Late August and early September will see the framing of the addition’s walls, roof construction, electrical and mechanical systems’ rough-in and exterior work being executed. September the interior finishes will progress to ultimately finish out the addition. See some construction photos bellow

It is with great excitement that we will participate as a community in the groundbreaking ceremony wi t h Hi s Emi n e n c e Archbishop Isaiah on September 11th. Our goal, soon after this significant event, will be to apply for permits and begin construction of thenew Church after this year’s Food Festival, the first step being the demolition and site clearing of the former Paulos Center.

If you have any questions regarding the overall planning schedule of the Capital Development Program, please do not hesitate to ask me or any member of the Building Committee.

Joe Sullivan,

Chairman

St. John’s has entered into a contractual agreement with Ashton Wynne to serve as the Construction Manager for the Phase 1 Paulos Center Replacement Addition and the Phase 2 Demolition of the existing Paulos Center. Upon obtaining the necessary permits, they will begin construction activities on-site in June with the goal of completing the addition before the September 11th groundbreaking ceremony.

After reviewing the overall schedule with the Parish Council, it was agreed to delay the demolition of the existing Paulos Center until after this year’s Festival. Based upon the continued success of the Capital Campaign, it is planned to demo the existing Paulos Center and start construction of the new Church right after the Festival.

If you have any questions regarding this initial phase of the Capital Development Program, please do not hesitate to ask me or any member of the Building Committee.

Joe Sullivan

Building Committee Chairman

As of December 20^th, this level of total commitment has been achieved by about one-half the number of stewards of the Parish.  We are confident many of our as yet uncommitted stewards and regular parishioners will also decide to step forward during the remaining weeks of December before we conclude the Capital Campaign’s first year of activities…  The Campaign will continue anew in the New Year as we strive to reach the ultimate goal of $2,400,000, of which the first $2.0 million will be for construction of the new church building. 

During the first half of the year 2010, the Capital Campaign Committee’s focus will be on working with the Parish Council and the Building Committee to finalize plans for the Paulos Center Replacement addition to the hall/church building.  We must build the Paulos Center Replacement and demolish the old building before we can start construction of the new church.  This will take-up approximately the first half of the New Year during which time we hope our uncommitted parishioners will be able to make their commitments to the Capital Campaign Fund according to their abilities…  At the same time, the CCC will be launching the Campaign BRIDGE program to Build communications, Report financial information; Involve new members; Discover new ministries; Grow our stewardship culture; and, Express our appreciation continually to those who are making it possible to “Build Our Future” with their commitments and contributions no matter what size.   With the support of Fr. Vasile and the Parish Council, we hope to use the Capital Campaign and the development of the new church to prepare the Parish for the additional growth we expect with the opening of the new church and other renovated and expanded facilities over the next several years’ time. 

As we have reported to the Parish at the various Campaign events, a financially secure Capital Campaign Fund Account has been opened at a local bank and arrangements have also been made for acceptance of non-cash contributions in payment of commitments for those who desire to transfer securities to the CCFA.  Please contact the Council Treasurer or any member of the CCC for further information and directions as to the steps to take when transferring securities. 

The members of your Capital Campaign Committee wish you and yours a Blessed Christmas and to all of us a very Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year…

George Vittas, Chairman, Dr. Chris Yiantsou, Paun Peters, Nancy Medvic, Louis Papaliodis and Margaret Chokas

We just witnessed a historical moment yesterday at St. John the Baptist at the “Total Parish Commitment” event. The entire parish gathered in prayer and commitment as they pledged their contributions to the parish’s building plans for a new Byzantine Church on the property.

To date, our fellow parishioners have committed a total of $935,245 towards the ultimate campaign goal of $2.4 million, of which $2,057,000 is the current estimate for the actual construction of the new church building.  It is exciting to realize that in a few short weeks we have received pledged commitments totaling nearly one-half the amount needed to build our new church. 

We would like to take a moment and thank everyone for their generous contributions; their support to the Lord’s mission in our community will not go unrewarded.

