SCHEDULE OF SERVICES:
* (TONIGHT!) December 5 - 6:30 PM - Vespers (Litiya): “St. Nicholas of Myra”
* (TOMORROW!) December 6 - 9:30 AM - Divine Liturgy: “St. Nicholas of Myra”
* Saturday, December 7 - 4:30 PM - Vespers // 4 PM - 4:20 PM - Confessions
* Sunday, December 8 - 10 AM - Divine Liturgy // Prayers for the Departed:
+Richard Raczkiewicz (40th Day)/ +Betty (Petka) Raczkiewicz (13th Year) / +Helen Minnick (40th Day)
* Wednesday, December 11 - 6:30 PM - Akathist Prayer Service // Confessions: 6 PM - 6:20 PM
* Saturday, December 14 - 4:30 PM - Vespers // Confessions: 4 PM - 4:20 PM
* Sunday, December 15 - 10 AM - Divine Liturgy: “Sunday of the Forefathers” // Prayers for the Departed:
+Fr. Igor Soroka (3rd Year) / +William L. Evansky (4th Year) / +Samuel Warbel (11th Year)
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SUNDAY LITURGY LAITY FUNCTIONS
* DECEMBER 8 THIRD HOUR: N. Domitrovic
* DECEMBER 8 EPISTLE: N. Domitrovic
* DECEMBER 8 COLLECTION: P. McKeown / O. Mycyk
* DECEMBER 15 THIRD HOUR: M.D. Stahoviak
* DECEMBER 15 EPISTLE: M.D. Stahoviak
* DECEMBER 15 COLLECTION: B. Nelko / S. Yakich
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* This Sunday is our annual CHARITY COOKIE WALK at the Youth Center following the Divine Liturgy. Baked goods can be dropped off at the Youth Center from 2 PM - 4 PM this Saturday or immediately prior to the 10 AM Liturgy this Sunday. All proceeds will be donated to support the important work of the Beaver County Women’s Shelter, so please support this Cookie Walk by either baking or making a financial donation. Checks can be made payable to “Holy Ghost Orthodox Church” with the memo line “Cookie Walk donation.” Please contact project chair Tammy Needham directly if you have questions about the Cookie Walk.
* CHURCH SCHOOL-TEEN GROUP CLASSES are scheduled again for this Sunday - 9 AM. SUNDAY DIALOGUE is also scheduled for this Sunday at 9 AM in the nave of the church for all adults of the parish - and visitors.
* There is no COFFEE HOUR downstairs in the church hall following this Sunday’s Liturgy - however, all are welcome to partake of the refreshments being offered at the Youth Center during the Cookie Walk this Sunday.
* All parish members are expected to participate in PRIVATE CONFESSION prior the December 25th Holyday - we will not have General Confession during this Nativity Fast. Only those parish members who have come to Private Confession during this time period should approach to receive Holy Communion at the Nativity Liturgy or thereafter. Please see the times listed above for Confession or contact me to arrange another special time during the weekdays for a Confession if necessary.
* The OCA Northwest Deanery will offer a HOLY UNCTION SERVICE at the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Allison Park) this Sunday - 6 PM. All Orthodox Christians are encouraged to receive this sacramental anointing at the church located in Allison Park at 8290 Thompson Run Road.
* I continue my ADVENT PASTORAL VISITS to parish members unable to physically receive Confession/Eucharist at the Divine Liturgy. I continue to visit names on my list, but please do not hesitate to contact me to arrange a specific day/time if you, or someone else in the parish, requires such a visit and I haven’t contacted you. I hope to complete this cycle no later than December 20th.
* Our ANNUAL ADVENT CHARITY DRIVE to assist parish members and others continues. Please bring your donations of non-perishable food and household items downstairs to the church kitchen when you arrive at church. Monetary donations are a big help, too! Please give those monetary donations directly to me (or a parish officer in the vestibule) - please do NOT leave the envelope in a food bag in the kitchen area. If using a check, please make it payable to “Holy Ghost Church,” marking it “charity drive.” Please do not hesitate to contact me privately if you (or someone you know) can use our assistance. (A primary beneficiary of your donated items will be the Fair Oaks Fire Department Food Pantry that is partnering with our parish to help alleviate the greatly increasing need for help by residents.)
* Our parish’s traditional CHRISTMAS PROGRAM done by the Church School and Teen Group students in the nave of the church will immediately following the December 15th Liturgy - - please stay and support our kids! A special CHARITY LUNCH will take place downstairs immediately following the program’s conclusion as well - - please join us for this wonderful community gathering!
* REHEARSAL for the Christmas program will be held in the nave of the church at 1 PM - Saturday, December 14. Also, DECORATING OF THE CHURCH will follow that rehearsal. Parents with questions should contact Matushka Debbie about the rehearsal.
* 2024 parish contributions notice! December 15 is the last day to make donations for 2024 on-line through Tithely: https://www.holyghostoca.org/onlinegiving. This is due to processing time with the company’s system. Likewise, the December 29 Liturgy collection will be the last day to have a contribution credited for this calendar year. Any donation received by the parish after that date’s bank deposit is done will be credited as the first donation for 2025.
* The 2025 parish wall calendars are now available free on the candle desk in the church vestibule - there is an ample supply so you may take multiple calendars if so desired. Assistance in passing a calendar along to a parish member unable to get one at church is also appreciated. The parish once again this year THANKS our good friends at the BOHN-MATICH FUNERAL HOME for sponsoring these calendars.
* The 2025 SUNDAY COFFEE HOUR SIGN-UP LIST has been posted downstairs on the church hall bulletin board. Please consider signing the list to take a turn sponsoring one of these coffee hours! Please contact Matushka Debbie if you have questions about sponsorship food-drink details.
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Reminders for the “good order” of our parish: Part 2
I am once again publishing pastoral articles about the practical side of coming for the divine services. This seems like a particularly good time as we continue through the Nativity Fast and approach the Lord’s Nativity - - a time when we traditionally see an increase in visitors to the parish. This series should help you make our visitors more comfortable by being able to “coach” them with Christian gentleness. (Perhaps this may also humbly help us as brothers and sisters in Christ!)
It is important to remember that Orthodox worship has always sought to strike a balance - - we are not “frozen statues” afraid to move, but yet we must not become lax or distracting in our behaviors towards others around us in the Holy House during services. (This is true for adults and children.) Our concern in love for the ”other” should be paramount. While I always strive for accuracy in my pastoral presentations, you are free to speak with me privately if anything seems unclear.
When the priest or deacon is censing the church, one should move out of the way if that is the case and bow your head when he censes in your direction. One should also bow slightly when the celebrant chants, “Peace be unto all!” or when he blesses you with the Gospel book, the chalice, or the hand cross. We need to think of ourselves as constant participants in the services, not just “spectators.” Follow the service attentively, joining in the prayers of the Church as much as possible. While this may seem obvious, it needs to be stated again here in light of our modern society - - all cell phones should be turned off prior to the start of the divine services - or at least put on “vibrate only” if there is some extraordinary reason not to turn it off completely on a certain day. You can’t listen attentively to the word of the Lord if you’re immersed in the words on your smart phone!
