Download - June/July 2016 Monthly Newsletter
608 SOUTH COLLEGE ROAD WILMINGTON NC 28403 (910) 392-4444 FAX (910) 392-4905
www.stnicholaswilmington.org
Holy Ascension
June 9
June and July 2016
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
Fr. Jon Emanuelson
Parish Priest
Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 9AM – 2PM
Office Phone: 910-392-4444 Office Fax: 910-392-4905
Fr. Jon’s Mobile Number: 910-685-0080
Office Email: [email protected]
Fr. Jon’s Email: [email protected]
Church Website: www.stnicholaswilmington.org
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/StNicholasWilmington
2016 PARISH COUNCIL
CHURCH STAFF
Angelique Skandalakis, Parish Office Administrator
PARISH MINISTRY TEAM
Officers Members
Barbara Reynolds, President Evangelos Fragos Debra Rallis
Jack Poulos, Vice President Peter Manolukas Nick Saffo
Tina Bostic, Treasurer Emanuel Miliotis Maria Stasios
Peter Malahias, Assistant Treasurer
Irene Sotiriou Vogiatzis, Secretary
Emanuel Miliotis, Chairman of the Council of Ministries
Religious Education…Richard Reynolds, Ministry Chair Communications - Technology Ministries…
Adult Education…Richard Reynolds Alexandros Theodoropoulos , Ministry Group Leader
Youth Catechism…Courtney Malahias, Director Webmaster… Alexandros Theodoropoulos
Bookstore/Library…Mary Ann Wall Publications…Angelique Skandalakis, Stella McTaggart
Oratorical Festival…Courtney Malahias Technology… Alexandros Theodoropoulos
Media/Community Relations…Debra Rallis, Alexandros
Hellenic Culture…Kitsa Wiersteiner, Ministry Chair Theodoropoulos
Hellenic School…Anestis Logothetis, Acting Director
Romiosini Dance Group…Zaharoula Katsikis Parish Family Life…**Volunteer Needed**
Zoyra Dance Group…Lucas Bostic, Katerina Katsikis Parish Family Night…**Volunteer Needed**
Choral…Dr. Michael Rallis Men’s Group…Richard Reynolds
Special Activities… Kitsa Wiersteiner Women’s Group…**Volunteer Needed**
Forever Young…Stella Vallianos
Youth Diakonia…Doug Brown, Ministry Chair LOVE…Angelique Skandalakis, Kay Skandalakis
GOYA…Benjalee Pittman, Alexia Porzio, Doug Brown,
Courtney Malahias Outreach & Evangelism…Diane McGowan, Ministry Chair
HOPE/JOY… Joyce Patsalos, Sophia Brewer, OCF…Fr. Jon, Alexandros Theodoropoulos
Jaime Saffo, Renée Karonis Psilos, Connie Ronner Hospitality…Ed Mayorga, Kathleen Mayorga
Metropolis Strategic Planning...Koula Katsikis Community Service…Christina Mount
Parish Care…Pat Poulos, Tina Stamatakis,
Liturgical Life… Dr. Michael Rallis, Ministry Chair Kay Skandalakis , Dr. Mary Frankos
Liturgical Music… Dr. Michael Rallis
Acolytes…Doug Brown Philoptochos…Tia Saffo, Chapter President
Neokoros/Sexton…**Volunteer Needed**
Stewardship…Debra Rallis
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
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From the Desk of Father Jon Thank You
A huge thank you to everyone who made our 24th annual St. Nicholas Greek Festival a great success! Outside of the
brief weather hiccup on Friday, the blessed conditions enabled us to spend time with many friends and new acquaint-
ances from the Wilmington area and beyond. The appreciation for our Orthodox Faith, our culture and our hospitality
was seen everywhere. Thank you again for all you do!
Summertime Activities and Schedule
The summertime blessings are about to begin! Yes, it is a time for family and vacations, but also very great for faith,
fellowship and setting the stage for a great academic year to come! First, God’s blessings to all our high school and
college graduates. May all they undertake be according to God’s will and blessed.
