Fall General Assembly, Sunday Nov 10, 2019 (documents for our meeting are found below)

INCLUDED:

Proposed Agenda, Proposed Budget, Stewardship Report, Philoptochos Report, Adult Religious Education, Youth Religious Education Report, Minutes from the Spring Meeting, and the Archangel Gabriel Bookstore Report

Fall General Assembly Agenda (proposed)

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The following is the proposed agenda for the next General Assembly meeting. Join us on Sunday, November 10 immediately following Divine Services in the Church for our Assembly and Parish Potluck. All active stewards* of the Church of Saint Anna are encouraged to participate.

1. Prayer & Call to Order

2. Selection of General Assembly Chair

3. Approval of Minutes of previous GA, Mark Mellis

4. Clergy Report, Fr. Christopher, Fr. Seraphim, and Dn. Joseph

5. President’s Report, Christy Moustris

6. Treasurer’s Report, Larry Finney

7. Old Business

a. The Sanctuary - Construction, Financing, and Groundbreaking

b. Building Fund Campaign (conclusion of first, starting of second)

c. Saint Anna Endowed Scholarships

8. New Business

a. Proposed 2020 Budget

b. Excessive Funds in 2019 budget

9. For the Good of the Parish – Open Remarks

10. Closing Prayer

11. Adjournment

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Stewardship

As 2019 comes to a close and we welcome 2020, we are grateful for all our stewards here at St. Anna’s parish. Our budget for 2019 is $425,000 and as of November 1st, we have received $355,896.  We expect our total income from stewardship for the year to meet our total budget.  Thank you to all of you who understand the importance of giving your time, talent and treasure and for making this the best year yet.  For those of you who haven’t fulfilled your stewardship commitment for the year, please make sure to send it in to the church office before December 31.  It is your understanding of why we give that has enabled us to embark on building our new Sanctuary and to provide the many programs that we have here at St. Anna’s.  Your stewardship not only benefits those at our parish, but also goes to help the less fortunate, not only in the Roseville area, but in various locations in the world.  

 Our Orthodox faith call on us to be good stewards of our time, talent and treasure and we know that we can never give back to God more than He has given us.  It is not a payment that we are making to the church, but rather a gift.  Giving always involves risk and involves much faith.  We can enjoy eternal life if we learn to emulate God, to give generously and to provide this ultimate Gift of Gifts to the lives who come to St. Anna’s looking for spiritual direction. We are truly blessed with a wonderful, friendly parish family and we all have the ability to give proportionately to make a difference in the lives of those who  not only come to our church, but the lives of other less fortunate Orthodox Christians around the world.  

For those of you who are new members of our parish, we thank you for becoming a part of our church family. As a reminder, we do not have annual stewardship drives.  When you return your pledge card to the church office, it is kept on file until you request a new one and change your current information on the card.  Our system is continuous year after year. Although you have a choice of when to pay your stewardship, we encourage our stewards to use their giving envelopes and make weekly donations. This keeps our giving practice in the forefront and makes of us more aware of why we give. You can also make your stewardship donations by credit card or by debiting your bank account.  Please contact Morfoula in the church office to set up this arrangement. 

In closing, thank you all for realizing the importance of stewardship in the life of the church.  Our family here at St. Anna’s has come a long way and with God’s blessings, we were able to break ground for our new Sanctuary in September.  What a joy to know that together we have reached this point.  We thank each and every one of you and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed Christmas and New Year.  We welcome everyone to become a steward of our church. If you have any questions about stewardship or want to become a member of our church, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the team members listed below or Morfoula in the church office. We will be happy to send you a stewardship packet. 

With love in Christ,

Phyllis Dindio    916-989-0100           Larry and Jennifer Finney   530-305-2254

Marci Pelka       916-984-9999           Emil Sicoe                           916-521-1808

A rich man is not one who has much, but one who gives much.  

For what he gives away remains his forever.

St. John Chrysostom

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2019 Fall GA Report

Archangel Gabriel Bookstore

The mission of the Bookstore is to provide an Orthodox Bookstore & Resource Center specializing in Eastern Orthodox reading materials (including those for parish study classes), icons, ecclesiastical music, and items for the home chapel in the greater Placer County community and for visiting guests.

