ST. GEORGE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH 808 N. Hamilton Street, High Point, NC 27262

Tel. 336-889-9020 V. Rev. Fr. Anton Frunza 810-869-1396, Email: ffrunza1@aol.com

JUNE-JULY BULLETIN 2020

*There will be no coffee hours as required by Pandemic regulations. Saturday, June 6 - Saturday of Soul Memorial Service, 10:30 am. Sunday, June 7 – Holy Pentecost, Orthros 8:30 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am. Vespers of Pentecost. Monday, June 8 – Day of the Holy Spirit. Monday, June 8 - Adult Religious Education 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Sunday, June 14 – All Saints Day – Orthros 9:30 am, Divine Liturgy 10:30 am. Monday, June 15 – Apostles Fast begins. Monday, June 15 - Adult Religious Education 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Sunday, June 21 – Orthros 9:30 am, Divine Liturgy 10:30 am.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! Sunday, June 28 – Orthros 9:30 am, Divine Liturgy 10:30 am. Sunday, July 5 - There will be no church. Sunday, July 12 – Orthros 9:30 am, Divine Liturgy 10:30 am. Sunday, July 19 - Orthros 9:30 am, Divine Liturgy 10:30 am. Sunday, July 26 – Orthros 9:30 am, Divine Liturgy 10:30 am.

Feast Days to remember in June and July and Hronia Polla to all those celebrating their Name Day! June 8th – Day of the Holy Spirit; June 15th – Apostles Fast begins; June 19 – Jude the Apostle; June 24 – Nativity of John the Baptist and Elizabeth, mother of the forerunner; June 29 – Saints Peter and Paul, the Apostles; June 30, Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles. July 20th - Feast of St. Elias

If you would like to make an announcement in the monthly church bulletin before the 20th of each month, please call Zoe Nixon at 336-841-6911.

2020 Archangel Michael Award

The honors go this year to two of the most dedicated ladies of our Parish: Maria Hatzudis and Heleni Simos. May God grant them all His bountiful blessings! Axios!

This bulletin is being offered by Zoe and Phillip Nixon

Sponsors for the monthly bulletin are needed for 2020. If you would like to sponsor a monthly bulletin, please let Fr. Anton know. Sponsorship is $100 per bulletin.

FINANCIAL REPORT May 2020

Income $ 14,762 Expense $ 12,960 Net Revenue $ 1,802

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Summer is here and with its arrival comes the children’s favorite part of school, SUMMER VACATION! A special thank you to the Greek School and children’s Religious Education teachers, Evie Vagios and Eleftheria Anagnostopoulos. Greek School and the children’s Religious Education classes will hopefully resume in the fall.

CONGRATULATIONS are extended to Vangeli Tsakas and Jenna Massangele on their recent engagement. Vangeli is the son of Evdoxia Vagios and George Tsakas, and Jenna is the daughter of Amanda and James Massengele. A wedding is planned for the fall of 2021. KALA STEFANA!

CONGRATULATIONS to Nicholas Bayne, son of Lisa and Ernest Bayne, on his graduation from Appalachian State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a minor in Exercise Science. While at ASU, Nick was president of the Appstate Fencing Club and the Southern Intercollegiate Fencing Association of which he organized and hosted events that included fencers from across the east coast.

CONGRATULATIONS to Hannah Roney on her graduation from the University of South Carolina where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a Minor in Business. Hannah was awarded a merit scholarship and will continue her education at Campbell Law School this fall. She is the daughter of Georgia Nixon and Keith Roney.

CONGRATULATIONS to Elaina Roney who was awarded a merit scholarship and will continue her education at Campbell Law School this fall. Elaina is a graduate from the University of Tennessee. She is the daughter of Georgia Nixon and Keith Roney.

CONGRATULATIONS to Vicky Tsakas on her graduation from New York University. Vicky earned a Masters in Speech and Language Pathology. She is the daughter of Evdoxia Vagios and George Tsakas. We wish her success in her future endeavors as well as continuous progress in faith and in life.

CONGRATULATIONS to Alexandra Vlad on her graduation from Northwest Guilford High School in Oak Ridge, NC. She will attend North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. She is the daughter of Lucia Vlad and Dr. Lucian Vlad. We wish her success in her college studies as well as continuous progress in faith and in life.

CONDOLENCES are extended to Alexandra Canavos, her family and the extended family on the falling asleep of Alexandra's brother, George Dennis Canavos of Winston-Salem. May God rest his soul in peace and give comfort to his loving family.

