St. Athanasius Orthodox Church • Nicholasville/Lexington Kentucky

August & New Beginnings

July was not only a record month in terms of high temperatures, but also high in terms of attendance. Despite all the coming and going, the summer doldrums didn’t happen this year, as our parish continued to welcome new visitors to our many services, to host well-attended classes and events, and to expand our work overall. We are excited to welcome the month of August as we mark the Dormition Fast & Feast, as our school year begins, as college classes resume, and as we prepare for a new liturgical year!

We welcome you to visit our parish community of St. Athanasius. We also welcome those who are in (or close to) Madison County to also visit our St. Nina Mission, which helps extend the reach of the Orthodox Faith along the I-75 corridor and Wilderness Trail. For services at St. Athanasius and at our Mercer Chapel in Harrodsburg, visit our google calendar here. Among the regular services and events you’ll find this month in Nicholasville are:

  • 630pm Saturday Evening Service (Cathedral Vigil or Great Vespers)
    • 730pm Saturday Confessions following the evening service
  • 930am Sunday Liturgy with Coffee Hour following
    • 12-1230pm Sunday Bread Ministry (free distribution of bread and other foods)
  • 630pm Wednesday Vespers (with Christian Education following 720-820pm each Wed. night–with rotating themes)
  • other services, especially Molebens, Paraklesis, and Akathist Services, according to the calendar

Among the special events happening in the remainder of August, you’ll find:

  • Tabling Events at local colleges to welcome students and invite to church
  • Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist: Aug. 28 630opm Vespers & Aug. 29 9am Liturgy
  • Visitors’ Sunday on Sunday, Aug. 30 with Church Tour & Special Lunch (details TBA)
  • Below are a collection of photos from July — including photos from weddings and our Diocesan Assembly in Florida at which we thanked our retiring Archbishop Alexander for his decade of service and prepared to welcome our new bishop, His Grace Gerasim:
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Letter from Dn. James

Building

Dn. James Bryant sent Fr. Justin a list of recommendations for our parish to consider during the building process. These are things we should keep in mind as we begin actualizing our dreams.

Next Steps: Making Vision Reality

Building

St. Athanasius Orthodox Church hosted architects Dn. James Bryant and Bob Latsko for presentations on June 28-29. A profusion of slides of Orthodox churches from around the world accompanied the presentations, giving parishioners a feel for what makes a building “orthodox.”

Summer Series on the Saints

Featured

Wednesday nights for the next four weeks of the summer will feature “Prayer, Asceticism, and the Spiritual Life: The Teachings of the Church Fathers” a lecture series examining the encounter between Biblical thought and ancient philosophy. The series will be conducted by Dr. David …

Pentecost

Building

In celebrating Pentecost we held our first Sunday Liturgy on the land. We endured the heat and cicadas to enjoy a beautiful service. Following Liturgy we had a pleasant picnic before Kneeling Vespers. With less than a month to go before having the land paid off, the reality of building a church is …

Beginning to Brainstorm

Building

This past Thursday evening (July 10th), we launched a series of brainstorming sessions for our building needs on the Land. We began with Moleben before the relics of St. Athanasius. The prayers lent a real sense of peace to all that followed and kept us focused on the “One Thing …

Picking the Right Architect

Building

A great article in Q&A format about making the decision to pick an architect. It was sent to Fr. Justin by Mary Lowell, copied from the American Institute of Architects website:

It’s Time to Dream

Building

After almost a two-year hiatus, the St. Athanasius building committee gave a presentation Wednesday night on the history of the parish’s building program. Fr. Justin challenged those desiring to be part of this process to “dream big,” noting that there are “no wrong answers” about the project at …

Celebrating Pentecost

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On Pentecost Sunday, June 15th, St. Athanasius Orthodox Mission celebrated its first Sunday Liturgy on our Land on Chrisman Mill Road. About 80 people braved the heat (and cicada bugs) to pray with us on top of the hill. We served the Divine Liturgy at 9:30am. This was followed by a picnic and the …

Pentecost Liturgy on the Hill

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We begin our summer schedule this Sunday, June 15, 2008 with Liturgy beginning at 9:30am. Our first Sunday of summer will not served in our chapel (as it will be on other Sundays of the summer) but rather on our church’s land at 2500 Chrisman Mill Road. [directions to the hill] (Note: the …

Christ is Risen!

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Christ has risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!   — Troparion for Pascha The whole creation keeps a feast, my brethren, and everything that hath breath praises the Lord, as the Psalmist [says], on account of the destruction …