2005 STEWARDSHIP

The Archdiocese Department of Stewardship and Pastoral Resources has prepared a new Christian Stewardship Program for use in our parishes nationwide in 2005. The program is based on the offertory, Se Imnoumen: We Bless, We Praise, We Thank You.

The Program packets being sent contain:

1. Stewardship Guidelines, including a booklet with recommendations, suggestions, letters, and other documents for a successful stewardship program.
   
2. 2005 Stewardship Posters, articulating the theme; and
   
3. 2005 Christian Steward-ship Program CD-ROM consisting of:
   a. General information
   b. Stewardship tips
   c. Tri-fold Appeal
   d. Cards and forms
   e. Letters conducive to grow- ing and promoting steward ship
   f. Sermons
   g. Articles and illustrations for inclusion in the Herald and Sunday bulletin
   h. Materials for Stewardship Sunday
   i. Three Power Point Presentations on Stewardship

All documents are included in the CD-ROM and, we are told, are user friendly and ready for the Stewardship Committee to personalize, cut and paste. Some of the above information will be helpful to us as we promote and grow the program. At the Cathedral, our current policy is to “roll over” our stewards, from the previous year to the following year. Allowing for some adjustments, our emphasis will be to expand the program to include 1) young people who are turn-ing 18 and older and who should be pledging on their own, 2) new members of the Cathedral, and 3) the many people “out there” who either were active members in past years but who, for one reason or another, did not keep up their support, or who, for whatever reason, have not been contributing members. Our goal is to grow Stewardship in 2005 by 20%. One way in which to do this is to assign the responsibility for on-going tracking and evaluation to one of our staff members, on a part-time basis.

Meanwhile, we thought you might be interested in some thoughts put forth by Andrew E. Manatos, who heads a Washington, D. C. firm and who is a very involved member of the Church, at the Archdiocesan level. Andrew notes that “a nation-wide survey of 29 denominations (including many poor people) found the average church member contributes $631 each year to their church. The average American family contributed 2.66% of their annual income to their church.” Andrew asks, how many families of our own Orthodox Church contribute even the average of 2.66% a year? In his own parish in Maryland, the average stewardship contribution was $575 in 2004. By comparison, the Episco-palians down the street from his parish have an average annual stewardship contribution of $2,300. For people who take justifiable pride in being among the best, it is an anomaly that our giving doesn’t measure up. This means, in a word, that we have work ahead of us in developing a stewardship program commensurate with our abilities and our Faith.

PARISH ASSEMBLY NOVEMBER 17

Parishioners of the Cathedral in good standing are invited to participate in the second Parish Assembly for 2004. The Assembly will convene Wednes-day, November 17 at 7 p.m., in the Cathedral’s Korinthias Center. The agenda is as follows:
Opening Prayer
1. Election of Assembly Chair
2. Minutes of the May 19, 2004 Parish Assembly
3. Treasurer’s Report
4. Stewardship
5. Youth Report
6. President’s Report
7. Dean’s Report
8. Board of Auditors
9. Nominating Committee Report (The Nominating Com-mittee becomes the Board of Elections; Parish Council elections will take place Sunday, December 12, following the Divine Liturgy.)
10. Philoptochos and other organization news
11. Old Business
12. New Business
Closing Prayer
While we have a full agenda, we anticipate the Assembly will conclude by 9 p.m. Coffee and refreshments will be served.

HONORING PAT ALECK NOVEMBER 20

Due to illness, the dinner to honor Patricia Aleck, scheduled for earlier this year, will instead take place on Saturday, November 20, at the Korinthias Hall of the Annunciation Cathedral. (Please note that this is SATURDAY, November 20, and not Sunday, November 20, as erroneously printed on a recent flyer.)
No host cocktails will be held beginning at 6 p.m. These will be followed by dinner, at 7 p.m. The donation is $40. Pat Aleck has for virtually all her life been an important member of the Cathedral family. We are hard pressed to think of an area in which Pat did not participate. Notably, she served on the Parish Council in various capacities, including that of President. She continues to serve, as Assistant Treasurer. She is also a hard-working member of the Philo-ptochos, both as a member of the Cathedral’s Philoptochos Board and the Metropolis Philoptochos Board. Tom Nuris, our Parish Council President, chairs the Honoring Pat Aleck Committee.

