. These individuals are not included in one’s “Family Stewardship” obligation. Please remember: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." If you have any questions regarding your offering please contact Fr. Jon.



PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS
The Philoptochos will be hosting an evening of wine tasting and hors d'oeuvres on Thursday, July 19, at 6:00 p.m. Tickets may be purchased during Fellowship Hour each Sunday following the Divine Liturgy. For further information please contact Helen Katotakis or Ella Velthoen.

Your support towards Philoptochos ministries enables us to help those in need. Won't you join us?



GREEK FOOD FESTIVAL 2007
Preparations for the 2007 Greek Food Festival have already begun! We pray that everyone will offer their support to this year’s GFF Committee. Our chairman for this year is Michael Jaureguy and the co-chairman is Effie Bazos.

We have two baking dates coming up. The baking will begin at 8:00 a.m. on July 16th & 17th (baklava). We thank you for your time and talents in working for the glory of God and the support of our Parish.

The first meeting of the GFF2007 Committee was held last Wednesday. We appreciate the support of all the chairpeople that attended and look forward to a successful year.



A REMINDER FROM FR. JON
Please remember that our Parish Office is open Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Anyone needing assistance from the Parish Office must do so during the scheduled weekday times. The Office is not open on Sundays; this is the Lord’s Day in which we gather to worship God in Christian Orthodox fellowship. Thank you!



SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
We are very blessed to have a wonderful church complex. This has only been accomplished by the generosity of the stewards of our Parish that understand the importance of gathering for Christian Orthodox Fellowship. We are grateful to everyone that has contributed over the years and we commit ourselves to be responsible to maintain our facilities to the best of our abilities.

For this to happen, we need YOUR support too! This is why we must remind parishioners that church property is not to be removed from our complex. Please do not remove plates, pans or other utensils from our facilities for any reason unless approved by the Parish Priest and Parish Council. If you have any items from the Cultural Center please return them this week. In addition, we would like to remind parishioners that we rely on volunteers to serve the meals at our luncheons. During meals that are served in our Church Hall please do not enter the kitchen unless you are volunteering to help! We thank you for your understanding and support!



PARISH HERITAGE
Did you know 50 years ago, our Parish Church was moved from 6th and “I” Street to our present location? It is the 50th Anniversary of the building of our Church Complex and we are blessed to be the recipients of the hard work and dedication of the families that built the church complex we enjoy today! We have a beautiful history of our Parish and we do not want to lose it!

We are pleased to announce that we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the building of our church complex on Tokay Avenue the weekend of October 20th, 2007. Please mark your calendars so that you can join in the festivities!



PARISH EDUCATION MINISTRY
Our Summer Sunday Church School program has begun. During the summer session we have an opportunity to expand the knowledge of our young people in regards to our Faith. We encourage our young people to attend our Summer Sunday Church School and we hope that the parents will understand the importance of participating in this ministry. Young people meet in their class for attendance at 9:30 a.m. and then proceed into the church to participate in the Divine Liturgy. The young people are to sit in the front pews so that they may be able to receive the Holy Eucharist first; following the Holy Eucharist, the young people go into the Classroom Building for their lesson. Parents are encouraged to bringing their children to church on time EVERY SUNDAY MORNING so that our young people may “Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We would like to thank our teachers for their dedication and hard work in teaching our young people about our precious Christian Orthodox Faith. We are also grateful to the parents that have supported this important ministry by bringing their children on time each Sunday.



YOUTH NEWS
We urge the parents to support our Parish Youth Ministry. This ministry is designed to teach our Faith through fellowship and service. It is comprised of young people in: HOPE - Grade 3-5; JOY - Grades 6-8; GOYA - High School; YAL – College. It is important for our young people to participate in this ministry so that they may develop the skills necessary to live our Christian Orthodox teachings in today's world.

Our Youth Ministry is comprised of young people in:

H.O.P.E. - Grade 3-5;
J.O.Y. - Grades 6-8;
G.O.Y.A. - High School;
Y.A.L. – College.

The Youth Ministry Officers for 2006 - 2007 are:


H.O.P.E.
John Hillas, President
Stefan Word, Vice-President
Jonathan Word, Secretary

J.O.Y.
Lea Forakis, President
Jimmy Pallios, Vice-President
Emily Davis, Secretary
Christopher Letson, Treasurer
Katie Hatton, Corresponding Secretary

G.O.Y.A.
Nicole Pallios, President
Nicki Simvoulakis, Vice-President
Christos Konstantelos, Treasurer
Marina Ghali, Secretary
Mena Ghali, Corresponding Secretary

It is important for our young people to participate in this ministry so that they may develop the skills necessary to live our Christian Orthodox teachings in today’s world.



CHURCH MUSIC MINISTRY
The ministry of our choir members is to represent YOU and to serve as volunteers by using the gift of music to sing praises to our Lord is a true act of Christian Orthodox Stewardship. Parishioners, who may be interested in of our Church, and especially our young people, are invited to join the choir. St. Augustine wrote: “What better thing can the people do than sing. I know of no better thing than this!” Please contact Irene Jaureguy, 667-1299, to find out more about our Church Choir.



ANNUNCIATION GREEK DANCE GROUP NEWS
We wish to express our appreciation to all the stewards of our Parish that volunteered their time to help in the Fireworks booths this year. The support of this fundraiser enable us to provide a wonderful Greek Folk Dance ministry to our young people. Many people work for months to guarantee the success of this fundraiser. We thank each and every one of you for your efforts.