CONDOLENCES are extended to Jimmy Karahalios, Bill and Athena Karahalios, Chris and Kim Karahalios, and their families on the falling asleep of their mother, Olga Morris Karahalios of Winston-Salem. May God rest her soul in peace and give comfort to her loving family.

CONDOLENCES are extended to Clarke Gilliam, Ted Triantis, Eleni Harrison and their families on the falling asleep of Nina Gilliam of Greensboro. May God rest her soul in peace and give comfort to her loving family.

PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS The Ladies of Philoptochos meeting will be announced at a later date. Thank you to all who baked and helped deliver pastries to High Point frontline health care workers, Emergency personnel, police and firemen. A special thank you to Esther Asprogiannis and Zoe Nixon for coordinating the operation. **We are asking for updated mailing addresses, phone numbers and emails for mailing the monthly bulletin. Please notify Zoe Nixon (336) 841-6911, with your preference in receiving the bulletin, either by postal service or by email. Also, if you fail to receive a monthly bulletin, let us know immediately so we can mail/email one out to you, promptly.

THANK YOU!

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude for the way that our community and especially the Parish Council members have mobilized during these difficult times.

With your help, we distributed food, sanitary and cleaning supplies twice to the local food pantries of West End Ministries-Leslie's House, Helping Hands, Open Door Ministries in a total amount of over $3,000 and we gave a check of $1,000 to Feeding Lisa’s Kids a local food pantry dedicated to the children. Besides these, Sam Galiatsatsos, the Parish Council President, made several truck deliveries of food supplies and hygienic supplies on behalf of St. George from his own business. I want also to thank Eva and Kosti Menegakis who donated $2,000 for the food pantries.

The ladies in our Parish mobilized and cooked pastries for the first responders (doctors, nurses, emergency workers, Police officers and firefighters) from our community. Sam Galiatsatsos brought Lindt chocolate for all of them and Jerome Papas roasted special gourmet coffee. Many of the first responders express their thanks and gratitude for thinking of them in these critical times.

I want to thank Demetri Rizos who brought materials for sewing the masks free of charge, and also to all that participated in this project: Kiki Hassapellis, Alex Rizos, Maria Anton, Eva and Lidia Morgan, Voula Vakakis, Maricica Stefanescu, Roxana Sandru Rus. They managed to make 570 masks that were delivered to the High Point Police Department.

A special thank you to Victor Frunza who managed the website, and donated a special microphone and tripod, to Randy Knight for keeping the community informed via Facebook and who donated an Ipad for streaming live the services and to Kosti Menegakis for donating another microphone, tablet and special Bluetooth speaker necessary for the live transmission of services and who became the main cameraman.

A big THANK YOU to our protopsalti Alexandros Menegakis for adapting to the new situation and continuing to serve God and our St George Parish via Internet! The help and support of the Parish Council members was and is invaluable! During this time, we stay constantly in touch by telephone, email, Zoom and in person. They rotated to come and help in the church, to gather the necessary supplies and deliver them to the food pantries. Because the hall and kitchen are not in use, we decided to do a deep cleaning. We removed all the supplies from the kitchen storage area and cooler, and power washed and scrubbed all the walls, floors and shelves and put the supplies back in good order. I also want to thank you all of you who remembered your Church during these difficult times. Because of the pandemic restrictions, our Parish is relying solely on your donations online or by checks to continue its mission. Especially the members of the Parish Council, Samuel Galiatsatsos and Kosta Menegakis have been very generous, and due to them, our budget was not negatively affected.

Without parishioners like you, Saint George cannot have an impact or influence in our community. With your support, we are meeting the needs of our parish, community and dioceses. We pray that during these difficult times you will continue to make your stewardship donation through our online system, or by mailing your check to the church. The online system is secure and safe to use and allows us to continue meeting our Parish responsibilities.