The following activities are already scheduled:
1. Council of Ministries – year end meeting, Saturday, June 4, 2016: 9am-4pm, all ministries invited
2. Graduation Sunday – Hellenic School & SCS, Sunday, June 5, 2016: 12pm after Liturgy
3. Family Youth Picnic – All Youth Groups, Sunday, June 5, 2016: 2-6pm at Halyburton Park
4. Vacation Church School – K-5th grade, June 13-17, 2016: 9-12pm at Church
5. GOYA Mountain Hike Retreat – 6th-12th grades, June 16-17, 2016: with HTC Charlotte, NC
6. Summer Schedule Begins, Sunday, June 19, 2016: Orthros 8am, Divine Liturgy 9:30am
7. OCF Rising College Students – Information deadline, June 2016: All NC graduating high school seniors stay con-
nected to their Orthodox Church at college.
8. Journey to Marriage Seminar, Saturday, June 25, 2016: 10am-4pm: St. Nicholas, Wilmington (tentatively scheduled)
9. OCF Connect, July, 2016: Connect all UNCW & CFCC students early! Let the parea begin!
10. St. Stephen’s Summer Camp, July 17-23, 2016: Diakonia Retreat Center, SC
11. Paraklesis Services, August 1-13, 2016, 6pm: St. Nicholas, Wilmington
12. Last Sunday of the Summer Liturgy Schedule, Sunday, August 21, 2016.
13. Council of Ministries – Planning Meeting, Saturday, August 27, 2016: 9am-1pm at Church
14. Summertime Family Challenge – Reward Outing, Sunday, August 28, 2016: 1pm at the Bowling alley on Shipyard
Boulevard.
Summertime Family Challenge
This is an invitation for parents and rising youth from 3rd - 12th grades for the summer! Do you accept the family chal-
lenge? Here is the challenge in a nutshell:
1. Reading Scripture: As families gather around the dinner table, read a chapter a day from the Orthodox Study Bi-
ble. The books for the challenge are Tobit from the Old Testament and the gospel of Luke from the New Testa-
ment. Tobit has only 14 chapters and teaches youth and parents alike many lessons about love, almsgiving, family
and faith! The gospel of Luke has only 24 chapters and gives us the teachings of Jesus Christ! The questions for
each of the books are easy and just show the family has read the books.
2. Be the Bee Videos – The family can gather around the computer or smart TV and view these amazing 5 minute
teaching videos from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. I will be sending out a link to 17 introductory videos for
the family to view together! These videos are fun to watch and reflect on! The only thing required is to write 3
sentences on what you liked about each video! (The total viewing time is less than the time to watch 1 movie!)
3. Attend Church – The challenge here is to attend Divine Liturgy 6 times during the summer prior to the gospel
reading. This is on the honor system but please write down the dates you attended, even if you are on vacation!
This is a great blessing to all families!
Rewards Party
For all families that accept and complete the Summertime Family Challenge there will be special bowling outing com-
plete with meal on Sunday, August 28, 2016 at 1pm after Liturgy. The joy of growing deeper in our faith will bring us
closer together! Please email me at [email protected] if you accept the challenge or have any questions.
Love always, Fr. Jon.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
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From the Parish Council President
Barbara Reynolds
Thank you to Fr. Jon and all those who helped make our Holy Week such a beautiful and spiritually uplifting
time for our St. Nicholas family. It was wonderful to see the church filled with worshipers.
Also thank you to everyone that worked together to make our festival a success.
We want to make sure that all of the Community has access to their Parish Council Members when needed.
Please see below for phone numbers and email address of your current Parish Council.
Parish Council Contacts
I hope everyone has a wonderful summer.
