PARISH VOICES

Plans are underway to remodel our beautiful church. This reminds me of a verse from Psalms that says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1). The house in this verse can refer to multiple things. It can refer to you in your own soul, to your community, or to a specific work or task you are undertaking. It can also refer to the church building that we are remodeling. We can always be asking, what kind of house are we building?

I've always loved fall, not just because the heat of summer fades, but because it feels more like a new beginning than New Year's ever did. The church begins the new ecclesiastical year quietly and tenderly. The first major feast day we celebrate is the Feast of the Nativity of our beautiful Theotokos. Wrap our heads around that—we celebrate the new year not with fireworks or resolutions, but with birth. With the arrival of the one who said "yes." The one who changed the cour

Happy New Year, everyone! Yes, I truly mean it—Happy New Year. On September 1st, the Church gives us the gift of a new beginning—the Ecclesiastical New Year. Unlike the turning of the calendar in January, this New Year is not about resolutions that fade after a few weeks. It's not about good intentions we rarely keep, diet plans, exercise goals, or career ambitions. This New Year is about reorienting our whole life toward Christ and His Kingdom. It is about resetting our

Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, They are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world. —Clarence Herbert Woolston, 1856-1927 We are in Europe. Having a daughter who has lived in Scotland for 14 years and another daughter who has lived across The Pond for 7 years, currently living in Switzerland, has enabled us...

Shonda Rhimes is an influential storyteller in modern television. As the creator of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Bridgerton, and more, she's known for crafting complex, diverse characters and emotionally rich narratives. Several years ago I read her memoir Year of Yes. In this book she shares how learning to say "yes" transformed her life from fear and burnout to joy and authenticity. Saying yes doesn't guarantee ease or clarity. But it opens the door to transformation. It's brav

I hope you are finding time to read the Scriptures! You can read a little each day, and there are multiple apps that can give you the church's daily readings or help you follow a reading plan. Have you ever been reading and had a verse jump out at you that you hadn't noticed before? This happened to me recently when I was reading 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Verse 23 struck me, which states, "This I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you."

Today, heaven and earth are united in a holy mystery! Today we celebrate the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, her falling asleep in peace, her translation into life, and her continued intercession for the whole world! The Church, in her hymns, does not speak of the Theotokos as someone lost to the grave, but as the one who, having given birth to the Source of Life, has now been received into the fullness of that Life.

The Transfiguration of Christ is one of the most beautiful and radiant feast days in the Church. We are able to experience it today because the disciples witnessed it firsthand. Their humanity was evident as they fell to their faces in awe, but there is also something strangely comforting about that. Christ saw them and reassured them, "Don't be afraid." Then He asked them to keep this revelation quiet until after the Resurrection. Can you imagine carrying something that monu

Our Holy Orthodox Church is such a blessing and light to the world, reminding us of what is important, navigating us towards reality, directing us to focus on things that are from God. Our church is constantly inviting us to make love our aim and to desire the spiritual gifts as we celebrate two life-changing feast days in August: the Transfiguration of our Lord on the 6th, and the Dormition of our Holy Mother of God, the Theotokos, on the 15th.

August 1 brings us to the Dormition Fast. This special time of year again reminds us that our dear Theotokos is a great example for us. She is not an exception to the human race. She began her life being presented in the temple, she bore Jesus within herself, and she ended her life having become a Temple of the Holy Spirit. We are called to do likewise. The way that she walked with Jesus is the way we are called to walk with Him.