An Exciting Month for Our Community

The response to the call for help with the move to our new church property on Pinnacle Peak Road has been just great! Parishioners and friends have donated boxes, packing materials, use of trucks, and have volunteered to pack, transport and unload the various furnishings and supplies. Many thanks to Dean Milonas for coordinating the move, and to all who have volunteered their time. If everything continues to progress this smoothly, we will be ahead of our original schedule, and will be celebrating the first Divine Liturgy on Sunday, March 21st, the fifth Sunday of Great Lent.

Our church community is also blessed with parishioners who are donating a new computer system for the office, a new phone system, as well as funds for the construction of the icon screen and solea for the church interior. Stella Pagos and Frosene Yelton have joined Mary Manos in volunteering to work in the church office. Time, talent and treasures – Christian Stewardship in action!

Now midway in the season of Great Lent, the weeknight services continue throughout this month. In addition to the Tuesday evening Compline service, the Wednesday evening Pre-Sanctified Divine Liturgy and the Friday evening Akathist Hymn, I encourage everyone to visit the other local Orthodox parishes that will be hosting the Sunday evening Lenten Vesper services. Please see the Community Calendar for times and places.

An award-winning new documentary film on the story of Greek immigration to the United States will be shown on Tuesday evening, March 24th following the Vesper service. (See the Inside Cover.) We’ll be taking advantage of the two drop-down screens and sound system available in our new church to enjoy the viewing. The final portion will be shown following Divine Liturgy on March 25th, the feastday of the Annunciation.

We’ll be making palm crosses on the Saturday of Lazarus and our Philoptochos is preparing a Bake Sale for Palm Sunday. Finally, Holy Week begins on Monday, March 28th bringing us closer to the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord on Sunday, April 4th.

Please be alert to road conditions while driving to our new church property. The City of Peoria has two street improvement projects underway: 83rd Avenue is being widened between Williams Road and Calle Lejos Road, and a 16-inch water line is being installed along Pinnacle Peak east from 82nd Ave across New River.

Thanks to Penny Obren for coordinating our first bus trip to St. Paisius Monastery in Safford on Saturday, March 6th. This will be a very enjoyable visit, and another good opportunity for fellowship with our parish family.

As it is every year, our church calendar is filled with events and services during the Lenten season. The difference this year, of course, is the fact that we will be celebrating in a new church building for the first time in more than 23 years.

I look forward to the completion of our move to our new church location. I look forward to the excitement of new faces, along with familiar faces, worshipping together and enjoying fellowship together in a new building. Above all, I look forward to a bright future for our parish, one that sees this move as a foundation for a new beginning and spiritual rebirth among our members, glorifying God, enjoying fellowship, and growing in our faith while remaining faithful to the traditions of the Holy Orthodox faith.