Sponsor a Camp St. Raphael Staff Member
A note from Fr. James Shadid, Director of Camp Saint Raphael:
Each year our DOWAMA's Camp Saint Raphael must pay to the YMCA $18,000 in fees to cover the camp costs for our own non-paid, volunteer staff. In other words, although our clergy and those great folks from our parishes volunteer their time and talents (and pay their own way to and from Camp!) for those two weeks to be our camp chaplains, counselors, nurse or doctor, etc., CSR must pay the YMCA $18,000 to cover the costs of for their meals and lodging. That breaks down to a weekly fee per staffer of $300 ($600 per staffer for our full two-week camping program). This year - to mark CSR's 10th anniversary - we are asking that congregations, parish groups and individual parishioners consider sponsoring a CSR staff member. Please see the attached flyer (PDF) and publicize this opportunity among your parish groups and individual members.
Questions? Contact CSR's Executive Director Gayle Malone at gayle@campstraphael.org or myself at fatherjames@stgeorgecathedral.net. Thanks!
Erin Elizabeth Learned Appointed DOWAMA Youth Director
Bishop BASIL writes:
May it be blessed! Erin Elizabeth Learned, a daughter of St. George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas, employed as full-time Youth Director at St. Elijah in Oklahoma City, has been appointed Diocesan Youth Director for DOWAMA to succeed Fr. Anthony Baba.
Anthony Baba Ordained to Priesthood
Bishop BASIL writes:
HE IS WORTHY! Fr. Anthony Baba of St. George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas and DOWAMA Youth Director was ordained to the holy priesthood at his home parish of St. George in Houston, Texas on the Fifth Sunday of the Fast, March 21st, 2010. He will be assigned to the pastorate at St. Anthony Church in Spring, TX effective Monday, April 12th. He will begin his "Week of Liturgies" at St. George in Houston and will conclude it at St. George Cathedral in Wichita.
Paschal Greetings from His Grace Bishop BASIL
“When Thou hadst fallen asleep in the flesh, as one mortal, O King and Lord, Thou didst rise again on the third day, raising up Adam from corruption, and abolishing death: O Pascha of incorruption! O Salvation of the world!” (The Exaposteilarion of Pacha)
To the Right Reverend, Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, the Christ-loving Monastics, and the Faithful Laity of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America:
I embrace and greet you with a holy kiss in the Name of our Risen Saviour. Christ is risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! ! ألمسيح قام Христос Воскресе! Hristos a înviat! Cristo ha resucitado!
"Death was terrible to the human race before the death of Christ, but after Christ’s Resurrection man became terrible to death, for One of us conquered death, did not remain in the grave, and did not see corruption. The former Pascha was the liberation of Israel from Egypt. Our Pascha is the liberation from the slavery of death and corruption. Christ is risen! I now know that my salvation has indeed been wrought. I know that God did indeed appear on earth. There have been great men, conquerors of the elements, conquerors of nature, but death equalized all and revealed our common nothingness. Who is this Who has passed through the gates of death? He can only be God. This means that God was indeed incarnate on earth, has indeed brought the healing medicine against that which consumes me and the corruption that tortures me. The Incarnation and the Resurrection are combined into one. The Incarnation gives the meaning of the Resurrection, and the Resurrection irrefutably confirms that the Incarnation is truth and reality, and not illusion or dream. Now death is not frightening to me, for I have seen the victory over corruption." (New Hieromartyr Hilarion Troitsky, 1886-1929)
Diocese of Wichita to Organize Consortium of Professional Counselors
His Grace Bishop BASIL has appointed Fr. John Mefrige of St. Ephraim the Syrian Church in San Antonio, Texas to begin the process of organizing a "DOWAMA Consortium of Professional Counselors" to be a resource for clergy in the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America. Professional counselors in the Diocese are encouraged to download and submit a registration (PDF). For more information, please contact Fr. John Mefrige at FrJohnMefrige@aol.com.
Online Registration Available for 2010 DOWAMA Parish Life Conference
Online registration is now available for the 2010 DOWAMA Parish Life Conference at St. Elijah Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Parish Life Conference will take place June 16-19, 2010. For more information or to register, please visit http://plc.stelijahokc.com/.
Bishop THOMAS visits St. Paraskevi Monastery in Washington, Texas
On March 9, 2010, His Grace Bishop THOMAS visited St. Paraskevi Monastery in Washington, Texas for the feast day of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. It was His Grace's first visit to the Monastery. Fr. Joseph Huneycutt, who serves at St. George Church in Houston, Texas, accompanied His Grace.
For more pictures, please visit Fr. Joseph Huneycutt's blog.
Harry and Florence Kouri Scholarship
This is the third year that Jim and Ruth Cohlmia have offered the Harry and Florence Kouri Scholarship of $2,000 to a graduating high school senior from the Diocese of Wichita. Eligible high school seniors may download an application form here. Please note that the signature of the applicant's parish priest is required. The deadline to submit applications to the Wichita Chancery is May 3rd. The recipient will be announced at our Parish Life Conference in Oklahoma City, OK this June.
Joy Magazine to be Published in English-Language Edition
Sample page: click to enlargeBishop BASIL writes:
His Eminence Metropolitan SABA of Syria's archdiocese of Bosra-Hauran announces that the very popular Arabic-language, full-color, Orthodox Children's Magazine "FARAH" (which means "joy") will soon be published in an all-English edition - to be called "JOY" - for our children here in America.
His Eminence Metropolitan SABA writes:
Dear Brother in Christ,
As our Holy Orthodox Church is embarking on a very special time of the year in preparation to celebrate the Feast of all feasts, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, I greet you with a holy kiss from the land that was blessed to witness the conversion of the Apostle Paul and the martyrdom of one of the seven first Deacons, Timon.
With the blessing and the enthusiastic support of His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP, the Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, I present you with the first issue of the “JOY” magazine in English, which is intended to help children (7-13)with their parents to learn about our holy Orthodox faith. “JOY” will be a colorful publication of about forty pages, containing a variety of simple educational materials, offered three times a year, for the sake of enriching the children of Christ, for the nominal cost of twenty dollars a year including postage cost.
Bishop BASIL Celebrates Sunday of Orthodoxy in Denver
On Sunday, February 21, 2010, His Grace Bishop BASIL attended the annual Triumph of Orthodoxy weekend concelebrated by the "Three Hierarchs of the Heartland." The celebration was hosted this year by His Eminence METROPOLITAN ISAIAH of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver at his Assumption Cathedral in Denver, Colorado. His Eminence ARCHBISHOP DMITRI of the OCA's Diocese of Dallas and the South preached at the concelebrated Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning and Sayedna BASIL preached at Vespers on Sunday evening. The 2011 celebration will be hosted at St. Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas.