THE PROMISE
NOVEMBER 2009
DATES TO REMEMBER:
NOVEMBER 1 & 8
QUESTIONS FOR THE LUNCH DISCUSSION
SUBMITTED
NOVEMBER 15
LUNCH DISCUSSION ON THE FAITH
WITH FR. N ICHOLAS
NOVEMBER 21
THE ENTRANCE OF THE THEOTOKOS
DIVINE LITURGY 9:30AM
NOVEMBER 22
PARISH THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON
NOVEMBER 25
THANKSGIVING EVE LITURGY
DIVINE LITURGY 6:00PM
DECEMBER 6
PARISH ASSEMBLY &
PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS
“Things themselves do not remain,
but their effects do.
Therefore we should not be mean and
calculating with what we have but give
with a generous hand.
Look at how much people give to players
and dancers -
why not give just as much to Christ?"
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
A Message from our Pastor.....................2
Secularism................................................4
Finding God ............................................7
Scenes From The Retreat......................10
Love & Worship....................................14
News & Notes.........................................12
Festival News..........................................15
2009 Thanksgiving.................................19
JOY Scenes.............................................21
Parish Assembly Minutes .....................23
November Calendar..............................24
PAGE 1
THE PROMISE
PASTORAL MESSAGE
In the Gospel according to Luke (see Lk 10: 15-21)
70 missionaries of the Lord return to Him and report
with amazement and great delight that even demons
were subdued in His Holy Name. And even though
the disciples were jubilant over the fact that even
demons are subject to Christ, the Lord Himself
reminds them, and us of an even greater joy - as
Christians, our names are written in heaven! Thus
this event not only bears witness to the astounding
things that are possible for every one of us to achieve
in the name of the Lord (even in this day and age),
but that all those who follow
the Lord are remembered by
Him. The defeat of demons is
certainly very good news, but
our salvation in Christ is even
REJOICE!
GOD
better news.
The Lord our God makes it
abundantly clear that while He
is the ultimate victor in the war
between good and evil, the
battles are ongoing and our joy
KNOWS AND
cannot be centered on any one
struggle. Our enduring happiness
must be rooted to the truth that
no matter what, in Christ, our
LOVES
YOU!
names are written in heaven. In
Him, not only is the war
against evil and sin ultimately
won, but more importantly we
are saved.
Yes it is true that we must fight a host of demons and
their lures. And thanks be to God that in Christ we
have the sure grace to overcome any manner of sin
and evil. But the joy at defeating the devil in any
myriad of ways actually pales by comparison to the
elation that comes with realizing that the God of
heaven and earth knows our name and we have an
eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. We must
delight in the fact that we are neither anonymous foot
soldiers in an epic struggle between good and evil, nor
are we sacrificial pawns in a greater plan. Instead, we
have the privilege of waking up every day knowing
the fact that each and every one of us belong to
PAGE 2
Christ, we matter to Him and therefore He keeps our
name in heaven!
In every personal struggle, in every fight with sin and
evil, our comfort and courage cannot be centered on
the outcome, but on the fact that by abiding in Christ,
God in His good pleasure, has seen to it to write our
names down in heaven. Hence, there is no great secret
to eternal happiness, it is simply life in Christ that in
turn assures us of the everlasting joy of salvation.
The billions of dollars people in
our society spend on methods
and formulas to try find meaning
and happiness in this life is a
marketing triumph; but no less a
stinging indictment of faithless
generations. Heaven is not a
secret! True joy is neither elusive
nor fleeting when we commit
ourselves and our whole to
Christ our God. With simple
faith and open hearts, we cannot
only find the way of the Lord, but
we can discover the joy of
salvation that no person, event or
circumstance can strip away from
us. Our happiness as Christians
cannot sole be driven by what we
are empowered to do in the
name of the Lord, but to the
priceless privilege of knowing in
Christ, our names are written in heaven. In recognizing
Jesus as the Son of God and faithfully following Him,
He save us; and therein lies eternal joy.
Too often in describing our life in Christ and our
relationship with the Lord, we focus on the toil and
sacrifice at the expense of the joy there is in knowing
HIM and He knowing us. Now there can be no doubt
that the cost of discipleship is great, but there is at the
exact same time an overflowing measure of delight in
following Jesus Christ as Orthodox Christians.
(Continued on page 6)

LUNCHEON DISCUSSIONS ON
OUR FAITH
On NOVEMBER 15TH
we are going to have
another edition of our
Luncheon Discussions
on our Faith with
Father Nicholas.
On November 1 & 8th A QUESTION BOX will be set up
for people to anonymously write down question(s)
about any aspect of our faith, morality, etc. that they
have always wanted to ask and never could find an
opportunity to ask. Then on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27TH
after the Divine Liturgy we will share a lunch together, and
FaTHEr. Nicholas will answer the anonymous ques-
tions that were submitted as well as any off the floor.
This will hopefully be an enjoyable opportunity for our
Church family get to know each other a little better by
breaking bread together, as well as discover a little bit
more about the Church and faith that is so very dear to
us and our life. Please make plans to join us.
Luncheon Discussion With
THE PROMISE
GET INVOLVED IN JOY,
JR. GOYA & GOYA
TODAY!!!
JOY (JUNIOR ORTHODOX YOUTH): our youth ministry
for the youngest members of our Church family up to
age 9.
JUNIOR GOYA: our youth ministry program geared for
those youth to old for JOY and too young for GOYA!
GOYA (GREEK ORTHODOX YOUTH OF AMERICA):
our youth ministry geared towards those young people
in our Church family ages 12-18.
These three vital ministries strive to instill Orthodox
Christian principles and enhance our young people’s
relationship with Christ through their experiences at
the Annunciation. These ministries are guided by the
principles of: Faith, Service, Fellowship & Fun. THE
MORE OUR YOUTH PARTICIPATE , AND THE MORE THEIR
PARENTS VOLUNTEER - THE BETTER THESE MINISTRIES
FUNCTION .

FaTHEr. Nicholas Parents please continue

to make the Church’s
youth ministries a prior-
When: Sunday, November 15th ity within your home
and remain steadfast in
Where: Annunciation Ballroom enabling your chil-
dren to be active mem-
Food: Will be provided! bers of either JOY, JR.
GOYA and/or GOYA.
Furthermore, never for-
Cost: $0. get the fact that these
vital ministries can
Discussion ALWAYS use your time
and talents for the
& Fellowship: Priceless! upcoming calendar of
events!!! Contact an
YOU and your questions, advisor today, and
are the only ingredients needed to make this a together let us continue
success! to make these ministries soar to the glory of God!