CATHEDRAL ENGAGES FULL-TIME CATERER

For some time, the Parish Council Hall Management Committee has studied the way we have been renting out the hall the last few years. For one, people booked the hall through Mike Canellos, who then referred them to one of the several caterers. In addition to paying the caterers, those booking the hall also paid a $10 per person fee, engaged California Parking to provide either valet or attended parking, and also separately engaged guards through our guard service to provide additional security for their event. In addition to these many fees, there was also lack of consistency in the various kinds of service offered and provided.

The Hall Management committee considered neighboring churches (specifically the Ascension Cathedral in Oakland) and comparable halls in the area and concluded that it is in the best interests of the Cathedral and of our parishioners to engage a single caterer, who will be able to offer a number of dining options to meet various budgets, at a single all-inclusive cost, and provide a level of consistency in food and service. At its recent meetings, the Parish Council unanimously approved the recommendation of the Hall Management Committee and engaged Jack Spachis to be the Cathedral’s full-time caterer.

Jack is well poised to serve in this capacity. He is a graudate of San Francisco’s City College, with an A/S Degree in Hotel/Restaurant Manager. He also holds a B/S Degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management from Golden Gate University. Jack has had experience in food and beverage management working for Marriott Hotels and San Francisco’s Mark Hopkins Intercontinental. He has also been a district training manager for Pepsi Co. Restaurants. In addition, he has owned and operated Yianni’s Restaurants for over ten (10) years. For the last six (6) years, Jack and his crew have worked with the Annunciation Cathedral as one of the approved caterers.

We welcome Jack as the Cathedral’s caterer and look forward to a long and productive association.

Meanwhile, the procedure for booking an event at the Cathedral, which involves food (breakfast, lunch or dinner for a business meeting, baptismal, wedding, anniversary or other reception, or a fund raising event for your organization), is as follows:

Continue to call Mike Canellos, at 415 864-8815, or 415 864-8000. Mike will advise you as to the availability of the hall and will book the date for you. Then, call Jack. Jack may be reached by cell phone, at 650 522-9541, or by calling Yianni’s, at 415 609-1977. Jack will arrange a meeting with you and step you through the planning of your next event.
It’s as simple as that. Enjoy!

GIVE A LITTLE . . . GET A LITTLE . . . MINI COOPER 2005

The Annunciation Cathedral is pleased to present a new kind of raffle, one that has generated a lot of interest during the Festival. We are raffling off a 2005 Mini Cooper. The winner will have a 1 in 444 chances to win. The donation is $111. Perhaps you have a teenager at home who wants a car. Perhaps you have a college student in need of a car. What’s better than a Mini Cooper, which has become all the rage about town. Who knows? You may just be the one to win that car for them. Or, perhaps, for yourself. You could be that lucky winner. Then, you always have the satisfaction of knowing that your donation has gone to help the church, too.

Won’t you take a minute to read through the material which you received in the mail during the month of October. As you can see, the raffle is for a 2005 silver metallic Mini Cooper, secured by the Annunciation Cathedral through Mini of San Francisco. The car which is being raffled off includes the following options: premium package, multi function steering wheel, glass moon roof, air conditioning, automatic transmission and a CD stereo player. Vehicle tax and license for this Mini Cooper are also included. Now, let’s say you win the car, but would like to get a BMW (which is sold through the same dealership), instead. Well, you could get a credit for the amount of the Mini Cooper described, and you would pay the difference for the more expensive car. We’ve been asked this question, and we are happy to clarify for you.