Parish Council Member Phone E-mail Address
Fr Jon Emanuelson Parish Priest 910-685-0080 [email protected]
Barbara Reynolds President 910-285-8772 [email protected]
Jack Poulos Vice President 910-617-3086 [email protected]
Tina Bostic Treasurer 910-791-3650 [email protected]
Peter Malahias Asst. Treasurer 910-799-7714 [email protected]
Irene Sotiriou (Vogiatzis) Secretary 910-791-8672 [email protected]
Evangelos Fragos 910-233-2572 [email protected]
Peter Manolukas 910-547-3443 [email protected]
Manny Miliotis 910-471-0695 [email protected]
Debbie Rallis 910-256-3024 [email protected]
Nick Saffo 910-262-8772 [email protected]
Maria Stasios 910-392-0458 [email protected]
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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
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Philoptochos Enosis Chapter #5027
Tia Saffo
We would like to thank all the beautiful ladies who
joined us for our Big Fat Greek Garden Party. What
beautiful hats and dresses. A nice time was had by
all. The food was great and the door prizes were a lot
of fun. We thank Tia Saffo for opening up her lovely
home to us.
Our next event is the much awaited Panigiri for our
Panayia, in remembrance of the Dormition of the
Thoetokos on Monday, August 15th. We will have a
traditional dinner and an exciting gift basket raffle for
all ages, again. See our flyer on page 17 for more
information.
We thank all the ladies who have joined Philopto-
chos. Please consider being a member. All ladies 18
and up are welcome to join. Of your membership
donation, $22 goes towards national and metropolis
obligations; anything over this amount remains here
in our community to help the poor in our area.
We wish everyone wonderful summer and will kick
off our 2016-17 membership campaign in the fall.
Hellenic School Anestis Logothetis
The Greek School graduation will take place on Sun-
day, June 5 after the Holy Liturgy.
This year we have 12 kids graduating from the lower
class, 8 from the advanced class and 10 from the
adult class. The kids participated in the 28th of Octo-
ber OXI Day celebration and at the 25th of March
Greek Independence Day celebration with poems and
short plays. We are very proud of the effort they have
put in learning Greek, the language of their heritage.
I want to personally thank the teachers, Evgenia
Karonis, Yanna Hernandez, Christina Lazaridis and
Panagiotis Malahias who have given so much of their
time teaching our kids. I also want to thank Kitsa
Wiersteiner who shared with me in teaching the adult
class.
Credit should also go to the mothers of the Greek
school kids who are always there to help out and who
also co-organized with Hope/Joy a lemonade and
sno-cone stand during the Festival. It was wonderful
to see the kids involved in the spirit of the Festival.
We plan to have Greek School next year and hope to
have more kids and adults participating.
LOVE Angelique Skandalakis and Kay Skandalakis
Hello and happy summer to all of our LOVE fami-
lies! We have had a great year and we hope that you
all have a wonderful summer. Our next LOVE event
will be a group picnic with all the Youth Groups on
June 5th at 2PM at Halyburton Park. Please see the
enclosed flyer for more details. We hope to see you
all there before we break for the summer and return
in the fall!
Forever Young Stella Vallianos
Forever Young will meet on Tuesday, June 7, at
11AM at the church. This will be our last meeting
before we adjourn for the months of July and August.
We will be going out to eat. Please make every effort
to attend.
Community News
GREEK FESTIVAL
A big THANK YOU to all our festival volunteers.
Without your help, this would not have been a suc-
cessful festival. Your devotion to St Nicholas with
your time, talents and treasures is beyond words.
From the youngest dancers who share our culture, to
the kitchen help, food preparers and pastry makers
who served the delicious food, every task completed
by every volunteer - we thank you! We are truly
blessed to have come together as a family in Christ to
celebrate our culture, food and religion with the
greater Wilmington Community. Even though the
weather on Friday evening was not the best, we made
up for it and had one of our most successful Festivals
to date!
We look forward to everyone assisting in our 25th
Anniversary Festival next year....
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
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FOR SALE
We have greek beer and wine for sale. A case of My-
thos Beer (24 bottles) is $36. Various bottled wines
are $12 and the larger bottles are $20. Please see An-
gelique Skandalakis or a Parish Council member to
purchase. All checks to be made out to St Nicholas
Greek Festival with the memo stating “TAVERN.”
We also have various Greek food items for sale - Ol-
ive oil, orzo, canned giant beans , dolmades, coffees
and spoon sweets. See Sandra Papanikolaou or Irene
Sotiriou to purchase. All checks to be made out to St
Nicholas Greek Festival with the memo stating
“GREEK MARKETPLACE.”
