SAINT STEPHEN THE PROTOMARTYR

ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

609 LANE AVE., SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ 07080

TEL. (908) 756-0410 - www.ststephenchurch.net

THE V. REV. Fr. STEPHEN TEWFIK, PASTOR - TEL. (908) 654-4301

MARCH, 2017 NEWSLETTER

The Epistle and the Gospel Readings

Sunday, Mar. 5th Epistle: Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40 Sunday, Mar. 19th Epistle: Heb. 4:14-5:6

1st Sunday of Great Gospel: Jn. 1:43-51 3rd Sunday of Great Gospel: Mk. 8:34-9:1

Lent (Sunday of Tone: Four Lent (Veneration of Tone: Six

Orthodoxy) the Life-Giving Cross)

Sunday, Mar. 12th Epistle: Heb. 1:10-2:3 Sunday, Mar. 26th Epistle: Heb. 6:13-20

2nd Sunday of Great Gospel: Mk. 2:1-12 4th Sunday of Great Gospel: Mk. 9:16-30

Lent Tone: Five Lent Tone: Seven

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(Please see St. Stephen’s Monthly Calendar for daily services for March)

-The Parish Council Meeting will be held on Sunday Mar. 19th after Divine Liturgy tffollfolllat the Church Hall.

-Our Luncheon Valentine Party was a great success. Special thanks to Amanda for chairing it and Nadi Atalla for his great music. Thank you to all our dear parishioners who contributed food and desserts, everyone had a great time.

-The Annual Parish Meeting was held on Feb. 26th after the Divine Liturgy. Many thanks to all the Parish Council members and officers of Parish Organizations for all their hard work & dedication. We heard reports from all the heads of different organization of the church. The meeting was very informative and thanks to our Lord that we had a very successful year. We thank Claude Zaki for her service to Christ and His Church as her term expired. We thank Lloyd George for accepting the appointment to serve on the Parish Council. May our Lord shower us all with His blessings.

-Our sister parish St. George Church in Little Falls, NJ is sponsoring a retreat on Saturday April 1st The topic is “The Spiritual Life on Mount Athos, The Holy Mountain”. The speaker is His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS from 1PM – 3PM followed by Vespers. For more information, please see the flier on the bulletin board.

-2017 Parish Life Conference. The parishioners of St. George Church in Little Falls, NJ invites you to join them in celebrating the 66th Eastern Dioceses Parish Life Conference. It will take place at Morristown, NJ from June 28th to July 2nd. There will be many different activities for young and old at this conference. Please come and join us for this beautiful event. For more information, go to www.antiochian.org/festivals.

Canned Food Drive: We will be having a food drive for the poor and needy families from now until Pascha. “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;” (Matt. 25:35) Believe me, our Lord will ask us if we did as He commanded us.

-Block Email: Any parishioner who wants to send a block email to all parishioners must first send it to Fr. Stephen for approval. Fr. Stephen would then send it to Rosemary Kattas (Church Secretary) to send it to all parishioners.

News from the Women Group:

-As we begin the Great Lenten Season let us stay tuned to helping others and giving to the less fortunate. Let us also feel the tremendous suffering our Lord Jesus Christ endured for our salvation and renew our hearts to receive His loving tenderness in our lives.

-We had a very successful Spinakopita Sale, Our “Kitchen Project”; ladies sold a total of 15 trays, thanks to Ibtihaj for organizing the project to all the ladies that assisted preparing the trays.

-March is designated by our Metropolitan Antiochian Women Month; the women will be collecting the Offering Basket and reading the Epistle.

-Please Plan to attend The 10th Annual Women Group Lenten Retreat, scheduled for March 11th; the speaker is Bishop Nicholas. The topic is “How to live a pious life and be Saints.”

-We are planning a Falafel Sale on March 19th to benefit the Annual Metropolitan Project; “Strengthening the Ministry of the Church.”

-The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, March 26th after Divine Liturgy during coffee hour.

News from Our Church School:

-On February 4th, 2017 the Sunday school children attended a Sunday school retreat at St George, little falls with his Grace Bishop Nicholas and they talked about the 10 commandments.

-On February 12th, 2017, the children learned the hymn of “A new commandment” to teach them about the true Agape love, Christ is asking from us and they chanted it to the whole church.

-On February 19th, 2017 they had a fundraiser to benefit different Sunday school projects and to teach them about service and fundraiser since we are all members of the body of Christ.

-Lent started on February 27th, 2017 soPlease encourage your children to attend the different weekly services on Wednesdays and Fridays and Sunday school since we have so many planned activities for them to help them prepare forPascha. Please check the Sunday school calendar of events.

-Please mark your calendar for Our Sunday school and Teen SOYOLentenretreat on Sunday March 12th after liturgy with Bishop Nicholas followed by the Parents retreat and Q&A with the Bishop on how to raise ourchildrenas orthodox Christians.

-Just a Reminder that all creative arts projects are to be done and handed to Mrs. Sebastiano, Mrs. Katrina or Nadine Atalla byMarch 12th.

News from Our Teen SOYO:

-Teen SOYO thanks the parish for purchasing subs from the Super Bowl Sub Sale. They teens collected donations of $419. Thank you to Mrs. George for her support and helping us to coordinate this and for the generosity of the parish.

-We are meeting after school as fellowship and to study in preparation of the Bible Bowl.

-Finally we welcome Dalia, Nawal and Manal Fanik to our Teen SOYO group!

IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) News

-Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday is here! Bring in canned or boxed soup all month for us to donate to our local food pantry, and consider making a donation to IOCC to help our brothers and sisters around the world.
-IOCC is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year! #IOCC25
-Many have asked how to help Syrian refugees and other refugees around the world. Five things you can do to help are pray, learn more, fundraise, donate, and share IOCC's impact with your friends.

Preparation for Holy Communion:

-Only Orthodox Christians who are prepared may approach the Holy Chalice. Please remember to

have respect as we are processing forward to receive Holy Communion. This is a solemn time for

humility, prayer and silence. Please approach the Holy Chalice “In the fear of God and in faith and in love.”

Gift Certificates from Shop Rite are available. Please see Alice Hossary.

MANY THANKS:

-To May Elias and Lina Salloum for baking the prosphora.

-To Marie Samaan for donating the olive oil.

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