St. Barbara Orthodox Church - Announcements & Upcoming Events

Because of an early Pascha, this year's Pysanky Festival at St. Barbara's will be a bit earlier than in previous years. Mark your calendars for March 19th and 20th. Some of you have already begun your decorating and preparations. As a reminder we usually shoot now for 70 to 80 dozen decorated chicken eggs. Please mark your calendars. For more detailed information please contact Matushka Christine Zebrun who plans to be able to coordinate this year's event. She may be reached by phone or email. The church phone number is 817-294-0325 if you have any questions.

Please take note that Holy Week begins during this month of March, on March 28 and 29, with Pascha being celebrated on April 4. We invite all members and friends of St. Barbara’s to set aside this special time for the worship of our Lord, for entering the celebration of the central mysteries of our Faith. We ask that for the Midnight Service on Saturday night, April 3, all people arrive at the Church prior to 11:30 pm so that the service may begin promptly at 11:30, with all lights extinguished. Those bringing food for the Agape meal please arrive no later than 11:00 pm so that dishes may be taken care of prior to the start of the service. We ask too that appointments for confessions be made so that all Lenten confessions can be concluded by Palm Sunday, March 28. Thank you.

Church School and music classes for teens and children will be held on Saturday, February 13 at 4:30 p.m just prior to evening Vespers. The next two Church School Days will be Saturday, February 13 and Saturday, March 6 at 4:30 pm.

Church School Supplemental Days

At a recent meeting of parents and teachers with Fr. Basil it was discussed and decided that beginning Sunday, March 28, the children of our parish will meet for about 10 or 15 minutes after the Divine Liturgy each week with Mrs. Marilyn Gabler to talk about the day's theme or Gospel lesson, as well as those lessons for the following week. This supplemental addition to our schedule is the result of several suggestions by the parents themselves. It is our hope that this change will help introduce our children more fully to the Church's liturgical, prayer life, and provide another venue for future organization of social activities for the kids. We will continue with our once a month Saturday Church School program as usual, but will limit the "weekly meetings" to 10 or 15 minutes for the benefit of the children. Prior to joining St. Barbara's, Marilyn was involved in Christian Education and Youth work in a local Antiochian Orthodox parish and we thank her for her interest in this effort. Should parishioners have any questions or comments please contact Marilyn Gabler, Fr. Basil, or Matushka Christine our Church School Coordinator. Thank you.

As is our custom in Dallas and Ft. Worth, Orthodox Christians throughout the Metroplex will gather this year every Sunday during Lent, at 6 pm, at a chosen parish for worship and fellowship. For your convenience this year's schedule looks like this:

February 21: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

February 28: St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

March 7: Sts. Constantine and Helen Antiochian Orthodox Church

March 14: St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church

March 21: St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral

Beginning Thursday, February 25, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, St. Barbara's will offer classes on Thursday afternoons after Vespers that will focus on the outline, order and general meaning of Liturgical services in the Orthodox Church. Although the classes will start out on Thursdays, after the initial sessions have been completed, we will offer them at other times and days as well. Should you have any questions please contact Fr. Basil.

Thanks to all who helped out with the Clergy Conference hosted by our parish during the last week in January. We received a number of compliments and expressions of gratitude from participants. In addition to His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, approximately 65 priests, deacons, clergy wives and monastics were in attendance for various activities. Almost 120 people were present for the Tuesday night talk given by Archimandrite Meletios. Our hope is that in another two years we will be asked to host another function such as this.