Each year following the feast of the Theophany (the Lord’s Baptism – January 19) it is a traditional and pious custom to have one’s home blessed by the priest. Homes are blessed at St. Vladimir’s until the beginning of Great Lent. Please consult the usual calendar (sent through the mail and available on our web site) to see the times available for house blessings. Please contact Fr. Gregory to schedule a house blessing or if the times listed do not work for you. If you live far from St. Vladimir’s please consult with those other parishioners of St. Vladimir’s who live near you so that you can all have your homes blessed on the same evening. Congratulations to all with the feast of our Lord’s Baptism!

The Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) recently launched two major new Orthodox applications for iPhone. Please visit the app store and download OCN Spark (search “OCN Spark”) and the OCN Prayer Book (“Orthodox Prayer Book”) - both are authored by Gabriel Otte. The first update that will be made to the apps is to add the Old Calendar. The app will also be translated into Russian. These apps utilize social networking to leverage prayer for others and prayer for Orthodox ministries, as well as set reminders for yourself for morning prayers, evening prayers, etc. The apps are a leap forward in “sanctifying” our on-line and mobile experience, and this is sorely needed. St. Vladimirians are early adapters of technology – please download these apps today.

Please note that we have scheduled several services for the feast of Theophany at St. Vladimir's. The full schedule of services is below.

Monday, January 18 (Strict Fast Day)*
Royal Hours, Vespers, Divine Liturgy, Great Blessing of Waters 8:00 a.m.
Vigil 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 19
Divine Liturgy & Great Blessing of Waters (at the “Jordan”) 8:00 a.m.
Vespers & Matins for the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist 6:00 p.m.**

Wednesday, January 20
Divine Liturgy for the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist 8:000 a.m.

*This is Martin Luther King Day observed this year, and thus almost no children in the parish will need to be in school. What a great day to bring the youngsters to church to celebrate the great feast!

**The time for this service may change. Please watch future emails and our web site for more information.

Please join us as your personal schedule allows!

If you are a teenager, or you are the parent of a teenager WE NEED YOU! Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. we leave St. Vladimir's to travel to the Saline Area Social Services facility to stage non-perishable foodstuffs to allow these to be utilized by those who need food. This is a great way for our young people to put their faith into action and to really increase their faith at the same time. We have promised 5-10 folks to help with this work and we have more teens even than that – but we just can't have anyone sitting on the sidelines for this one. We need your help! RSVP at the link below. Details on what to wear are there too (not your Sunday best – this is going to be a working activity). Please join us!

http://goo.gl/forms/9yKx6xfXWx

Please find the schedule of youth activities at St. Vladimir's for the first half of 2016 at the schedule below. Parents – please add these activities at once to your family calendar! :) Please join us as your schedule allows!

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/youthgroup.pdf

We would like to keep the parish church open daily at certain set hours. Perhaps something like 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. This would allow everyone to know for certain that at least during that time they could come and pray, light candles, and otherwise seek the solace that can only be found in God's house. But we need volunteers to help us with this project. Could you help? Would you be willing to commit to being at the church at a set time weekly? Most certainly the volunteers will also benefit from this service to their fellow believers and a little more time spent in church each week. Please contact Fr. Gregory if you can help, and with suggestions about the best time for the church to be open. This is an important missionary activity - please help if you can!

As most of our parishioners are aware, Fr. Gregory has several responsibilities in addition to being our parish Rector. He is the Dean of the Michigan Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the Dean of our Diocesan Seminary, and the Secretary of the the Diocesan Council. All these things are getting done, but with some help they could be done much better than they are. Presently there are two volunteer opportunities to help Fr. Gregory with these duties:

1. Help with the Michigan Deanery. This year we will found a mission advisory board for the Deanery. We will also establish a web site for the Deanery. It would be good to increase communication between the clergy within the deanery as well. This volunteer will have a direct impact on the founding of new parishes in Michigan in areas that are unserved or very under-served by the Orthodox Church. In other words, this volunteer will make a real difference in spreading Orthodox Christianity in our state.

2. Help with the Seminary. This year we intend to found a foreign language sector of the seminary, and we may execute a joint agreement with a seminary in the former Soviet Union. Much work is also needed in reinvigorating our Catechist program. If the Michigan Deanery volunteer is successful in helping to found new parishes, then the Seminary volunteer will focus on helping to prepare new clergymen and catechists to spread the faith in our state (and beyond).

Please contact Fr. Gregory if you would like to volunteer or if you would like to learn more. Both volunteer opportunities have very flexible work schedules and hours. We can work around your schedule!

St. Vladimir’s Church School begin January 16 (we had originally planned to start on January 9 so if you missed that you are OK!). Classes will be held every Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. through June 18 with the exception of April 30. We have condensed the classes to the greatest extent possible for the convenience of our busy families – we value your time. Please do us the favor of valuing the time of the teachers and other volunteers who make our Church School possible by being on time.

All children are urged to participate in the Vigil following Church School and in the Sunday (and other feast day) Divine Liturgies to the greatest extent possible by ringing bells, serving in the altar, singing, helping in the kiosk, and most importantly by being present in the church and praying with their parish family, AND ESPECIALLY by partaking of the Holy Mysteries. The Liturgy is not a spectacle or event that we watch, but a prayerful “work of the people” that we participate in through our prayerful involvement. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions in this regard.

To register for Church School please visit our web page and click on the appropriate link under “UPCOMING ACTIVITIES”. To learn more about our Church School please contact the Church School Director, Lilia Vershynin: 734-276-7548 or rlvershynin@gmail.com

Several of our parishioners have met Fr. Pavel Vishnevsky. He is the priest in Moscow who works closely with Connie Meyer, the Danish Social Worker that we help support in our Russian with Love project jointly with other Ann Arbor area parishes. Fr. Pavel's mother, Alexandra, is quite ill now and Fr. Pavel is asking for prayers for her. She is a truly remarkable woman. She is married to a priest, Fr. Sergei, and gave birth to four boys, all of whom are priests. Please remember the handmaiden of God Alexandra in your prayers as she leaves this life and moves to the next.

Theophany at St. Vladimir's

Please note that we have scheduled several services for the feast of Theophany at St. Vladimir's. The full schedule of services is below.

Monday, January 18 (Strict Fast Day)*
Royal Hours, Vespers, Divine Liturgy, Great Blessing of Waters 8:00 a.m.
Vigil 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 19
Divine Liturgy & Great Blessing of Waters (at the “Jordan”) 8:00 a.m.
Vespers & Matins for the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist 6:00 p.m.**

Wednesday, January 20
Divine Liturgy for the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist 8:000 a.m.

*This is Martin Luther King Day observed this year, and thus almost no chiodren in the parish will need to be in school. What a great day to bring the youngsters to church to celebrate the great feast!
**The time for this service may change. Please watch future emails and our web site for more information.

Please join us as your personal schedule allows!