Parents with young children have an important, yet difficult, task that we all need to be mindful of - - to teach these young Orthodox Christians proper reverence for God’s Holy House in an ever-increasing, yet patient, manner as they mature. Parish members with visitors coming to the upcoming Nativity services with them are asked to quietly inform those parents with young children being “fussy” - as all children will surely do at some point - that it is perfectly fine to exit the nave of the church during a service for a period of time and take them downstairs to the church hall where our parish has installed a “state of the art” audio-video system to continue the Liturgy experience. The same is also true for adults who may not feel well during the Liturgy. It would be our goal to still maintain that “Liturgy feel” as much as possible while downstairs. (This is NOT the time for an “early coffee hour” by eating or drinking - or with discussions about non-church topics!) The training of a child in the Church is a complicated, yet essential, task - - children should be gently guided and corrected, not spoken to sharply, recalling how the Lord Himself enjoined parents to bring their children to Him.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you…” (John 6.54-55) These words of Christ spoken to His disciples are still directed to us Orthodox believers today. They remind us of the central role the Divine Liturgy and receiving Holy Communion (i.e., Eucharist) play in our salvation process. We are about to literally receive Christ’s Body and Blood! We approach the holy chalice with a sense of awe and complete humility - never taking that moment for granted. We are called upon to prepare ourselves spiritually before receiving - by periodically coming to Private and General Confession and by doing a Eucharistic fast from food and drink (from approximately midnight) as we purify our bodies and souls to receive the Lord of Lords - except for essential medications. We should also prepare ourselves by coming to the Saturday Vespers as often as possible and by reading the “Prayers Before Communion” each time. These prayers are in many of our Orthodox prayer books and are also found in the pew hymnals. When approaching to receive, make the “X” shaped “St. Andrew’s Cross,” say your baptismal name audibly for the priest/deacon dispensing the Communion, and open your mouth wide while slightly tilting your head back. The current practice in this particular parish is for the communicant not close their mouth on the spoon since the priest/deacon will turn the spoon over and withdraw it without you touching it. Finally, it is not necessary to venerate the tetrapod icon on your way back to the pew after receiving Eucharist. Return to your pew and say the “Prayers Following Communion” in the hymnal or prayer book.
Finally - - - above all, parish members should have mutual love and consideration among themselves, a striving for spiritual life and an understanding of the contents of the services. If we come to God’s Temple with reverence, if we are humble and “long-suffering” in our relationships with one another, and if, while standing in church, we recognize that we are in Heaven at least briefly while still on Earth, then the Lord will hear our unworthy prayers, and we will come close to Him both individually and collectively as a spiritual body. “MARANATHA!” - i.e., “COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS!”
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Fr. Bill
Laity Liturgy Functions
DATE THIRD HOUR EPISTLE___ COLLECTION______
DECEMBER 1 C. Schulte C. Schulte I. Yakich / A. Taylor
DECEMBER 8 N. Domitrovic N. Domitrovic P. McKeown / O. Mycyk
DECEMBER 15 M.D. Stahoviak M.D. Stahoviak B. Nelko / S. Yakich
DECEMBER 22 M. Soroka R. Markvan T. Zelesnik / N. Domitrovic
DECEMBER 25 Mat. D. Evansky (Deacon) P. Evans / R. Grano
DECEMBER 29 D. Neill C. Roehn A. Lauer / P. McKeown
^ Please notify Matushka Debbie in advance if you are unable to perform your liturgical function so that a substitute can be found in an orderly manner. Please mark your calendar since we do not send individual reminders.
^ Please contact Fr. Bill if you have any questions about these ministries. New participants are encouraged!
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Pastoral Reminders from Fr. Bill
~ The Nativity Fast (i.e., Advent) continues through the month of December - until we end the fast by receiving the Holy Eucharist at the December 25th Holyday Liturgy.
~ If not already doing so during Advent, Nativity Eve (December 24th) is a strict fast day (i.e., no meats or dairy products consumed).
~ Mindful of the great joy of the Lord’s Birth (I.e., Incarnation), there is a general dispensation from fasting from December 25th through January 4th.
~ The reception of the Holy Mysteries of Private Confession and Holy Eucharist (Communion) at least annually is required to be considered an active member of the Orthodox Church and this parish. Please contact Fr. Bill privately if you have any questions about your important sacramental standing.
~ Eucharist participation general guideline for the parish: individuals who do not participate in Holy Eucharist for three or more consecutive Sunday Liturgies should return for a Private Confession before approaching the Holy Chalice. Please contact Fr. Bill about this since there is always the possibility of an extenuating circumstance.
~ PLEASE NOTE! Except for individuals required to eat minimally and therefore take only a “few sips” of liquids for diagnosed medical conditions, Communion recipients are expected to conduct a proper Eucharistic fast (i.e., no eating or drinking) prior to Holy Communion. Children who have not come to the First Holy Confession are, of course, exempt from this guideline. Medical conditions that require a modification of the Eucharist fast to continue an established medicine regimen should be discussed privately with Fr. Bill. (Let us always draw near to the Holy Chalice “…in the fear of God!”)
