Sunday School got off to a great start last week with more than 50 participants. Youth Group also restarted with 16 young people at the opening retreat. Thanks to everybody for the great participation in these faith-building activities. Keep it up!
Annual Parish Meeting next Sunday following Liturgy. Childcare will be provided for the younger children. The parish will provide pizza for everyone following the meeting. We ask that every parishioner and catechumens be present for this 1-hour meeting. Regular visitors are encouraged to attend, but may not cast a ballot. The two main tasks of the meeting will be to approve the 2015-2016 Budget and to elect 2 new parish council members.
Youth Group will meet tonight in the parish hall at 6pm. Parents are encouraged to attend this meeting as Fr. Justin and the youth leaders will talk about the planned visits to different houses of worship and the goals of these visits.
Child Safety Training/Compliance If you have not completed the online training or filled out the paperwork left in your mailbox, please do so today. We need to have the compliance program wrapped up by the end if the month. The Child Safety Committee will be meeting with new teachers, altar-servers, and youth workers today during fellowship time after Liturgy. See Rebecca Wilson, our CSC chair, if you have any questions.
Men of the Parish are invited to the home of Carl Lizak for a men’s night of food and fellowship on Monday the 21st at 7pm. Carl encourages folks who are coming to bring meat to grill out as well as your preferred drinks.
Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) will be meeting every Tuesday at 6:30pm at St. Augustine Lutheran Episcopal Center on UK’s campus. More about OCF
Wednesday Vespers at 6:30pm will be followed by Part III of our Special Christian Education Series “Handbook of Orthodox Life.” Class begins at 7:20pm in the conference room and will cover the various ministries offered by our parish. We will be introducing the different liturgical services commonly celebrated at St. Athanasius. So this week and next week will be the ideal times to learn about the nuts and bolts of the services. Visitors are welcome!
Festal Matins for the Repose of St. Sergius of Radonezh will be served at 8am on Friday, Sept. 25 and Father will heard confessions at the end of the service.
Heritage Festival at St. Andrew’s Orthodox Church in Lexington is next Saturday / Sunday. See brochure on the bulletin board for details. While it might be tempting to leave straight from Liturgy and go to the Heritage Festival, please stay one hour for the Annual Parish Meeting, enjoy pizza, and then head out the Heritage Festival!
Save the Date: Saturday, Oct 10 at 4-5:30pm
St. Athanasius, along with our Lexington Orthodox sister parishes and the Jessamine County Ministerial Association, is sponsoring a Charity Event to benefit the Syria Fund of International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). This event will feature:
- a short video about the Syrian crisis;
- eyewitness accounts from two Syrian Christians & a priest of the Syrian Church
- a panel discussion with Orthodox Christian clergy & Syrian refugees
- refreshments provided by hosting organizations
All proceeds from tickets and other donations will go directly to the IOCC Syria Fund. 92 cents of every dollar given to IOCC goes directly to help the efforts in Syria, which strengthens both the Christian community and helps Syrians of all faiths. Tickets will be sold for $5 per person and donations will also be accepted by cash, check, or credit card.
Rain Garden Work Day is planned for Saturday, October 3 at 9am. This will be the grand finale of planting and mulching. All hands are welcome. The Jessamine Journal will be stopping by to interview Mary and take pictures for a story in the local paper.