Towards Our Reopening!

Christ is Risen! While Christ the Eternal Pascha is Ever-Present with us, many of our people have been understabably grieved at not being able to participate in the Sacraments and in common worship, in person. We are pleased to announce the following:

• On Monday, May 11: St. Athanasius parish reopens for private prayer and lighting candles, 10am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. Fr. Justin will also be available by appointment for in-person Confessions.
• On Wednesday, May 20: St. Athanasius reopens for in-person divine services with limited capacity. (A string of daily Liturgies will follow!)

In the case of the visiting the church, making Confession, and attending services, there will be considerable limitations on how we do these things. We ask all our parishioners to carefully read the new document Towards Reopening St. Athanasius Orthodox Church (Phase 1) put together by our parish leadership and approved by the Diocese of the South. This document includes important details from both the diocesan and OCA-wide directives, but tailored for our parish community and our building. It also incorporates expectations of our local civil authorities (which we are called to respect and honor, as Orthodox Christians.) We do not know precisely how long “phase 1” of our reopening will last, but we are confident that–for the next month or two–we have a path forward so that everyone can attend church regularly and participate in the Sacraments fully. Stay tuned for information about online sign-ups, which will be absolutely necessary for making sure we do not exceed the limits the diocese is directing us to observe, in terms of attendance.

Because we will not all be able to gather at one time during our Phase 1 reopening, it will still be necessary for us avail ourselves of livestreaming and other virtual supports in our parish and spiritual life. Our primary services will continue to be livestreamed on the St. Athanasius YouTube Channel. Other lesser services and various talks are being shared out via our parish Facebook Page (which you can access without having a Facebook account.)

Additional Resources During This Recovery Time

• Divine Service for Lay Home Worship 
  • Vespers (fixed text)
  • Typika (fixed text, prayed in place of Liturgy)
  • Variable texts by day (oca.org)
• Pastoral Conversations & Sacramental Home Visits  
  • Please reach our to Fr. Justin by email or by contacting him at 859-361-2823
• Parish “Virtual Coffee Hour” Sundays (12pm) and Wednesdays (720pm)
  • We are using the app “Houseparty” (learn how to download and use here)
• OCA-wide Online Resources (visit here)
• OCA-wide Online Church School Resources (visit here)

While we are still limited in inviting visitors into our normal worship, we do invite you to come visit our church and pray, Monday through Friday, 10am-6pm (observing social distancing.) We invite you to connect virtually, through the livestreaming options and by praying along with our community. We also encourage you to reach out to our pastor, Fr. Justin (859-361-2823.) Christ is Risen!