I would also like to point out that all this has been achieved by only 47 parishioners, less than half the number of current Parish Stewards.  We are hopeful of and excited at the prospect of receiving additional Capital Campaign commitments from the remainder of the Parish. 

If you have not committed yet be sure that your participation will make a difference and we truly would like to see all of our parishioners involved so we may all, every one of us, know that we played a part in this achievement on the day the doors of our new church are opened.

I thank again to all that have already joined and ask everyone else to give their most prayerful and thoughtful consideration to our common project and hope that they will decide to be a part of this historic undertaking.

We are looking forward to seeing you all next Sunday, December 20 at the “First Fruits Gathering“ when we hope you will be prepared to make the first contributions on your commitment.

The Capital Campaign Committee will keep everybody informed as to the progress of the Capital Campaign Fund and will send periodic reports on the status of our commitment and payments.

With my sincerest thanks and the gratitude of your Capital Campaign Committee,

In Christ’s service,

Fr. Vasile

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

(Mat 22:37-40)

St. John the Little, a disciple of St. Pachomious the Great, said once “Nobody builds his house from the roof down but from the foundation up”. Asked what he meant by this he said “our foundation is our neighbor; to him I should tend first, because on him hang all the commandments of Christ.”  The essence of Christianity is love, but love has to be directed to someone other than us, otherwise it becomes selfishness. Our relationship with God depends on our relationship with our brothers and sisters. If I don’t love my brother and do not want to be with him than how could I be with God that loves my brother?

The ancient Greeks had a real fondness for the concept of love and were very particular in describing it, employing several words to describe its different meanings. For this they  had eros, which is the passionate love, more linked with the flesh in the modern understanding, but not necessarily the only meaning of it; they also used philia for the love toward our friends and the things we enjoy in life; storge represented the family love, like parents for their children; and finally they had agape.

Agape signifies a love that is unconditional, selfless, genuine, and cheerful. It is the type of love that never asks but always gives, is a love that does not bother to suspect anything but trusts, it is the love that does not talk bad about others, or ever gets upset, or yells or has swinging moods. It is how God love us and how we should love our neighbor.

On Easter day, the holiest day for Orthodox people, we hold a service that we also call “Agape” vespers. Maybe you have wondered where this name comes from. Its true meaning is linked with the Gospel of the day that according to Tradition is read in many different languages. The languages are a symbol of the love God has for all the people of this world, not just for the Israelites, but for all the gentiles that were all called to be a new holy nation under Christ, united into His holy body, the Church. This represents the real agape: the universal love of God, a perfect unity of persons that has all the love He needs and yet He creates the world and in it He puts Man so He can have other subjects that can partake in the perfect love of the Holy Trinity.

God did not needed this for Himself, He did not just wanted a partner to play with, but He, unselfishly, wanted someone to share with what He already had in abundance: love. He offered man the posibility to enter into a relationship of love with Him, a relationship wanted from both sides, a relationship of unbiased free choice. Any other solution beside the total freedom to join in or not, which also includes the risk of rejection, would have fallen into the category of arranged marriages.

God wanted however a true love, a love based on mutual understanding and informed consent: a simple choice and man would have had everything. Man however, we know the history by now, rejected this union initially and sold it for an immaterial dream of existence in creation without its Creator.

The day of the great fall was a sad day in the existence of Man but in the same time one that made possible the revelation of God’s supreme commitment to Man, a revelation of His profound love for mankind, a love that goes all the way to sacrifice. Not a sacrifice of animals: doves or lambs or goats, but a meaningful sacrifice, the sacrifice of the only Son of God, Who came down to give us another chance to be redeemed and to rejoin God in His plans for union with Mankind.

God emptied Himself of all His heavenly glory and from His greatness He made Himself small, one of us, so we can be made great; as St. Athanasius said: God became man so man can become, at his turn, god. This is the great mystery of love: one becoming small so the other could grow; one renouncing his will for the other’s will, one giving the other receiving, always cheerful, always joyful, always holding the other one in first regard.

We re-enact this great mystery every Sunday when during Liturgy we partake of the Eucharist. Christ makes Himself again small so we can take Him in our bodies and in turn we become big, we become one with God, as He always wanted. But through Him we also become one with all that partake with Him; through communion with Christ we actually become a Church. One becomes many and many become one. When one joins the church one ceased being alone, from one, living in isolation one becomes part of a community that shares everything in agape.         