PAGE 3
THE PROMISE
SECULARISM AND THE MIND
OF CHRIST & THE CHURCH:
SOME PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL
REFLECTIONS
by FaTHEr. George Morelli
Secularism and its offspring including radical individ-
ualism, moral relativism, and religious and political
correctness are a pernicious threat to the correct com-
prehension of Christian teaching. Secularism borrows
the vocabulary and categories of the Christian moral
tradition but fills them with a different meaning thereby
evoking the authority of the tradition while changing
its teaching. This bastardization of Christian thought is
often promoted as a higher expression of the common
good when in fact it causes grave moral confusion and
sometimes justifies evil in the name of good.
Secularism is not new. Intellectual history scholars
locate the emergence of secular thought in the French
Enlightenment, particularly in the writings of Jean
Jacques Rousseau who rewrote the Genesis narrative
by placing the locus of the Fall in Adam’s socialization
rather than his private decision to disobey God.
Rousseau effectively shifted responsibility for sin in
the world – including the deleterious social effects
some sins engender – from the individual to society.
This reinterpretation of Genesis unleashed an idea that
would have huge cultural ramifications. Society, not the
individual, was responsible for the ills that beset it. The
idea captured the minds of the intelligentsia relatively
quickly. If the ills in society were primarily the result of
socialization the thinking went, then the best way to heal
the ills in society was through social reorganization. The
first experiment in social enlightenment was the French
Revolution – a popular movement that overthrew the
medieval order in the name of Fraternity, Liberty, and
Equality but ended up implementing a nascent totalitar-
ianism in the crowing of Napoleon Bonaparte as emperor.
The acceptance was not universal of course. England for
example, was experiencing cataclysmic social changes of
PAGE 4
its own, but the ideas unleashed in Revolutionary France
never jumped the Channel. Why? Historians contend the
Great Awakening led by John Wesley effectively inoculated
England against Rousseau’s virus.
Napoleon was effectively deposed when the French
came back to their senses but Rousseau idea never
died. They would reappear later especially in Marxism,
which elevated the notion that the state was both the
source and enforcer of the project to build a heaven on
earth and set about to create the new utopia with ruth-
less efficiency. The count of the people who died under
Communist brutality makes the French Revolution
seem like child’s play and eludes the historians even
today.
SECULARISM’S GOAL: A MORAL CONSENSUS
WITHOUT GOD AS TOUCHSTONE
Secularism rejects God as the touchstone of truth and
meaning. Moreover, when God is rejected, the locus of
truth — the place where truth emanates and where it is
found — must necessarily rest in the created order. The
locus shifts to man himself, and as pride and an inflat-
ed sense of self-sufficiency grows, ideas that find no
court of accountability apart from the like-minded, are
implemented in this quest for a new Jerusalem. When
these ideas accept a-priori that improving the lot of man
begins with social reorganization (the inevitable out-
growth of Rousseau initial assertion), the state becomes
both the source and enforcer of morality — often with
catastrophic results.
Communism fell but the dream of earthly utopia con-
tinues unabated. Susan Jacoby, no friend of religion,
recently asserted: “What the many types of freethinkers
share, regardless of their views on the existence or non
existence of a divinity, was a rationalist approach to the
fundamentals of earthly existence — a conviction that
the affairs of human beings should be governed not by
faith in the supernatural but by a reliance on reason and
evidence adduced from the natural world.”
She went on to say: “Biblical authority is cited by politicians
and judges as a rationale for the death penalty. Vital
public health programs — the use of condoms to prevent
the spread of AIDS, family planning aid to Third

World countries, sex education for American
teenagers (unless it preaches “abstinence only”) — are
held hostage by the religious doctrines of a determined
conservative minority.” She postulates that in a dem-
ocratic society, “there must be a moral consensus,
extending beyond and in some instances contradicting
particular religious beliefs, to maintain the social contract.”
Overlooking for the moment the self-congratulatory
term “free-thinker” that Jacoby ascribes to herself and
her compatriots, note how the justification for the
negation of any religious dimension of the social
problems she cites rests in her assertion that rationalism
alone is sufficient for solving those problems.
Conditioned as we are to this assertion, it strikes our
ears — initially at least — as entirely plausible.
But is it really? Take a closer look at it. The assertion
is universal in character. It posits that rationalism
alone, that is, a self-contained and self-referencing system
of ideas that broaches no recourse to a touchstone
outside of the creative capacity of the individual, is
sufficient for solving the catastrophic moral collapse
that looms before us.
Moreover, because Jacoby’s statement is universal in
character, it functions as a religious precept even
while simultaneously denying the existence of the
transcendent. In denying religious authority (in this
case arguing that the influence of the Holy Scriptures
in judgments about human behavior should be dismissed),
the statement also denies God and substitutes in its
place the sufficiency of the human mind to script the
social reorganization necessary to solve the social
problems she listed. Jacoby is clearly a daughter of
Rousseau.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING CONSENSUS
Jacoby is correct in her assertion that a shared morality
is necessary for social cohesion, a dynamic we call the
cultural consensus. She is also correct in her brief
historical analysis that in times past the consensus was
shaped by Christian morality. Finally, she is correct
that the cultural consensus is shattering.
This shattering creates considerable moral confusion
that results in grave social problems, some of which she
THE PROMISE
cited. A question arises that Jacoby never asked (although
she answered): Where will the new consensus be drawn
from? What happens if different groups conflict about
what is morally acceptable, as is the case today? What rule
(and who will be the arbiters of that rule) determines
which consensus is favored when conflicts occur?
Several critical questions are raised by Jacoby's queries.
Which group of people determines the consensus?
What happens if different groups are in conflict in terms
of what is morally acceptable? Can distinct groups of
individuals come to a different consensus on morality
and acceptability of behavior? What rule determines
which consensus is the right consensus when consensus
conflicts occur?
OBSERVATIONS FROM ANTHROPOLOGY:
THERE IS NO CONSENSUS
These questions are not new to cultural anthropologists.
The discipline of cultural anthropology includes beliefs,
cognitive organization, economies, family structure
ideas, justice and sanctioning institutions, marriage,
religious practices, sexual practices, social structure,
technologies, values, and various other elements. A
wide variety of cultures and peoples inhabit the earth
with a wide variety of standards that define morally
acceptable and normative behaviors. Put another way,
many societies or groups have a different consensus on
what constitutes normative behavior.
A couple of examples can illustrate this lack of consensus.
In Melanesia, some tribal groups display homosexual
relations among men that are universal and obligatory
Another example is a marital lifestyle called polyandry,
which involves one woman having multiple husbands.
One subtype occurring in Tibet and Nepal is fraternal
polyandry. In this behavioral pattern a group of brothers
marries one woman. The oldest brother most often is
the designated groom during the wedding service.
However; all the brothers are recognized as her husband
by this ceremony and all have sexual rights to her. The
brothers also assume a group responsibility for all the
children produced from this marriage.
Other examples include normative child marriage
among some groups in Ethiopia and Nigeria, It is
(continued on page 8)
PAGE 5
THE PROMISE
PASTORAL MESSAGE
(Continued from page 2)
Orthodox Christian worship at the Annunciation is
NOT work, but rather an exuberant expression of
faithful joy. It is founded on the delight of knowing
God, and realizing that He has written our names in
heaven. Orthodox Christian services are happy
manifestations of praise and adoration for the One
who loves us, knows us, and saves us. They require
effort, but not at the expense of the everlasting
wonder that comes by communion with the living
God.
Orthodox Christian service and stewardship are NOT
merely painstaking obligations of the Lord’s followers.
They are in reality demonstrations of spiritual
pleasure. For it is in our overflowing joy in Christ that
we are pleased to minister unto others and support
His Holy Church. We do not serve God or His
people in the name of the Lord motivated by guilt or
fear, but out of an abundance of love and gladness in
the salvation that Christ alone provides.
Orthodox Christian outreach, missions and evangelism
are NOT part of a arduous routine, but expressions
of authentic happiness in Christ. In the joy of knowing
that He has written our names in heaven, we are glad
to praise God before others. Sharing new life in
Christ and His Church with the world is not labor,
when we realize the fact that it is instead a sign of the
bliss we know that comes with being one in Christ.
In enduring every manner of persecution, confronting
every form of evil, and overcoming any number of
temptations we make it clear that we put the
consolation of knowing God and the joy of realizing
that He knows us, above and beyond the lure of any
sin. Studying the word of the Lord, obeying His
commandments and adhering to the teachings of His
Church is NOT drudgery when it is inspired by the
joy of knowing who God is, and what HE is doing for
us. As Orthodox Christians we are not motivated to
follow Him in order to try and avoid making God
mad with us. Instead, we happily seek the manner
PAGE 6
and means to please the Lord because we so deeply
appreciate the gift of salvation that He alone offers.
Ultimately, if we do not find joy in knowing that Jesus is
the Christ; if we find no satisfaction in realizing that
through Him, our names are written in heaven; and if
we find no delight in reading His word, worshipping
Him in His House or serving Him and all of His people…
it is NOT because there is no joy in being a Christian. It
is because we have perhaps lost sight of who Jesus
Christ is, and how HE has chosen to write our names in
HEAVEN.
In the words of Saint Peter: (1Peter 1:3-8)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ!
By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead….
and to an inheritance which is imperishable,, undefiled,,
and unfading,, kept in heaven for you,,
who by God's power are guarded through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
IN THISS YOU REJOICE,
though now for a little while you may have to suffer
various trials,,
so that the genuineness of your faith,,
more precious than gold which though perishable is
tested by fire,,
may redound to praise and glory and honor at the
revelation of Jesus Christ.
Without having seen Him you love Him;
though you do not now see Him
you believe in Him and rejoice with unutterable and
exalted joy."
Rev. Dr. Nicholas J. Verdaris