Meanwhile, we note that the drawing will be conducted when 444 tickets at $111 are sold. The Annunciation Cathedral Parish Council reserves the right to make adjustments, but in no case will more than 444 tickets be sold. The winner will be notified by mail, that is, in writing, and must be at least 18 years of age to win. The winner accepts the responsibility for insurance, income taxes and other costs of owning a vehicle. All that having been said, we think this is a great raffle, and this is why people are responding so well. We sold about 100 tickets during the 3 day festival alone. At this rate, we believe the tickets will go in no time and we will be able to conduct the raffle immediately thereafter. How about it? Go for the Cooper! For additional information, see Michael Bagatelos, our Mini Cooper chair, or call the Cathedral, at 415 864-8000.

70TH (OR IS IT 85TH?) ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

We are making plans to mark the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Annunciation. Recall that our community begin in 1921 as St. Sophia. Following six years in a church at Hayes and Pierce Streets in San Francisco, in 1927. the community acquired the Valencia Street Theater, which it turned into a church.

Meanwhile, the community was named as Cathedral Church for the newly established Diocese of San Francisco. (Initially there were four Dioceses which made up the Archdiocese, established in 1922; these were: New York, Boston, Chicago and, of course, San Francisco.) In 1936 the community reorganized as “United Greek Orthodox Community of San Francisco, The Annunciation.” Since then, it has been known, simply, as “Annunciation Cathedral.” November 11, 2006 is the date selected for this gala celebration. Please note the date on your 2006 calendars.

HONORING THE KORINTHIAS COMMITTEE

Nearly ten years ago, when our buildings were but a shell, a “Korinthias Committee” came into being. This committee, headed by Steve Chapralis, Frank Fotenos, and Michael Vriheas raised funds to lay the floor in the gym, as well as install the backboards, the score board, the lighting and other features of our multi-purpose facility. (Frank also helped spearhead the initial fund raising program, while Mike oversaw the construction of the entire project on behalf of the Cathedral.)

The facility, as we know, was named for Bill Korinthias, founder of the athletic program at the Cathedral and elsewhere and “father” of the OYAA (Orthodox Youth Athletic Association). It is time we honor these people for their efforts, which raised nearly $200,000 for this facility. On March 12, 2005, a dinner will be held at the Korinthias Center, and a plaque, with the names of those who made the floor possible, will be unveiled. Please mark your calendars. Additional information will be forthcoming.

BIBLE STUDY/LEARNING COMMUNITY AT THE CATHEDRAL

On Thursday evenings, from 7 to 9 p.m., Father Paul Schroeder is leading a study group at the Cathedral. Entitled “Luke: The Gospel of Compassion,” the study focuses on the Gospel of Luke, as noted below. We will also be reading Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life by Henri Nouwen.

More than just a Bible study, the purpose of the gathering will be to form a “learning community,” that is, a group of people who are interested in learning together and also sharing in spiritual growth by supporting and praying for one another. In addition, we will plan a series of outreach activities within our local neighborhood and community. Join us on Thursdays, at 7 p.m. in the upstairs conference room.

The remaining schedule is as follows:

November 4: Session Five: Ministry of Teaching:
Luke 6: 20-49; Chapter 4: Displacement

November 11: Session Six: Ministry of Parables:
Luke 10:25-37, 15:11-32, 16:19-31; Chapter 5: Togetherness

November 18: Session Seven: Last Supper and Crucifixion:
Luke 22, 23; Chapter 6: Patience

December 2: Session Eight: Resurrection and Ascension:
Luke 24; Chapter 7: Prayer

December 9: Session Nine: Pentecost; the first Christian Community:
Acts 2; Chapter 9: Action

December 16: Session Ten Epilogue:
Nativity of Christ: Luke 2:1-20

PRE-MARRIAGE CLASSES AT THE CATHEDRAL

As announced in the last issue of the Herald, beginning 2005, couples planning to be married at the Cathedral will meet with Father Stephen (or another member of the Cathedral clergy) on four occasions prior to their marriage. The first and fourth meetings will be private, while the second and third meetings will take place with other couples who are also planning to be married within the same six-month period. They will take place on Tuesday, February 8, 7-9 p.m. and Tuesday, April 19, also 7-9 p.m. The meetings will take place in the second floor conference room.