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^ Please forward your preferred email address to Fr. Bill if you are not receiving the parish E-BULLETINS but would like to receive them. Please note that email addresses are not shared. A limited number of copies of each week’s electronic bulletin are put in the vestibule wall pamphlet rack for those individuals wanting a paper copy with the same being true for the monthly newsletter. This e-bulletin is prepared in lieu of a Sunday paper bulletin.
^ 2024 parish contributions notice! December 15 is the last day to make donations for 2024 on-line through Tithely: https://www.holyghostoca.org/onlinegiving. This is due to processing time with the company’s system. Likewise, the December 29 Liturgy collection will be the last day to have a contribution credited for this calendar year. Any donation received by the parish after that date’s bank deposit is done will be credited as the first donation for 2025.
^ Please contact Fr. Bill if you, or someone you know in the parish, would like a PASTORAL VISIT during this Advent season to receive the Holy Sacraments if unable to attend the Liturgy personally due to infirmity or physical restriction. Fr. Bill continues to make contacts on his shut-in visitation list but please feel free to reach out to him for a visit as well. Fr. Bill hopes to have all his pastoral visits completed no later than December 20. Also, please contact Fr. Bill any time throughout the year when you know of a parish member HOSPITALIZED for more than a single night so he can visit that person’s hospital room and administer the Holy Sacraments (either Holy Unction or Communion) “for the healing of soul and body.”
^ Our ANNUAL ADVENT CHARITY DRIVE to assist parish members and others continues. Please bring your donations of non-perishable food and household items downstairs to the church kitchen when you arrive at church. Also, monetary donations are a big help, too! Please give those monetary donations directly to Fr. Bill – do NOT leave the envelope in a food bag in the kitchen area. If using a check, please make it payable to “Holy Ghost Church,” marking it “charity drive.” Please do not hesitate to contact Fr. Bill privately if you (or someone you know) can use our assistance – we’re here to help each other in Christ’s Name! (A primary beneficiary of your donated items will be the Fair Oaks Fire Department Food Pantry that is partnering with our parish to help alleviate the greatly increasing need for help by area residents.)
PLEASE NOTE
While personal information of individuals is never used,
images of our parish’s services and group events may be used on
social media from time to time. Anyone having an objection
to their image being used should privately contact
Fr. Bill or Tom Zelesnik to opt-out of this usage.
^ The 2025 parish wall calendars will be available free on the candle desk in the church vestibule beginning early in December. The parish once again this year THANKS our good friends at the BOHN-MATICH FUNERAL HOME for sponsoring these calendars.
^ Fr. Bill will place a sign-up list on the vestibule candle desk shortly after the Nativity Holyday for parish members desiring a 2025 Theophany house blessing beginning on January 6, following the Theophany Holyday 9:30 AM Liturgy and Great Blessing of Water. You can also email or call/text him after the Feast of the Nativity on December 25th to be included in the 2025 Theophany house blessing list.
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR EACH PARISH MEMBER
If not already received by the time you read this newsletter, all parish members who are formally participating in our 2024 PARISH STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM should soon receive a pledge update in the postal mail concerning your 2024 parish commitment. Time grows short to help your parish continue on solid financial ground into 2025 - so please complete (or exceed) your pledge if possible! (Donations - large or small - TRULY help since the parish’s future is in every believer’s hands!
Anyone in the parish desiring a confidential 2024 personal contributions update can also email Parish Administrative Patty McKeown or call her. Please leave a voice mail if she cannot answer your call at that moment. You can also contact Fr. Bill confidentially about obtaining this information.
Let each believer call to mind and search the depth of their heart concerning the admonition of Holy Scripture when making a personal decision about such important matters in the Church as written by St. Paul: “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9.6).”
^ Two Akathist prayer services are on the calendar during this Advent Fast - December 11 and 18 - 6:30 PM. Private Confessions will also be available from 6 PM until 6:20 PM both nights. Catch your breath from all your “Christmas hustle and bustle” - come to church and pray!
^ We hope you can support the 2024 Cookie Walk being held at the Youth Center following the December 8 Liturgy. Refreshments will be available at the Youth Center that day as well. Please support this charity fundraiser! Monetary donations are also gratefully accepted.