FINDING GOD AGAIN IN THE
CHURCH
by John Kapsalis
It is said in our tradition that the church did not begin
some two thousand years ago, but rather the church
started in Paradise when God had intimate conversations
with Adam and Eve. It must have been awesome!
Sadly, so much has changed in the millennia since
that first talk. So much from that first love has soured.
The familiarity and the mystery now seem faded,
almost too distant to ever have been real. And though
that break was restored once again on Pentecost, our
scars never really left, leaving scabs of brokenness,
inadequacy and yes, sinfulness. How then is the
church to live?
In the Bible, the word "church" means "to be called
out;" that is, called out by God to be a holy people,
because our God is holy. And that means that we
pursue holiness not as an idea but as a lifestyle, where
we say yes to becoming the house of God. We say yes
to relating to each other as if to Christ. We say yes to
loving God above everything else. We say yes to Jesus
Christ as our eternal salvation.
The church is not the building or the icons or the
candles or even the religious services. The church is
the people of God. The church is the community that
believes in Jesus Christ as their savior, their lover,
their God. The church is that unique family that is
meant to live, to love, to care for, to support and yes
even to die for each other. In the church everyone
counts. Each one of us that has been baptized is a
part-an important and vital part-of this family. To the
extent that if one person no longer is involved with
the church, then the church misses something and
becomes, in a way, handicapped. It mourns and does
everything to bring that lost son and daughter back
into the family.
AUTHENTIC COMMUNITIES
There can't be any pretending in a church-in a true
community. Relationships have to be real. There has
THE PROMISE
to be a strong sense of belonging, where everyone
knows they will be listened to and supported by all the
others, where everyone shares in each other's joys and
struggles as if they were their own. This is what people
always wanted from church, and I think probably want
that sense of belonging now more than ever because it
is community that defines who we are.
We can look at it this way. We know that when Jesus
calls us to enter His kingdom, He calls us first to enter
into a new relationship with Him. But by entering this
new kingdom, God then calls us to community,
because even God is community. God is three in one-
Father, Son and Holy Spirit-each so distinct yet also so
completely related to one another through pure and
deep love that they are one. It is this mystery of God-
so completely one, yet also so completely community
that we are called to represent and to be in the world.
In other words, the church is nothing but a people who
are so closely united that our own communion with
each other is like that of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. So much so, that as St Gregory of Nyssa said, if
anyone then looked at the church, he would look at
Christ.
And I think that sums it all up. You know, Church is
radical. It is insane and crazy, according to the world's
standards, to live like this. It calls for a depth of
relationship where we cover each other's back; that we
help each other stay away from sin; that we become the
hands and feet of Jesus to each other; that we model
God to the world because the church is the new model
for humanity.
But this love has to be real. It is a love that makes great
demands on us. It is a love that demands respect for
every person. It is a love that demands care, kindness,
patience, active concern for others, and giving of one's
self— one's life to and for others because that's what
Jesus did-He loved us and was delivered up for us.
SEEING GOD IN THE CHURCH
If we saw the church this way, then the world would see
God in us. We know that no one on the planet has
(continued on page 18)
PAGE 7
THE PROMISE
SECULARISM AND THE MIND
OF CHRIST & THE CHURCH
(continued from page 5)
reported by Nour that 50% of girls are married before
the age of 15 and some girls are married as young as
the age of seven. A contemporary illustration was
reported by CNN in 2009 report: “Husbands are
allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a
Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic
violence, Saudi media reported Sunday. Arab News,
a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in
Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said
that, "if a person gives SR 1,200 ($320) to his wife and
she spends 900 riyals ($240) to purchase an abaya
(the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must
wear) from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her
on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves
that punishment." In most Western Countries including
the United States, such punishment would be considered
physical abuse and the husband would be subject to
criminal action.
THE MIND OF CHRIST AND THE MIND OF HIS
CHURCH
In the Christian West, the collapse of a cultural consensus
has caused deep social instability, some of it catastrophic
over the last few centuries (the last century in particular)
and most everyone intuitively understands that some
kind of resolution must be found. Societies, like individuals,
can only endure instability for so long, especially
when the instability threatens a collapse. Two roads
are open us: a slide into an imposed order that marshals
the organs and authority of the state (the inevitable
end of Jacoby’s type of secularism), or a turning back
to individual accountability before God.
Some of the responsibility for this slide into secularism
must be borne by Christians as well. No person who
departs from the teaching of Christ is a true Christian
no matter if he calls himself. In the history of the early
Church, eminent historian Jaroslav Pelikan wrote of
St. John Chrysostom's view on the undisciplined state
of the Church in the late fourth century, after
PAGE 8
Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the
Roman Empire. It reads a description of Christianity
today.
Quoting Pelican, “Chrysostom lamented the incursion
of hordes of uncommitted new members in the Church
and the breakdown of church discipline it presaged," —
what today we would call nominal or "cafeteria"
Christianity. Imperial fiat conscripted citizens into the
Church. Little care was given to their beliefs or morals.
Today, those who are Christian in name only or confuse
their Christian identity with ethnic identity, hardly
model Christ-like values that conform to the mind of the
Church and thus are not examples of being a true follower
of Christ.
The term mind of the Church refers to the collective
teaching of what it takes to be a true follower of Christ
by those recognized by the Church as authentic followers
of Christ whose teaching and way of life can be trusted.
These teachers stand on and within the Gospel of Christ
given to us by the Apostles and which constitute and
judge the Church even today.
Clarity in theological and in some cases moral matters
was hard fought. Scripture records the conflicts the
Apostle Paul had with false teachers who attempted to
subvert the Gospel of Christ. Church councils were
often call in the heat of conflict and in some cases
persecution (Iconoclasm for example). Indeed, conflict
within and without the Church is to be expected
although it may ebb and flow from one generation to the
next.
St. Matthew (7: 15-16) quotes our Lord saying, "Beware
of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing
but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them
by their fruits.”
This exhortation defines what is meant by the term the
mind of the Church. Think of historical atrocities com-
mitted in the name of Christ. Are they of Christ? Of
course not. Evil often masquerades as good to hide its
real nature. But a simple test of whether or not it con-
forms to the mind of the Church, that is, if it conforms
to the body of moral and theological teaching which has
emerged from the previous experience of persons living