We wish to thank Ann Davis for coordinating the work schedule. We are also grateful to Jim Kocolas for his involvement in obtaining the fireworks and the pricing of the product.

DANCE PRACTICE HAS BEGUN!!!

Registration for our Folk Dance Ministry has begun. Children that turn five years of age before December 1, 2007 may sign up to participate in the ministry. A table will be set up in the Fellowship Hall following the Divine Liturgy.

The first series of practices are meant to teach the more common Greek dances so that when our young people attend wedding or baptism receptions, they might know the basic steps. Following this series of practices, we will focus on our program for the Greek Food Festival 2007. The follow-up from this preparation will be for competition at the Greek Folk Dance Festival in February 2008, scheduled to be held in Ontario, California.

Over the years families that have been involved in our Greek Folk Dance ministry have been gracious to loan their costumes for other young dancers. We appreciate the generosity and kindness of those families that have been willing to share the costumes that they may have made or purchased. We would like to remind the families that may have borrowed costumes in the past to please return them as quickly as possible. This includes all parts of the costume including jewelry. No matter when someone may have borrowed a costume, please make sure it is returned clean and complete! Thank you!

For further information regarding our award winning Greek Folk dancers please visit our website at: www.greekfolkdancers.com.



PARISH BOOKSTORE
It has been said: “The more you read…the more you know!” We have a great selection of books, icons, music and other items that every Orthodox Christian can use! Our bookstore is brimming with new arrivals that also make excellent gifts for every occasion.

We wish to thank Linda Fostinis for volunteering to coordinate the functioning of our Parish Bookstore. Her efforts, and the efforts of those who support this sacred ministry, provide us with the opportunity to purchase Orthodox Christian materials for our spiritual edification.



SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The demands on each individual and family are great. In an effort to understand this we would like to remind our parishioners that before anyone plans on selling items in our church complex or during Parish activities, they must have the approval of the Parish Priest. We also understand that organizations within our Community, as well as, organizations we may support, have a need to raise funds for their activities. We do not want times of fellowship to become a time when parishioners may be bombarded to purchase items.

We would also like to remind everyone that the placement of flyers on our cars is prohibited! Flyers that you
wish to have distributed may be brought by the Church Office for approval and then included in either our Monthly and/or Weekly bulletins.



ATTENTION PARENTS & STUDENTS
We would like to obtain the e-mail addresses of parents and students for our Parish records. In addition, we ask that you please submit the names, addresses and e-mails for college students attending school away from home.




IN TIMES OF ILLNESS
“Come, O blessed of my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;…for I was sick and you visited me…” (Matt. 25:31-46). When a member of our Parish is ill and has been hospitalized or may be recuperating at home, the immediate family of the ill person should contact the Church Office, 522-7694. It is beneficial to both the body and the soul when our priest prays for us when we are healthy or ill. The local hospitals will not notify us when an Orthodox Christian has been admitted to the hospital, so it is imperative that the immediate family accept this responsibility.



CHURCH BEHAVIOR
Divine Services on Sunday morning begin at 9:00 a.m. There is no set time as to when the Divine Liturgy actually begins since the hymns of the Matins vary from week to week. According to actual Church Service procedures, each and every member of the congregation is required to be seated in the pews by the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. It is only through leniency that anyone is allowed to enter the Church once the Service has begun. Thus it behooves us not to take undue advantage of this leniency. Also, unnecessary noise is extremely distracting during worship, especially when it comes from the adults talking; in addition, our nursery is equipped with all the conveniences for young children and a parent to participate in the Liturgy. Please remember to prepare yourself properly to attend the Divine Liturgy; dress accordingly; do not chew gum; turn off your cell phone; and please do not create a disturbance. Please remember that the Parish Council members are required to see to the order during Church Services and everyone should follow their directions at all times.

“The Lord has given us many counsels and commandments to help us toward salvation. He has even given us a pattern of prayer, instructing us on how we are to pray. He has given us life, and with His accustomed generosity, He has also taught us how to pray. He has made it easy for us to be heard, as we pray to the Father in words taught us by the Son…Let us pray as God our Master has taught us. To ask the Father in words His Son has given us, to let Him hear the words of Christ ringing in our ears, is to make our prayer one of friendship, a family prayer.” St. Cyprian, martyred Bishop of Carthage (+258)



OBLATION OFFERING
The Divine Liturgy begins with the offering of the faithful people of God. The gifts we bring forth are an expression of our faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Holy Communion makes us one with the Holy Trinity and is given for "remission of sins and life everlasting". The people are invited to bring forth their offering, i.e. "Prosforon", for the Divine Liturgy to be celebrated. We use 4 prosfora on a regular Sunday and they may be given through our Philoptochos for a donation of $5.00 per loaf. The Eucharist Bread may be offered in memory of a loved one or for someone's health and well-being. Anyone wishing to donate the Eucharist Bread ("Prosphoron") on a particular Sunday may contact Anna Petrulakis, 522-0298.

In addition to contributing the Eucharist Bread it is customary to bring a bottle of olive oil for the vigil lights and a bottle of wine for Holy Communion. The preferred wines for Holy Communion are: 1.) Coumantaria St. John or St. Nicholas; 2.) Ekklesiastikos Oinos; and if one of these two are not available 3.) Mavrodaphne.