With love in Christ,

Fr. Anton Frunza

Letter for opening of the church

Beloved in the Lord,

It is with great joy that I announce you the reopening of our church starting this coming Sunday, May 31st. The Metropolis sent us a specific protocol to follow and it is available on our website and Facebook. I was emailed to all of you that gave me your email addresses. In order to come to the church, you need to be free of any symptoms of the virus. You need to contact Fr. Anton or one of the members of the Parish Council to let them know what Sunday you plan on coming and how many members of your family and their names. Upon review, you will be informed by the Parish Council. You need to arrive at the church between 9:30am and 10:30 am, while the doors of the church are open. Please follow the signs posted and the indications of the members of the Parish Council who will scan you for temperature. The doors of the church will be closed at 10:30am. You have to wear a mask at all times. If you do not have a mask, we will provide one for you. You have to sit in the designated area at all times, except for Holy Communion. Do not just show at the church without prior approval from the Parish Council. You will not be permitted entry. We need to limit the access to the church only to church members and parishioners. We will continue to transmit on Facebook the services. While these measures are unprecedented, please realize that they are taken for your own protection. The priests are called shepherds of God’s people. As shepherds, one of our chief roles is that of protector. Shepherds in biblical times had to be prepared to defend the flock against all perils. As church leaders, we shepherd God’s people, and a large part of our role is to protect, to anticipate, and to act on behalf of the sheep entrusted to us by God. The words of St. Ap. Paul addressed to the Corinthians can be applied to our present situation: “Let everything be done decently and in order… since God is not a God of disorder …” (I Cor 14:40-43). While the verses refer to orderliness in the worship service, the principle of orderliness can be applied to the Church’s return to its facilities. Both His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros and His Eminence, Metropolitan Alexios have emphasize that all these measures are taken because we love our neighbor. Therefore, I encourage you all to express this love by acting upon it. If you have any question, please call Fr. Anton or one of the members of the Parish Council.

May God bless and protect us all! Fr. Anton Frunza

Statement on the Death of George Floyd June 5, 2020 To all the faithful of the Metropolis of Atlanta: My beloved children in the Lord, I greet you with love in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Like so many of my fellow citizens, and indeed, others around the world, I also join them in expressing the extreme pain and outrage for the senseless death of George Floyd. In the week that has followed, our country has seen a time of great unrest, discussion, and serious contemplation about the future. I echo the words of our venerable Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidophoros, who stated, "“The unjust slaying of George Floyd cannot be where America stands. Violence only breeds violence, but when such violence is perpetrated by those in authority, we must all stand up and say: ‘Not on our watch!’ We must stand against racism and stand for equality for all." As Christians, it is our goal to live in peace with all our neighbors, in imitation of Christ Who is our Peace. Unfortunately, the brokenness of our human existence means that such a goal is often very difficult. Even so, in the face of evil and wrongdoings, we must continue to pray, as we do in the beginning of every Divine Liturgy, "For the peace from above and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord." In times like these, we must remember that we are all brothers and sisters created in the Image and Likeness of our God, and we need to live in peace and harmony. As my Brother Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan

Gerasimos of San Francisco wrote: "When we bring harm to another person, it is as if we are bringing harm directly to God. The tragic death of George Floyd and the deaths that have occurred as a result of the protests have transgressed this fundamental truth." This is the spirit that exists in the Orthodox faith, and as we await the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, we pray that the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth,, will bring justice to the world, and protect those who cannot defend themselves, so that we may live in brotherly love which emanates from our Creator Himself. With this, I remain, Yours with paternal love and blessings in the Lord, +ALEXIOS Metropolitan of Atlanta

Peaceful March and Press Conference in High Point

On June 7, Fr. Anton, his daughter Miriam Frunza, and Sam Galiatsatsos joined High Point Police Detective Randy Knight in a peaceful march organized by local churches in High Point, One Nation for Justice. https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/george-floyd/george-floyd-protests-high-point-greensboro-sunday/83-addb43fd-7119-488c-9ec9-fe255656f641 Scroll down to the video entitled: “High Point's police chief marches with protesters” at minutes 21:55, 25:52, and 26:31.

LIVE STREAMING SERVICES FROM ST. GEORGE

All the services from our church are streamed live and also stored for later viewing on our Facebook page. You can access the page for free, you do not need a Facebook account to do so. Go to our website: http://www.saintgeorgehp.org/ and click on the blue button that says Watch Live. This will take you to our Facebook page. A message will pop up on the bottom of the screen asking you to Log in or Create a new account. Ignore it and click on the video icon that is above. This will take you to the live streaming of the service.

Summer Reset July 13-17, 2020 A FREE Virtual Summer Youth Experience!

Who: Rising 6th - 12th Graders What: A virtual experience to STAY CONNECTED with our camp family during this summer away! Where: From the comfort of your home or virtually anywhere! When: July 13-17, 2020 Why: Because we can all use a fun and spiritual reset! How: Daily videos to watch each morning, challenges to complete and post during the day and live-discussions each evening (NO MASK REQUIRED). Cost: FREE!

We all can use a Fun and Spiritual Reset!

Join us this summer!

All rising 6th-12th Graders

Is good to have you back Kir Alecou! After delivering food supplies.

The master of organizing: Kosta Menegakis! Came with his employees and organized the storage!

Sam Galiatsatsos, Parish Council President Esther Asprogianis and Maria Mellonas preparing the

pastries for emergency workers!

Fr. Anton with the power washer.

Demetri Rizos loading the food supplies.