What unites the bricks of His Church, us, His people, is not mortar, but is Him, love incarnate, the genuine and original agape. His love however is one that compels us to imitation. If we want our church to be solid and last forever we should make sure we have enough of this special cement. Hear the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you [...] that [your] hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love.” (Col 2:1-2).

This is the only way: to love each other as Christ loves us. The bonds that form between people through unconditioned love, respect and consideration are the only ones that could last a life time and dare I say an eternity. A community of faith has to be first of all a community of love. We cannot be in communion with the love incarnate if we don’t share this sentiment among ourselves. We join the Church because we love God, but the expression of this love is made through our brothers and sisters. They are the true gate to paradise, our long waited ticket to heaven.

Only united in one holy body the building blocks we need for our Church will be brought together in an unbreakable bond. In love and unity our sacrifice and commitment will serve the holy purpose of living a true life in Christ. 

 Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit. (Eph 2:19-22)

These are all questions that we all ask at some point in our lives and we all have some friends, relatives, colleagues that are still asking them and ids nothing wrong with that. Indeed if we honestly look into what we do in Church we hold services: Liturgies, Vespers, Vigil, we are taught about the word of God and His will, we learn to fast, pray, do good works. And most of us go home and apply these things in our lives. But if someone questions the purpose of all we do we don’t have an easy answer because in the heat of doing everything we sometimes forget what the real purpose is to all that we do.

Same goes for building a church. We build a church because we want more people to fit in, we want a church because we want our children to keep our traditions and our faith, we want a church so the services will be more uplifting and we can go on and on with the wonderful things we will do in our beautiful new Byzantine church. And all these things are again very good.

But in all the frenzy of designs, capital campaigns, fundraisers, financial calculations etc. it is important not to lose sight of the goal that lays ahead of all these efforts. It is important to meditate from time to time at what we obtain from coming to Church, from the services and the fellowship and the fasting and the prayers. It has to be something for us in the end “for we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”. (Rom 8:28)

Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a blessed saint of the Russian Church answered once to someone that asked him the same question. He said: “prayer, fasting, vigil and all the other Christian practices may be, they do not constitute the aim of our Christian life. Although it is true that they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end, the true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. (St. Seraphim of Sarov. On acquisition of the Holy Spirit)

This is fine, but some might ask how does one acquire the Holy Spirit? Well, exactly through those good and indispensable means we just mentioned we do in Church. The Church is the place where we can receive what we all need: the Holy Spirit.

But why do we need the Holy Spirit? There is a lot of talk in all Christian denominations about developing a personal relationship with God. But this is easier said than done because we don’t really see Him. It has been revealed however that there is a way. The gate to knowing God is the Son incarnate: Jesus Christ; if we know the Son, we know the Holy Trinity. He said:”He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Joh 14:9). But here is another difficulty, how do we get to know the Son, He came and yet, after His resurrection, He has ascended into heavens and now He sits at the right hand of the Father. This seems a pretty remote place for someone on earth. In the same time we know that ascending into heavens Christ also said “behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world.” (Mat 28:20). How can this be?

Christ’s presence and His perpetual actualization into our midst is made possible through the Sacraments of the Church, which in turn are practicable only through the Holy Spirit. At Baptism we are born again from water and from Spirit, at Chrismation we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of bread and wine are transformed during the Liturgy through the power of the same Holy Spirit. The Holy Unction, the Crowning, the Ordinations , the forgiveness of sins at Confession are all the work of the Holy Spirit. Through all the mysteria that we receive in Church the Holy Spirit, the Comforter is abundantly given to us so the work of transformation the Jesus Christ has started can be made possible in us. Christ’s presence in us becomes a reality through only through the Holy Spirit.

Through the same Holy Spirit all the Christian works: prayer, fasting, vigils, charity and the others, receive substance as means of purification and preparation of our bodies for the great encounter with God. The Holy Spirit fulfills our incomplete and imperfect acts and takes us past the finish line in union with God or theosis as the Father of the Church call it.