^ We hope everyone can attend our Pre-Nativity Children’s Program taking place in the church nave immediately following the December 15 Liturgy. Matushka Debbie will be sending additional information about this program - including rehearsal info - to the parents soon. A special coffee hour will take place downstairs in the church hall immediately following that program - come!
^ You will have two opportunities as an Orthodox Christian to receive the Lord’s healing Grace with the blessed oil during the Nativity Fast at the Mystery of HOLY UNCTION. The Beaver County Orthodox priests will concelebrate an Unction Service on Monday, December 2 - 6 PM at the St. Vladimir Church in Ambridge (313 Ninth Street). Also, the OCA Northwest Deanery will offer an Unction Service at the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Allison Park) on Sunday, December 8 - 6 PM. The cathedral is in Allison Park at 8290 Thompson Run Road.
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“We are made in God’s image and likeness. We are made to be loved and to love.
We are made to become love by love’s presence in our lives.
We are made to be by grace what our Lord is by nature.
We are made to love with the very love which God in Christ
has loved us by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.”
( - Fr. Thomas Hopko)
Wouldn’t it be such a more pleasant world in which to live if everyone made an
effort to live out these sentiments personally in their lives every day and in every way?!
As we near the Lord’s Birth - may all Orthodox Christians try to be that light of Christ to others!
Today, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Holy Ghost Orthodox Church in Ambridge, we should pause in our festivities and reflect thoughtfully on its beginnings.
Shortly after the turn of the century, many Europeans sought to escape the religious and cultural persecutions of the Austro-Hungarian rulers by sailing to America.
Approximately 14 families, including those of John Bowan Sr., Wasil Blishak, Constantine Dzubinsky, Samuel Evans Sr., Daniel Holovach, A. Kohan, Nicholas Kraynak, Theodore Kushnir, Wasil Kuhta, Wasil Towcimak, Michael Turko, and John Zawoysky, settled in the North Side and South Side of Pittsburgh, where they attended St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Michael's Orthodox Churches.
However, these pioneers soon moved on to Ambridge where employment opportunities were greater. The American Bridge Company, which erected its first plant in Ambridge in 1902, offered such security.
Although settled in Ambridge, they continued to attend church in Pittsburgh. Each Sunday morning they walked the railroad tracks, more accessible than the unpaved roads, to Leetsdale, where they boarded a train to Pittsburgh. This continued until the group established a makeshift altar in May's Hall, Third and Merchant Streets, Ambridge. There, under the guidance of the Rev. J. Sechinsky, they continued their religious devotions. A little later, services were conducted in the residence of Samuel Evans, Sr., and still later in a little shelter on a vacant lot near Third and Merchant Streets. The reverends J. Sechinsky, P. Kohanik and Nicholas Koshevich were among the early pastors.
In October of 1907, guided by Fr. Nicholas Koshevich, this determined group purchased two lots at Second and Maplewood Avenue for $1,650. With their hands, they laid the foundation of their long-awaited church. It took them two months and cost approximately $6,000 -- lots, construction and materials included. The American Bridge Co donated steel for the foundation. This contribution so overwhelmed the group that they gathered on the grounds of the American Bridge plant with their icons and glorified the donors with prayers and singing.
On November 27, 1907, the first Divine Liturgy was served in the newly built church basement. Named trustees of the fledgling church were Wasil Blishak, John Bowan Sr. Samuel Evans Sr. and Daniel Holovach. Others who contributed their services were families of Timko Romanov, Paul Romanov, Dimitri Skomsky, Theodore Lapihuska, Timko Guch, Harry Kohanik, Stephen Felk, John Evans Sr., A. Zbigley, Nicholas Kuhta, Theodore Fecik, Wasil Liseyko, Joseph Hafiez, Anton Shpak, Nicholas Kulavchik, N. Polovischak, E. Polovischak, Timko Blishko, Harry Shepella, Michael Roman, John Towcimak, Wasil Zawoysky Sr., Wasil Guch, Michael Psinka and Wasil Hritzik.
On August 21, 1911, the parish was incorporated as the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ghost. The congregation adopted as its patron, the Descent of the Holy Ghost (Spirit) upon the Apostles.
The first recorded christening was that of Nicholas Kuhta on October 27, 1907. The first marriage solemnized in the church was that of Theodore Hopta and Anna Hnath on February 8, 1908.
The parish grew steadily, and soon plans were being formulated for completion of the church. In 1912 a building committee was established. The church was completed in December 1914 at a cost of $14,000. The Rev. Andrew Ivanishin officiated at the first Divine Liturgy in the new edifice. The cornerstone, donated by Samuel Evans Sr., and the newly built church were consecrated by the Most Rev. Archbishop Alexander, assisted by Fr. Ivanishin and visiting clergy. The dream had become a reality. Just one year later, a parish home next to the new church was purchased for $5,100.
Now thoughts turned to the church interior. In 1927, led by the Rev. Damian Krehel, the church commissioned Michael Kupetz, a parishioner, to paint the murals for $2,200.
Two years later the present three bells were purchased. Metropolitan Platon blessed them.
The Great Depression ruled out further improvements until November 27, 1941, when, under the leadership of the Rev. Emilian Skuby, a new iconostas and newly renovated church interior were blessed by the Rt. Rev. Benjamin, Bishop of Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The new iconostas was designed and erected by the famous architect-artist Gennady Gordeyev.
That same year saw the outbreak of World War II, and 1950 brought with it the Korean conflict. Twelve young men of the parish were killed in those wars: Michael Chaykowsky, Edward Chumak, Peter Dudenich, Paul Durniak, John Kucer, Michael Kucer, Frank Pastrick, Steve Pastrick, Nicholas Sapovchak, Michael Sudik, George Torhan and Dimitri Wrobleski.
On November 21, 1954, a crystal chandelier was installed and dedicated to the memory of twelve young men from the parish that gave their lives to the service of their country in World War II and the Korean conflict.
In July 1974 a new parish home was purchased on Pilgrim Drive, Leet Township. The old parish home next to the church was converted into an educational center. There the church school organization, which was initiated by the Senior R Club (FROC) during the presidency of Mildred Erdelyn Mitcheil in 1947, continues to meet.
In February 1975 a fire started in the front of the church, severely damaging one corner of the interior. Fr. Vladimir Soroka and Church Council President Irene Bell led the ensuing restoration.
In 1975 The Holy Ghost Orthodox Youth Center began as a gift. The merged Russian Community Society and Russian Society of St. Michael donated the empty building at 405 Maplewood Avenue that formerly housed the Russian Community Society. A building committee was appointed, led by co-chairmen Frank Markvan and Ted Hritsko. The former building was mostly razed and a new structure erected under the guidance of architect George Ruscitto and builder Jerry Steinmetz Construction Corporation. In 1977, two years after the ownership was transferred to the congregation, the transformed building was opened as a center for both parochial events and public events. Today the Center is a hub our Annual Slavic Festival and other church related activities.
In the early 1990's, the parishioners of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Aliquippa were welcomed as members of the Holy Ghost congregation when their parish was closed.
In November 1996 the congregation undertook one of the most ambitious renovation projects since the founding of the church in 1907. Cupolas of reinforced gold fiberglass replaced the four deteriorating copper cupolas. This project was the centerpiece of a series of renovation projects that included the complete repainting of the interior of the church, enhanced internal and external lighting, and re-pointing the brick exterior of the church. All of these major projects were completed prior to the congregation's celebration of its 90th anniversary in 1997.
The congregation has just completed a 10-year capital improvements plan in time for the parish's 100th anniversary. These projects included all new iconography in the altar, including a new Platitera icon in the apse over the sanctuary, the total refurbishment of the chandelier, renovated restrooms in the church basement, new wall-to-wall carpeting, and new iconography on the proscenium arch above the iconostas.
From the original 14 families the parish has grown to over 200 adults and 30 children.
From those hard working immigrant families who formed the nucleus, to the present pastor, V. Rev. William Evansky, church council, church organizations and congregation, we are deeply indebted. To those now deceased -- May God grant them eternal rest. To those still in our midst--thank you for a job well done! God bless you and guide you in your continued efforts.