in and through the Gospel of Christ (the Tradition)
clarifies the question in short order.
AN EXAMPLE OF MISATTRIBUTION
This distinction is lost on thinkers like Jacoby however
since it does not confirm to her thesis that Christianity
is absolutist in character and laced with contradiction.
She writes, “It is often noted that religion played a major
role in both the nineteenth-century abolitionist and
the twentieth-century civil rights movements, but, as
Lincoln pointedly observed, the Bible was used just a
frequently to justify slavery as to support emancipa-
tion.”
She’s right of course but only partially. There were
indeed Christians that argued that the holding of
slaves conformed to Christian morality. But so what?
Clearly the larger body of teaching prohibited slavery,
and slavery was finally outlawed largely first through
the successful appeals to the conscience of a nation by
Christians (Wilberforce in England, Thomas
Clarkson and others in the US), and then through
political and social work of others holding the same
convictions.
Posting two opposing views from two Christians does
not negate the body of teaching developed over the
centuries, and Jacoby’s attempt to dismiss the moral
authority of Christianity in this way is little more than
a cheap ploy. It is a-historical, but then moral relativism
usually is. It also blinds one to a crucial cultural fact:
the basis from it is even possible to conceive as slavery as
a moral wrong could only have come from Christianity.
This notion is rooted deep in the Decalogue where
liberation from slavery was initially conceived.
FaTHEr. Alexander Men wrote, “The Mosaic reli-
gion was born along with the idea of salvation. The
first commandment of the Decalogue reminds us
that Yahweh liberated [H]is people from the slavery
in which they languished. The general masses always
understood salvation entirely concretely, as liberation
from enemies and natural disasters. The Prophets
inspired this hope, inserting into it eschatological contents.”
Now there are a number of references to slavery in
New Testament scripture. These passages can be easily
THE PROMISE
misunderstood and even applied, by any individual,
who out of pride, passion, lust for power or delusion
attempt a personal interpretation apart from the Mind
of the Church. The famous passage in St. Paul’s Letter
to the Ephesians (6: 5-9) immediately comes to mind:
“Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly mas-
ters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to
Christ; not in the way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers,
but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord
and not to men, knowing that whatever good any one
does, he will receive the same again from the Lord,
whether he is a slave or free. Masters, do the same to
them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is
both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there
is no partiality with him.” Jacobse pointed out, that the
meaning of the word slave from the Greek ‘doulos’ is
better rendered household servant. In actuality this
position of household servant has little or nothing to do
with the horrific slave trade on the West African shore
discovered by Portuguese merchants in the 15th
Century and imported to the American Hemisphere
over the ensuing centuries.
If anything the roots for the eradication of slavery as it
was known in the Americas (& elsewhere) can be traced
to the genuine Mind of Christ and the Church. To
Titus (2:11) St. Paul writes: “For the grace of God has
(continued on page??)
WORDS OF WISDOM
Every work
which does not have
love
as its beginning and
root is nothing.
-St. John
Chrysostom
PAGE 9
THE PROMISE

2009 Christ Encounter

PAGE 10
THE PROMISE

PAGE 11
THE PROMISE
OUR STEWARDSHIP OF THE
SAVE THE DATE! ANNUNCIATION

On Sunday, January 24th Stewardship is our

we will be celebrating the response to God’s grace
40th anniversary of the ordination of and moves us from grace
to gratitude. Just as we
Father. Pierre Delfos. love because God first
loved us (I John 4:14), we
The entire Church family is invited to give because God first gave
to us. The question of the
attend this special event so that together
Psalmist “What shall I
we may herald this wonderful milestone give to the Lord in return
and thank God for the very special for all His benefits
shepherd He called to serve within His towards me?” (Ps 116:2),
is answered in every
vineyards. Liturgy when the priest
calls us to “offer our-
Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit will in selves and one another
and our whole life to
visiting in order to lead the festivities
Christ our God.”As
and all that will be missing Orthodox Christians, we
is YOU! are called to a new way of seeing things – a new way of
life. Our stewardship is obedience to the great commandment
to “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and
strength.” With our stewardship of the Annunciation in
the midst of these uncertain times we can help bring
HOW TO PLEASE THE LORD others to commit their lives to Jesus Christ in such a way
that leads to the joy of knowing Him personally and
Of the many ways we can show the Lord just how profoundly. As Orthodox Christians, we see the world
important He is to us and our life, perhaps nothing is as God’s gift, as a sacrament of God’s presence and a
as meaningful as when we come to worship Him at means of communion with Him. With our stewardship
His House at the appointed time. To do this as an we are able to offer the world back to God as thanks-
expression of love. It speaks volumes about the giving as we say in every Divine Liturgy “Thine own of
content of our heart, the fervor of our faith and the Thine own we offer to thee…”
importance of Christ in our life. Just as when our own
children do something we ask of them, not because OUR CHURCH FAMILY HAS COMMIT ITSELF TO
they “have to” but because it will please us, so too will THE GOAL OF $320,000 FOR 2009
the Lord be moved by an ongoing commitment to AND TOGETHER WITH GOD’S GRACE,
attend the services at the Annunciation punctually WE CAN DO THIS
with ready hearts, minds and souls. FOR THE SAKE OF
SUNDAY HIS WORD
MATINS, 9:00AM / DIVINE LITURGY, 10:00AM AND HIS HOLY HOUSE.

