| Dear Beloved Ones in the Lord: Christ is in our midst! I humbly submit this…my 2nd annual pastoral report to you…the dear people of Holy Myrrhbearing Women Mission Church. This past year has been one of growth and settling in…we are learning how to live with the people of this area and discovering the wonders of our surroundings. This report will reflect a bit upon some possibilities that lie before us. I want to stress that this is, in part, a vision statement. We cannot expect to do everything that I have outlined herein and even that which we would like to do may take several or many years to accomplish. Our main task of being a prayer-filled community reflecting the ancient and Holy Church established by Christ has not changed. Beginning with this new year, however, I would like to see that central reality reflected in various ministries and dynamics…some of which are described in this report under Mission and Community. In addition, all of you are talented and visionary people of God and I welcome ministries and projects to which you feel particularly called. Just let me know about them and we will explore the possibilities together…never losing sight of the central focus of our lives: Glorifying the All-Holy Trinity in all that we are and do. With this in mind, here is my report. VITAL STATISTICS: “As Many As Have Been Baptized into Christ” (Baptisms and Chrismations): Keagan James Michael Mattmiller…November 8, 2008; for a total of ONE. “Crown Them, O Lord, with Glory and Honor” (Weddings): ZERO this year. (But I did concelebrate the wedding of Paul and Lavinia Truebenbach at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Spokane, WA in August 2008). “Grant Rest Eternal in Blessed Repose, O Lord” (Funerals): ZERO this year. In October of 2007, we reported 87 members in 29 families to the Diocese and in February of 2008 this number was adjusted down a bit and the new figures sent to the Diocese. As of this moment, it is safe to say that we have 65 members in 25 families. These names are available upon request. This does not include several Orthodox families that have expressed a desire to move to this area…they will be included when they arrive. As I wrote in last year’s report, there tends to be lots of fluidity for at least the first few years of a new mission’s existence and ours will be no exception. We also currently have three officially enrolled catechumens not included in the numbers above (Harry & Mo Disney and Justin Barrieault) and several other active seekers. LITURGICAL LIFE: I need to emphasize that prayer is at the core of everything else that we will ever do as a parish. So, in addition to Saturday evening Vespers, Sunday morning Matins and Liturgy, Friday evening Paraklesis, and the special services for Feasts, Great Lent, Holy Week and Pascha, I would like to make available a daily Vespers during the week and at least one or two Saturday Liturgies each month. Thus, we will be expanding our liturgical life just a bit more as we grow and mature. I am looking at Tuesday evening for the Vespers service, but I will know better in January, when this new schedule will commence. Part of the answer also lies with the facility that we use. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, we pay rent in the amount of $275/month (up from $100 as a result of our expansion into another room of the bottom floor of the building that we are using). We are able to remain set up and use the building at any time during the week for no additional cost. This is a great blessing for a new mission, so we will take advantage of it and expand the liturgical schedule a bit in order to maximize our usage of this facility. Next, I would like to thank the faithful altar servers for their dedicated assistance. They are led by Subdeacon Matthew Matthews, who was elevated to the office of Subdeacon this past year…AXIOS! He is now joined by Subdeacon John Van Fossen who has moved here with his family from California. So we now have TWO subdeacons in our parish! I must also mention John Schrom as I speak about the altar servers. He has now begun the St. Stephen’s Course of Studies in preparation for further service in the Church. These three men, together with Benjamin Horton and Jimmy Matthews, form a strong team of service behind the iconostasis. We are also pleased to welcome John Stephen Van Fossen who has begun his service within the Holy Sanctuary. May God bless all of these faithful servants!!! Other servers are always welcome. Nor can we forget the faithful service of our myrrh bearers…those young maidens that assist in countless ways throughout the year…thank you to Elizabeth Matthews and the entire team. Elizabeth may well be leaving us before the publication of my next annual report, so I want to officially thank her for the many years she has served the Church under my pastoral care and I commend her to the care of her abbess and spiritual mother at the monastery. One of her sisters, I am certain, will step up and fill the role of leader of this important group of myrrh~bearing young women for our parish. Finally, I extend a hearty and appreciative thank you to Khouria Cindy, our choir director; Reader Matthew Gallatin, our assistant choir director and lead chanter who has also very capably ordered and led the services in my absence throughout this past year; and Mary Matthews, our alternate assistant choir director and musical organizational specialist, who has been very faithful in enabling me to schedule services at almost anytime during the week and year. Thank you to the choir and chanters in general as it is very easy to worship when the responses and hymns are celebrated so well in this community. Glory be to God! By the way, the choir has joined me twice thus far for our quarterly rotation on Sunday afternoons at the County Restorium and Nursing Home. I truly appreciate their presence and enthusiasm. One special liturgical note this year: We will not be celebrating a midnight service for the Feast of the Nativity due to the restrictions of our current building. Instead, we will celebrate a Vigil in the evening followed by Holy Supper (if you’ve never experienced this, you won’t want to miss it) and Matins and Liturgy in the early morning on Christmas. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we are under our present limitations. We will also have a special Holy Unction service on Saturday morning, December 20th, followed by lunch. I am also open to liturgical suggestions, including where and when to bless water outdoors this coming Theophany. EDUCATION: I would like to resume the teen class that disappeared when we began preparing for Bible Bowl last year. I would especially like Reader Matthew to resume teaching this class, with me and Subdeacon John substituting when Matthew is unable to teach. Again, I would love to see this resume in January. As for the smaller children, I have asked several persons if they are interested in coordinating a teaching effort…not necessarily each week but perhaps a bi-weekly or monthly event. I know of several people interested in coordinating the Creative Arts and Creative Writing Festivals for our parish this year. We will begin this work in February. Khouria Cindy and I will once again host a youth retreat at the Horton Orthodox Crossroads from December 27-29. The ages are 13 and up, with special consideration being given to 12 year olds on a case by case basis. Cost of food, etc, will be published soon. St. Mary of Egypt Camp was a success once again this year. Also under education, seekers classes have been meeting each week at my home and a reading group has been meeting at least monthly. I’d like to make this a weekly meeting starting in January. We also continue to read a patristic and/or spiritual writing following many of the evening services. Reader Matthew spoke at the Bonners Ferry High School in May as part of our local outreach effort. Last, but not least, our Bible Bowl Team, consisting of Benjamin Horton, Cindy Matthews and Stephanie Matthews, competed and won not only the Diocesan competition but the NATIONAL competition at Antiochian Village this past July. I am so proud of them and so is Bishop JOSEPH, who will present them with an award when He visits this coming May. GENERAL: Allow me to thank all of the families that provide food for our weekly fellowship following the Sunday Liturgies. This remains a VITAL ministry of our community and a pleasant surprise for many of our visitors. Thank you also to our interim parish council, consisting of John Schrom-President/Secretary, Gary Ivins, Alice Gallatin and Mary Matthews-Treasurer. We are now ready to hold regular elections at this year’s meeting. The parish council will, until we grow a bit more, consist of three elected positions and one appointed position. I am appointing Mary Matthews for a three year term and the other positions will be filled by election. The highest receiver of votes will begin with a three year term; the next highest will begin with a two year term and the next highest will begin with a one year term. All terms will be three year terms beginning next year. BUILDING: We are under contract for a five acre parcel on Pleasant Valley Loop…just about three miles south of where we currently meet. Our conditional use permit hearing is this Thursday, Nov.20. If all goes well, (and it looks good at this point), we will be closing on Friday, Nov.21. This is a completely cash deal thanks to our generous donors and missionary lenders. Our site plan includes a temple, parish hall, offices and classrooms, a cemetery and a small house. This will hopefully be finalized at this Thursday’s hearing. Once all of this is completed, we can begin the process of planning our building. Khouria Cindy has prepared a preliminary drawing that we have used for the county hearing. Since there is no building department in this county, we will not need any further building permits (only the Panhandle Health Dept, electric, plumbing and mechanical permits). I would like to invite any and all interested persons to attend at least one meeting of the newly forming building committee so that we can iron out some of the details as we begin our new construction. I will begin sending out notices about this next week (if there have been no unforeseen problems and we have indeed purchased the land). MISSION AND COMMUNITY: This is the area upon which I would like to focus some of our visionary attention. First of all, I have done a little bit with the local Ministerial Association throughout the year. This organization will provide food again this year for the poor at Thanksgiving and Christmas…let each of our families contribute as they can both in terms of food and cash. This year, the local effort will dovetail with our Archdiocesan World Food Day Drive. Please see Alice Gallatin for the details. At this point, I would like to congratulate and commend John and Julie Schrom for inaugurating the Schrom Boys’ Home locally. Although not a direct ministry of the parish, the two realities complement each other very naturally. The home has been a great way to expose these dear teenage boys to the Holy Orthodox Church. One of the current residents is a catechumen in our parish! On a more far reaching scale, we are blessed to be the “headquarters” of Gallatin Ministries. Matthew continues to travel and speak around the continent and I have the great blessing of (poorly) arranging his tours. These are all great ministries in which we are currently engaged. But now let us dream a bit, shall we? The following list is not exhaustive and is in no particular order. Boundary County is a unique area in many ways. The relatively low cost of land and rural setting are conducive to various types of ministries. Some of these possible ministries are within our power to undertake. Others require outside forces. We must, however, look at the unique opportunities that the Church can utilize in this geographic area for the greater good of the Holy Orthodox Church. The following ideas can be considered by individuals, single families, several families, the entire parish community, and others outside our area when necessary and appropriate. Here they are: 1) A Monastery…I can’t think of a better location for this than the rural district in which we live and dwell! Of course, monks, nuns, bishops, etc. would all have to be involved and make such a decision, so this is somewhat out of our hands. But we can certainly make such a possibility known to existing monasteries and to the Church at large. Some of our families may even be in a position to offer a tract of land for a monastery. There were a group of monks from California interested in just such an inquiry, but they have now run into health problems and the abbot is struggling with stage 4 cancer. Please keep Archimandrite Damian in your prayers and please do ponder on this thought of a local monastery, letting me know what comes to your mind and heart. 