2007 News Archive

• New Year's Liturgy will be conducted on Monday, December 31^st at 8:00pm. Come to church as a family for the Liturgy and attend the New Year's Eve Party together in our parish Banquet Hall following Liturgy. The Parish Council of Stewards is sponsoring the party. Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy the evening's festivities. Please bring a dish to share: appetizer, main course or dessert. Soft beverages, water, champagne, wine, beer, coffee and tea will be provided. We will have sing-alongs with piano accompaniment and dancing. It will be a wonderful way to bring in '08! (posted 12/23/07.)

• Weekday Divine Liturgies in December:

  • Nativity of Our Lord, God & Savior Jesus Christ: Monday, December 24, 7:00pm.

  • New Year's Divine Liturgy: Monday, December 31, 8:00pm.
  (posted 12/02/07.)

• The scrip order form has been updated: scrip20071121.pdf.

  The latest additions to the scrip program include: Ticketmaster, Kay Jewelers, Cold Stone Creamery, Family Christians Stores, Game Stop and Michaels. Remember, every purchase benefits the Building Fund. (posted 11/21/07.)

• Update: for the Annual Meeting on Sunday, December 9^th, sixty (60) voting members constitute a quorum. We will have on the agenda an amendment to the by-laws so that for future meetings, a fixed number of forty (40) voting members would be sufficient for a quorum. In the current by-laws, the quorum is stated as a percentage of the membership. (posted 11/18/07.)

• A Vesperal Liturgy for the Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple will be held Tuesday, November 19^th at 7:00pm. (posted 11/18/07.)

• The annual Patronal Feast Day Luncheon & Program will be held Sunday, November 18^th following the Divine Liturgy. (posted 11/06/07.)

• Posted some photos: Scenes from St. Matthew. (posted 11/05/07.)

• The Annual Meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday, December 9^th. (posted 11/05/07.)

• The Annual Meeting of our parish family will be held on Sunday, November 4^th at 12:00pm (noon) in the Temple following Liturgy and a light lunch. The annual meetings of our parish community offer us an opportunity to review what has happened over the past year as well as an opportunity to discuss and provide for the future life of our community. Let us come together on November 4^th seeking to apply ourselves to building up our parish family so that together we will continue to grow and mature in faith and love united in Christ Jesus. (posted 10/20/07.)

• Our church and the Society for Classical Singing presents A Nativity Concert on Saturday, December 1^st at 7:00pm. Tickets for this fundraising event are $50. All proceeds will benefit our building fund. Details are here. (posted 10/20/07.)

• Retired OCA Archbishop Lazar (Puhalo) who resides in Canada will be with us on the evening of Friday, October 5^th at 7:30pm to deliver a talk entitled "The Mystery of the Parish: The Role of the Community in our Salvation." The evening will begin with Vespers followed by dinner and the talk in the Banquet Hall. He will also be with us on Sunday, October 7^th to preach and celebrate the Divine Liturgy. (posted 9/24/07.)

• Update on Iraq Packages: A very hearty thank you to all who helped with the packages to Iraq. We had many items donated to put into our packages as well as cash donations of over $500! The five deployed members of our parish will be very touched by the knowledge that they are still in our hearts and minds as they continue to work on their missions overseas. There have been requests to continue to make packages for future mailings. Please contact Melissa Edens for more information. (posted 9/24/07.)

• September Services:
  • Sat. Sept. 8, 10:00am, Divine Liturgy. Birth of the Theotokos.
  • Thu. Sept. 13, 7:00pm, Vesperal Liturgy. Elevation of the Holy Cross.
  (posted 9/03/07.)

• The Women's Fellowship will meet at church on Thursday, September 20^th at 7:00pm to put together packages to send to deployed soldiers. Refreshments will be pot-luck. This meeting is open to all, feel free to bring friends. There is a box in the lobby for donated items. Monetary contributions can be made payable to St. Matthews (please include "Women's Group" in the memo). Funds will be used for shipping charges and to purchase additional items. Contact Melissa Edens for questions. (posted 8/26/07.)

• A Vesperal Liturgy for the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist will be held this Tuesday, August 28^th at 7:00pm. (posted 8/26/07.)

• The Divine Liturgy for the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord will be celebrated on Monday August 6th at 10am. (posted 8/05/07.)

• The St. Matthew Annual Community Picnic will be held on Sunday, August 19th from 1 - 6pm at Lake Elkhorn on Broken Land Parkway in the village of Owen Brown in Columbia. Everyone is invited. If you would like to help, please see or call Fr. Duane. (You can help with: set up or tear down as well as bringing a salad, side dish and/or desert to share.) Come and enjoy the fellowship, food, volleyball, fishing and fun! (posted 7/30/07.)

• Fixed PHP scripts broken by latest version of PHP. (The menu now highlights properly.) (posted 7/10/07.)

• Dan Hinsche fell-asleep in the Lord on Saturday, June 16. May his memory be eternal!

  Viewings will be held at the Burrier-Queen Funeral Home (www.burrier-queen.com) on Rte. 26 in Winfield (Carroll County) Maryland:

  • 7-9 PM Monday, June 18, 2007
  • 2-4, 7-9 PM Tuesday, June 19, 2007
  Memorial Prayers will be done at 8 PM at the Funeral Home on Tuesday.

  At St. Matthew Church from 10 AM to 12 noon Wednesday, June 20, 2007.

  • Funeral Service will be at 12 PM at St. Matthew Church.
  Interment in Carroll County will follow.

  Meal will follow at the Winfield Fire Hall on Rte. 26, Winfield, Maryland. The Funeral Home and the Fire Hall are either side of South Carroll High School.

