As we feel the heat of summertime abate every late August, Orthodox Christians look forward to September 1, when we mark the new ecclesiastical year. In 2019, this new church year falls on a Sunday and we will sing together as a community:

O Creator of the Universe,
Thou didst appoint times by Thine own power;
bless the crown of this year with Thy goodness, O Lord!
Preserve in safety Thy rulers and Thy cities:
and through the intercessions of the Theotokos, save us!

In many ways, this time of year “syncs” well with how most Americans live their lives: from school year to school, as summer gives way to fall. In our parish, we try to connect a number of other “new beginnings” with the new ecclesiastical year:

• our Sunday School calendar
• our Youth & Girls’ Groups calendars
• our campus ministry efforts (at UK, Berea, & Asbury)
• our young adult & college student fellowship
• our Wednesday pm Christian Education series
• choir development
• new service projects
• goal-setting for our many ministries
• and even our parish fiscal year…

We invite you to be a part of the God-honoring ministries taking place in our community. We also invite you to join us on Sunday, Sept. 15, for our Fall 2019 Visitors’ Sunday. While our parish welcomes visitors at all times, we enjoy setting aside several Sundays a year to offer an “open window” into our parish life for our beighbors who are not Orthodox Christians. Consider yourself invited to event. Stay for lunch and an in-depth church tour with our parish iconographer Daniel Werner. (Also stay tuned for word on our annual October Ministry Fair, in which we set up booths in the parish hall on a Saturday-Sunday to share about the work of various ministries.)

Here are some photos of our parish rebooting for the new church year: