Ministries
- Church Board
- Website Ministry
- Sisterhood
- Membership Ministry
- Community Outreach Ministry
- St. Elizabeth's Society
- Open Door Ministry
- St. Bridget's Food Pantry
- Pilgrimage Ministry
- News of the Resurrection Newsletter Ministry
- St. Helen's Sacristy Guild
- Ministry to the Persecuted Church
- Adult Bible Study
- Acolytes
- Usher Ministry
- Men's Group
- Festival Committee
- Choir/Liturgical Ministry
- Fundraising Ministry
- Tree of Life Bookstore
- Sick/Harship Ministry
- Secretarial Ministry
- Prison Ministry
- Prosphora Ministry
- St. Herman's School
- Youth/Young Adult Group
The Church Board consists of the Executive Committee-Parish President, Pastor, Treasurer and Secretary-as well as 4-5 additional board-members. The Board has served the Church over the years in important decision-making and discussion, and has been blessed by many members who have served the Church whole-heartedly.
The Board has recently been exploring the idea of assigning job descriptions to all of the board members. This would cut down on confusion as to who will be performing the various necessary tasks, and will also keep the board vibrant and dynamic in between meetings. Positions might include: Membership Coordinator, Stewardship and Tithe Coordinator, Youth and Outreach Coordinator, Building Maintenance Coordinator, etc. This will allow the Board to be seen more as a vital ministry to the Church.
The Church has been working on updating its website. Currently we have a website running that allows us to update our weekly schedule, announcements and any articles written by the pastor. We have changed the domain name now and are working on creating a new and improved website which will allow us to do much more.
The St.s Mary and Martha Sisterhood has been meeting on a semi-regular basis. They have discussed possibilities for future fundraisers and endeavors in the Church. So far they have been very helpful in some of the important events and fundraisers in the Church, and have raised money for some of the newly acquired liturgical items.
Another topic of discussion has been that of Church Membership. One reason for membership in the Church (beyond that of baptism) is because of the geographic distance of many of the parishioners from the parish. Because parishioners have many choices as to which parish they could attend, it is important that they choose one particular community, so that they can fully participate in and live among a specific group of people-a specific manifestation of the Church. For this reason membership has been emphasized in the past year and we have acquired 6 new members.
A vital part of any church is its missionary interaction with the community outside of itself. We are attempting increase this interaction more and more through our Outreach Ministry. This ministry includes an Usher/Greeter Program, Church Bulletin/Guest Guide brochure, Hospitality/Coffee Hour and Orthodoxy 102 Classes.
The St. Elisabeth Society continues to meet on a monthly basis to pray the Supplicatory Canon to the Mother of God, offering prayers for the people on the current list and adding names as needed.
A number of new people have joined, asking to receive the ongoing lists and to hear of urgent situations requiring immediate prayer. There has been an increased effort, in conjunction with the Sts. Mary and Martha Sisterhood, to better cover the needs of people in the church who are ill; providing meals, visitations or rides to medical appointments.
"For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat..."
Our Open Door Ministry has been serving a free home cooked meal at our church every Monday night since 1988. We are currently serving 50-60 guests each week - 3,000 meals a year. Yearly expenses are approximately $6,000. Price per meal is $2.00. We received a $1,400 grant from Project Bread in Boston, and the remaining cost comes from our church-somewhat of a strain on our budget.
At the beginning of each meal all guests are asked to rise for the "Our Father". The overall emphasis is to provide a safe peaceful environment for guests to eat and socialize.
Most guests are low income, a few are literally homeless. Some have serious mental health issues and/or problems with drugs and alcohol. The majority are white males, although lately there has been an increase in the number of women in attendance (approx 10%). Children rarely attend. Also there has been an increase in Hispanic immigrants, some non-English speaking (approx 10%).
Will Raiman runs and supervises the program. A rotating staff of 6 cooks from the parish prepare the meals. The meal-serving staff consists of student volunteers from Holy Cross and Boston University as well as friends from St. Mary's Orthodox Church in Cambridge, St. Mark's Coptic Church in Natick and others.
