The Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, has recently released directives for all Churches in the OCA to abide by. You may find those directives HERE. In addition, our Archbishop MELCHISEDEK has released his own directives, which may be found in their entirety, HERE. Needless to say, this will preclude any normal parish functions for the entirety of this month, including Pascha. More information on this will be forthcoming, both in the Forerunner, which will arrive in your mailboxes this week, as well as this website, and the parish Facebook.
In summary I can offer how these directives will apply to our Parish.
For the indefinite future, any services that are permitted by Church and civil authorities will be served with very few people attending. The recommendations from State and local governments is that we should, for now, limit any gatherings to ten (10) people or less. This means that services will be limited to Fr. Nikolai, our two Altar Servers / Service Readers, our Choir Director, and other choir members, not to exceed ten (10) people total in the temple at any one time.
In order for our faithful to not be cut off from their parish entirely all services will be streamed to YouTube until such a time as it is safe for our parish to assemble in a more normal fashion. You will notice a new tab at the top of the page labeled “Live-stream“, which as its name suggests, is where the stream will be located, together with a link to the parish YouTube page, to watch archived videos.
The schedule of all services can be viewed on the “Calendar“ page at the top menu bar.
Parishioners are also encouraged to pray Reader’s services on Sundays, especially if they are not planning to watch the live-stream.
Understanding that nothing can replace the actual worship in the Church, it is recommended that those unable to attend the services currently Pray the Typika Service at home in front of their Icon corner on Sunday Morning. As well as additional prays for our deliverance from the Corona Virus. Linked here.
(Many Thanks to Frs. Thomas Soroka, Basil Biberdorf and John Joseph Kotalik for their work on these texts!)
Movable Texts for Sunday, April 5th
Movable Texts for Sunday, April 12th
Finally, be aware that even though the Parish is closed, the bills still come in, and we still need to pay them. So we are asking anyone that is able to continue their support to our parish. To more easily facilitate this, an online giving option has been created. Just click below.
Praying to the Lord for all of you!
Fr. Nikolai