Man is sick, our nature is broken, but through the Holy Spirit we can be made whole again, we can be cured, we can go back to our original state of creation. The Holy Spirit is the Healer that rests in the Great Hospital for the sick, the Church, uniting all the members into one body of Christ. Only in this body there is hope and salvation, only here we can receive what our aching nature craves for.

So we need our church buildings, designed in the narrow ways of our tradition so the holy services could be kept unchanged in a space that allows proper manifestation of our rich liturgical heritage, providing the needed relief to so many chronically ill.

We have to use this extraordinary opportunity that is given to us today to, to allow the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts in the fullness of our Holy Tradition. We should all engage in this work for the glory of God and our souls’ salvation.

But building the church is only the beginning, we have to participate in the purpose of construction but we also have to commit unto the higher purpose lying ahead. Only by serving both goals, the transformation of our parish and the active engagement in the transformation of our souls we will “be partaker(s) of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the eternal times.” (2Ti 1:8-9) Amin.

On my way home yesterday I saw a man, at a crossroad, holding up a sign with a simple message:”Jesus died for our sins”. He was alone; he was not holding any advertisements, he did not tried to lure anyone into his freshly built mega-worshipping facility, but he rise up high the sign above his head as you drove by, trying to make you read the message. At that moment someone in the car asked a question: what denomination is he from? And in that very second it struck me: it really doesn’t matter!  The truth that he was holding up high was so universal that nothing else really is important anymore. All he was trying to tell us, as we drove by in our shiny cars, coming from the mall, in a very festive mood, was that God has sent His only Son to die on the cross for each and every one of us.

It was a really shocker for me personally, because in that second I realized how little time I spend thinking about this simple truth: Jesus died for my sins. And even more shocking is the realization of the gap that exists between this truth and my actions to honor it.

Our Christian life is based on this truth, without Christ dying on the Cross and rising from the tomb we would have no future beyond this cruel reality we call modern world. I am not saying this to ruin anyone’s holiday mood, but one day we have to realize that life is more than just an eternal celebration. Am I going too far? Think about it: we begin with the New Year celebration, in a few weeks we start preparing for Valentine day and by then we are on our way to Easter. We cruise then through the summer holidays and we found ourselves masked for Halloween. We savor the Thanksgiving turkey with the family and before we could digest it all Christmas knocks at the door; from there to the New Year is just a notch and here we go again. Don’t even think about adding all the birthday parties and Superbowls and other celebrations because I really don’t know when we get anything done with all the festal preparations.

I am exaggerating a little bit, I admit it, but it really seems that we are so committed to entertain ourselves that all the other commitments start fading away. If we truly believe in the bold truth that man was holding up yesterday, then this belief requires some serious action from our part. 

We are here today talking about building, about committing to change the face of our community.  Along with it however we should also commit to another renovation: a complete rebuilding of our own commitments in Christ.

We have made such a commitment to God at the time of our baptism, through the mouth of our Godfather or Godmother. They vouched that we will keep our baptismal garment white and spotless and we will uphold the ways of God. Yet ever since we keep sinning; big or small, but we shy away, day after day from our original spiritual pledge. How can this be possible, one may ask, after all Christ died for us, wouldn’t this be enough to eradicate sin from this world and make us walk the right path forever? Yes, it could be, but God does not want to take away our precious freedom, He does not want us to be his puppets, but His partners in the refashioning of the world that started at Resurrection. He does not want to do everything for us; He wants us to be a part of our own salvation by re-acknowledging our promise, a sort of an informed consent reaffirming our baptismal vows.

The problem is that we keep moving the date of this commitment like a wedding date we are not ready for. Every time we get closer to God we get colder and colder feet.  “I will have time to come to Liturgy next week, I will pledge next year for the new Church, I will sing in a choir once I’ll have  free some time to practice” and we can go on and on with the excuses. Procrastination is a Christian’s worst enemy. But hear what Jesus says, “In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation, I helped you; Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2Co 6:2). Notice He didn’t say tomorrow is the day, but clearly He expresses the urgency of doing now what we already know we have to do.

