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.
Bishop THOMAS Celebrates Sunday of Orthodoxy and Baptism in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Click above for more photosIn the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010, His Grace, Bishop THOMAS, celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy service with His Grace, Bishop TIKHON of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (OCA) at the Church of St. Nicholas (OCA) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Numerous area clergy and laity celebrated this service together, including a proclamation of the common faith of the Orthodox Church, as well as the traditional anathemas which Orthodoxy levels against dangerous, heretical doctrines. Five different SCOBA jurisdictions were represented among the clergy, including (besides the two bishops) eighteen priests and five deacons.
Sayidna THOMAS presented a homily before the service in which he stressed that Orthodox Christians are icons of Christ, that each of us is an ambassador of the Kingdom of God in this world, no matter our circumstances. After the liturgical service, the clergy and faithful heard a short presentation on the work of the Lehigh Valley Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood which sponsored the event and then together shared a Lenten meal.
Bishop THOMAS Visits Holy Ascension Mission + Devon, PA
On February 21, 2010, His Grace Bishop THOMAS visited Holy Ascension Mission in Devon, Pennsylvania for Sunday of Orthodoxy.
Bishop THOMAS Visits St. Andrew the Apostle Mission + Lewes, DE
The Mission of St. Andrew the Apostle, Lewes, Delaware was blessed by a visit from His Grace Bishop THOMAS the weekend of December 5th–6th.
At Vespers Saturday evening Sayidna encouraged us to continue to reach out to our community with the message of Orthodoxy. We had several visitors with us at Vespers and for refreshments following.
Sayidna celebrated the first Hierarchical Divine Liturgy for St. Andrew Sunday morning with a full Church (the Grange Hall) and beautiful choir. Subdeacon Joseph Kavchok of St. Philip, Souderton, Pennsylvania and Subdeacon Jason Flowers of Holy Ascension, Frazer, Pennsylvania assisted. Our seminarian from Saint Vladimir's, Adrian Budica, was elevated to Subdeacon. Our parishioner Jack Berberian became a Reader. Refreshments for all followed at noon at the home of parishioners. After the mealtime, the youth gave an enthusiastic presentation on the life of St. Nicholas for all attending.
The King's Jubilee
Bishop THOMAS writes:
Beloved in Christ,
God bless you. A blessed Feast of the Nativity of our Lord to you.
On December 3rd, I had the great pleasure to visit The King's Jubilee, a ministry that is supported by our Church of St. Philip in Souderton, Pennsylvania and that has been supported by the Archdiocese in the past through Food for Hungry People. Attached, you will find their Christmas 2009 report. It contains a nice summary of my visit with them in December. I support this ministry and encourage you to do the same. Again, a blessed Feast of the Nativity to you and to your families.
From The King's Jubilee Christmas 2009 report:
On Thursday, December 3, as planned, we commemorated St. Nicholas by giving away at least three one dollar coins to each of our “customers”. Some also went to the children who were helping us serve. We were able to give away $300 of your money in praise of the Trinity and in honor of Holy Bishop St. NICHOLAS. May God bless you.
Another bishop visited us that evening. Bishop THOMAS had arranged to be picked up at the Philadelphia Airport by Fr. Noah and delivered directly to where we serve in center city Phila. They arrived just as we were giving out the last of the hot food. We were giving out the blankets and clothes, the last of the coins and the sandwiches.
Bishop THOMAS was so excited to witness this that he got on his cell phone and called a few people that he thought would enjoy being part of it. On the way home, we stopped at Amir’s Sunoco (formerly Sammy’s). It took him a while to get out of the van, because he was busy dictating an e-mail about TKJ to go out to all the priests in the diocese.
Charitable Giving on St. Nicholas Day
On Sunday, December 6, 2009, St. Nicholas Day celebrations at St. John Chrysostom Church in York, Pennsylvania were featured in the York Daily Record. The article highlights the local tradition of the parish's children commemorating the feast day through charitable giving:
...at a local church, children swapped roles with the beloved saint Sunday, presenting him with gifts instead -- gifts that will ultimately be distributed to needy families by Access-York and the Victim Assistance Center.
"I can see you've been teaching the children to love others by giving to the poor," St. Nicholas told the Rev. Peter Pier, pastor of St. John Chrysostom Orthodox Church in Springettsbury Township...
A member of St. John Chrysostom church suggested the idea of children giving gifts to St. Nicholas years ago.
"It is definitely a good message to the children because they so often hear Christmas is about getting, getting getting," said parishioner Mike Buleza.
Bishop THOMAS Visits Holy Ascension Mission in Frazer, PA
The Holy Ascension Orthodox Mission in Frazer, Pennsylvania was blessed to have Bishop THOMAS present with us for his annual visit on the weekend of November 14-15Th, 2009.
The Sisterhood of St. Thekla sponsored a dinner for His Grace following Vespers, and we celebrated a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday. During the sermon, Bishop THOMAS commanded the founding of Holy Ascension Parochial School, The Academy of St. Raphael, which will serve as a spiritual education foundation for our parish. His Grace motivated our parish to begin building our permanent home and he spoke candidly about families making sacrifices to help raise money toward this goal.
Bishop THOMAS on the Manhattan Declaration
November 24, 2009
Beloved in Christ,
God bless you.
As I promised you a couple of days ago, we are forwarding you information on the Orthodox approach to issues that have been recently addressed in the Manhattan Declaration. Below I offer a few comments on subjects relevant to that document:
Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir to Perform Christmas Concert in Bergenfeld, NJ
Bergenfield, NJ, December 6, 2009 – The Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir, under the direction of Maestro Aleksei V. Shipovalnikov, will present A Star Shines in the East: Eastern Orthodox Lessons and Carols for the Christmas Season on Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 4:30PM at Saint Anthony Orthodox Church, 385 Ivy Lane, Bergenfield, NJ. The multi-media performance will include scripture readings, traditional American and Slavic Carols and choral gems from the various Orthodox Christian traditions. Works by various Slavic masters, including Bortniansky, Allemanov, Kastalsky and Degtiarev will also be featured accompanied by breathtaking seasonal images from the Holy Land and other Christian sites. A reception to meet the artists will follow. Tickets are $12.00 for adults and $8.00 for children and Senior Citizens.
The Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir was formed in 1997 as a missionary and educational group and draws its members from choir directors and singers from Orthodox parishes of various jurisdictions in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Choir’s music witnesses to the range of the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church and is representative of the major stylistic periods of Russian Church music. In its 12-year existence the choir has established a reputation, both within and outside the Orthodox Church community, for outstanding interpretation of Orthodox liturgical music in the English language, as well as Church Slavonic and other languages. As is the tradition of the Orthodox Church, all music is unaccompanied by instruments.
2009 Nativity Greetings from Bishop THOMAS
Beloved in Christ,
“Today is born of the Virgin Him Who holdest all creation in the hollow of His hand. He Whose essence is untouchable is wrapped in swaddling clothes as a babe. The God Who from of old established the heavens lieth in a manger. He Who showered the people with manna in the wilderness feedeth on milk from the breasts. And the bridegroom of the Church calleth the Magi. And the Son of the Virgin accepteth gifts from them. We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ.“
On behalf of myself and the entire Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic, we wish you a blessed Nativity Fast and a glorious Feast of the Holy Nativity of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.