PAGE 12
 THE PROMISE
MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY
THANK YOU!
With the Fall season
The Annunciation family must pause to thank underway, we are afforded
the members of the Lily Garden Club who so gra- the opportunity to
ciously and lovingly have sought to improve the expand the work of the
grounds of the Church! Most especially the Lord through His
entrance way into the Church. We are blessed to Church of the Annunciation.
have such gifted Church And the more people
members willing to share directly involved in the
their passion for the work of the Lord, the
glory of God and His greater the outpouring
Church. of God’s love and grace. We are pleased to note that
Christopher Huckabay has come forward to serve as a
HOME MISSIONS LIAISON and will help coordinate
Thank You! with Father Nicholas opportunities for the parish to
serve in the name of the Lord within the Little Rock
area.

FROM PRESBYTERA MARIA
To my beloved Church family of the Annunciation,
Words cannot express enough to you my appreciation
to each and everyone of you for your thoughts and
prayers during this difficult time in our lives. The
overwhelming response of comforting meals,
emails, phone calls, cards, gifts and flowers and
most importantly prayers, have humbled me, and
bring tears to my eyes as I write this. I know now
more than ever in my life, that God’s love for us is
manifested by the kindness and love of others as
revealed to us by His own Only-Begotten Son,
Jesus Christ. And throughout this overwhelming
process, your love and support, spirited by the
Grace of the Holy Spirit sustains and comforts me.
I am not sure why in my love I deserve such love,
but I am eternally grateful. I pray and thank God
for each of you, blessing and enriching my life. I
love you all with all of my heart.
In Christ, Presbytera Maria
We are still looking for an individual to come forward
and serve as a FOREIGN MISSIONS LIAISON. This posi-
tion will work with FaTHEr. Nicholas to help put into
motion opportunities for our parish to be more
involved in spreading the Good News of Christ
around the world. If someone is interested in expand-
ing our involvement in foreign missions, please con-
tact FaTHEr. Nicholas.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
The Annunciation family congratulates our own
LAURA METI who is now a Registered Nurse. She
graduated the University of Central Arkansas with a
Bachelor of Science in Nursing and minor in Spanish.
We are blessed to have
another gifted member of
our Church family commit
themselves to helping oth-
ers in the field of medi-
cine.

May God bless the

work of your hands!!!

PAGE 13
THE PROMISE

 FELLOWSHIP HOUR 
WE NEED SPONSORS FOR
THE COMING MONTHS ! ! !

If you or your family would like to commemorate

a special event, honor the memory of a loved one
or would simply like to offer a gift to the
Annunciation family. . . you too can sponsor a
Fellowship Hour!

PLEASE CHECK THE BULLETIN

September 17, 2009 B O A R D A N D S I G N U P T O D A Y!

Dear Annunciation Greek Orthodox

Church,

Thank you for the blessing of your signif-

icant support to the American Bible
Society through the Metropolis of Detroit
and designated to the military New
Testament for Orthodox men and
women serving in our military.

I can think of no finer investment than

one that helps to share the Bible with
men and women who face incredible,
often life-threatening, challenges.

We are thankful for you and your support OUTREACH COMMITTEE

in gift and prayer.
MEET & GREET SCHEDULE
Sincerely,
November 1st . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Weatherly
November 8th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Hunter
November 15th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robin Jones
November 22nd . . . . . . . . . . Sharon Johnson
Simon Barnes November 29th . . . . . Christopher Huckabay
Executive Vice President
December 6th. . . . . . . . . . . . Carole Hawkins
December 13th . . . . . . . . . . . Jeannie Newton
December 20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rick Newton
December 27th . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Weatherly

PAGE 14
 THE PROMISE

OUR CONDOLENCES 2010 FESTIVAL NEWS

The time has come to

The Annunciation family starting organizing for
notes with deep sadness the 2010 International
the passing of our broth- Greek Food Festival!
er in Christ, FADDY And we are very
RIHANI who fell asleep pleased to announce
in the Lord. that RAOUF KASSISSIEH
has come forward to
 serve as our 2010
Festival Chairman
The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness (and we look forward
the passing of our sister in Christ, ROSE SABB, the to soon announcing
mother of Joe Sabb & Janet Mousa, who fell asleep our Co-Chair). At this
in the Lord. time we ask Church
 family members to
please inform local
The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness non-profit charities that would like to assist in and ben-
the passing of our brother in Christ, PETER efit from our Festival, to now submit their letter to the
KHAMIS, the brother of Adam Khamis, who fell Church with some information about their endeavor
asleep in the Lord. and their desire to be a sponsored charity of the 2010
Festival.

ALL CHARITY APPLICATION LETTERS FOR
The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness THE 2010 F ESTIVAL
the passing of our brother in Christ, ANGELO
MUST RECEIVED BY NOVEMBER 29 TH
PAPPAS, the brother of Dr. James Pappas, who fell
asleep in the Lord. IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED !!!

 Then, during our Parish Assembly on December 6th,

The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness
the passing of our brother in Christ, KOSTA
CONSTANTINIDES, the father of Christina Myers, who
fell asleep in the Lord.
family we will select the charities for the 2010 Festival.
Together, lets continue to move our Festival to new
heights to the glory of God and His Church at the
Annunciation!


REMINDER!
Let us keep all of these families in our prayers
and beseech the Lord to offer them His comfort The SUNDAY SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE will
and strength.
take place on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH!
“May Their Memory Be Eternal.”
Check us out!!!

