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PEACE AND GRACE!

Commemoration of  Raising of Lazarus from the dead, celebrated on Baramhat 20 (Mar 29)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Love never ends or fails. Love never ends. Everything must be based on love - the relation between two friends, my ministry, my service. The church services in every field must be based on love. Why? Because God is Love." 
+Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria

SERVICES & EVENTS THIS WEEK

Wednesday: 

Lenten Liturgy: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

FOCUS: 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Friday:

Lenten Liturgy: 4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Lenten Speaker Series: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Robert Beshai)

Saturday:

Children’s Hymns Class: 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Vespers: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Sunday: 

Divine Liturgy: 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

BLESSINGS OF THE HOME DURING GREAT LENT

Andil or blessings of the home that traditionally occurs during lent are available to those interested. Fr. George is available early mornings (5:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.) as well as early/mid afternoons. Please speak with him or Daniel Gharbawy to get on his calendar.

FRIDAY LENTEN SPEAKER SERIES

After the great success of our Nativity Speaker Series last year, we are excited to announce a new speaker series during Lenten. Please join us each Friday from March 15th through April 19th. Robert Beshai will honor us with his presence on March 29th, starting at 7:00 p.m.

TRUE PHYSICIAN MINISTRY TRAINING

Under the auspices of His Eminence Metropolitan Serapion and His Grace Bishop Abraham, the Department of Diakonia is offering a one day training for those who desire to serve the sick. Attendees will earn a certificate of completion at the end of the training.

• April 6th at St. Mary and St. Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church in Northridge, CA

• April 13th at St. Maurice Coptic Orthodox Church in Pomona, CA

Each training day will begin with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at 8:00 a.m. and will end at 6:00 p.m. For more information and registration, click here.

GYP 10th ANNUAL LENTEN RETREAT

Under the auspices of His Eminence Metropolitan Serapion, the Graduates and Young Professionals (GYP) committee cordially invites you to the 10th Annual Lenten Retreat on April 5-7, 2019. This year we are blessed to have Fr. Antony Paul, of the Saint Paul Brotherhood to lead us in a spiritual discussion on “Discipleship”

Don’t miss out on the opportunity for spiritual contemplation, growth, and fellowship.

We are looking forward to benefiting spiritually together and enjoying Christ in fellowship with one another.

3RD ANNUAL ST. BASIL RETREAT

Mark your calendars for our 3rd annual St. Basil Retreat from May 10-12, 2019 at the Palomar Christian Conference Center (approx 1hr 20min away) tucked just south of Julian. We have an incredible committee preparing the best retreat we’ve had yet and our speakers will be Father George, Father Michael and, pending a flight, Father Antony. Please sign up here.

HELP WITH AMAZON SMILE

If you are looking into other ways to support our church, the AmazonSmile Foundation offers an easy way to give while browsing the Amazon shop. It will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases, at no cost to you. To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com (you may want to add a bookmark to make it easier to return). You will see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on the product detail pages. If you already own an Amazon account you can use the same account for AmazonSmile. On your first visit, please select “Saint Basil American Coptic Orthodox Church” as your charity of choice. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make will result in a donation for our church. Thank you so much for your love and support.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, VISITATIONS & CONFESSIONS

Please let us know if you have any upcoming important events for us to share with our fellow congregants. Special events are best shared amongst our family, and we encourage you to share your special news with us. 

FOOD & CLEAN-UP

As we’ve experienced challenges with the physical sign-up sheets for our weekly agape meal, we are trying a new way of signing up. Starting March 31st, we will be using an electronic tool called VolunteerSignup. It requires NO account creation, NO app downloads, and is mobile user friendly. You don’t even have to think about what to bring, since suggestions are being made for each Sunday.

All you have to do is click the link for the week you want to sign up for and enter your name and contact info next to the item you'd like to bring.  If you want to bring something else, please contact Erene Hanna via the "contact manager" button and let her know.

Here are the links to the sheets for the next few weeks:

March 31: https://volunteersignup.org/FJEC3

April 7: https://volunteersignup.org/D7RXA

April 14:  https://volunteersignup.org/XJRX3

Thank you to all who have contributed and helped make the agape meal a special time for everyone. We need as many volunteers as possible to keep the church clean on Sundays after the Divine Liturgy. Please consider this important expression of stewards