OK - it isn't a NEW posting. But it is an important one! Please read and act according to your ability. If you need a ride to church please reach out: info@stvladimiraami.org or 734-475-4590.

FORGIVENESS SUNDAY - A MUST ATTEND

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults on the upcoming Sunday's principle Gospel reading so that all can better prepare for the Divine Services. Parents are asked to review the children’s portion with their children. It is very important for us to attend the Divine Services on Sundays and whenever else we are able, but in addition it is our spiritual responsibility to educate ourselves and our families in the faith. It is our hope that this mid-week offering will be an aid in this regard. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or suggestions.

For All: from the Antiochian Archdiocese (various age groups)

Thank you to all who made yesterday’s annual parish assembly such a huge success! The tenor of the meeting was very positive and there were some great conversations about what we were able to do last year and what we hope to do this year as a parish family! Thank you to all who served in parish offices last year. This year’s parish office holders are:

Starosta: Jack (Alexey) Mitchell – Term Runs through 2022
Treasurer: Mikhail Fisenkov
Secretary: Lauren (Maria) Rogers
Parish Council Trustees: Marina Edwards, Dmitri Knysh*, Igor Obertas, Natalia Veniaminova
Auditing Committee: Deacon Vladimir Pyrozhenko*, Subdeacon Colin Bower, Michael Marsh
Editing Committee: Subdeacon Colin Bower & Zhanna Skalitzky

I look forward to working closely with all these outstanding volunteers for the good of our parish family!

Fr. Gregory

*Dmitri and Deacon Vladimir could not join us for the annual meeting, but with Archbishop Peter’s blessing they will continue in this position until we can hold a special meeting to elect them properly. Likely this meeting will take place after Pascha.

The week before Great Lent (this week) has a unique fasting regiment. This week we are allowed to eat fish and dairy products, but no meat. Here the Holy Church is helping us to prepare ourselves for a good start to Great Lent by allowing us to remove all the dairy products from our homes before Great Lent begins. During this week most folks will probably want a very good grilled cheese sandwich, or other cheesy treats. We should very much stress moderation this week, but it is probably OK to have a treat too. And this is a great opportunity to support our own Nick Vlisides’ sandwich shop “Nick’s Big Cheese Grill”. The shop is located at 2072 Whittaker Rd., Ypsilanti, MI 48197. Support our St. Vladimir’s businesses whenever you can! And start with stopping by Nick’s this week!

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“During our earthly lives, we need to make sure we have a decent garment for our souls. Our soul garments are soiled by sin. You must repent immediately after you have committed a sin.”

Metroplitan Onuphry of Kiev & All Ukraine

Prepare now for the first week of Great Lent by visiting the link below, adding all the services you want to attend to your schedule, and then adding one more. Challenge yourself to grow spiritually during this special week of the year, given to us to help us get off to a good start on our journey to Pascha!

Note that the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday is at 4:00 p.m. this year, not in the morning as in past years. The preparatory services for this Liturgy are, as usual, in the morning.

Please join us!

FIRST WEEK OF GREAT LENT SCHEDULE

The date of the 2019 Annual Parish Assembly has been set for February 23, 2020. To participate in the meeting via voting or running for parish office one must be a member of the parish. To become a member of our parish please contact one of our membership coordinators: Dmitry Knysh (dmitriknysh@hotmail.com or 734-358-5996) or Konstantin Poplavsky (kepoplavsky@yahoo.com or 734-944-4087). We cordially invite you to join our parish family! More information on the annual meeting can be found here:

ANNUAL MEETING INFORMATION
More information on Membership, including the ability to pay your 2019 and 2020 membership dues can be found on our membership page:

MEMBERSHIP PAGE

By joining St. Vladimir's you show your visible support of the parish which nourishes you and your family spiritually. We all hope the parish will be there when we need it (for marriages, funerals, baptisms, etc.). By joining the parish we support it both spiritually and financially and ensure it is there for us in our time of need, whether that be every day or a few times per year.

To renew your membership or to become a new member, please contact one of our membership coordinators (all speak English & Russian fluently): Dmitry Knysh (dmitriknysh@hotmail.com or 734-358-5996), or Konstantin Poplavsky (kepoplavsky@yahoo.com or 419-344-2071). We cordially invite you to join our parish family!

NEW FOR 2020! We ask everyone to fill out this Member Stewardship Information Form and hand it to a Membership Coordinator with your membership dues for the year:

MEMBER STEWARDSHIP INFORMATION FORM
LEARN MORE ABOUT MEMBERSHIP AT ST. VLADIMIR'S

New Year’s resolution’s are not bad, but they are only good in as much as we actually follow them. Sometimes we make silly resolutions that we know we will not follow. I don’t want us to do that as a parish family. Rather – I think we need to make a resolution that we learn the hymns that Archbishop Peter has asked us to sing together as a parish during the Divine Services. We sing these in English sometimes and in Church Slavonic sometimes. If we want to sing this well, and strong, and triumphantly we need to practice. Success only comes before work in the dictionary! How to practice you ask? Visit this page – all the links are there in English, Church Slavonic, and phonetic Church Slavonic (in Latin letters):

THINGS WE SING TOGETHER AT ST. VLADIMIR'S
Please make a habit of practicing these in both languages. AT A MINIMUM we should memorize these hymns in English or Church Slavonic. And we should sing these TRIUMPHANTLY - not as if we are singing in our sleep!

I am seeking a volunteer to harass me – yes – harass me! About what? The prayer after the meal. We have not been good about doing that. And when I say “we” I mean “me”. So I need some help? Would you like to have the obedience to harass me mercilessly? Please let me know – I need some help with this! Fr. Gregory