The Messenger 2021-02

The Messenger February 2021 _______________________________________________________________________

St. Thomas Orthodox Church 1100 Jones St. - PO Box 1042 – Sioux City, Iowa 51102 (712) 258-7166 – info@stthomassiouxcity.org www.stthomassiouxcity.org

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Our Mission St. Thomas Orthodox Church is a community of Christians who proclaim the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as handed down by the Apostles. We are committed to bringing the Light of Christ to all of Siouxland in thought, word, and deed. At St. Thomas Orthodox Church, you will find Holy Orthodoxy—ancient and alive. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Weekly Schedule Orthros and Divine Liturgy Sundays at 9:00 a.m.

Vespers Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.

Great Vespers Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Birthdays February 9 10 12 16 23 26

Jaxson Ameen Mike Jacobs Kane Yanney Carson Kirwan Scott Haberer George Stickney, Sr. 2

January 22, 2021 Statement Regarding Developments in Medicine: COVID-19 Vaccines & Immunizations Christ “came not to heal the healthy, but the sick; not to save the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17) As the world continues to battle COVID-19, we are ever grateful to the frontline workers – including medical professionals, emergency responders, and scientists – for their unwavering dedication to making the world a better place.

In light of the same, given our clergy and lay faithful are seeking archpastoral guidance regarding developments in medicine, such as COVID-19 vaccines and immunizations, we offer the following guidance: Scripture encourages us to respect and protect the body as the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). At the same time, it discourages us from either tempting or testing the Lord (Matt. 4:7). And as your spiritual shepherds, we affirm and assure you that it is neither wrong nor sinful to seek medical attention and advice. In fact, we welcome interventions that provide us more time for spiritual renewal and repentance.

We therefore encourage all of you – the clergy and lay faithful of our Church – to consult your physicians in order to determine the appropriate course of action for you, just as you do for surgeries, medications, and vaccinations, in cancer treatments and other ailments. Indeed, while your own bishop, priest, or spiritual father remains prepared to assist you with spiritual matters, your personal doctor will guide your individual medical decisions.

We trust that whatever course of action you and your doctor decide upon will also benefit the rest of the community. If we work together – in a spirit of sincere compassion and care for one another – we will soon be able to gather together as a full community in our churches once again.

We miss you very much and eagerly await the day when we can all exchange the kiss of peace in the Divine Liturgy!

Conveying our paternal blessings with love in the Lord, Archbishop Elpidophoros, Chairman Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Metropolitan Joseph, Vice-Chairman Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

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Archbishop Michael, Treasurer Orthodox Church in America Metropolitan Gregory, Secretary American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA Bishop Irinej Serbian Orthodox Church in North, Central and South America Metropolitan Nicolae Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas Metropolitan Joseph Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia Bishop Saba Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church in North America Metropolitan Tikhon Orthodox Church in America _________________________________________

In Memoriam Remembering those who reposed during the month of February

Jamale Nassif, Mike Haddad, Eugene Wayne Butrous, Oscar Joe Risk, Edward Haddad, Mike Bosrich, Freda Ness, Lewis David, Joseph Skaff, Mike Bashara, Charles Butrous, James C. Abdo Sr., Christina M. Rice, Emily S. Alberts, George S. Murad, Mary A. Jackson, Lawrence B. Reiling, Tillie Helmers, Marian W. Murad, Larry Corey, James Yanney, Bob Jacobs.

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Meditation The Spirit Descends and Remains One of the famous axioms of Marxism is that religion is the opiate of the people. Father John Romanides said that Orthodox Christianity is the cure for the sickness of religion.

In today’s reading (John 1: 29-34), St. John recognizes Christ as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Notice he doesn’t say “who takes away the sin of the world if you ask Him to.”

No. The Lord takes away the sin of the world. If you decide—out of your freedom—to keep your sin to yourself, that is your choice. But if you learn to embrace the One who takes sin away, you will be healed from these wounds of your soul.

St. John recognizes the Lord existed before him. Even though St. John was six months older than Christ in the flesh, he saw past this temporary date to the eternal existence of the Son of God before all time. The Lord has come to change us radically from living a merely religious life to living in a relationship that so acclimates us to His Presence that it becomes light to us rather than the fire experienced by those unprepared to live with Him. Today: Is your faith preparing you to dwell in Christ’s Presence? Are you still gripped by the sickness of religion that reduces our faith to nothing more than a mere nostalgic repetition of old words? Or is this Orthodox faith doing what has been done for its people for centuries—transforming your life into a fit temple of the Holy Spirit? Anything less falls short of normal Orthodoxy.