We need to stop bring excuses to the dinner that we are invited by God every minute of our lives: “[…] I have bought a piece of land, […] I have bought five yoke of oxen, […] I have married a wife“(Luk 14:18-20); the excuses won’t do us any good. We have to make a commitment to God that we will live our lives according to His will and act upon it today.

The commitment does not involve only the financial pledges; it goes beyond that; it goes deep until it reaches the heart of man. This is the place we want to rebuild first; this is where our re-construction efforts should concentrate. If we don’t achieve a “broken and humble heart”, all our efforts are in vain. God does not need walls or shiny domes; He just wants a proper abode for Him in the depth of our being.

The ultimate commitment of the Orthodox Christian is a commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is known in and through His Church. The Divine Liturgy calls upon us to “commit ourselves, one another, and our whole life unto Christ our God.” We also pray, prior to receiving Holy Communion, “O Master Who loves mankind, unto you we commit our whole life and our hope.” Each of us is unique and blessed by the Holy Spirit with different gifts and vocations in life, therefore, our personal commitment to Christ will be expressed differently. Yet, this commitment should always be built upon a worship of God and a loving concern for others.

A new Church, built in the tradition of our Orthodox heritage will indeed help make us aware of this, it will create an environment that will foster the right attitude toward our relationship with God and His Creation, it will help us understand more about our life in Christ, it will bring us closer to God in a meaningful liturgical space, but it cannot guarantee our entrance into paradise. This is up to God that makes it possible, but also up to us that need to willingly accept His saving grace in humility and thanksgiving.

The commitment we are called to make today defines who we are going to be tomorrow. We may or may not build a new church on this property, but if carrying this effort we will be able to rediscover our true priorities, to come together us a community of love, to re-kindle the spark of holiness God has put in all of us from the beginning, no matter what the outcome will be, we will still be winners.

Last week we acknowledged a number of spiritual building blocks we need to lay at the foundation of our New Church. The first among them, that will constitute the theme of this homily, is sacrifice.

Doing some research the other day I stumbled upon a website where someone was asking why the daily sacrifices for sin where abolished in the Judaic tradition and by whom. The answer he got was that the daily sacrifice ceased when the Romans attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in the 1st Century. The sacrifices were not abolished, it’s just that one cannot bring a sacrifice outside of the Temple and so, if there is no Temple, there is automatically no sacrifice.

For us to fully understand this, we have to go back to the Old Testament where the Levite priests had to bring daily sacrifices for their own sins and for the sins of the people. These sacrifices of animals were brought in the outside court of the temple and were burnt as a sweet fragrance to God.  But these were not enough to release the people from sin; they were not enough for salvation, as the Apostle Paul recognizes: “indeed every priest stands daily ministering and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.”(Heb 10:11) There was something more profound than a sacrifice of a dove or a lamb that needed to happen in order to be released from the bond of death that comes through sin.

From a Christian perspective, the animal sacrifices have stopped for a whole different reason. Messiah, Christ, the Son of God, has come into the world and He took upon Himself the sin of the world and “has given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God.”(Eph 5:2). By this “one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.” (Heb 10:14)

It appears therefore that through this one sacrifice that was made for us the need for a sacrificial attitude has ended. We don’t need to concern ourselves with offerings to God because He got all He wanted.

Let’s read a verse from Romans: “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.” (Rom 3:23-25)

The key to understand this is “effective through faith”. What does this really mean? One can interpret it that if we believe in Jesus Christ we’re pretty much done, we just have to sit back and enjoy the ride to heavens. But here is another dilemma because the same Bible says: “for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also”. (Jas 2:26)

It appears therefore that is not that sacrifices are not needed anymore, but only meaningless sacrifices, like those of killing animals. We still need to maintain a sacrificial mindset, but redirected on a path of true spiritual significance from the perspective of the Resurrection of Christ. Here is what the Apostle says: “Through Him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Heb 13:15-16)

Indeed what God wants is not some stinking smell of burnt fur and fat, but the sweet spiritual fragrance of our prayers and the wonderful aroma of communion when reaching out to somebody in need.