WITH GRATITUDE
Thank you to the various Youth Groups and Commu-
nity Members too numerous to be named who spent
their time, talent, and donations to assist with prepara-
tions for Holy Week, the Holy Friday Retreat, and
Great and Holy Pascha. Your contributions are truly
priceless. We are truly GRATEFUL for your gifts.
Thank you to all our girls who participated in Holy
Friday Lamentations on April 29, 2016. Our entire
Church is so proud of their participation in the time-
honored custom.
Myrofores:
Thank you to the
Ladies of Philopto-
chos for preparing our
Church to celebrate
Holy Week this year!
From the Palm Sun-
day Luncheon to the
decorating of The
Tomb of Christ
(Kouvloukion) this is
a testament to your
love of Christ and
your Community.
DONATION REQUESTS
TIME, TALENT, OR TREASURE
***NEW: Philoptochos will be collecting personal
hygiene items for homeless teens this summer, to be
distributed in the fall. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, deo-
dorant, soap and shampoo, all items we take for grant-
ed everyday, are desperate needs for these children.
We will set up purple bins in the Hellenic center so
that we can start receiving your donations.
We are in need of some Commandaria wine for the
altar. It is available for purchases at Greek stores in
Raleigh, Charlotte, or online. Please see Father Jon if
you would like to donate some.
We are looking for a handyman (or woman) to volun-
teer to help with minor repairs around the church.
We are accepting donations as we continue to improve
our Hellenic Center. Any donations would be greatly
appreciated. Items needed include new banquet
chairs.
Melina Baynard
Despina Brewer
Poppy Ann Calhoun
Helen Dandulakis
Maria Fulton
Stamatia Fulton
Katerina Fulton
Alexis Margoles
Elena Margoles
Fiona McTaggart
Antoinette Psilos
Ella Ronner
Mia Skandalakis
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
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Please donate all weekly coupons from newspapers &
ads to the Hellenic Center. These coupons will be used
to help our parishioners save money on products. For
more information, please see Benjalee Pittman.
We are looking for volunteers to host coffee hour. If
you are interested in hosting coffee hour please con-
tact Angelique Skandalakis in the Office. For the
weeks when we do not have a volunteer we will still
have coffee and juice.
PLEASE REMEMBER
Please pray for those who are ill, recovering, and/or
homebound: Presbytera Barbara, Stavros Chantiles, So-
phia Copes, Sherry Demas, Theodore James Demas, Kathe-
rine Demetriou (sister of Angelo Demetriou), Nicholas
Devoles, Constantine Dukas, Larry Flowers, Sue Fokakis
(Silver Stream), George Fokakis (Pacifica nursing home),
Demitra George, Nick Karloutsos (Silver Stream), Angelo
Katris, Dan Kirkby (brother of Matthew), Lambra
Koklanaris, Nikoloas Kotsinis, Rev. Fr. Manousos Emman-
uel Lionikis, Olga Mancuso, Stamati Poulos (Nephew of
Olympia Fragos), Claire Skarpentzos, Pat Skinner-Darby,
Charity Skinner-Darby (daughter of Pat), John & Olympia
Stamboulos, Andy Tsingelis, Vasilios Vogiatzis.
Congratulations
For all the people celebrating their birthday, anniver-
sary, and name day in the months of June and July,
may you have many happy years! Many Happy Years!
On April 22 at an AHEPA luncheon at Chris' Restau-
rant, AHEPA made a special presentation to one of
their members. This Brother was initiated into
AHEPA on December 1, 1964; he later transferred his
membership to our Cape Fear Chapter No. 408, here,
in Wilmington. He now has 50 years of membership
in the Order of AHEPA! Congratulations to Dr. Anes-
tis L. Logothetis for receiving his AHEPA Life Mem-
bership Certificate, Life Member Lapel Pin and Life
Member Card. Brother Logothetis has joined an elite
group and brings to five (5), the number of Life Mem-
bers in our local AHEPA Chapter. The other four
AHEPA Life Members are: Brother George T. Foka-
kis, Brother James Patsalos, Brother Avgerinos V.