Fr. Barnabas Powell ____________________________________________________________________________ Those who love God go to church to worship Him. The Divine Liturgy is the one really thrilling thing in all the world, even of sand, sea, and sky.

It is the one undiminished truth and the one unfading splendor on earth and in Heaven. It is the one symphony that is celestial. It is the one drama that is divine. It is the one great, gleaming, golden arch that spans from earth to heaven.

The WORD, January-February 2021 5

St. Thomas on the Internet Until now, the main presence of the parish on the Internet has been our Web site at https://stthomassiouxcity.org but, over the next few weeks, you’ll see some major changes happening there as we overhaul the site. While it’s being renovated, you can still stay updated by visiting our various social media pages: Facebook page: Siouxland Orthodox Group: Instagram: SoundCloud: Twitter: YouTube:

https://www.facebook.com/St.ThomasOrthodoxChurchSC/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/689850188457371/ https://www.instagram.com/sathorch/ https://soundcloud.com/sathorch https://twitter.com/sathorch https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIkvjWIH3zMELHkelZ36kRA

Your personalized parish Web site can be found at https://stthomassiouxcity.churchtrac.com/

Let Us Attend!

The following are the current guidelines under which we have permission from Bp. BASIL to gather for in-person worship: •

No more than ⅓ capacity at any service: for us, this is 75 individuals.

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Social distancing (6 feet) must be maintained between family units (defined as anyone living in your household).

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Social distancing must be maintained when entering and exiting the building and when lining up to receive Communion.

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Please be sure to wear your mask when entering and leaving the church, entering and leaving your pew, and approaching and returning from receiving Communion. Hand sanitizer is available in the narthex.

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If you’re ill, do not attend. If you are in a high-risk group, please consider carefully whether you should attend.

We want everyone who can to attend services but we also do not want anyone to feel pressured to return before they’re comfortable doing so. Thank you for your cooperation!

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Parish Council Meeting 2020-12-09 via Google Meet In attendance: Fr. Peter, George Stickney, Jr., Pete Steggerda, De Bottei, Mike Jacobs, Tina Finch, Erica Ameen Fr. Peter called the meeting to order with a prayer at 7:10 p.m. Fr. Peter moved to approve the minutes from our last meeting, De seconded, and all approved.

Pastoral Report We just had Jerry Abdo’s funeral. Jerry had made no prior funeral arrangements; we all need to do so. Dick & Sue Stevens both have COVID-19. Dick had to be hospitalized but both are now home. The annual parish meeting will hopefully be January 10 or 17. Half of the pews have been reupholstered and look great.

Treasurer’s Report Our Spring 2020 PPP loan has been forgiven. The Archdiocese sent us a check for $19,590 that we deposited in the building fund. We are still negotiating with them about the $21,000 we own in past-due assessments. Pete presented the 2021 budget for approval. He also reminded everyone that if anyone purchases goods or services for the church, we still need them to turn in a receipt for bookkeeping purposes even if they do not want to be reimbursed. After some brief discussion, De moved to approve the budget, George seconded, and all approved.

Maintenance Committee Report Western has repaired the front sidewalk they damaged. Coughlin had already completed their landscape work so some touch-up work will be necessary following the sidewalk repair. The cost for fixing the bell tower was $24,150. There is still some unfinished work that the contractor needs to come back and complete. We are still trying to figure out what to do about the parking lot. Matt Ameen cleaned out the drains so they should function properly now. Thrasher is scheduled to start the foundation repair on February 2. We also need to watch the sidewalk on the south side as it is settling.

Old Business We briefly discussed the parish Christmas card and the need for volunteers to help move kitchen equipment. We sent out 59 pledge cards and received 40 replies; 2 said they are no longer members here and a few others sent back a check instead of a pledge card. So far, the mean (average) pledge received is $2,241.08 and the median is $1,200. The pledge total to date is $82,920.

Assuming the annual parish meeting is January10, the next parish council meeting will be January13 at 7:00 p.m. via Google.

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Treasurer’s Report December, 2020

Total Income Tithes and Offerings Expenses

$10,363.61 8,937.90 8,913.88 _________

Net

$ 1,449.73

Expenses Benevolence Church Utilities Office Expense General Supplies Lawn Internet Copier Archdiocese Assessment Fr. Peter Salary Fr. Peter Life Insurance Fr. Peter IRA Fr. Peter SS & Medicare

500.00 626.75 285.57 144.80 120.00 389.19 402.00 1,604.32 3,935.00 135.00 200.00 571.25 ________ $8,913.88

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