It is our goal is to give back to the parish and community in various way and not limited to:

·       Annual contribution to the Seminarian Scholarship Program

·       Annual contribution to the St Basil Academy

·       Sponsoring the annual Parish Calendars

·       Hosting the annual Three Hierarchs Lecture

·       Stocking free literature and pamphlets in the elevator lobby

·       Gifting visiting clergy, catechumens, betrothed, and guest speakers

·       Miscellaneous carpet cleaning and campus purchases

Our success comes through God’s blessings as each patron of the Bookstore remembers us for their gifting and personal needs.  To date we have given back to our parish community over 25% of our annual sales.

Upcoming Events – Good News!

·       St Nicholas Gift Faire – Beautiful Christmas Gifts, “Good Reads”, and lovely jewelry are now available in the Bookstore. Supplement your Christmas shopping with us and support your parish.

·       In the spirit of St Nicholas, all Children’s books will be 15% off the month of December.

·       December 8 – Annual Children’s Shopping Spree:  In the spirit of St Nicholas, our St Anna Religious Ed children are given the opportunity to give beautiful gifts to others at very reasonable cost.  All items are $1-10 and will be wrapped for them after purchase.  Please provide your children with cash to shop.  If you have items you’d like to donate towards this happy event, please contact Cynthia.  We are looking for Christmas gifts (nice things only please, no monogramed items or old ornaments) as well as gift bags and tissue.

Goals for 2020

Our goals for 2020 are to refine our product selection and create a more inviting atmosphere in our new space when we move into the new church.  We are very excited to be located in the Narthex with a separate door access.

We are blessed with a great team of volunteers and are able to be open after each Sunday as well as most feast days, on Tuesday before/after Bible Study, and Wednesday before/after Greek School.

Through your continued support and God’s blessings, the Bookstore will be able to contribute financially to our new location in our sanctuary.  Our hope is to consign a hand-painted or mosaic icon of Archangel Gabriel near the door in the new area, as well as contribute to other areas of the construction. 

Gratitude

Gratitude goes out to the Bookstore Buddies for their continued support.

If you would like to be a part of the Bookstore Team and can work after Sunday liturgy, we welcome your involvement!  We also appreciate any help during the festival so please sign up for shifts using the Signup Genius.

Follow us on Facebook under “Archangel Gabriel Bookstore”.

Respectfully submitted by Cynthia Sheffer

General Assembly

Adult Religious Education

November 10, 2019

In the last six months, the Survey of Orthodoxy Class has been one of meeting people’s needs according to their schedules.  Almost to a person, young catechumens are working jobs that have such variable hours that preclude making a commitment to a fixed schedule class.  To the best of my ability, I have literally met with several catechumens up to five different days a week, from morning to late in the evening, in the church, coffee shops or homes, depending on when their variable schedules permit. This is challenging because everyone is at a different place in the process.

The Fall class, presently has seven individuals who have attended, mostly inconsistently.  Instruction time is delayed to bring everyone onto the same level of understanding before we can proceed.  While some individuals seem earnest in their interest in the class, perhaps it is time to reconsider the presentation format of a scheduled topic, and provide more of a Q and A for the burning questions that need discussion and abandon the twelve week format and make it an open-ended timeline.  I am concerned that doing so, the knowledge that needs to be imparted would not be covered, and that working people with young families would not be able to commit an extended amount of time.

I would like to recommend books to the bookstore that are tailored to the topics most often are of concern to catechumens, and have them stocked in a timely manner to encourage growth in the Faith.  Some people want more knowledge, and some great resources are available.  

The Divine Liturgy A Student Study Guide

With Scriptural References and Commentary by the Church Fathers  

 John A. Peck

Orthodox Spirituality: A Brief Intgroduction  

Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Ancestral Sin  

John Romanides

Margaret Mueller

Burkhard Ordination to the Holy Priesthood

Photo link from our recent Groundbreaking

Enjoy and download photos from the groundbreaking: https://andrewandbethanyphoto.pass.us/st-anna-groundbreaking/

Our gratitude to Andrew and Bethany Burrows for capturing so many of these blessed moments.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Today, we are invited to remember the truly tragic events of September 11, 2001. In preparation for the day, I was sharing with Constantine last evening that we were in Suites A1 & C1 at 114 North Sunrise as we had yet to move to our present site. Individuals quietly and reverently visited the office to watch the news on our little tv and or sat prayerfully in our chapel attempting to process and grieve the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the plane crash in Shanksville. There was little to share besides common disbelief, quiet tears or a warm embrace. Our human frailties were most evident which naturally and thankfully led many back to God and to their places of worship.