"Doky" Saffo, and Brother George A. Saffo Please
join us in congratulating Brother Anestis L. Logo-
thetis on this milestone in his membership in the
Order of AHEPA. "AXIOS!"
We would like to welcome home Master Sgt. Brian
Pittman, husband of Benjalee Lawler Pittman, from
his deployment. Your Community is thrilled you are
back safe and sound!! Brian came home on Tuesday,
April 26th by surprising his kids with his return.
Thank you for your service Brian. We truly appreci-
ate the work you do and the sacrifice of your family.
We would like to extend our congratulations to Ben
and Victoria Fernandez Boron as well as to Deacon
Tom and Diakonissa Anastasia (Stacey) Fernandez on
the birth of their daugh-
ter (first child) and
granddaughter (first
grandchild) respectively
- Gabriella Grace Bo-
ron! Gabriella was born
at the New Hanover Re-
gional Medical Center
at around 7:19 am on
Sunday, (Sunday of the
Holy Myrrhbearers),
May 15, 2016, 8lbs 11
oz and 21 inches long.
She and her mother Vic-
toria are both doing fi-
ne! It is always such a
great joy and blessing to
see our parish children
start and grow their own
families with such little
angels like Gabriella!
ΝΑ ΣΑΣ ΖΗΣΕΙ !!! NA SAS ZEESEE !!!
MAY GABRIELLA BE BLESSED TO LIVE MANY
MANY PROSPEROUS YEARS !!!
Sympathies and Memorials
On April 17 we held the 40 day Trisagion for Annivas
Theodoropoulos, father of Alexandros Theodoropou-
los. May his memory be eternal.
On April 17 we held a memorial for Elias “Eli” and
Aphrodite Stephanou, parents of George Stephanou.
May their memories be eternal.
It is with great sadness that our St Nicholas Communi-
ty and Dance Troupes mourn the loss of our beloved
Nota Dukas. Nota has been sewing costumes for our
festivals and for the Hellenic Dance Festival since its
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
8
inception. Her meticulous, authentic reproductions
have won her 4 awards for Best Costumes in our entire
metropolis - for Pontic, Cretan, Thassos Island and
Macedonian costumes. Our youth have been admired
by all attendees at HDF, and we constantly are being
stopped and asked where their costumes came from.
She will be dearly missed by all and her costumes will
remain a treasure for St Nicholas for generations to
come.
We express our deepest sympathy to the Ioannou, Di-
as, and Wetherington familes on the falling asleep in
the Lord of Nota Dukas on April 20. May her memory
be eternal!
On May 8 we held a 1-year memorial for Plato The-
ophilos, husband of Renee Theophilos. May his
memory be eternal!
On May 8 we held a 10-year memorial for Peter Soti-
riou, father of Irene Sotiriou. May his memory be eter-
nal!
On May 22 we held a 1-year memorial for Frances
Batuyios. May her memory be eternal!
A one year memorial will be held for Georgia Macris
on June 12.
Orthodox Youth Egg Hunt, May 1, 2016
Holy Friday Retreat
Thank you to the volun-
teers and children who
participated. His Love
and Knowledge shines
bright in our hearts and
minds.
No
ta D
uk
as
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
12
Christ is risen!
In anticipation of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, the Press Office of the Ecumenical Pa-
triarchate is preparing resources to assist you to pray for and learn more about this important event in the life
of our Orthodox Christian Church. For even more information you can visit https://www.orthodoxcouncil.org.
For the first time in 1,200 years, the fourteen autocephalous Orthodox Churches will meet, with a com-
mon desire to reinforce their relations and address contemporary spiritual and social challenges in the
world.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church June & July 2016
16
August 15: Dormition of the Theotokos,
Philoptochos Panigiri
August 29: Beheading of St. John the Baptist
September 17: Annual St. Nicholas Golf
Tournament , Masonboro Country Club
Save the Dates
For a complete and up-to-date version of our Parish Calendar, please visit us online at:
http://www.stnicholaswilmington.org/ParishCalendar.html
For a complete and up-to-date version of our Parish Calendar, please visit us online at:
http://www.stnicholaswilmington.org/ParishCalendar.html