THE
CHAPEL CORNER
Our Chapel, as I always relate the message to
our faithful, and visitors alike, was founded about 10 years ago, by the
Orthodox Community of "The Holy Trinity Orthodox Church" (OCA) for
the explicit purpose of being opened to EVERYONE INTERESTED in Orthodoxy (the English Speaking American
Faithful Community in Southern California) All colors, race and ethnicity are
“Welcome!”. And, thanks be to God for the growth of our Chapel as of late.
Our English Speaking mission is becoming well
known through the Internet, and the word of mouth.
We
have baptized and Christmated many babies and young adults during 2004.
Father
Andrew Lesko (assistant priest at St. Anne Orthodox Church in Pomona Valley)
and me had Baptized and Christmated an young adult, Mr.
Emad Torkzad - on May 16, who was civilly married to Mihaela Vranceanu, a young mother-to-be Romanian Orthodox lady,
who wish to live, and raise the children in the Holy Orthodox Faith.
Father Constantin Alecse and Fr. Bill Clark
continued with additional Christmations this year; people of different
backgrounds.
Following the Baptism and Christmation of Mr.
Emad Torkzad, was the acceptance of Mr. Robert Gomez(to the left) a former
Spanish-American Catholic, into the Holy Orthodox Church (by Christmation).
The Service of Christmation took place on
Saturday, April 10th, 2004. The honor of “Nasi” belonged to: Mr. And Mrs.
Andreas and Brandusa Cahling (Andreas being himself a convert to the Holy
Orthodox Faith, before marrying Brandusa, in Romania).
Another convert to Orthodoxy, through the Holy
Christmation is Ellik (Ignatious) Huang, who became Orthodox
on Sunday, August 22, 2004.
Ignatius (Ellik)
Huang is
a Chinese American, very much interested in the Holy Orthodox Faith. After
intensive studies, Ellik was Christmated into the Holy Orthodox Faith, at Holy
Trinity Orthodox Church in Los Angeles, California, by Very Rev. Fr.Constantin Alecse, Sr. Pastor
and Dean of the ROEA'S Pacific Coast Deanery, and Fr & Chaplain Bill Clark,
Descent of then Holy Spirit Chapel.
Mr. Ellik Huang got acquainted to Orthodoxy by
his numerous visits to the "Life Giving Spring" Orthodox Christian
Book-store (Glendale, California), where he met one of our Orthodox Faithful,
Miss Marcela Macarevici, and the Store's Owner Anasthasia Kalivas. There he
introduced himself, as an "Christian Searcher" decided to embrace the
Holy Orthodox Faith, showing interest, and asking Marcela Macarevich to
introduce him to the Priest-in-charge of the "HTROC" Chapel, Rev. Fr.
Bill Clark.
Mr. Ellik (Ignatious) Huang invited his fellow
Chinese Americans (one Roman Catholic, 2 protestant and one orthodox) to attend
our Holy Trinity Chapel's Divine Liturgy, and the Christmation Service
afterwards.
The coming into the Holy Orthodox Faith of
Ignatius (Ellik) Huang was also noticed by our Diocesan Newspaper (September
2004 “Solia”), as well as various forums on the Internet.
May God Grant us many additional converts like
Ellik (Ignatious) Huang.
Another acceptance
into the Holy Orthodox Faith made by Christmation, was the one of Mr. Frank
Boyer, on Sunday October 17, 2004
Mr. Frank Boyer, a former Episcopalian, a
Theological Scholar himself was searching for the “True Faith” for years. He contacted the Holy Trinity Church on
numerous occasions, and thus meeting with Fr. Bill Clark, and Fr. Alecse, for a
few “theological discussion sessions”, he expressed the desire to be confirmed
in the Holy Orthodox Faith. At the time of confirmation, V. Rev. Fr. Constantin
Tofan, was serving at the Holy Trinity as protos, therefore the Confirmation
Grace upon Mr. Boyer was bestowed by
four co-serving priests, led by the Chaplain, Fr. Bill Clark.
THE
CHAPEL REGULAR SERVICES
The English Services are held on a regular
basis, every Sunday from 10:00 to 12:00.
The Liturgical
Responses are offered by the whole congregation.
The Epistle readings are offered by rotation:
mainly by Mr. Richard McGrath or Mr. Ignatius (Ellik) Huang, who also serve as
the Holy Altar helpers.
RELIGIOUS
EDUCATION
Besides the Sacramental
Life of
our small community (with a special emphasis on the partaking Holy Communion on
a regular basis), the Religious
Education is next in our Chapel’s “mission statement”.
Sermons are offered at the end
of ALL Services.
Catechetical sessions
are
offered, either to individual faithful or the whole group, the themes being
centered either on The Scripture, Tradition or Church History.
Sunday School
Classes. The Sunday School
Classes will resume after the Holy Nativity Feast-Days. We are working closely
with sub-deacon Liviu Constantinescu and Dorian and Ady Serban to compile
a list
of most of the parish youth, thus to be able to organize activities according
to groups’ age and interests.
For the young adults, Miss
Marcela Macarevici, working closely with the newly ordained deacon, Fr. deacon dr.
Razvan Bena, took it upon herself and collected an e-mail address book (most of
the young adults in our community), attended on her own expenses the National
AROY Conference, September 3-5 2004,
and hope - with the help of our clergymen - to make the LAROY once again a viable
organization. It is for this reason we print a Report of the AROY’s 55th
Conference, with an Appeal to ALL the youth of our parish, to please show
interest, get involved, let’s work together.
SCOUTING. Our Church supports
extra-church activities, led by renown organizations, like The National Council
of the Boy Scouts of America, which supports more than 300 local councils that
provide quality youth programs, including Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and
Venturing.
Our “younger
parishioners”, Vaughn-Paul Himber received, from the church pastor on St.
Thomas Sunday, The Boy Scouts of America Certificate and St. George’s insignia,
in recognition of his activities within the stated organization.
Vaughn-Paul Himber is a partaker of the Holy
Mysteries on a regular basis. Congratulations.
Occasional Services (memorials, personal
prayers for all needs, confessions, etc)
are being offered after the final blessings and dismissal of faithful.
The pastors’ joy is always
co-serving on many occasional services like: Baptisms, Weddings,
Funerals, Memorials, Blessing of Homes, Hospital visitations, etc.
See this links:
65th Anniversary of the Church
THE PRISON
MINISTRY
Our Church cares for everyone: Romanian, American and
everyone in between, men, women and children, healthy and sick, young and old,
free and incarcerated.
To fulfil this calling, on Fathers’Day (June 20, 2004), Fr.
Constantin Alecse, our pastor, at the invitation of Rev. dr. Howard Green,
protestant pastor at the “High Desert Sate Maximum Security Prison”, with over
5,000 jailed-men, in Susanville, CA
(some 500 miles north of Los Angeles) where he had an Orthodox Service for
inmates, and visited with the 2 Romanian inmates in that prison.
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