It is not anymore about offering something to God, but is about redirecting our attention from the “number one” to everybody else; it is about understanding that the meaning of the word sacrifice has to do with sharing. Here is what Jesus Christ said to a pious young man that asked Him how to attain everlasting life: “He said to him, Yet you lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.” (Luk 18:22) Yet this is very difficult to do, no matter how big or small our treasure is.

The young man failed the test in the story because he was so attached onto his possessions. Shall we follow his example, shall we continue to cling on to treasures that will rust, or lose their value in the next financial crisis, or be smashed by a tornado or earthquake? No, of course we don’t want this. We heard the Gospel today when God talked with the rich man that kept everything for himselfow God talks to the richman that kept everything for himself: “Fool! This night your soul shall be required of you, then whose shall be those things which you have prepared?“(Luk 12:20). But again this also is not a call to financial irresponsibility; it rather is about “laying up in store for [ourselves] a good foundation against the time to come, that [we] may lay hold on eternal life. (1Ti 6:19). Sharing is nothing else but the greatest investment there is: you don’t gain just a couple of interest points, but everything you do here is multiplied tenfold in heavens.

You might of course say, well I am not that rich, my land has not brought forth plentifully, on the contrary in this economy, so what shall I do? First there is so much more we can offer than money: our time and talents are always needed. The Church needs teachers, chanters, council members and so much more. Second, the thing about giving is that is not about the quantity, but is about the heart. Remember what Jesus Christ said when he observed a poor widow putting two small coins in the temple’s treasury: “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has cast in more than all those who have cast into the treasury. For all cast in from their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, has cast in all that she had, all her livelihood.” (Mar 12:43-44)

The most meaningful gift is one that is truly sacrificial, that expresses the greatest virtue of all: unconditioned love. After all we are not doing anything new in this “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16)”

We do so many things and we spend so much time and resources on really trivial matters, but when it comes to do something meaningful, everlasting, like helping someone in need or building a church we always find ourselves being either really busy or counting our pennies. We don’t seem to realize that is important on what we spend our money, time and effort. As the Apostle again says: “All things are lawful to me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful to me, but not all things build up. (1Co 10:23)

We have to reevaluate this attitude that seems to be more and more prevalent throughout the world and try to re-channel our resources, small or big, as God has given, to what is really important from the perspective of eternal life, not just for a comfortable life on the earth. Let us offer ourselves to God, completely, listening to the words of the Scripture: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom 12:1)

The name we chose for the capital campaign associated with our New Church is “Building our future”. It is a memorable phrase that captures the spirit but not enough by itself to explain the fullness of our undertaking.   We need to further qualify our motto in order to understand why, what and how we will build the future of our community.

In the old times, the descendents of Noah built themselves a “city and a tower” for pride, to suit their own ego, to fulfill earthly, selfish and limited aspirations. “…they said, come, let us build us a city and a tower, and its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth. (Gen 11:4)

They built the massive structure that we call the tower of Babel, for the wrong reason, a colossal mistake, repeating in fact the error Adam made when he listened to the serpent in paradise: the error of seeking self determination, separation from the Creator in the illusion that man can achieve and become something isolated from God.

This is not the type of project we want to undertake here, because we are not building any structure that will increase our earthly glory or feed our self esteem, but we want to increase and make known the glory of God. As King Solomon when he started building the temple in Jerusalem we say: behold, we purpose to build a house to the name of Jehovah our God, we shall build a house to His name. (1Ki 5:5).

We are building a proper house of God, a house in which we will be able to worship our God according to the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church. We are not seeking a parting from God in this endeavor but, on the contrary, a place where we could meet Him in the most meaningful of ways. I say this because a church building is not just a shelter for the body, but is also an expression of our relationship with God. For this purpose it cannot receive any shape or form, but has to conform to the symbolical traditional architecture becoming a manifestation in brick and mortar of our sacred Theology.

The church represents more than simply the walls and, although we build it from stone, brick and other traditional means, to reach its desired spiritual purpose we need to employ a whole other series of construction materials that are first of all spiritual. I don’t say this denying the need for the physical resources that are indispensable for its completion, but until we understand the need for our spiritual involvement we will either participate in it half heartedly or we will not participate at all. 

