Fr. Gregory is abroad until July 5. It is not clear if there can be updates posted here, so we will probably use our email list a bit more during this time for time sensitive and crucial things like schedule changes. This means you’ll want to make sure you are on our email list! JOIN THE MAILING LIST HERE.

Other important information can be found:

ON OUR HOME PAGE
IN “SUNDAY READING”
IN “GOOD NEWS”
ON OUR MONTHLY CALENDAR

Here are a few things that will not change during Fr. Gregory’s travels that you will want to be attentive to:

ONE: ANN ARBOR CROSS PROCESSION IS JULY 21!
SIGN UP/LEARN MORE NOW! Join us for a short procession (1-2 miles walking at most). During the procession we will stop at some logical place (town square, etc.) and hold a short concert and/or serve a short moleben. We will provide a traditional Orthodox witness to our communities: we will have information about Orthodox Christianity available for those who are interested, and talk to those who would like to learn more. Don’t miss this great opportunity to bring our faith to our neighbors! Sign up today!

TWO: VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL BEGINS JULY 22!
SIGN UP/LEARN MORE NOW! Join us for our annual Vacation Bible School, always a lot of fun and very informative! Kids love it! Parents love it! Sign up soon – space is limited!

THREE: ST. VLADIMIR DAY IS JULY 28 – JOIN US!
With the blessing of Archbishop Peter, Metropolitan Jonah will lead us in our St. Vladimir Day celebrations this year. PLEASE NOTE: Vigil begins on July 27 at 5:00 p.m. and Divine Liturgy on July 28 at 9:00 a.m. FIND A FLYER TO SHARE HERE. Spread the word far and wide! Our Second Pascha is July 28!

FOUR: SPREAD THE WORD! Time to Fill Up our Parish School!
A. Please Read and Share: Archbishop Peter’s Nativity Epistle
B. Please Watch and Share: Fr. Josiah Trenham on Church Schools and the Future of Orthodoxy
C. Please Read and Share: Interview with Fr. Gregory in the Sun Times
D. Please Watch and Share: Video from Fr. Gregory Regarding our Ann Arbor Orthodox Classical Academy
E. Please Read and Share: How we can Best Support our Parish School on Blogtushka
F. Join us! This is a Parish Family Issue! We are ALL called to hearken until Archbishop Peter’s instructions and ACT! Fr. Gregory’s video and the piece on Blogtushka give us the details of how we do this at STV. Join the winning team – invest in our school to invest in our parish to invest in the spread of Orthodox Christianity in Michigan to invest in the spread of Orthodox Christianity in America. It starts with us! Let us labor in the Lord’s Vineyard!

FIVE: WE NEED A NEW LEAD FOR OUR FOOD GATHERERS EFFORTS!
Please see Fr. Gregory if you can. We have donated almost 5,000 pounds of food thus far and we want to keep this going as a key part of our Matthew 25 efforts!

BONUS: CURIOUS VLAD IS ON VACATION!
Curious Vlad will return in the fall – after a well-deserved summer vacation. Plan to join us on Monday evenings this fall at 8:00 p.m.!

BONUS: CHILDREN IN CHURCH – WE LOVE THEM!
We often get comments from visitors about the large number of children and young people in our parish. This is something VERY exciting – something wonderful for which we can and must thank God! However, it is important that we have good, clear guidance about behavior in church for adults and children. This is especially important as we continue to grow as a parish family – we want to acculturate those who come to us in our already established norms. These norms help everyone to be able to worship together, rather than taking the children away from worship as can be found all too often in the Western Christian world. Parents: if we could do away with hard and noisy toys, and adopt the paradigm of inside voice we world probably be just fine. We are close! Just a bit more effort from all will get us there. Please have a look at this short pamphlet re: CHILDREN IN CHURCH. Here is a flyer for ADULTS IN CHURCH – good to review as the weather warms up especially! And let us also be wary of the siren’s call of the playground. :) Kids sometimes need to go out to stretch their legs a bit in the summer. But we are having huge gatherings of kids on the playground during the Divine Liturgy. We want to stop that from happening because as it grows it’s gravity pulls in more and more kids. A short trip outside, SUPERVISED BY THE CHILD’S PARENTS, is normal and understandable. Sending kids out to play on the playground unsupervised or for more than just a few minutes is not.