  In response to the many inquiries about making and bringing food for the meal following the burial: if you feel so led, by all means you are welcome to do so. You may bring the food to the viewings or on Wednesday itself. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

  In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorial contributions be made to the St. Matthew Church Building Fund. Memorial gifts in Dan's memory may be sent to the Church at: P.O. Box 2003, Columbia, MD 21045. Thank you. (posted 6/18/07.)

• A vesperal liturgy for the Ascension of Our Lord will be held on Wednesday, May 16th at 7:00pm. (posted 5/12/07.)

• Jim Davidoff, departed this life early Monday morning May 8th. May his memory be eternal. Please keep Anne Davidoff and his family in your prayers.
  • Viewing will be at Fleck's in Laurel on Friday May 11, 2007 from 2-4pm and 6-8 pm.
  • The funeral service will be at St Matthew's at 11am Saturday, May 12.
  • The military funeral at Arlington will be on July 16, 2007 at 3 pm.

  Jim's wishes were that contributions be made to St. Matthew's Building Fund in lieu of flowers. (posted 5/08/07.)

• On Monday, April 2, our ISP's server was hacked. As of 11pm, the site is still down. A message from their sysadmin:

  For starters we are very sorry about todays [sic] down time. There was an account on the server that was compromised, and this also allowed the hacker to gain root access to the server. We had to do an emergency OS reload to back out all the back door Trojans installed on the system. We are currently restoring all accounts right now. If you website is not online currently, it will be by 6AM Tuesday April 3rd. [...]

  (posted 4/02/07.)

• There will be a half-day retreat on Saturday, March 24 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the church. Deacon Nicholas will be talking about symbolism and church architecture. Bring a brown-bag lunch to enjoy while we have questions and answers at the end. This is a great opportunity to get to know the new church building better. It is open to ALL who are interested in attending! (posted 3/19/07.)

• Schedule of services for Holy Week posted. (posted 3/17/07.)

• Remember that Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday March 11 at 2:00am! We "spring forward", so we'll have to get up "earlier" for Church this Sunday. (posted 3/07/07.)

• Cancellation: The Annual Metropolitan Baltimore Area Orthodox Churches' Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers originally scheduled for tonight, Tuesday February 25^th, has been canceled due to the inclement weather and slippery road conditions.

  Thanks to all the people who put in the time to prepare for this event. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

  Our plan is to host this event next year. (posted 2/25/07.)

• The ImageLinkUSA servers were down most of today (Sat 2/24/07). Looks like they just came back up. (posted 2/24/07.)

• It's official. We're moving in! The Divine Liturgy service next Sunday, February 25^th, will be held in our new building. The Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts on Wednesday, February 21^st, will be the last service held in Slayton House.

  On Saturday, February 24^th, from noon to 5pm, we will be moving all of our things from Slayton House to our new church home. If you would like to help in this joyous task, please see or call Susan Petry or Fr. Ray. (posted 2/18/07.)

• Posted directions to the new church building: here. Send email to the webmaster (Richard) if you see any mistakes or points that need clarification. (posted 2/12/07.)

• Plan to attend the Annual Metropolitan Baltimore Area Orthodox Churches' Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers. The Vesper Service will be held, God-willing, at our new church home on Sunday, February 25^th at 6pm with a reception to follow. (posted 2/12/07.)

• Introductory Seminar on Orthodoxy will be held on Monday evenings at 7:30pm during the six weeks of Great Lent. The seminar will begin on the first Monday of Great Lent, February 19^th. It is a survey of the Church, its beliefs, life and history. Although it is designed primarily for the uninitiated in the faith, it is open to all. If you plan to attend, please see or call Fr. Ray to register. (posted 2/12/07.)

• The Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on the Wednesday evenings during Great Lent beginning February 21^st at Slayton House at 7:00pm. (Stay tuned for the location of subsequent meetings.) Following the Presanctified Liturgies, Fr. Duane and Deacon Nicholas will be giving presentations on alternate weeks. Fr. Duane's talks will be on "The Nature of Grace." Deacon Nicholas will speak on "Baptismal Aspects of the Liturgy." The Divine Services and teachings offer each of us an opportunity to deepen our relationship with the Lord and each other. Don't pass up these opportunities. For those who stay for the presentation/teaching, time is available for dinner. Remember to bring your brown bag dinner. (posted 2/11/07.)

• Pictures of the mostly completed interior (including the iconostasis, chairs and kitchen): [2/4 photos], and [2/11 photos]. (posted 2/11/07.)

• OCA & Diocesan Assessment: Our stewardship to the national church and diocese is $145 per adult member in 2007. Thus, for a couple, the first $290 contributed to the parish's general fund goes out of the parish in support of the diocesan and central church's ministries. There are envelopes in your stewardship packets for a contribution towards this parish commitment. As in the past, any and all gifts made above and beyond one's stewardship commitment are greatly appreciated! (posted 2/02/07.)

• More interior photos: [1/21 photos], and [1/28 photos]. (posted 2/01/07.)

• Raised flooring for the altar is being constructed: [1/14 photos]. (posted 1/15/07.)

• The Parish Council roster has been updated on the contacts page. Wayne Hajos and Selma Allen are stepping in for Mitchell Mathis and Sandy Hinsche in the positions of Vice Chairman and Secretary (respectively). Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Mitchell and Sandy for the dedicated service they have so generously given. We appreciate your time, energy and leadership by example. (posted 1/11/07.)

• Happy New Year. Some more interior shots of the building, including pictures of the interior "dome" with the scaffolding down: [12/27 photos], [12/31 photos], and [01/07 photos]. (posted 1/10/07.)