President’s Message
Dear Parishioners:
Please accept my wishes for a very Happy and Healthy New Year to all of you and your families. I hope the holiday season was a most spiritual and joyous one. Our church had many beautiful services during the holidays, a Church School retreat and lovely parties organized by our ministries. Our wonderful Christmas Pageant was presented by the students of our Church and Greek Schools. Thank you to the teachers and the parents who helped coordinate this lovely performance.
Looking ahead, 2024 will be an extremely exciting and eventful year for our parish and it is truly a great honor to have been re-elected to serve as Parish Council president for a third year. I humbly thank my fellow Parish Council members for having the confidence in me to continue in this position. I am eager to oversee what will be a very historical year as we will have three major accomplishments this year:
- Iconography
The last phase of the installation of our church’s iconography is currently being worked on by our iconographer in Europe. This will encompass the bottom of the dome, the dome pillars, the facing of the balconies, and the three large walls on each side of the balcony. You may have seen some literature in the church and communications already. More is to follow shortly with specifics and ways you can support and become a permanent legacy of the heart of our church i.e., our church’s sanctuary.
- Consecration
With the completion of the iconography, our church will just be one step shy of being “completed”. The consecration of a church, which is essentially a church’s baptism, is a very significant and historic event and includes the insertion of a saint’s relics into the altar table. Our consecration is scheduled for the weekend of October 5th and 6th. Be on the lookout for more specifics in the near future. It is for many people a once in a lifetime event that you will not want to miss being a part of.
- Restoration of the Community Center a/k/a the “Gym building”.
As I stated in the preceding newsletters, the exterior of the building needs major repairs to stop the deterioration, not just on the outside but also to address the issues created on the inside. Thank you to those who have already made contributions to the account that we have dedicated towards this but we need many more of you to contribute. To make a donation, you can go to the church’s website and donate where it says “Restoration Fund”. If you prefer to do so by check, please make it payable to St. Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church, indicate on the check “Restoration Fund” and mail it to the church or bring it to the church office.
Thank you all for your support of our church throughout the year.
Spero T. Leakas
Parish Council President
Matching Donations from your companies
Many of you work for companies that match your donation to non-profit organizations. In addition to that some companies provide grants for your volunteer work and even have established foundation for projects or enhancements to our community building.
We know some of you have completed the necessary applications and our church is reaping the benefits of double the donation without any added financial stress on your budget. This is huge in these highly financially demanding times. We are in deep gratitude of those parishioners who have come through and we ask those who have similar opportunities in the companies they work for to follow through as well. The church council will aid in filling out any paperwork/applications and provide the necessary IRS non-profit affirmation letters to anyone who asks.
If you have any questions or if you need any help please come speak to us or contact the church office and Tina will put you in touch with us so we can give any help you may need to set this up with your companies.
St. Athanasios Church Council
Parish Council 2023:
President: Spero Leakas
1st Vice President: Tonia Yiangou
2nd Vice President: Peter Paizis
Treasurer: Dean Tomaras
Secretary: Chuck Tsocanos
Andreas Comodromos
Tony Emmanouilidis
Andy Hios
John Kiriakakis
Dr. Dora Kontogiannis
Joanne Glavas
Dr. John Nicholas
George Siamboulis
Antonios Skoulariotis
For more information: parishcouncil@stathanasiosnj.org