2) A Camp…St. Mary of Egypt Camp is certainly outgrowing its rented facilities. Are we called to investigate purchasing some property for a camp, moving our own Orthodox Christian camp here and allowing it to also be rented by Orthodox Christians, other churches and even civic groups? It could also be a center for retreats and conferences. This would take a major commitment on our part, but it is not difficult to accomplish if we set ourselves to the task. 3) A Retirement/Personal Care Facility…This ministry is sorely lacking everywhere and most certainly in Boundary County. Again, are we being called to establish a facility, with attached Orthodox Chapel, that will care for our elders with Christian compassion, allow them the opportunity to live out the remainder of their lives in the rhythm of the Holy Church, and mercifully open its doors to the poor as well as those who can afford to pay something? 4) A School and or Preschool…While it seems difficult to imagine such a thing given the small amount of students currently attending our parish, are we being called to establish a school in some particular grade range (to at least begin) so as to offer an alternative to the public and various private schools in the area? Or perhaps we are initially being called to form a cooperative education effort with parents outside of our parish in order to plant the seeds for such a school. 5) A Daycare Facility…there are many possibilities in this field. 6) A Public Bookstore/Coffee Shop…this would serve a dual function of increasing awareness and accessibility for the Church as well as raising necessary funds. We would only be limited by our own lack of creativity in this regard. 7) Other Charitable and/or Social Ministries…these could include tapping into existing infrastructure in the area or starting programs that need starting. Do we want to start a Thrift Store? Food Pantry? Soup Kitchen? Begin a cooperative effort with the Kootenai Indian Tribe? Many of these projects would only require the dedicated will to begin them and see them through in the Name of the Church. I am totally open to ideas and suggestions including the vast myriad of ideas NOT listed here. PERSONAL: Khouria Cindy continues to work diligently in the lab at the Boundary Community Hospital in Bonners Ferry four days per week. She also continues to play in the CDA Symphonetta. She, Benjamin and I also play in the local Bonners Ferry Community Orchestra and I am still singing in Sandpoint with the Pend Oreille Chorale. These types of groups are an excellent way to make contacts. I did, however, add the NIC Choir to my schedule this semester in order to sing tenor with Sebastian. I should truly have my head examined. But these obligations are over in December…then we shall see. Tatiana has been married for a whole year already and is now working for the U.S. Postal Service in Moscow, Idaho while Jed (her husband) finishes his engineering program at the University of Idaho. They are both very involved in the mission parish effort in the Moscow Pullman area under the pastoral care of Fr. Kevin Scherer. Max, as many of you know, has completed his second year in the US Air Force; but not before running into a bit of trouble with the law. He is currently in the Monmouth County Correctional Facility in Freehold, NJ, awaiting an imminent court martial on several counts related to drugs. I will be traveling there within the month in order to testify on his behalf. Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers. Sebastian is a sophomore at North Idaho College and has changed his major to music with an emphasis on guitar. He will be leaving for a four year school next fall to complete his degree and he is exploring several possibilities (none of which include remaining anywhere remotely close to home). Benjamin (15) is now a freshman at Bonners Ferry High School where he has achieved all A’s for the first quarter. Quira (13) is in the eighth grade at Boundary County Middle School and is doing quite well. Karla (11) and Natalia (7) have started attending Mount Hall Elementary School which has a very good program for students with a Hispanic background. Their English improves on a daily basis and they are ACTIVE! As for me, I have begun to do a little substitute teaching in Boundary and Bonner Counties. In addition, I am always amazed at how the Lord works. He is bringing people to our area and to our parish community. Slowly but surely, people are finding us…they are finding us from Montana to Canada to all around the local area. I am certain that they will keep finding us if they are looking at all. As the Holy Apostle Peter stated at the time of the Transfiguration “It is good for us to be here”. Boundary County is a special place and we are thrilled to be part of the Orthodox Church in such a place and among such special people. All of My Love in Christ, Fr. Gregory+ Notes
SPECIAL DATES: (Please contact us if any are missing): November: 2-Namesday of Daniel Van Fossen (St. Raphael of Brooklyn) 4-Anniversary of Mihai & Daniela Alexianu 4-Birthday of Daniel Van Fossen 8-Namesday of Fr. Michael Shanbour & Mihai Alexianu (Archangel Michael) 9-Birthday of Benjamin Horton 13-Namesday of John Soura (St. John Chrysostom) 16-Namesday of Reader Matthew Gallatin, Subdeacon Earl Matthews, Matthew Geske & Matthew Alexianu (Apostle & Evangelist Matthew) 23-Birthday of John & Julie Schrom 24-Namesday of Kathy Bourekis, Trina Harris, Liz Johnson & Jenny Mattmiller (Great Martyr Katherine) 25-Birthday of Sara Feltham 30-Namesday of Andrew Feltham (Apostle Andrew) |