PAGE 15
THE PROMISE
SECULARISM AND THE MIND
OF CHRIST & THE CHURCH
(continued from page 9)
appeared for the salvation of all men.” Consider the
words of the psalmist (8:5-6): “[W]hat is man that
thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou
dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less
than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor.”
Because of the God given dignity of mankind, the
Church has the built in foundation to be centered on
Christ, eradicate wrongdoing, and grow in the under-
standing and application of the teachings Christ gave
to His Church. The guideline of this understanding is
conformity to the Mind of Christ and the Church.
Bishop Hierotheos Vlachos states: . "The word mind
denotes the way of thinking and consequently the way
of acting as a member of the Orthodox Church." This
Mind of the Church was sealed at Pentecost and has
passed down to the Church to the present day. Recall
St. Paul’s words: "I commend you because you
remember me in everything and maintain the tradi-
tions even as I have delivered them to you" (1
Corinthians 11:2). St Paul told the Ephesians "you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God, built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the
cornerstone…" (2:19,30). St Luke told his readers:
"Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, [bishops and
priests] to care for the church of God which he
obtained with the blood of his own Son (Acts 20:28).
Following St. Paul, these traditions, oral first and then
written were passed from the apostles to their successors,
the bishops and priests. All we have in the Church, its
oral tradition, written tradition (Holy Scripture), Holy
Mysteries, prayers, teachings of the Church Fathers
and saints, holy councils, icons, architecture, music,
all proclaim the glory and mind of Christ. Collectively
they are the Mind of the Church.
FIRST CAVEAT: CHRIST DOES NOT ENDORSE
ANY SPECIFIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT
This may come as a shock to Americans and any who
PAGE 16
live under a democratic politic. It should be noted the
Church does not endorse or conform to any particular
governmental system: democracy, dictatorship or
theocracy are all spiritually neutral. That is to say, they
are themselves outside of the Mind of Christ and the
Church. Christ, Himself told us: "Render therefore to
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the
things that are God's." (Mt 22: 21) The key to spiritually
judging any particular governmental system, (including
Caesar’s) is if it conforms to the Mind of Christ and the
Church. This is seen in St. Paul’s instruction to the
Colossians (4: 1) “Masters, treat your slaves justly and
fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
By implication this means thus all governments and
leaders, no matter a president, king, emperor, dictator,
priest or bishop must treat all they govern “justly and
fairly.”
SECOND CAVEAT: THE MIND OF CHRIST IS BASED ON
DIVINE JUSTICE NOT HUMAN JUSTICE
One primary example of Divine Justice-Human Justice
distinction is found in the parable of the workers in the
Vineyard (Mat 20: 1-16): "For the kingdom of heaven is
like a householder who went out early in the morning
to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the
laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his
vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw
others standing idle in the market place; and to them he
said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is
right I will give you.' So they went. Going out again
about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the
same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and
found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do
you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because
no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the
vineyard too.' And when evening came, the owner of
the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and
pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the
first.' And when those hired about the eleventh hour
came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the
first came, they thought they would receive more; but
each of them also received a denarius. And on receiv-
ing it they grumbled at the householder, saying, 'These
last worked only one hour, and you have made them
equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and
the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them,
'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with

me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I
choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not
allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be
first, and the first last."
Why this parable, violates human justice and is so
repugnant to many is easy to see. By human standards it
is “unfair.” It violates human sensibility and law. Why
should someone who worked only one hour be paid the
same as one who labored all day and bore the scorching
heat? In the United States, labor unions would run to
court and such a human injustice. Regulations and rules
should be the same for all.
But this is not how God operates. Starting with the
incarnation itself, we merit nothing. God, “ineffable,
inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing
and eternally the same,”[i] emptied Himself for our sal-
vation. Recall St. Paul’s words to the Philippians (2:6):
“…who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped ..” Grace
is freely given. No one has a right to anything. By trust
in God, and conforming our minds and hearts to His,
by adopting the Mind of Christ and the Church we trust
based on His Love and Mercy that we will be deified
and be one with Him not only on earth, but in eternal
life. Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, gives us the
following example: “The person who has trust in Divine
Justice is neither upset when treated unfairly, nor seeks
his justice; on the contrary, he accepts the false accusa-
tions as if they were true, and does not try to convince
others that he has been slandered; instead he asks to be
forgiven. Some or our saints called themselves intemperate,
without of course being so, because they hoped and
trusted in divine justice.” The Elder’s constant reminder
was to always seek God’s justice “…and all these things
shall be yours as well.” Mt 6: 33).
CORE TEACHINGS THAT ARE HUMANLY
INCOMPREHENSIBLE
Now there are to be sure some teachings that are
humanly incomprehensible and some which violate
human justice that are at the core of the Mind of Christ
and the Church. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
(e.g. the Father is not to be named Creator); the Holy
Spirit proceeds from the Father (not the Father and the
THE PROMISE
Son); only males can be ordained to the Holy Priesthood,
because only males are the proper icon of Christ; only a
man and woman can be united in marriage blessed by
God, through His Church. While type of government is
not within the scope of the Mind of Christ and the
Church, the way rulers govern and the content of what is
legislated and executed is at the core of this Mind. Rather
following Christ’s exhortation to the Romans (6: 16-18):
Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which
leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you
who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from
the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were
committed, and, having been set free from sin, have
become slaves of righteousness.
As mentioned above, it is in this guise we can understand
the rebuke of Jesus to the Pharisees and Herodians, who
were trying to entrap Him : "Render therefore to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are
God's." (Mat 22:21). Over the years it is righteous rulers
that are acknowledged among the Just, those who while
living on this earth as members of Christ’s Body, lead
exemplary lives and models of Christ to family and society.
Indeed they fulfilled in their lives the counsel of St. Paul
and died as “..an example in speech and conduct, in love,
in faith, in purity.. righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
steadfastness, gentleness” (1Tim 4:12, 6: 11), of Christ.
CONSTRUAL INFLUENCES ACTIONS
The reason why this issue of secularism is so important is
psychologists such as George Kelly, has demonstrated the
way we construe, that is the interpretation of the meaning
of something, greatly influences our thoughts feelings and
actions. the act of construing the world, Kelly states these
constructions are based on a postulate which is defined as
self-evident premise or assertion that guides and give
meaning to our lives. Kelly’s fundamental postulate is a
ground level postulate, premises and assertions that form
the foundation of much of our thinking). Kelly did not
concern himself with the origin of personal constructs. In
other words, his fundamental premise is the way we
construe the world guides our lives, but he leaves open
how these constructions come about.
(continued on page 23)
PAGE 17
THE PROMISE
FINDING GOD AGAIN be too focused on our personal spirituality, not under-
standing that our faith, our Christianity cannot be lived
(continued from page 7)
in isolation. It is expressed, validated and lived out in
relation to others.
ever seen God. But if we love each other; that is, if
I think this is why the church in the early centuries
the church really lived like the people of God — then
grew by leaps and bounds. The gospel explodes all our
the world would get a picture of God through us (cf
prejudices, our hatred, and our greed and replaces it
1 John 4:11). Or as the nuns at the Orthodox
not only with a peace beyond all understanding but
Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City,
also with a love that is extravagant. Where we take on
Pennsylvania put it: "When [we] love each other in
each other's burdens. Where we sacrifice our wants
the spiritual sense… [we] actually recognize God
and maybe even our needs. Where we become ready
dwelling within the other. As we greet someone, we
to fight for justice, to fight against child sexual slavery
worship God, for man is the icon of God. Man is a
and hunger, to help unwed mothers, and to stop the
living icon." So we, the people of God are the
disintegration of the family. And I think once we start
church. We, the people are the true icons. I don't
doing that, then the world will begin to see the church-
believe God wants us to spend our time and money
the people of God-as relevant and meaningful, as
just trying to make a building beautiful, but rather He
something they want to be a part of.
wants us to build up people — people who are the
real church buildings — the real houses of God. But
This is after all what church is. God calls us to follow
I'm afraid we've gone so far away from this under-
Him and love, as He loves. And if we do that-if we live
standing of what the church is, that it's no wonder
knowing that our own happiness, our own peace and
that people say they are bored with it, that they no
our own joy depend on whether we live for others—
longer get anything out of church.
then we will finally have true communion with God
and with each other. Then we will at last live as the
church of God-as a people living in the light and power
BACK TO THE PAST of the coming Kingdom. And I know that when we can
achieve that, then the world will have come one step
So where do we go from here? Above all, we need to closer to seeing God.
go back to our real calling which is the mission given
us by Christ, the work of Christ himself: "to preach
the good news to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, SOMETHING
to preach deliverance to captives and the recovery of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are TO THINK
oppressed, and to announce, 'This is God's year to ABOUT:
act!'" (Luke 4:18). We also need to show people how
remarkable it is to be in love with God—to treasure
Him and to want nothing more but to be with Him.
In order to do that, though, we have to live as though
our citizenship is not here on earth but is in heaven. “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves
than huts.
Another thing we must be aware of is that so many No Americans have been more impoverished
people walk into our church buildings on Sunday, than these who,
carrying silent but heavy burdens of hopelessness, of nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”
fear, and of pain and no one reaches out to them.
We have to work harder at loving each other. We
- H.U. Westermayer
need to find ways to be more hospitable. We tend to

