WORSHIP SCHEDULE

The ANGEL TREE outdoor festival for the children is on Sunday, Dec 7 from 1-3 PM. Wrapped gifts due back by TODAY.  Volunteers needed on Dec 7 for parking, photographs, set-up,-clean-up, driving, kitchen, gift sorting, spreadsheet work, and registration table. Or you can lavishly decorate your car or a table and sponsor an activity or crafts such as cookies, Nativity, bookstore, or any new idea! Contact Kate McClain for more information or to volunteer! 706-248-7359  drkatemcclain@gmail.com 

GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD!

CATECHUMEN RECEPTION TODAY

Andrew Larkey

SECOND COLLECTION for IOCC TODAY

International Orthodox Christian Charity for emergency relief around the world.

OCF SPECIAL EVENTS

Dec 2, White Elephant Painting / Gift Exchange

Dec 3, 2:00 - 6:00 pm OCF & CSA Blanket Making for Bigger Vision at the UGA Catholic Center

40 LITURGIES for the NATIVITY FAST

Fr. Anthony will serve on Wednesday, Dec 3, 8:00 AM Orthros and Liturgy AND on Wednesday, Dec 19, 9:00 AM Liturgy. Both at the Annunciation Cathedral. Let him know if you want to ride together.

VIGIL FOR ST NICHOLAS

Dec 5, 6:30 PM - 1:00 AM

LIEFFRING TREE LIGHTING

Sat, Dec 6, 5:30 PM, 1051 Ridgefield Drive, Bogart GA. Alan & Rose invite you to be there for the wonderful show at their home.

DECORATORS NEEDED

Today - Need help getting Christmas Trees and boxes from shed

Dec 1, 3:00 - 7:00 PM decorate the Christmas trees. Stop in anytime to lend a hand! Please let Presvytera know if you plan come so she can bring some food. 706-340-6366

CHRISTMAS CARD FUND

Add your name to the community-wide Christmas Card and make a free will donation to benefit needy people in our local community. Any amount that you can give is welcomed and will directly help families during the holidays. Click Here to sign your name and donate. Also see link on our website homepage. Deadline is Dec 7.

CHRISTMAS CANDLELIGHT SERVICE & CONCERT

Dec 21, 5:00 PM at the Annunciation Cathedral in Atlanta. Plan to attend this most beautiful Pan-Orthodox (AIOPA) Christmas Concert. Choirs from 8 Orthodox communities will perform. Fr. Elias Dorham will speak on "O Bethlehem Prepare: Welcoming Christ into our Hearts." Car pool from our church parking lot leaves at 3:30 pm.

MEAL TRAINS

Welch Family Meal Train

Callaway Family Meal Train

NATIVITY PAGEANT & STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY DEC 14

Note the special events all happening on December 14!

• The Sunday School Nativity Pageant
• Stewardship Pledge Cards are collected and offered to God.
• Elections for Parish Council

CHRISTMAS EVE LITURGY & CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION

Dec 24, Matins/Orthros at 5:00 PM with Liturgy for the Nativity of our Lord at 6:00 PM. Join us afterwards for a covered dish Champagne Reception (Nativity fasting ends at Holy Communion). Plan to bring holiday festive foods and beverages to this family celebration. We will sing Christmas Carols.

NOMINATIONS FOR PARISH COUNCIL

Nominations are open through Dec 7. All candidates must attend the mandatory parish council training session on Dec 8, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the church to be listed on the ballot. Elections for the 2 openings will take place on Dec 14..

THE COUNCIL OF MINISTRIES

Philanthropy & Outreach

ST OLYMPIA SISTERHOOD FELLOWSHIP

Next gathering date is: December 18th. All women of the parish are invited to come for refreshment and fellowship. Call Presvytera if you are not on the GroupMe. 706-340-6366

GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP

Dec 15 at 7:00 pm at church. You can obtain your discussion book, “Memory Eternal” from the church bookstore.

ACTS FOOD BANK **FIRST Tuesday every other month

December 2, 9:00 to 1:00 pm to stock shelves at the Area Churches Together Serving food bank of Oconee County. 130 E Thompson St, Bogart **Come-and-Help

SPAGHETTI DINNER

Thursday Dec 11, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

OCF CHEW & CHAT DINNERS - SIGN UP

Consider sponsoring dinner for the college students on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of the month. We are a big group this year and we encourage co-hosting with other families. See SIGN UP DATES HERE

JAIL MINISTRY Saturdays in DECEMBER 9:00 - 10:00 am.

To get involved, please contact Fr. Anthony. Standard background check through the county is required.

BIGGER VISION DINNERS **4th Monday- NEXT: November 22nd.

