Weekly Update 01/04/2021 – Fr. Cyril Gorgy
Beloved Holy Resurrection Church family, I am praying that you are well and safe. Wishing you a Blessed New Year and a blessed Feast of Nativity. Please use this link to check out the Sunday School Presentation for the Feast of Nativity. A special thank you for our faithful Sunday school servants and all of our Sunday School angels.
Feast Divine Liturgy: We will be celebrating the Feast of Nativity on the evening of Wednesday, January 6th. Registration to the Feast’s Divine Liturgy is CLOSED as we reached capacity. In the meantime, you can virtually join us starting at 7pm, this Wednesday on the HRC’s YouTube channel.
Please attend church ONLY when you receive a confirmation with the time and date of the service. Due to limited capacity, seating in the church will be pre-assigned to those who received confirmation. When you arrive, a church servant will guide you to your assigned location.
Sunday Divine Liturgy: REGISTRATION to attend SUNDAY Divine Liturgy is required. Please use this link to submit a request. You will receive an email confirmation with the date and time.
Wednesday Divine Liturgy: No registration will be required for the 7-9am Wednesday’s Divine Liturgy. All participants are expected to read and STRICTLY abide by the General Guidelines.
HRC Fellowship Meeting: The meeting will be held virtually on January 14 from 7-7:45pm. Fr. Joseph will be our guest speaker and will talk to us about ‘The Sacrament of the Present Moment’. Please sign up using this link to participate in this monthly meeting.
Last Sunday’s Sermon: The birth of St John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Savior, marked the beginning of a new era. Zacharias, his father, prophesied and said “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people”. Recently we also entered a new year, 2021. Starting new gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning.
Many people make New Year’s resolutions, a tradition that dates back over 3,000 years to the ancient Babylonians. Some of the most Common New Year’s resolutions are losing weight and exercising more. As an Orthodox Christian, all of our new year resolutions should be God-honoring. Whether it is losing weight or praying more, ‘do all to the glory of God’ 1 Corinthians 10:31. Rely on God’s strength to help you. Don’t become discouraged with occasional failures; allow failures to motivate you further. Don’t become proud or vain, rather always give God the glory. Identify an accountability partner who will help you and encourage you.
May our Risen Lord support and protect you, and your family by the power of His Holy Resurrection.
Fr. Cyril
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
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General Guidelines
Please review and abide by the following guidelines prior to attending church:
- Please STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK, or if you have a history or are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness, including FEVER or COUGH.
- If you have traveled in that last TWO WEEKS, please do not sign up to attend a Divine Liturgy until, TWO WEEKS have passed since you returned and you do not have any COVID19 symptoms, or you have been tested negative twice.
- If you were in direct contact with anyone that tested positive for COVID-19, please do not sign up or come to the church services, whether with symptoms or not, until you are tested negative.
- If you test positive please do not sign up or come to the church services until you are tested negative, for two consecutive tests, regardless of the time it takes to be tested negative twice.
- You should attend the Divine Liturgy at the church you regularly attend.
- Every church will take all the precautions necessary to ensure your safety, but your attendance is entirely your choice, and the church does not accept any liability.
When you come to church:
- Arrive on time. The church gate will ONLY be open at the beginning of the service and will remain closed for the duration. No one will be permitted to open the church door other than the church servant assigned by the clergy.
- Your body temperature may be taken prior to entering the church.
- You should wear a mask and gloves at all times during the service.
- You should sanitize your hands when entering the church.
Inside the Church:
- You must keep a minimum distance of 6 feet at all times between you and others that are not in your household.
- Each family (same household) should seated together.
- Children will stand with their parents even if they are deacons.
- Please do not touch anything or anyone inside the church including icons, relics, clergy, and deacons, etc.
- For Ologea (Al Barka), the priest will wash his hands, cut it and distribute it. You will take it with your hand without touching the priest.
- After Liturgy, we need to stagger exiting from the church as individuals or families to ensure we maintain social distancing guidelines.
Partaking of the Eucharist:
- Please bring your own head covering, corporeal (for communion) and water to use for partaking of the Eucharist.
- Each family should come forward together to receive the Eucharist. As every family is approaching please maintain 6’ away from other families.
- During communion, you will remove your mask, open your mouth wide and have your tongue lay flat so the priest can place the Holy Body on your tongue.
- When taking the Holy Blood, open your mouth wide and the priest will pour the Blood from the spoon into your mouth.