PAGE 18
 THE PROMISE
THANKSGIVING SERVICE FUNNY THANKSGIVING
There is no better way for Orthodox Christians to Little Johnny and his family were having
celebrate and honor one of the most noble of national Thanksgiving dinner at his Grandmother's house.
holidays than to gather as a Church family and praise Everyone was seated around the table as the food was
God for all the blessings He has given us - in His being served. When little Johnny received his plate,
Holy Church. This year before you finish or start to he started eating right away.
cook the turkey, mash the potatoes, and prepare the
table for family and "Johnny wait until we say our prayer," his mother
friends, let us gather at reminded him.
the Annunciation on "I don't have to," the boy replied.
W EDNESDAY EVENING ,
November 25th and "Of course, you do," his mother insisted. "We say a
together as a faithful prayer before eating at our house."
Church family us offer "That's at our house," Johnny explained.
the Lord our God true "But this is Grandma's house, and she
thanks. knows how to cook!"
The DIVINE LITURGY will begin at 6:00pm. Let us all
make some time to thank the Lord this
Thanksgiving.

WHAT MADE AMERICA GREAT?

“It was the belief in the accountability of man to his
maker that made America a great nation. Among
those earlier leaders was Daniel Webster whose blaz-
ing eyes and fiery oratory often held the Senate spell-
bound. In those days the Congress was composed of
strong, noble statesmen who carried the weight of the
nation in their hearts and minds. November 22nd
Someone asked: "Mr. Webster, what do you consider
the most serious thought that has ever entered your
mind?"
ANNUNCIATION
"The most solemn thought that has ever entered my
mind is my accountability to my maker," he replied.
THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON
Men like that cannot be corrupted and bought. They You are invited
do not have to worry if someone listens to their & we have A LOT to celebrate!
telephone calls. What they were in character and in
deportment resulted from their belief that they would
finally be accountable to God.” LET’S COME TOGETHER AND
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD!
--A.W. Tozer

PAGE 19
THE PROMISE
2010 ANNUNCIATION PARISH YOUTH PROJECT
COUNCIL ELECTION NOTICE AT OAKLAND -FRATERNAL
CEMETERY
Elections for a position on
the Annunciation Parish
by Helen Hronas
Council will be held on
SUNDAY , D ECEMBER 6,
2009. Please note that
candidates and nominating
witnesses must be members
in good standing with the
Parish for at least one year
immediately preceding the
date of the election and
register as candidates in person.

Those men and women who love the Lord are active
in the life of the parish and have a sincere desire to
serve Christ and His Church at the Annunciation and
would like to be a candidate for a seat on the Parish
Council must register as a candidate in person and
have a witness sign the form on the Fellowship Hall
On Sunday, October 4, the historic Oakland Cemetery
bulletin board by SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND, 2009.
held its first ever fundraiser, horse and carriage tours of
the cemeteries, which included stops at sites where
Then, in accordance with the Archdiocesan Uniform
various prominent persons were interred. The tours
Parish Regulations, ALL CANDIDATES are required
included brief narrations of their histories. One of those
to meet with Father Nicholas on Sunday,, NOVEMBER
personages was Annunciation's first priest who was also
22ND in order to be eligible to serve and be placed on
the first Greek Orthodox priest to serve in America,
the official ballot.
Father Kallinikos Kanellas.

TIME TO THINK AHEAD ! As members of the Board of Directors of Oakland,

Help support the ministries of the Annunciation as
well as share your Christmas love with your Church
family by including your family name in the
ANNUNCIATION COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CARD.
For $15.00 you can support
the work of the parish and
spread some love. Sign up and
you can rest assured that every-
one in our Church family
receives your loving Christmas
wishes. See Anna Clift or Eva
Sargent.
PAGE 20
Jeanne Spencer and I were so pleased that our
Annunciation young people as a part of their service
during the annual Christ Encounter Saturday retreat,
the chore of cleaning all the monuments of Greek
Orthodox Christians in the section where Father
Kanellas and many other Orthodox Christians of his era
were buried. The monuments looked so much better
than they ever had, and we were so proud of our young
people's efforts, especially when the carriage stopped
and the narrator described Father Kanellas' place in our
church's history. Annunciation is blessed to have such
wonderful youth who have shown their love for Christ
in so many ways. Thanks to all of you for a job well
done.
THE PROMISE

