Good Friends never say Goodbye. They simply Say …
“See You Soon.”
Beloved parishioners;
Christ is Risen!
For four years my wife and I have been part of the Saint Constantine and Helen par-ish family. The assigning of a priest to a parish by a bishop is something like an arranged marriage – you don’t know quite what to ex-pect.
From my perspective, it’s been simply a wonderful pastoral experience! While my ministry here was not
full-time, you were always sensitive of my time and work limitations; and I ap-preciated that. I have also been very grateful for the kindness, love and hospi-tality you have shown to me and to Presbytera Elena.
You have treated us like family and took us into your hearts. It’s been a real pleasure working with you doing God’s work here in the Antelope Val-ley. We will have many golden memories of our time here which presbyt-era and I will treasure in the years ahead.
We are preparing for the big move back to North Car-olina in early June to be clos-er our son Max and daugh-ter-in-law Molly. We hope to periodically visit in the future. While we will be far away on the East Coast, this beautiful little parish in Lancaster will be forever in our thoughts.
We will include you in our prayers as we depart for Washington, North Carolina to begin a new chapter in our lives. May God bless you all with health, prosperity and good fortune!
Love in Christ,
Fr. Dionysios
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3
MAY—JUNE 2017
Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church
www.stsch.org
43404 30th St West Lancaster, CA 93536
(661) 945-1212
Fr. Dionysios Listermann-Vierling
Pastor
E-mail: [email protected]
Cell Phone: (831) 713-6941
For confirmation or questions on any event,
please contact
E-mail: sylvarobinson001
@gmail.com (661)794-8307
The Antelope Valley Beacon
P A G E 2
attendance, or his Chancel-lor, His Grace Bishop Apos-tolos.
Father Dionysios’ sched-ule in these last weeks is a little uncertain, as he has a surgery scheduled for May 25th. We will plan to say goodbye to Father and Presvytera at our Feast Day luncheon on 21 May which will be Father’s last day at the Parish.
As President of the Par-ish Council I would like to thank Father Dionysios and Presvytera Elena for their effort and dedication in serv-ing the Lord and His Parish in the Antelope Valley these last almost 4 years, and we wish them God’s blessings in the new phase of their life.
Peter Bouras Parish Council President
CHRIST IS RISEN!
I hope everyone had a spiritually uplifting Holy Week, Holy Pascha with Bright Week.
As you know we are in the final month of Father Dionysios’ ministry to our Parish. Father and Presvytera decided to move to North Carolina, where after 30 years of service, Father can retire from the active priestly ministry, and they can be close to their son and family.
Although this may be felt as a loss for our Par-ish, yet the Lord is in charge, as He says ‘without Me you can do nothing”, and “I am with you to the end of the age”.
We do not know exact-ly what the future will bring, but we take comfort in His words and trust that
the Lord, and His servant our Metropolitan Gerasimos will shelter and protect our little Church, and send us a worthy Priest to serve our community.
At this time, we look for-ward to celebrating the 35
th
Anniversary of our Parish Church building, and the 10
th Anniversary of the
John P. Eliopulos Hellenic Center. Of course the Church (the people) existed for many decades before the Church building was built.
Please make your plans to attend the weekend of the 20
th—21
st both the Ves-
pers and Dinner, starting at 5:30 PM on Saturday, May 20
th, and the Divine Liturgy
on Sunday, May 21st, the
Feast Day of our Parish. A luncheon will be provided after Liturgy.
We will be blessed to have either His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos in
Saints Constantine and Helen
Parish Name Day & 35th Anniversary
10th Anniversary of the John P. Eliopulos Hellenic Center
Weekend of May 20th-21st
RSVP for Saturday Night Dinner by May 8, 2017
Pam Evola: 661-350-7549 or Elaine Grado 661-942-5142
T H E A N T E L O P E V A L L E Y B E A C O N
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3
MAY - JUNE SPECIAL SERVICES
May 7 Sunday
End of Liturgy – Sunday & High School Graduation; Miltos Leventis Scholarship award
May 20 Saturday
5:30 PM Sts. Constantine & Helen Feast day Great Vespers w/ Hierarch
6:00 PM Sts. Constantine & Helen 35th Anniversary Gala: Cocktail Hour
7:00 PM Sts. Constantine & Helen 35th Anniversary Gala: Dinner
May 21 Sunday
9:00 AM Sts. Constantine & Helen Feast Day Matins w/ Hierarch
10:00 AM Sts. Constantine & Helen Feast Day Hierarchical Liturgy
12:00 PM Sts. Constantine & Helen Feast Day Luncheon
May 24 Wednesday
7:00 PM Holy Ascension Great Vespers
Jun 03 Saturday
8/9am Saturday of Souls Matins/Liturgy (depends on clergy)
Jun 04 Sunday
End of Liturgy - Holy Pentecost kneeling vespers
FELLOWSHIP HOUR SCHEDULE
Date Event Sponsor
May 7 Coffee Hour Elias and Hind Qarmout
May 14 Coffee Hour Anna Conti
May 21 Feast Day Luncheon Hellenic Center
May 28 Coffee Hour
Jun 4 Coffee Hour Irene Tsobanakis / Helen Poulos
Jun 11 Coffee Hour Sylva Robinson
Jun 18 Coffee Hour
Jun 25 Coffee Hour Julie Agnew
Please call Helen Poulos if you are interested in providing food for a memorial, a coffee hour, or a luncheon. Helen Poulos can be reached at 661-538-0386 home; 661-618-8607 cell.