To paraphrase the Funeral Rite, death displaced everything on that September day. The loss of nearly 3,000 lives remains unfathomable. Death did not discriminate – innocent men, women, children as well as heroic rescue workers, firefighters, police officers…died. And, in the days that would follow, military families would experience endless deployments; some families received their loved ones with physical, emotional or spiritual injuries, while other families received their loved ones with honors for the sacrifices they made in the service of our country.

Although 18 years have passed, we must continue to remember. We remember by reflecting upon, and if we are able, visiting each of these sites which became hollowed ground, most notably Ground Zero. We remember by pausing and grieving as Americans and as Orthodox Christians for those lives that were lost on 9/11 as well as in the years that would follow, asking God to grant them rest where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sighing but life everlasting. We remember by pausing and humbly asking that the Holy Spirit embrace and comfort all those who lost family members or friends as well as those who were affected throughout our great land, knowing full well that Christ suffered, was buried and rose on the Third Day; He trampled upon death by His death! We remember, pausing and boldly beseeching God that such acts of violence and hatred be removed from the face of the earth; that His peace, His mercy and His love all of which are so freely given to each of us in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, instead reign forever. And, we remember, pausing and affirming that no matter what wars may continue to be fought upon the earth, our greatest battle is against the fallen principalities, which demands attentiveness, sobriety, discipline, humility and Grace.

Tonight, as a parish, we will remember, pausing and praying the Akathist to the Lord at 6pm. If you are unable to join us in these formal prayers, I would then ask that you please close your evening with prayer, remembering those who lives were taken on September 11, 2001.

May our Lord, through the intercessions of the Venerable Ephrosynos whose memory we keep today continue to grant us every good gift unto salvation.

Most Resp.,
+fr. Chirstopher

Groundbreaking Service

Annunciation Kenya Mission

Ordination to the Holy Diaconate

Construction to begin this Summer on Saint Anna Sanctuary

On the Sunday following Holy Pascha (May 5, 2019), the Sunday of Thomas, the Parish Assembly unanimously approved the construction of the Shrine Church of Saint Anna as well as Phase Two of our Capital Campaign! The motion was made and seconded (as well as affirmed) by the founders of our community who were present at the General Assembly. It was a moving testimony to the vision and determination of our founders as well as the love and dedication of all those who now call Saint Anna Parish their spiritual home.

The clergy and laity will gather on the construction site for the Shrine following Divine Services on Sunday, June 2 to ask God to bless the work that will commence, God-willing in July. The faithful will again gather in proximity to the construction site on the Feast of the Dormition of St. Anna (July 25) to again ask God’s blessings upon this endeavor to His glory. On September 7, clergy and laity will gather from near and far to celebrate the placement of the foundation stone by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco. This foundation stone includes rocks from the Skete of St. Anna on Mount Athos (Greece) and also the Parish of St. Anna situated on Mount Kenya, a parish supported by our community.

Only God knows what Grace has been brought to Roseville and the region through the regular celebration of the Holy Eucharist, through the presence of Holy Relics of the Holy Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, as well as a host of other Holy Relics acquired by our Parish, and also on account of the prayers of the faithful that have assuredly and will forever be lifted up here.  May God continue to bless and keep our families and our region in His through the prayers of Saint Anna, our holy matron!

For more information about the Project, please visit, www.saintanna.org/about-the-project

2019 Greek Food and Wine Festival

OPA, IT’S OUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY!

2019 ROSEVILLE GREEK FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

for more information, please visit http://festival.saintanna.org

Visit https://fox40.com/2019/05/20/2019-roseville-greek-food-wine-festival/ for an enjoyable piece from Fox40 with our own Kaylee Efstathiu

Our mission is to share Greek culture with the surrounding community while bringing awareness of Orthodox Christianity and presenting a wonderful weekend event for friends and families. We hope you agree, we know how to throw a party! "Για σας!"

Food, Faith, Family & Festivities

Our mission is to share Greek culture with the surrounding community while bringing awareness of Orthodox Christianity and presenting a wonderful weekend event for friends and families.

