THE ANNUNCIATION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

THE FIRSTGREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT

The Good News

FR. EVAN EVANGELIDIS, PASTOR 1230 NEWFIELD AVE, STAMFORD, CT 06905 + TELEPHONE: 203-322-2093 + FAX: 203-968-6632 EMAIL: OFFICE@ANNUNCIATIONOFSTAMFORD.ORG + WEB PAGE:ANNUNCIATIONOFSTAMFORD.ORG

OCTOBER 2013
mission is to help the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, the hungry, the aged, the sick, the imprisoned, the handicapped, the victims of disasters, to bury impoverished persons and to offer assistance to anyone who asks for the Churchs help. Philoptochos has over 485 chapters and 27,500 members nationwide. home. Our community Philoptochos has distributed over $11,000 dollars to local and national charities last year. It had the distinct honor of hosting the Biennial Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos Conference and Seminar on September 28th. This was an all-day gathering that brought together over 100 participants to our community from all over New York State Connecticut, Washington, DC and the Bahamas to discuss better ways of fulfilling their mission. All women 18yrs and over, wishing to make a difference, are encouraged to join Philoptochos! The next Philoptochos meeting is on Monday, October 14th at 7pm. On Saturday, October 19th Philoptochos is having its annual Tag Sale from 9am to 4pm. Donations can still be made. Please drop off your gently used items by Friday, October 18th. Anyone selling their own items is asked to give a $25 dollar donation. For further info, please contact Tina Scarpelli at 203-322-5303.
------------------------------------------------------------------

WORSHIP SERVICES IN OCTOBER

October 6th Sunday 9:00 am Orthros 10:00 am Divine Liturgy October 13th Sunday 9:00 am Orthros 10:00 am Divine Liturgy October 18th Friday St. Luke 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Divine Liturgy October 20th Sunday 9:00 am Orthros 10:00 am Divine Liturgy October 23rd Weds St. Iakovos 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Divine Liturgy October 26th Sat St. Demetrios 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Divine Liturgy October 27th Sunday 9:00 am Orthros 10:00 am Divine Liturgy

College. She taught Greek School at St. Basils Academy, the Westchester Hellenic Association and at the Kimisis Church in Poughkeepsie. Her background is in philosophy, Greek and Spanish Language and Literature. Despina Kreatsoulas studied dance at the University of Athens. She has over a decade of experience as a professional dancer, instructor and teacher. Katerina Dillulio has a Masters Degree in Education and 6 years teaching experience. Her background is in Childhood education and ESL. As a member of the Annunciation church community, Katerina has three children enrolled in our Greek School. Agapi Theodoridou has a masters degree from the University of Thessaloniki and 21 years teaching experience. Her background is in philosophy, Greek and German language and literature.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Fr. Evans Corner

I am so happy that the first issue of The Good News, the monthly newsletter of our church community, is finally out. Its purpose is to increase communication between our various church organizations and our members so that they may co-operate more effectively and give everyone an opportunity to get involved in the spiritual and cultural life of our church and our community. Our community has worked hard to meet the challenge of being a church, first and foremost, and leading by example. We are an extended family of faith that receives its blessings from God and in in fellowship with one another. We encourage all who walk through our doors to take part in the sacramental, spiritual and cultural life of the Church so that they may "become partakers of the divine nature" and save their souls (2 Peter 1:4). As you read this, it is my sincere hope that you will actively join us in this important mission.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Philoptochos The Ladies Philoptochos Society is the philanthropic arm of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. As a benevolent and charitable society, its been making a difference in peoples lives for over 80 years. Philoptochos literally means friend of the poor. The organizations

School Committee The Greek School Committee met over the summer to interview candidates for Interim Director to replace Penelope Venetsanos who, after many decades of distinguished service to our community, recently retired as Director and Teacher of our Greek School. Interviews were also conducted to replace Areti Panages who resigned to be with her family. In mid-August, the Committee hired Georgios Argyratos as Interim Director and Teacher, Katherine Dillulio as Teacher, and Agapi Theodorodou as Teacher. They have joined returning teachers Ioanna and Despina Kreatsoulas on the teaching staff. Georgios Argyratos has degrees in Journalism and in Opera Performance. He is a professional Opera Singer and a teacher at the William Spyropoulos Greek American School in Flushing. He will continue as Music Director, in addition to serving as Interim Director and Teacher. Ioanna Kreatsoulas attended the University of Athens and Hunter