Currently we will need a protein, vegetable and starch for the homeless shelter dinner. To learn more about this ministry go to our BV webpage ...and... Join the BV GroupMe.

Education

SUNDAY SCHOOL & CGS NEWS

SUNDAY SCHOOL WEBPAGE

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

• Snack Sign-Up HERE
• Flower Donations for Atrium - Sign Up HERE
• Parent Volunteer Form HERE

INQUIRER'S CLASS

Will meet on 12/3 at Church 7:15 to 8:30 PM. Child care or Zoom link can be provided upon request. This is open to those who want to learn more about the Orthodox Church please email prchristine@ilicons.us to join.

Upcoming dates: Dec 3 & 10, Jan 7 & 28, Feb 11 Printable Schedule Here

CHOIR & YOUTH CHOIR

New voices welcomed.

BOOKSTORE & LENDING LIBRARY

is in the back classroom. View our library holdings here

Please check out the revised Agape Team List below. If you would like to be added or removed from a team, please text Presvytera at 706-340-6366, with your request. Please rest assured that you are not required to be on a team, and everyone is welcome to stay and eat whether on a team or not. This is an AGAPE meal! To read all about the Agape Meal Ministry CLICK HERE.

STEWARDSHIP

VIEW THE COUNCIL of MINISTRIES CHART here 

Don't see your name on the Chart? Contact Presvytera Christine to be added.

Parish Leadership Training

6 TRAINING WORKSHOPS: 3 in the Summer and 3 in the Fall

LEADERSHIP TRAINING IS FOR EVERYONE AND ANYONE who has a role in parish life! It could be anything from altar service to Bigger Vision, Agape Meals to Choir, etc.

AT HOME MODULES: WORKSHOPS TO PREP AT HOME

We invite you to visit the website (link below) and review the slide deck for Modules 1 & 2 and 3. These you will do on your own at home. The remaining 3 Modules will be covered in 3 group discussion meetings this fall.

OTHER NEWS

GOA YOUTH SAFETY RENEWAL

Policy requires that youth workers in the GOA screen every 2 years, train and acknowledge the Code of Conduct every year. Click YOUTHSAFETYPLATFORM to check your status on your VIRTUS account.

CROSSROAD SUMMER INSTITUTE

is a 10-day program for Orthodox Christian high school juniors and seniors ready to explore identity, faith, and purpose. Step away from the noise of everyday life and join other Orthodox youth, mentors, and theologians in one of these beautiful settings. REGISTER HERE

JOIN THE ONLINE PRAYER GROUP

to post prayer needs and to be a prayer warrior. To join send your email address to rose@lieffring.com. You will receive emails when someone posts a prayer request or you can post to st-philothea-prayer-group@googlegroups.com

A WORD ABOUT CHURCH SEATING - please...

• Leave the front right-hand side row for people with special needs
• Leave the back 2 rows, right and left, for families with children
• Fill in all the rows by moving in towards the center aisle so we can better accommodate the larger number of people.
• ...and thank you!

CEMETARY PLOTS

St. Philothea has a section in the Oconee Memorial Park in Watkinsville. Burial Plots can be purchased at our special group price. Please see the flyer at the bottom of this email. It is tradition for the priest to visit the graves throughout the year for prayers.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ORTHODOX OBSERVER

News from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. OrthodoxObserver.org

SUNDAY November 30th - Andrew the First-Called Apostle 

WE COMMEMORATE:

Froumentios, Archbishop of Abyssina, Alexander the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Mithymna

Resurrectional Apolytikion Mode pl. 4

You descended from on high, O compassionate One, and consented to a three-day burial, to free us from the passions. O Lord, our life and resurrection, glory to You!

Entrance Hymn Mode 2

Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, risen from the dead. We sing to You, Alleluia.

For Andrew the First-Called Apostle Mode 4

As first called of the Apostles and brother of Peter the Preeminent, O Andrew, intercede with the Master of all to grant peace to the whole world, and great mercy to our souls.

Kontakion Mode 3

On this day the Virgin Maid * goes to the grotto to give birth * to the pre-eternal Word * in an ineffable manner. * Dance for joy, all the inhabited earth, on hearing. * Glorify along with Angels and with the shepherds * Him who willed that He appear as * a newborn Child, * the pre-eternal God.

Hymn to the Theotokos Mode pl. 4

It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos, ever blessed, most pure, and Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Logos. We magnify you, the true Theotokos.

Prokeimenon. Mode Plagal 4

Psalm 18.4,1

Their voice has gone out into all the earth.

Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.

Brethren, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

At that time, John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "Where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).



The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! " Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

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