Holy Ghost Church

Flood Information
Please refer back to this webpage for updates and information in regard to
the clean-up and restoration of our Church. Donations to help us recover
can be sent to:
Holy Ghost Orthodox Church
249 South Seventh Avenue
Manville, NJ 08835
___________________________________________
Hall Clean-up!
Thank you to everyone who helped out at the clean-up
on Saturday, October 13th. Our next hall clean-up day is
scheduled for Saturday, October 27th. We will begin
work approximately 9 A.M. If you are able, and have
some time, please consider helping us out!

Hall Clean-up!
Our next hall clean-up days are scheduled for Saturday,
October 13th and Saturday, October 27th. We will begin
work approximately 9 A.M. on those days. If you are
able, and have some time on either of those days,
please consider helping us out!

Next Saturday Work Detail
Our next work day in the parish hall will be Saturday,
September 22nd. We would like to begin working at
approximately 9 A.M. Of course, if you would like to
help, please feel free to come anytime on Saturday.
Even if you can give an hour of your time, it's an hour
that will make a difference!!!

Thank you for your patience!
As you no doubt have noticed, power in the Church has once
again been restores. It has been a difficult and trying process.
On behalf of the parish board, I would like to thank everyone
for their patience and understanding during this time. We did
everything in our power (no pun intended) to insure that this
problem would be rectified in as timely a fashion as possible.
Unfortunately, much of this was out of our hands.

Now that we have electricity again, we will continue to work as
hard as we can to get the basement back to normal. There is
still a lot of work ahead of us. Thank you to everyone who took
the time to do some work in that area on Saturday. We will
continue to update you on the progress that is being made.
Again thank you and God bless you!
- Father Matthew

Hall Cleanup!
The recent loss of power in the Church has made it difficult to
continue with our cleanup efforts in the hall. Due to vacations and
other summer activities, we are planning to increase our efforts in the
fall. We will continue to schedule Saturday work days. The next one
will be Saturdat, September 8th beginning at 9 A.M. Further details
will be provided in the weeks ahead.

Hall Re-building update!
Sunday, July 15th, we had our first coffee social since the flood in
mid-April. As anyone who came downstairs could see, we have made
quite a bit of progress since that time. We also still have a great deal
of work to do. Summer is an extremely busy time for everyone, but
we want to try to continue to plug away as much as we can. After
much discussion at our monthly board meeting we have decided to go
ahead with the following:

Saturday, July 28th: Hall Cleaning Day
We are going to try to set aside 2 Saturdays per month to be hall
cleaning days. The next one will be Saturday, July 28th and will begin
at approximately 9 A.M. The important thing to remember is thta any
time that can be offered is appreciated. If you can come at 1 P.M. and
stay until 3 P.M. (just as an example), then please do so. The more
people who can come, the more work can get finished. As we select
more Saturdays, they will be posted.

Work During the Work
Some people have expressed a desire to come to the Church when
they have some free time during the week, but aren't always sure
what needs to be done. With thta in mind, we will be posting a
calendar so that people can sign up to work a certain day. For
example, if you see that someone has signed up to work for a couple
of hours on a Tuesday evening, and you have that same evening free,
then you can sign up as well, and then have two people working
together. We will also post a list of things that can be worked on with
small numbers. Painting will be the largest of these jobs. If anytime
you want to come and are not sure of what needs to be done, please
call Fr. Matthew or Chris Kechula.

Thank you to everyone for your continued efforts!!!
___________________________________________

Church Hall Renovation Day!
At our monthly parish council meeting we tentatively set a date of
Saturday, June 23rd for a work day downstairs in the hall.
Things have been coming along nicely in the last couple of weeks. Our
hope is that another big day of work will really get us closer to
achieving our ultimate goals. There will be many different jobs to be
done that day. Please direct any questions about what we will be
doing to Fr. Matthew, Chris Kechula or one of our parish council
officers.
______________________________________________________
Thank You!!!
Thank you to everyone who came to the Church on
Saturday, June 2nd to help carry materials downstairs
for use rebuilding the hall. God bless you for your time
and efforts!!
_______________________________________________________

"We Are Family"
- Sister Sledge (1979)
I have to admit, it is a little strange to quote a 1970s disco hit. However I
couldn't help but think of this song after the events of the past week.

In the relatively short time I have been your pastor, you will no doubt have
heard me constatntly refer to our "parish family". This is not unintentional.
We ARE a FAMILY. When difficult times arise, though the temptation
could be to throw up our hands and give up, we realize that FAMILIES
don't do that. FAMILIES come together. FAMILIES roll up their sleeves
and get the job done. I am so grateful to all the members of our FAMILY
who have come together this week and helped in the beginning stages of the
clean-up needed as a result of the flooding over the weekend. Yes, the work
has been difficult, but I would dare say we have even had quite a few laughs
and good times. That's because we're a FAMILY.

We are also grateful to our larger, extended FAMILY in Orthodoxy and the
community. We have felt the love and support of so many people who have
offered their prayers and their labor in our time of need.

As important as all of this is our need to pray as a FAMILY. This is how we
lift each other up, and lift ourselves up as well; by turning to the Lord for
strength. As St. Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians: "And He
said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My stength is made perfect in
weakness'. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor. 12:9). Again, St. Paul
writes to the Philippians: "I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13).

As we, for the second time in eight years, deal with the effects of flooding in
our Church, let us remember the blessings we have. Let us take this
opportunity to draw closer thogether in Christ; to draw closer together as a
FAMILY, united in Christ's love!

-Fr Matthew

If you have time, please stop by the Church to help. It's always best
to call first, however. If no one is at the Church when you arrive,
Father is usually around and can let you in.

Thankfully, the water didn't rise into the Church, but the basement
was underwater. The water didn't reach the basement ceiling, so that
was spared.

Building Materials have arrived and are in the Church Hall.
The next phase of the construction will be scheduled shortly as we
move closer to restoring the Church Hall.