JOY Retreat

PAGE 21
THE PROMISE
SECULARISM AND THE MIND
OF CHRIST & THE CHURCH
(continued from page 17)
Given the variability found among different cultures, the
content of how different cultures view their world and
others is itself variable. Truth can not be found in con-
tradiction. Secularism, relativism, freethinking is the
mother of contradiction.
THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS:
CHRIST OR CONSENSUS?
I have tried to indicate in this essay that consensus leads
to conflict. It could be the tyranny of the majority over
the minority, the minority over the majority or simply
attempting to determine which consensus is the ‘true’
consensus.
True Christians can cut through this by focusing on He
who said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father, but by me.” (Jn 14:6). They do
this, not by cultural or ethnic identity or considering
themselves members of a club or organization, but con-
forming their mind to the Mind of Christ and the Mind
of His Church. From this follows that their hearts and
actions will be Christ-like. Such Christians understand
the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians (4:13) that they
come to: “… knowledge of the Son of God, to mature
manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ.” The mind of the Christian conformed to
Christ and His Church, does not look to the world or con-
sensus to know right from wrong. There is no question,
that abortion, adultery, euthanasia, missing Divine
Liturgy and prayer, promiscuity, same sex marriage, sex
outside marriage, separation of those who call them-
selves Christ’s from the Apostolic Church of Christ,
smoking, uncharitableness, unjust or tricky business
practices, woman’s ordination are plain and simply
wrong.
WHY I AM COMMITTED TO CHRIST!
I was recently asked a question, by a highly educated
scientist why I was committed to Christ and His Church.
PAGE 23
I admit being taken a back because except for my religious
scholasticate [seminary] days in which I studied the proofs
of God’s existence, I seldom give this question any
thought. So I answered my the first thing that came to
mind, and it was from the bottom of my heart. Without
Christ and all He is he world does not make sense. He is
the Alpha and the Omega, the sum total of truth, beauty,
goodness and being. My answer immediately brought up
a crisis in the life one of my most favorite contemporary
spiritual father, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain I
quoted above. Ageloglou, the Elder’s biographer recounts
the incident. One day when still a child, Arsenios (future
monk Paisios) was walking in the woods carrying a wooden
cross and praying. He was accosted by an atheist, who
mocked him and said “[God] does not exist. These religious
stories are made up by some priests.” Arsenios fell on the
ground and felt “confused, desperate and extremely sad, I
asked Christ to give me an indication of His existence…”
Suddenly the future elder had a thought: “Wasn’t Christ
the kindest man ever on earth. No one has ever found
anything evil in Him. So whether he is God or not, I don’t
care. Based on the fact hat He is the kindest man on earth
and I haven’t known anyone better, I will try to become
like Him and absolutely obey everything the Gospel says. I will
even give my life for Him, if needed, since He is so kind.”
APPLICATION TO ALL WHO ARE TRUE CHRISTIANS
Anyone who is a true Christian will take all the above to
heart. Consensus without Christ means nothing. Christ
with or without consensus means everything. Jesus tells us:
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to
the Father, but by me. " (Jn 14: 16). Of the Church St. Paul
notes: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually
members of it. And God has appointed in the church first
apostles ..." (1 Cor 12: 27-28) St. Luke (10: 16) quotes
Jesus: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects
you rejects me.." Many, in today’s world look to the con-
sensus of secularism to justify individualistic non-Christ-
like living. In this individualistic, "I am the judge of all
things," "I do not need the Church" world, all the more rea-
son that the Mind of the Church and the Church has to
be proclaimed and be the guide of all of our lives. If
Christ, the Messiah on the Cross was a scandal to the Jews,
so too is the Church a scandal, and to be ignored, changed
or ignored by some individuals in our secular, politically
and religiously correct contemporary relativistic society.
 THE PROMISE
MINUTES OF THE AUG. 30TH B. Can’t rely on Festival to pay bills
C. Stewardship shortfall is a national trend
PARISH ASSEMBLY VI. SUNDAY SCHOOL - MEDINA FUGATE
A. 63 children enrolled
I. APPROVE MINUTES B. Need a new copy machine
Mark Hunter moved, with a second from Randy 1. Key to be provided to Medina
Akel, that the minutes of the 02/15/09 General VII. FESTIVAL REPORT - BROCK MARTIN
Assembly meeting be approved as submitted; the A. Need Chair(s) to take over for Christina and
motion passed. Wayne
II. PRIEST’S REPORT - FR. NICHOLAS B. Will run request in Sunday bulletin
A. Oct. 8-10, 2009, is the Metropolis Clergy VIII. OLD BUSINESS
Laity Meeting in Detroit, Michigan. No Old Business.
B. Sept. 1st marks the ecclesiastical new year. IX. NEW BUSINESS - HAITHAM ALLEY
1. Need two new volunteers for “missions” A. Election Tellers needed
a. Foreign Missions 1. Jack Weatherly, Steve Vaden, David Sargent
b. Domestic Missions (Motion - Ed Fugate)
2. Sept 27th will be a luncheon discussion B. Next Meeting December 6th.
with Father - anonymous questions will be
gathered prior and discussed at the luncheon.
C. Rummage Sale was a success with the youth ANNUNCIATION
“helping others.”
D. Sept. 11-13, 2009, is the Youth Retreat with
PARISH ASSEMBLY - DEC. 6TH
Eva Kokinos. AGENDA
E. Possible Patriarchal visit to Memphis in
October. I. Call to Order
F. Fr. Delfos’ dinner on October 25th. II. Approve Minutes
G. Don’t Gossip - always look for the best in our III. Priest’s Report
brothers and sisters. IV. Parish Council Report
H. New Directory pictures will be taken this fall. V. Treasurer’s Report
III. PRESIDENT’S REPORT - HAITHAM ALLEY VI. Stewardship Report
A. Festival was a “huge success” - $405,000 raised VII. Sunday School Report
B. Golf tournament raised $203,000 with a VIII. Festival Report
$120,000 net IX. Old Business
C. $105,000 given to charity (includes Easter X. New Business
Seals 50% from golf tournament)
D. New insurance policy saved $7,000
E. New ovens installed in kitchen T HE P ROMISE : D EC . 2009
F. Paid off the note for the church expansion 4
years early Please note that articles and
information for the Dec. 2009
G. Delegates for the Clergy Laity meeting
edition of The Promise are due
1. Wayne Alley (motion - Ed Fugate; second - no later than NOVEMBER 10TH!
David Sargent)
IV. TREASURERS REPORT - RAOUF KASSISSIEH This bulletin is the primary means
A. Report was discussed of communication within our
B. We are below budget on Stewardship Church family:
V. STEWARDSHIP - HAITHAM ALLEY
A. Challenging keeping stewardship alive now T OGETHER ,
that note is paid off WE MAKE IT S H I N E ! ! !

PAGE 23
THE PROMISE
ANNUNCIATION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
1100 NAPA VALLEY DRIVE, LITTLE ROCK, AR 72211
REV. DR. NICHOLAS J. VERDARIS, PASTOR

NOVEMBER 2009
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

Leave a Question for Lunch

Discussion w/Father

8 9 10 11 12 13 14
7th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

Leave a Question for Lunch Parish Council Meet

Discussion w/Father 5:30pm

15 16 17 18 19 20 21
8th Sunday of Luke Entrance
Matins 9:00 am of Theotokos
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am Liturgy 9:30am

LUNCH DISCUSSION WITH

FATHER

22 23 24 25 26 27 28
9th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am Thanksgiving Eve Thanksgiving Day
Liturgy
Parish Thanksgiving 6:00pm
Luncheon

29 30 Dec. 1 2 3 4 5
13th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

Parish Assembly & Elections

PAGE 24