PTA Invites all families with children to the Annunciation Greek Language and Culture School Open House, on Friday, October 4th immediately after Greek School from 6 to 7:30pm. Please come, meet the teachers and learn about our schools instructional immersion program. The PTA Board agreed at its first meeting to operate with the notion of happiness. The school and everyone involved makes the environment a happy one and a fun one; learning is fun, so on that note, we shall live and learn together, and our Immersion theme will naturally develop accordingly! The PTA will host our schools OXI Day celebration luncheon on October 27th SAVE THE DATE! This is a fund raiser to support the community Christmas Party.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Greek School Greek School has gotten off to a wonderful and exciting start. The program has 51 registered students and is looking forward to more. Already in the third week of classes, everything is moving along nicely. Preparations are also underway for our OXIDAY celebration on Sunday, October 27th. We are also getting ready for our "Open House" on Friday, October 4th from 6pm - 7:30pm, so that you can meet our new teachers in person, get introduced to this year's curriculum and interact with other Greek School parents and community members. Our PTA will have pizza, salad and refreshments for all and we generously thank them!

Sunday School Sunday School is an important ministry of the Church. Its purpose is to teach our children about their Greek Orthodox Christian Faith. Sunday School instills the love of Christ in their hearts, encourages them to take part in the sacramental, spiritual and ethical life of the Church and builds a solid Christian foundation for making good choices in the future. Were happy to report that we have found people to teach Sunday School and would like to thank Vaso Bakis for teaching PreK & K; Helen Vlahakis for teaching 1st & 2nd; George Zoumboulis for teaching 3rd & 4th; Joanna Gabriel for teaching 5th & 6th; and Vicky & Stanley Sakellson for teaching 7th and 8th. We also thank Angela Tournas and Sophia Sikiotis for becoming assistant teachers and our many substitute teachers as well. Sunday School classes begin on Sunday, October 6th. Please register your child for Sunday School. Registration forms are also on our churchs website. GOYA Welcome everyone! GOYA is geared up to have a great year. Our first meeting of the year is on Sunday, October 13th right after church. All teens in the 7th to 12th grades are invited to join and get involved. GOYAs mission is to help teens strengthen their Greek Orthodox faith so that they can use it to overcome lifes challenges. We usually host the coffee hour on the 2nd Sunday of the month and have our meeting at this time too. Please bring a dessert to donate to coffee hour, if you can. Elections are planned for our first meeting and talking about our car wash fundraiser on Saturday, October 19th. We hope to have fun at dances this year, participate in several community service projects and organize a ski trip in the winter. We also have a surprise big fundraiser in the Spring. It will be fun. We use our funds to donate to worthy causes and for our end of the year trip. So, come and hang with your friends or make new ones and see what the fun is all about! If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Boutsikoudis, Tina Scarpelli or George Zoumboulis. ------------------------------------------------Hope/Joy HOPE/JOY is ready to kick off another year! Our first gathering is on Friday, October 18th from 6-8:30 pm. The theme is Making a Difference. The children will learn that they can do good to others, no matter how small their service may be, that they show a love for God by loving others and that they can accomplish this in small ways every day! HOPE if for children in preschool through the 2nd grade. JOY is for children in 3rd through 6th grades. The mission of these ministries is to teach children about their Greek Orthodox faith and to strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ, outside of church services and in a more social environment. Children have an opportunity to share in games, arts and crafts together and with Father Evan, along with sharing a meal with their friends. Last year, the kids collected donations for the victims of

Hurricane Sandy. They included encouraging letters to the children of these communities and were very excited to receive letters back from them! (These letters are posted on the bulletin board in the upstairs hallway of the church.) We have lots of ideas for a fun and fulfilling year! We cant wait to see familiar and new faces at our first meeting on Fri, Oct. 18th at 6pm! If you have any questions or like to volunteer your time, donate a meal for one of our events, please contact Stacey Karipides at skaripides@optonline.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please visit their website for more info at www.daughtersofpenelope.org