The meetings will deal an overview of the Orthodox perspective of marriage, marital relations, celebrating and growing, and a number of issues, including in-laws, communication, and fighting fair, money management, and mixed faiths, as applicable.

At the initial meeting, matters generally pertaining to their marriage will be discussed, and the date for their marriage will be set. At the last meeting, a marriage affidavit (application for a church license) will be completed and the rehearsal date will be set. Couples contemplating marriage at the Cathedral in 2005 (even 2006) should call schedule the initial meeting as soon as possible.

Couples planning to be married in another Orthodox Church should follow the protocols for marriage set by the parish in which they will be married. The priest of that parish will complete the paperwork and conduct their pre-marriage classes, even though the couple still plans to continue their membership at the Cathedral.

BEQUESTS TO THE CATHEDRAL

From time to time, the Cathedral is beneficiary of various bequests, made in accordance with instructions drawn up by parishioners and friends of the Cathedral in advance of their passing. During October, the Cathedral received a bequest form the estate of the late Demetra Panagakis, in the amoung of $19,000. as well as a bequest from the estate of the late Katherine Leonard, in the amount of $25,000.

Unless a specific designation is made, bequests, along with monies that come in from memorials, go directly to the Building Fund. At times, monies have been designated to begin a scholarship fund, as in the case of the Anthony Bagatelos, or the John Pappas, or the Christos Tsikitas or the Maria Panagoulias or the Sonia Spachis Scholarship Fund. We have even begun an Endowment Fund, initially begun with a bequest from the late Xanthippe Stavros.

If you wish to consider providing for the Annunciation Cathedral in this way, we invite you to speak with the Cathedral Clergy or with your attorney or tax advisor. They will see to it that your wishes are honored. At the same time, you will be insuring the continuation of this sacred House of God and its abundant ministries.

RECENT SERVICES AT THE CATHEDRAL

BAPTISMS
Raymon, son of Asgedom Mezenge and Helen Araay, was baptized at the Cathedral October 2. His sponsor is Jonathan Semere Mesfun.

Christos Allen, son of Triantafillos Makropoulos and Jessica Renee Pharmer, was baptized at the Cathedral October 2. His sponsor is Katerina Makropoulos.

Justin David, son of Jason W. Nieder and Joanne Munguia, was baptized at the Cathedral October 10. His sponsor is Angela Selianitis Winzler, Jarod and Janine.

Demetra Antonia, daughter of Jim Bozionelos and Florika Tonas, was baptized at the St. Demtrios Chapel October 30. Her sponsors are Nick and Eleni Fiorentinos.

Na Mas Zisoun! A Long Life!

MARRIAGES
The marriage of James Paul Winzler and Angela Mary Selianitis was blessed on October 7. Their sponsor is Helen Selianitis.

The marriage of William George Vlahos and Julie Dee Anderson was blessed on October 16. Their sponsor is Vasilios Misthos.

The marriage of Menghiste Ab Zeru and Tiblez Tesfa was blessed on October 23. Their sponsors are Amine Tesfai and Adanesh Tesfamariam.

The marriage of Constantinos Matsis and Joanne Kaliope Koutsis was blessed on October 30. Their sponsor is Yiorgos Christofides.

Na Mas Zisoun! A Long Life!

FUNERALS
Sam W. Chicos, who fell asleep in the Lord on October 10, 2004 (his 82nd birthday), was buried October 13. He is survived by his sister Frances Marinos and many other relatives.

Argyro Ambus, who fell asleep in the Lord on October 20, was buried on October 25. She is surived by her husband, Charles and daughters, Peggy Daskalakis and Antonia Ambus.

Chryseis Z. Gochis, who fell asleep in the Lord on October 23, was buried October 29. She is survived by her sons, Peter and John Gochis.

Aionia afton i mnimi! May their memory be eternal!