Open Door has recently begun giving out small bags of non-perishable groceries at the end of each meal - approximately 25 bags/week, 1 bag/person. Food is supplied by donations. Securing donations and maintaining consistent donations has been challenging, but by God's grace Food Drives have been run fairly consistently. Grocery bags are also occasionally given out if anyone comes to the church requesting groceries at other times.
Several times this year the parish went on pilgrimage to St. Nektarios Monastery in Roscoe, NY, a beautiful and holy place nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. Adults and youth alike attended and even a small group of students from St. Herman's School.
All who attended commented on the monk's great hospitality and their willingness to engage us in holy conversations, in the spirit of the monastery's patron. We hope to continue this great relationship with these strugglers in Christ's vineyard throughout the year.
Two women from our parish took a pilgrimage to Holy Dormition in Michigan and Holy Transfiguration in Pennsylvania. They were blessed by the visits.
A group of women also made a pilgrimage to Holy Myrrh-Bearers OCA Women's Monastery in New York in June which proved to be a wonderful time of spiritual retreat and rejuvenation.
Regular trips to St. Nektarios and other Monasteries are a top priority for the coming years, and will be considered part of the pastoral ministry of the Church.
The Parish Newsletter of our church took on a new name this year to highlight its distinctive place in the life of our parish. News of the Resurrection was launched in September of 2006 and has continued monthly or bimonthly up to the present.
In the newly designed newsletter, we typically include some word from the bishop and/or the parish pastor, local parish news and announcements, events and news from Orthodox Churches in the Boston area, and whenever available and pertinent, news and information from the national and international Orthodox Church.
The Newsletter has acted as a wonderful source of parish news and communication, and by the efforts of our editorial staff, the presentation has become increasingly more professional.
Aaron Friar continues as the editor of this publication and hopes to increase parish involvement both in the articles and pictures which are submitted.
After many years of faithful service as head of the sacristy guild, Katie Stell relocated to New Jersey with her family in the summer of 2006. The parish is very grateful for all that she has done to serve the Church over the years. In early 2007, this vital ministry was embraced by P. Susan Kon, D. Mary Seraphima Williamson, and Mrs. Anna Higgins. We have dedicated this ministry to St. Helen whose shining example inspires us to build up and beautify the Church.
We have begun organizing and inventorying the clerical vestments, cloths, and supplies used for various feast days (eg. litias, Holy Unction, Great Feasts, Holy Week, etc.), in order to build up a "library" of cloths for all of the major feast days. We are also working to instruct, guide, and oversee some of the older teens as sacristy assistants and gather in some of the younger girls to assist with the various tasks throughout the liturgical calendar. We are planning on a small workshop for instructions shortly. We have had two very profitable workshops to clean, organize, and inventory the sacristy area and will plan others as needed to complete this project.
We are also in the process of developing a written protocol for all the major feasts of the liturgical year which includes appropriate cloth colors, icon decor, candle guidelines, and the many small tasks which are needed to support the divine services. We consider it a blessing to be serving Our Lord in this ministry to bring beauty and order to His Church.
Ministry to the Persecuted Church
Many Christians are persecuted for their faith outside of our country. There are about 45 countries where Christians are persecuted at present. When these Christians are asked what they might need, their first response is, simply, for prayers. Thus, for the last ten years or so, we have produced a list of those who are persecuted for their Christian faith, 5-6 times a year, for parishioners to use during prayer. Their individual stories are available to us through the Voice of the Martyrs Ministry which helps us in our prayers for them. Twice a year we, as a church, focus on our persecuted brothers and sisters. These times are 1) the Sunday for the Persecuted Church (recognized by many Protestant churches) in November, where we update everyone on the state of the Persecuted Church in the world. The other time is 2) during the Nativity Season when we partner with Voice of the Martyrs in making donations to specific nations in need. In recent years we have given to Christian children in Egypt, Columbia and also the Mung peoples of S.E. Asia. We have learned over the years that we receive from these Christians much more than we give to them. Their lives and struggles inspire us to have greater courage and faith in Jesus Christ. We are grateful for their witness.
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Acolyte Schedule
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Usher Schedule
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Reader's Schedule
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Fundraising Cycle etc.
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Inventory
Contacts
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Visit Schedule
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Secretary Schedule
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Prosphora Schedule
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Website
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Youth Calendar