------------------------------------------------------------------

YAL YAL strives to keep our young adults involved in the life of the church and to reintroduce the church to those whose lives have taken them away. Young adults are often in a state of transition. Church gets replaced with school, careers, relationships and money. A successful YAL ministry strives to integrate them within the church while meeting their individual needs. Young Adults can discuss these challenges and share fun fellowship at the YAL conference hosted by St. Pauls Cathedral in Hempstead, NY from Fri, Oct 18th to Sun, Oct 20th. Some event highlights are Orthodoxy on Tap, crop walk for hunger and a dinner dance on Saturday night. Registration is $99 dollars. Our next meeting is on Wednesday, October 23rd at 7pm. All YAL members are encouraged to attend.
------------------------------------------------------------------

AHEPA Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 9, at 7:30pm at the Annunciation Church. Please make reservations for our Passing the Torch fundraiser on October 26th, a dinner-dance at the Norwalk Inn for the benefit of our Greek Schools and the Greek Relief Fund. It will be similar to the very popular event we had last year. We plan to honor the Father/Son or Father/Son-in-Law pairs who are AHEPAns in any chapter. Along with our current father/son, and/or father/son-in-law members, prospective honorees will include new members who join by October 10th. For reservations, contributions (album ads) or membership, please contact Nicholas Nikas 203-554-5570 orniketes@yahoo.com.AHEPA
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Maintenance Committee Our maintenance committee has the important task of organizing the repair and maintenance of our 35 year old church facility. Recently, they have undertaken the pointing and re-grouting of our church dome, replaced our hot water tank, updated our fire alarm, fixed our parking lot lights and done minor repair and maintenance on a rolling basis. They have also undertaken the important task of replacing our oil tank. Our church facility, after 35 years, is showing many visible signs of wear and tear and a lot of work is needed. Some of the capital improvements needed in the future are the resurfacing of our driveway, the re-grouting and repointing of our church facility, repairing the slate to our church entrance and patio area, replacing the hallway entrance doors to the church and the emergency doors in the gym, renovating our bathrooms and installing a surveillance system. We not only need money to accomplish these tasks, but a community desire and vision to implement a plan that maintains our church facility for future generations. If you wish to help your church in this important task, please contact Harry Seitaridis or Fr. Evan to become a part of the maintenance committee. Your church needs you!
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Daughters of Penelope Greek Women of Fairfield County are invited to attend an informational meeting on the Daughters of Penelope on Thursday, October 24th at our church at 7pm. Maria Zorsos is leading the effort to start a Southern Fairfield County Chapter. Hartford, Waterbury, and New Britain have had a chapter for many years. The Daughters of Penelope promotes family and individual excellence, philanthropy, education, Hellenism, and civic responsibility. It brings together women of all ages to work together and provide opportunities for education through scholarship and community service. Maria is working hard to get the Stamford, Norwalk & Greenwich women to participate. The Governor and Regional Heads will be at our church on Thursday, October 24th at 7pm to discuss the merits of this wonderful organization and how to get one started in our area. We hope to see you there. If you have any questions, contact Maria Zorsos at mzorzos@msn.com or at 203-253-9262.

Scholarship Committee The Scholarship Committee has been meeting since the Spring. Its mission is to oversee the handling and distribution of scholarship funds that are generously donated by various members and friends of our community. Our first order of business formalized the guidelines used to determine the scholarship recipients. We are working with the Church's webmaster to update the scholarship information available from its website and to post the new guidelines, applications and deadlines. Our next meeting is on Weds, October 2nd, at 6pm! GOOD NEWS DEADLINE Organizations of our church community and its members can sumbit news, anouncements, pictures of events and happenings in our local parish and in the greater Stamford community to info@annunciationofstamford.org. Items must be received by the 20th of every month to be included in the following months issue. Ballroom Dance Lessons An introductory ballroom dance course (Fox Trot, Tango, Rumba, and Cha-Cha) began meeting at our church on Fridays from 6:307:30 pm. Despina Kreatsoulas, our very talented and energetic Greek School dance teacher, teaches the class. Despina is a certified dance instructor with a passion for dance and over a decade of teaching experience. She has her own dance studio in Somers, NY. The course costs $100 per person and is appropriate for adults, couples, singles, and teens over 14. The next classes are on Friday, October 4th & 18th at 6:30pm. For more info, please contact Despina at 914-4715343 or at despkreatsoulas@hotmail.com.