INTRODUCING THE ORTHODOX FAITH

As noted in the last issue of the Herald, a growing number of people have been meeting with our clergy on a one to one basis with a view to being baptized or being received into the Orthodox Church by means of Holy Chrismation (if they have already been baptized in the Name of the Holy Trinity in another Christian confession or denomination).

To better serve these catechumens, we are holding a class, simply entitled “Introducing the Orthodox Faith.” The Class convenes in the second floor conference room on Sunday mornings, beginning at 9 a.m. (during the Orthros service) and ends at 10:15 a.m., to enable attendance and participation in the Divine Liturgy. The class will continue until Sunday, December 19. A new class will begin Jan. 2.

The current class is being taught by Father Paul Schroeder. While the class is required for those who are seeking baptism or chrismation, it is open to any member of the Cathedral who wishes to learn more about his/her faith. The text which will be used is Introducing the Orthodox Church, by Father Anthony Coniaris.

CATHEDRAL TO OFFER CLASSES IN BYZANTINE CHANT

In its ongoing service to the parish but also to all the parishes, as Cathedral of the Metropolis, beginning January 18, the Annunciation will be the setting for a Beginning Byzantine Chant class as well as an Intermediate Byzantine Chant class. The beginning class, which is designed for individuals who have never encountered Byzantine notation, is open to all who wish to learn the fundamentals of church music and serve their respective parishes in the Bay Area by learning the various hymns from Vespers and Orthros (the evening and morning prayer services of the Orthodox Church.) This class will be held at the Annunciation Cathedral, 245 Valencia Street, San Francisco (between 14th Street and Duboce), Tuesday evenings, beginning January 18, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The intermediate class, which is designed for individuals who have some ability reading Byzantine notation and some exposure to Byzantine chant, is open to all who wish to master the hymnology of the Church and serve their respective parishes in the Bay Area by assisting or, in some cases, assuming the chanter position. Some of our parishes are without chanters and, therefore, these vital prayer services are either omitted or are simply read. This class will be held at the Annunciation Cathedral, Thursday evenings, beginning January 20, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Both groups will meet together every Saturday, beginning January 22, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will participate in Vespers, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Both groups will conclude on the Saturday of Lazaros, April 23.

The classes will be taught by John Boyer, who is well known to us as Assistant Chanter. John, a student at the University of California at Berkeley, began learning hymnology at the Holy Trinity, Portland parish, at the age of 4. John has received training in Byzantine Music by the well-known choirmaster and chanter, Lycourgos Angelopoulos, in Greece. In addition, John sings with Capella Romana, an internationally acclaimed choir, which has been recording not only contemporary, but also early Byzantine chant.

The tuition for these intensive classes is $225 per student, $30 for texts and materials. The tuition can be paid either by the student or the parish sponsoring the student. Plenty of parking is available. For registration or for other information, please contact the Cathedral at 415 864-8000.

GUEST FROM GUATEMALA

Mark your November calendar! On Sunday, November 21st, Mother Ivonne from the Orthodox orphanage in Guatemala City will be with us at the Annunciation Cathedral. She will attend the Divine Liturgy and then give a brief presentation during coffee hour. This will include a 15 minute CD presentation of the children at the orphanage. The orphanage, named the Hogar Rafael Ayau, is located in one of the most dangerous parts of Guatemala City. But with the love and support of the nuns, the children are raised with strong beliefs and faith in the Orthodox church.

Mother Ivonne will share many amazing and heart breaking stories about the Hogar. Please be sure to be there to hear all about it. If you have any questions regarding Mother Ivonne's visit, please contact Georgene Poulakidas at 415-934-1988.

Just take a look at the schedule below, and you will see how active our Cathedral Ladies Philoptochos continues to be. In addtion, they visit parishioners confined to bed, at home and in nursing homes, and prepare and, upon request, serve the memorial luncheons (makarias) following funerals. We commend this dedicated team of volunteer women.

November 2004 Herald
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral.