On Sunday, February 15th, 2015 Holy Archangels Orthodox Church held its Annual Meeting. Following the Divine Liturgy, the congregation prayed the Moleben of thanksgiving for amongst other things, in thanksgiving of our fourth anniversary. Thank you to all who made the time to stay and participate in the meeting. Copied below is Fr. Robert’s Pastoral Report. May we all be encouraged by the work God is doing through his mission and emboldened to meet the challenges ahead with faith and love.
Holy Archangels Annual Meeting
February 15, 2015
Pastoral Report
2014 Overview
Holy Archangels began in 2011 as an extension of Annapolis Pan-Orthodox College Ministry (ACM) and to extend the outreach and evangelism efforts of that ministry to the people of the Annapolis area. Now, ACM is an extension of our church. Four years into this Mission, we see the growth that God has graciously given us. In the beginning, the congregation was small and made up mostly of students, who joyfully and eagerly sacrificed much to get this Mission started: serving on the Mission Council, setting up and taking down, serving, singing, providing trapeza, and giving financial support. Now, look around: we are a wonderful mix of people of all ages, many backgrounds, family-oriented, and with many gifts and talents and resources to share and bring to bear to grow this church further and be a faithful witness to the world around us.
In the Prayers of the Augmented Litany, we pray that God will grow our Mission “in spirit and in numbers as a living witness of Thy (God’s) love, power, healing, and glory.” In 2014, we continued to see God answering this fervent prayer that our church be used to bless the lives of her parishioners and be a haven for those ‘storm-tossed’ by “every wind of doctrine” in the world (Eph. 4:14). Some returned to the Faith, others grew in their faith in Christ, still others began their life in Christ and His Church. Simeon Mihai was baptized Pentecost Sunday. Joseph Loomis was added to an already long list of those who’ve been brought into the Catechumenate through Holy Archangels and ACM (now over 20). The Eisengrein family joined us and the Mykyta family is in the process of joining us, and, this Sunday, Michael and Natalie Morgan joyfully entered the Catechumenate. All of us have been given the opportunity to participate in the fullness of Christ through the liturgical and sacramental life here at Holy Archangels. We thank God for His provision and for continuing to grow us in spirit and in numbers.
We continue to be blessed to be one of just three churches in the OCA to receive the Mission Planting Grant, now in its third and final year. This Matching Grant is the ‘seal’ of the OCA that the Church believes in this Mission and her missionary work here in Annapolis to grow in faith those already Orthodox and to evangelize the world around us. The Mission Grant, together with the faithful supporters of our college ministry, Annapolis College Ministry (ACM), enable me to minister to you full-time. In response to this “matching grant, “ many of you have courageously stepped forward in faith to sacrificially offer your time, talents, and treasure (tithes) to the building up of this church and her ministries so that we, as a church family, can make the most of the opportunity the Grant provides to grow in the knowledge of the truth of Christ.
In 2014, Holy Archangels continued to see the development of our liturgical and worship life, as well as the fullness of the Church’s sacramental life. Our Mission provides much of the same worship opportunities of much larger churches. Our Sunday School, which has been adeptly led by Grace Garrett, faithfully met throughout the year, helping our children to better understand the life in Christ and His calling on their young lives.
Our third Patronal Feast of the Holy Archangels, November 7-8 was our strongest yet and was indicative of the many gifts and talents of this Mission church coming together in thanksgiving to God, service to one another, and outreach to our community.
Our ministry in the world is seen in great light in our ministry to the college students here in Annapolis, at St. John’s College and the USNA through our OCF ministry, ACM. Every week, we are represented and ministering on both campuses. We see the fruit of this outreach and evangelism in our Wednesday evening “Applied Orthodox Theology” discussions. This time of teaching and discussion has been strengthening the faith of both students and non-student adults in our Mission community (15 attended last Wednesday). We also see the fruit of this outreach in the growing number of inquirers and visitors to our Mission, which has numbered 14 so far this year, including both families, individuals, and students. I’m very proud of our students, who model the faith, not only in their courageous witness on their campuses, but also in their faithful, generous, even sacrificial tithing to the church of their time, talents, and treasure, and manifested also in their commitment to participating in the divine services.
Our growth is also seen in our numbers: In 2014, our average Sunday attendance was 22 (at this time last year it was 20). This year so far, our average Sunday attendance has been 32 and our Great Vespers services have been closer to our average Sunday attendance of past years. Glory to God for answered prayer and this growth. Now, as we enter our fourth year as a Mission and re-double our commitment to grow in “spirit and in numbers” in 2015, we look to what God will do in our midst this year to build up this missionary outpost and her full-time ministry. .
I especially want to thank Rdr. Zenon, Roger, and Marian for their selfless and tireless service to the church as members of the Mission Council. Roger sets up the church for the weekend services and often comes early. Rdr. Zenon strives to be at every service possible to assist me with the altar. Marian gives of herself and her time to beautify our worship and special events.
Now, as our eyes turn to our Lenten journey with Christ, we’ll be starting a special focus for our growing number of Sunday School-aged children to help prepare them for Holy Week and Pascha. I know our children will greatly benefit from the teachings that Grace puts together and be better equipped for Holy Week as we journey to the cross, the grave, and the three-day resurrection. We’ve begun to strengthen the sisterhood, which is so important for the women of our Body. Preoteasa Krissy has done a tremendous job toggling motherhood while also providing for the musical needs of our church. Now we see our choir growing, thanks to the efforts of Alec Bianco and John Mykyta and others. Alec will, God-willing, be taking over the choir directing later this year, which is a tremendous answer to prayer.
We also look forward to our Lenten retreat with His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, entitled, “The Ascetic Disciplines of the Orthodox Life: Baptizing the Culture in an Age of Disbelief.” I encourage you now not only to register for the retreat but also to reach out now to invite others to join us for this opportunity to be challenged and encouraged in the Orthodox life in Christ.
This Lent is an opportunity to redouble our efforts to take to heart the lessons that Christ will teach us this holy season through the prayers, the worship, the teachings He so abundantly pours out on us on our Lenten journey. To grow, we make a priority of the Wednesday Presanctified Liturgies, we internalize the Prayer of St. Ephraim, we strive to pray as we fast, we make confession and ask for Christ’s healing as He reveals those sin-sick areas of our soul, we love Christ and each other more, that through our love for one another, others may know that we are Orthodox Christians and may, likewise, desire this fullness of the life in Christ as well.
All of you, all of us, are the ones building up this vineyard of Christ’s holy Church. Through our prayers, our faithful and prayerful participation in the divine services, our sacrificial and faithful giving of our tithes and treasure, we learn to trust God more, we grow in faith: this is the time-tested prescription for our growth in Christ’s holy Church. Join me in praying that Christ God will continue to bless us with more families and individuals to journey with us into His Kingdom, so that we may “all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13). Christ is in our midst!