PAGE 3
T H E A N T E L O P E V A L L E Y B E A C O N
Memorials We are providing a form on which Parishioners can notify Fr. Dionysios of planned memo-
rials. Please ask for the form at the candle stand. If possible, please submit the form at
least one Sunday prior to the planned date.
According to the rules of the Church memorials are not permitted: from the Saturday of
Lazarus through Thomas Sunday. Also, memorials are not allowed on the Great Feast
Days of the Lord and of the Theotokos.
Memorials for March / April
A one-year memorial was given by Antoneta Ketza for her mother, Ana.
A one-year memorial was given by Theodora Papastathis for her mother, Angie Eliopulos. Georggin.
A one-year memorial was given by Gus and Denise Christou for Gus’ mother Stella.
A memorial was given by George Dracopoulos for members of his family.
Sacraments
Baptism
John Ilias, son of Maria Ilias, both from Saint Nicholas, baptized the 11-month old Elzie Layman.
Weddings
Michael and Adriana Kirollos had their marriage blessed in the Church.
Meetings
Parish Council Meetings
May 17th—Wednesday, at 6:30 PM
June 18th—Sunday, after Coffee Hour
Philoptochos Meeting
Sunday, May 28th after Coffee Hour
Saturday, June 3rd Yard Sale 7AM-1PM
Feeding the Hungry—We broke 200! Twice this year we were able to provide food for the less fortunate here in our community.
On each of these days we fed more than 200 people! We are thankful for Pamela Evola for
planning the menus, shopping, and preparing the food; and are also thankful for the faithful
ones who come and serve the food. Each time we serve in this capacity we are blessed!
We have three remaining dates in 2017. Please put them on your calendar and plan to
come serve. Participation time is from 8:30 – 10:30 on these Saturday mornings: Jun 24,
Aug 26, Oct 28.
P A G E 4
Christian Stewardship is…
…learning how to be a responsible and concerned caretaker of Christ’s Church; it is learn-ing how to enjoy Church life and be happy in Church work, for in Her dwells the fullness
of the Spirit of God. …our active commit-ment to use all our time, talent and treas-ure for the benefit of mankind in grateful ac-knowledgment of Christ’s redeeming love. …caring for the needs of others. …offering one’s self to God as He offered Him-self to us.
2017 PARISH COUNCIL
Peter Bouras President
James Brunson Vice-President
Julie Agnew Treasurer
Dr. Alex Patananan Secretary
Philip Evola
Elaine Grado
Michael Hutchison
Bill Koukourikos
Petar Simich
What is Christian Stewardship?
P A G E 6 T H E A N T E L O P E V A L L E Y B E A C O N
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3
Agnew, Ms. Jenny
Agnew. Ms. Julie
Astrinakis, Mrs. Fotini
Benveniste, Mrs. Stefania
Bonorris, Mrs. Josie
Bouras, Mr. and Mrs. Peter
Brunson, Mr. and Mrs. James
Christou, Mr. and Mrs. Gus
Chryssostomides, Mr. and Mrs. Pandelis
Dracopoulos, Mr. and Mrs. George
Drimakis, Mr. and Mrs. Costas
Eliopulos, Mrs. Georgia
Evola, Mr. and Mrs. Philip
Golea, Mrs. Nicole
Goutsos, Mr. and Mrs. Gary
Grado-Berona, Mrs. Georgia
Grado, Mrs. Elaine
Haddad, Mr. and Mrs. Sam
Harris, Mr. Thomas
Hartman, Ms. Beth
Hendrickson, Mrs. Lee
Homsy, Mr. John
Hutchison, Mr. and Mrs. Michael
Kappas, Mr. Andrew
Kappas, Mrs. Sofia
Koukourikos, Mr. and Mrs. Bill
Letcher, Mrs. Helen
Listermann-Vierling, Fr. and Pva.
Mormanis, Mrs. Sia
Patananan, Dr. Alexander
Platis, Ms. Anna
Popita, Mrs. Valerie
Poulos, Ms. Helen
Robinson, Mrs. Sylva
Sanchez, Ms. Senaida
Sanchez, Mr. and Mrs. Santiago
Simich, Mr. Petar
Tintocalis, Mrs. Rosa
Tsobanakis, Mrs. Irene
Woods, Mrs. Stella
Zarras, Mr. and Mrs. Peter
T ha nk you fo r you r l o ve a nd Com m it m ent o f Chr i s t ’ s Ho ly O rth odo x Chu rch . We ar e g l ad t hat y ou a r e par t o f ou r P ar i s h .
SAINTS CONSTANTINE AND HELEN
2017 STEWARDSHIP HONOR ROLL
After prayerfully considering your pledge for 2017, please drop your completed Stewardship Commitment Card into the offering plate. Without your love and commit-ment on a stewardship card, we cannot properly fund our Church ministries or plan for the financial obligations of the Parish.
PAGE 7
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