A traditional prayer we read at the laying of the foundation of an Orthodox Church expresses this very fact:

 “O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who are the true God and the Brightness and Image of the Father which is from everlasting, and the Life Everlasting; You Who are  the Corner-stone, born without the aid of seed of man from the Virgin Mount; You Who are the Foundation immovable of Your Church; Who also, through the shedding of Your precious blood, have founded Your Church, and raised it up by Your death, and perfected it by Your Resurrection and blessed it by Your Ascension, and have sanctified and enlarged it by the descent of thy Holy Spirit: Unto You do we now humbly pray: Send down the grace of Your Holy Spirit, and bless our undertakings.“

The real foundation of our project is not one based on concrete piers but it rests on Christ: He is “the foundation immovable” of His Church. His blood, shed for us on the Cross, His sacrifice is what made our salvation possible and the Church to even exist. His sacred Blood continues to feed the entire Church through the Holy Communion giving it strength and substance. The churches of old were built on the tombs of the martyrs that were giving their lives for the edification of faith. The churches of new should also be built on sacrifice, not necessarily of blood, but nevertheless a sacrifice that would express a spirit of renewal, a rechanneling of our resources for what really matters into eternity, not just here on earth.

The walls of the church, raised by His death and perfected by His Resurrection are a symbol of our needed spiritual reconstruction that has to happen along with our building plans. Our commitment should be not only to build a church of stone but also a church of people united and growing together in Christ; people dying to sin to be refashioned into virtue.

A Church erected in this way has a sacred purpose: to follow Christ into His Ascension, to keep climbing the ladder of divine ascent until we reach our final destination in heaven.

The Church as the body of Christ was born at Pentecost through the descent of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were united then into a common cause: “Go and preach the Gospel to the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The same Holy Spirit should unite us today in our mission to build a new earthly abode for Him and a place of unity in peace and brotherly love for us; a place where we can hand down our faith to our children and share the Gospel with anyone willing.

These are the genuine building blocks of the foundation of our new church: sacrifice, commitment, purpose and unity. They are the secret ingredients of a project that will endure not just for some short earthly years but into eternity. United together in this effort we will truly be able to build a holy future for us and for the generations coming after us.

I have the great honor to be the bearer of good news today. The ministry that God has planted in our Parish is growing like never before, nourished under the grace of the Holy Spirit. Our community is flourishing both spiritually but also physically. Due to this blessed growth we are today at a point were new prospects are opening wide in front of us.

During the years you have experienced our community grow. You have seen the Church established some 30 years ago, struggling initially with services held at various locations through the Mid Cities, before it finally settled and built its current multipurpose building in Euless on a wonderful property that we now own.

Today the time has come that we embrace the fullness of our traditional Greek Orthodox Architecture (required by our Holy Services) as well as our growing needs. For this purpose the General Assembly of the Church of Saint John the Baptist has decided to erect a new Byzantine Style Church on its current property. Also part of the building project is the replacement of the existing Paulos Center (that hosts our vibrant Sunday school) and the repurposing of the current building structure to accommodate more people.

This extraordinary news will provide everyone a unique opportunity to participate in growth of the Greek Orthodox Church’s mission in our area. With a new Church built upon the Holy Tradition of our Forefathers the Divine Services will reach yet another height in splendor and majesty attracting more people to our faith. The Church school will be able to deliver the Gospel’s message to our children in a nurturing environment and the enlarged Social Hall will host more parishioners in fellowship and agape.

These are exciting times for everyone and we would like you to be part of our vision by offering you the opportunity to take our parish to its desired aspiration. The “Building our Future Campaign” has already started. You will have the chance to participate to informational events, you will receive printed materials, listen to inspiring homilies that will try to uncover the deep spiritual meaning of our endeavor: being God’s partners in making His Church grow.

Join us in this holy mission, let yourselves be captured by our vision and take charge in embracing this opportunity that God is opening to you.

In Christ’s service, 

Rev. Fr. Vasile Tudora,

Proistamenos