Green Church Follows Spiritual Journey

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese E-bulletin November 13, 2009

This is the weekly edition of the GOA E-Bulletin. For more information
just click on the links below to go to the topics of interest to you.

If the link does not work from your email, copy the link and paste it
into the address bar of your web browser.

FEAST OF THE ENTRY OF THE THEOTOKOS INTO THE TEMPLE: The Feast of the
Entrance into the Temple of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and
Ever-Virgin Mary is celebrated on November 21 each year. The Feast
commemorates when as a young child, the Virgin Mary entered the Temple
in Jerusalem. For the background to this feast, a description of the
icon, hymns, readings, and more visit

www.goarch.org/special/listen_learn_share/vmpresentation/index_html

IOCC SUNDAY ? NOVEMBER 22<: Sunday, November 22, has been designated
by the Hierarchs of SCOBA as IOCC Sunday: A day of sharing.
International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is the humanitarian
agency of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in
the Americas (SCOBA). IOCC, in the spirit of Christâ??s love, offers
emergency relief and development programs to those in need worldwide,
without discrimination, and strengthens the capacity of the Orthodox
Church to so respond. For parish resources, publicity materials,
bulletin inserts, and the encyclical for the Sunday, visit


www.iocc.org/dayofsharing/



FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:


The Department's new 'zine "Of Your Mystical Supper: The Eucharist" is
now available. Written at a "senior high" (grades 10-12) level, it
looks at The Sacrament of Holy Communion as a Sacrament of Remembrance
(in the Last Supper), a Sacrament of Thanksgiving (the Eucharist), a
Sacrament of Forgiveness, and a Sacrament of Community. It also
contains a section on Preparing for Holy Communion and the Prothesis
Service. Cost is $3.95 per copy. For orders of more than 50 copies,
cost is $2.95 each. A Teacher's Guide is in development.

Also, don't forget that "For to us a Child is Born," which discusses
the incarnation of Christ and the Christmas holidays is also available
and works well this time of year with students. A teacher's guide is
available too.

New 'zine from DRE: "Heaven on Earth: The Divine Liturgy" now
available. Heaven on Earth is a guide to the Divine Liturgy of St
John Chrysostom, providing the junior high reader with information
about what is taking place and directions for greater involvement. It
also provides a "glossary" of items seen at the Divine Liturgy and
introduces the reader to the development of the Liturgy in the
Orthodox Church. Twenty-four pages, fully illustrated in color. Could
also serve as a handout in adult education classes, be given to
visitors to the parish, or placed in the narthex or in the pews.
$3.95 per copy. $2.95 on orders of more than 50 copies. A Teacher's
Guide for classroom use will be available soon.

New On-line Group for Religious Educators - The Department of
Religious Education has created Orthodox Christian Religious Educators
a group on Facebook so that teachers and other interested youth
workers can share ideas, discuss programs. The Facebook group is the
latest attempt of the Department to bring Orthodox Christian Religious
Educators together. The group is open to anyone who works with young
people in Orthodox Christian parishes, whether as a clergyman, a
Sunday Church school teacher, supervisor, a youth group advisor,
interested parent, or others. For those already using Facebook,
search for the group and join. For those not using Facebook, you will
have to join the social networking site (it's free). Already the
group has hundreds of members with topics being discussed ranging from
Vacation Church School to teaching Environmental Stewardship.

2010 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Topics Available. The
2010 Festival Topics, Topic Tips, and Bibliography are now available
on the Department's webpages

www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/religioused/sjcof

As more information from the Metropolises arrives, with the dates and
locations of District and Metropolis Festivals, it will be posted.
The 2010 Archdiocese Festival will be hosted by the Direct Archdiocese
District and held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City, from
June 4-6.

National GOYA Facebook Page Created

Our newest resource from the Department of Youth and Young Adult
Ministries has just been created. In an effort to create a presence on
facebook, we have created a page that provides the GOYAn's of our
Archdiocese with community, updates, news, and information from across
the country. We hope that it will be a place for teens to learn about
their faith and upcoming GOYA events, as well as connect with each
other! On facebook you can search for "GOYA- Greek Orthodox Youth of
America" and become a "fan".

Orthodox Christian Fellowship Announces REAL BREAK registration is open
Join hundreds of other college students this Spring Break with Real
Break, the service learning program of OCF. This year's trips are
scheduled for Constantinople, Jerusalem, Greece, Romania, and more.
Register online now at www.ocf.net/realbreak. Hurry while there are
still openings!!!

NEW FAITH AND LIFE RESOURCE ON ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE: A new brochure
on the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been released in the Faith and Life
series. The brochure is designed as an online resource that can be
downloaded, printed and distributed in the parish as a educational
resource. Access this new brochure and other resources on the Faith
and Life web site at


www.goarch.org/ourfaith/faithandlife


2010 STEWARDSHIP RESOURCES AVAILABLE: Stewardship resources for the
2010 Stewardship Year have been sent to Greek Orthodox clergy serving
parishes throughout the Archdiocese of America. In our efforts to
provide your parish with practical ministry resources under a unified
theme, the National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
America are creating resources for the coming Ecclesiastical Year
under the general theme of the 2008 Clergy-Laity Congress: Gather My
People to My Home with the sub-theme of â??Come and See?â?? Additional
Stewardship ressources for the parish will be forthcoming. Contact the
Department of Stewardship, Outreach & Evangelism: telephone
646-519-6160 / email stewardship@goarch.org.

PLANNER FOR 2009-10 IS NOW AVAILABLE: The annual planner published by
the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is now available.
Use The Planner to keep track of all your schedules. Keep a daily
focus on Christ with Scriptural readings, fast days, prayers, saints
of the day, and inspiration from the Fathers. The Planner follows the
Ecclesiastical (church) year beginning in September and ending in
August. Spiral bound and digital versions available. Order now at

www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/youth/planner2009