A Smart Phone Contract for Children (text to copy and paste)

My Smart Phone Contract

______________________   _______________________ agrees to the following conditions: 

[First Name]                                 [Last Name] 

1.    The phone that you are using belongs to your parents. Your parents pay the monthly service. It is simply being  loaned to you. 

2.    We will always know your passwords and passcodes to the phone, email and social media accounts. If you change them, you will inform us immediately. If you post something we disapprove of, you agree to delete it withoutargument.  

3.    You want to download something? Ask permission. You want to buy something? Pay up.   

4.    If it rings, answer it. It is a phone. Say hello, use your manners. Do not ever ignore a phone call if the screen reads “Mom” or “Dad” or one of your family members.  Not ever.

5.    Shut down the phone promptly at 9 pm every school night and every weekend by 10 pm. 

·      On Saturdays, the phone can be turned on after breakfast. 

·      On Sundays, the phone can be turned on when we leave for church.  It will not be on during services! 

There may be parent-approved exceptions to these times. We are always open to reasonable discussions, so feel free to ask.

6.    Never take the phone into bed with you. Phones in bed aid phone addiction, hinders your sleep, and has other negative side effects. Social science says so. And, so does common sense.

7.    It does not come out at school unless you have been asked to use it by a teacher or if you need to call mom or dad.

8.    If it falls into the toilet, smashes on the ground, a friend breaks it or it vanishes into thin air, you are responsible for replacement costs or repairs. 

9.    Do not use this technology to lie, fool, or deceive another human being. Do not involve yourself in conversations that are hurtful to others. Be a good friend first or stay out of the crossfire. Remember, you are an Orthodox Christian.

10.  Do not text, email, or say anything through this device you would not say in person or without your parent in the room.  Censor yourself.  Remember, you are an Orthodox Christian.

11.  Search the web for information you would openly share with us. Do not search for inappropriate images or view pornography. If you have a question about anything, ask your parents, a grandparent, a godparent, a youth worker, our clergy. Remember, you are an Orthodox Christian.

12.  Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public, especially at family functions, in a restaurant, at the movies, in church services and youth groups, or while speaking with another human being. And never ever bring it to the dinner table. You are not a rude person; do not allow the phone to change that.

13.  Do not send or receive any inappropriate photos of yourself or others. Someday you may be tempted to do this. It is risky and could ruin your teenage/college/adult life. It is always a bad idea. Cyberspace is vast and powerful. It is hard to make anything of this magnitude disappear—including a bad reputation. Remember, you are an Orthodox Christian.

14.  Don’t take a zillion pictures and videos. There is no need to document everything or post it to social media. If you don’t post it, it still happened. Live your experiences. Thanks be to God, these experiences will be stored in your memory for eternity.

15.  Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe and secure in that decision. It is not alive or an extension of you. Learn to live without it. Control it, don’t let it control you. 

16.  Download music that different than the millions of your peers that listen to the same exact stuff. Your generation has access to music like never before in history. Take advantage of that gift. Expand your horizons.

17.  Always be aware of your surroundings.  Keep your eyes up. See the world happening around you and be safe. Stare out a window. Listen to the birds. Take a walk. Talk to friends. Wonder without googling.

18.  You will mess up. We will take away your phone. We will sit down and talk about it. We will start over again. You and us, we are always learning. We are on your team. We are in this together.

19.   Download Apps that encourage your growth in Christ and that also make you a better human being.  

20.   Above all else, think and reflect on how you can glorify God in your cell phone use. From time to time ask, “How does/can this help me to love God?” and “How does/can this help me to love my neighbor?” These are the two greatest commandments. 

Read over this contract every few months or post it somewhere visible in your room to remind yourself of these things. We reserve the right to add additional rules whenever we deem it necessary.  If you violate the terms of this contract, we will immediately confiscate the phone and determine a course of action that may or may not include you earning it back.

You are loved by your family and by God.  Therefore, use this technology wisely, honoring your family, your friends, your faith, and God.  

_________________________          _________________________          _________________­

Your Signature                                          Parent’s Signature(s)                                                Date

 

Modified from: “To My 13-Year-Old, An iPhone Contract From Your Mom, With Love” by Janell Burley Hofmann (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janell-burley-hofmann/iphone-contract-from-your-mom_b_2372493.html)