390 likes | 840 Views
+ St . Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church. Deacons Services. + St . Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church. Deacons Services. Services include: Saturdays Vespers & Sundays Divine Liturgies.
E N D
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • Services include: • Saturdays Vespers & Sundays Divine Liturgies. • Weekdays Church Services like: Occasions’ Vespers and Divine Liturgies of Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays. • Other Church Services like: Wedding / Baptism & Confirmation / Holy Matrimony / … etc.)
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • Services include: (cont’d) • 4. Coptic and Hymns Classes for Children. • 5. “My Coptic Church” Meetings for Adults. • 6. Advanced Hymns Classes for Deacons. • 7. Deacons Monthly Meetings.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • Services include: (cont’d) • 8. “Diakon” Deacons’ Newsletter. • 9. Church Website (Deacons Corner). • 10. Others, like: Altar Supplies / Procession Icons / Services Books & Over-head Presentation.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 1- Saturdays Vespers & • Sundays Divine Liturgies • Chorus Lead / Altar Service / Readings (Pauline, Catholic Epistles & Acts) / Ushers services are distributed every month. • Deacons form to keep records of every deacon’s info.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 1- Saturdays Vespers & • Sundays Divine Liturgies (cont’d) • - Altar Service: Deacons are divided into 8 groups, each group has a head deacon who is responsible to follow up with his group members and remind them with their scheduled service.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 1- Saturdays Vespers & • Sundays Divine Liturgies (cont’d) • - A Service Schedule is posted on the church website (Deacons Corner) and also in the altar; the attendance is taken and marked on the sheet, absent names are marked either by (N=Notified to be Absent) or (A=Absent).
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 1- Saturdays Vespers & • Sundays Divine Liturgies (cont’d) • Challenges: • - Absences of deacons without notices. • - Participation of the south chorus in chanting hymns needs improvement.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 2- Weekdays Church Services like: • Occasions’ Vespers and Divine Liturgies of Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays. • 3- Other Church Services like: Wedding / Baptism & Confirmation / Matrimony…) • Challenges: Un-scheduled services.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 4- Coptic and Hymns Classes for Children - Children up to grade 12 Classes are held on Saturdays (5:30 to 6:30 PM). - There are 6 classes to teach the Coptic Language, Hymns / Tasbeha and Church Rites, which can be divided into 2 groups : (i) The 1st group includes the kids up to Grade 2. (ii) The 2nd group includes the children (Grades 3-12).
St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 4- Coptic and Hymns Classes for Children • (cont’d) • For the boys of the 2nd group (Deacons), a proposed curriculum started to be used to teach Coptic/Hymns/Rites over 6 years period, each year is 3 semesters, and each semester is 4 months: • September to December • January to April • May to August
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 4- Coptic and Hymns Classes for Children (cont’d) • Challenges: • Parents drop-off their children and leave; servants are not able to track them. (See suggested ideas) • Semesters tests have passing marks, and they are a pre-requisite to move up to the next semester / level. (See suggested ideas)
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 4- Coptic and Hymns Classes for Children (cont’d) Suggested Ideas: - A Weekly report card for every child. - Re-format the curriculum in such that each semester does not depend on the previous semester. However, the Basics of the Coptic Language should still be a pre-requisite.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 4- Coptic and Hymns Classes for Children (cont’d) Challenges: - The absence of children for long periods affects their learning and delays the progress of those who are committed. - There is only one servant in each class, so the absence of servants can affect the service.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 5- “My Coptic Church” Meetings for Adults. - This meeting used to be held every Saturday 5:30 to 6:30 PM at St. Paul Chapel in the basement. - The intention of this meeting is to explore the basics of the Coptic Language, Hymns/Tasbeha and Church Rites to the parents / adults.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 5- “My Coptic Church” Meetings for Adults. (cont’d)
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 5- “My Coptic Church” Meetings for Adults. • (cont’d) • Challenges: • For the convenience of the parents, meeting was scheduled at the same time as the Coptic & Hymns Classes for Children, however, the attendance was an issue. • - The Coptic Language lessons are related to each other, so absence could affect the progress.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 5- “My Coptic Church” Meetings for Adults. (cont’d) Suggested Ideas: - The time of the meeting can be changed from Saturday (5:30 to 6:30 PM) to Fridays (8:00 to 9:00 PM) during the fellowship and before the English Bible Study.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 6- Advanced Hymns Classes for Deacons. The intention of this meeting is: To learn / review the long and seasonal hymns and perform as one chorus.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 6- Advanced Hymns Classes for Deacons. • (cont’d) • Challenges: • - Time of the meeting (Wednesday 8:00 to 10:00 PM) wasn’t suitable for everybody. • Suggested Ideas: • - To try Sundays 2:00 to 3:00 PM after the Servants Meetings.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 7- Deacons Monthly Meeting: - These meetings are held on the 1st Saturday of every month (3:00 to 5:00 PM) - Meetings started in October 2009 and the intention was to demonstrate the Divine Liturgy to the deacons/girls so we all learn from abouna the rites of the Divine Liturgy. - The course last for 9 months till June 2010 and all the minutes of meetings have been posted on the church website / deacons corner.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 7- Deacons Monthly Meeting: (cont’d) Challenges: - Many of the older deacons were not able to attend, nor to review the minutes of meetings. - The younger deacons need continual practical review. - The course of the Divine Liturgy has finished and a test will be held this month; only deacons who pass will be allowed to serve in the altar.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 7- Deacons Monthly Meeting: (cont’d) Suggested Ideas: - For older deacons, they need to check the posted notes and for the younger deacons, the course can be reviewed during Coptic & Hymns classes. - The meetings can be proceeded to address other subjects like: the rites of sacraments, baptism / confirmation / wedding / … etc)
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 8- “Diakon” Deacons’ Newsletter. • Diakon is the deacons newsletter, issued almost every 2 months and posted on the church website / deacons corner, to share deacons news, church events, and seasonal occasions rites. • Example: • November 2009
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 8- “Diakon” Deacons’ Newsletter. (cont’d) Challenges: - Participation from deacons to submit materials / articles / suggestions, and also help with preparing the newsletter issues.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 9- Church Website (Deacons Corner). • It keeps records of : • Deacons Form. • Deacons Meetings Minutes. • Deacons Newsletters Issues. • Altar Service Groups. • Service Schedules. • - Coptic & Hymns Classes (Structure & Location). • - My Coptic Church Meetings (Lessons). • References (Links to Hymns/Praises/Coptic/Rites/Melodies/Articles/Books/Sermons/Tools) • - News / Events / Announcements
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services 9- Church Website (Deacons Corner). (cont’d) Challenges: Some deacons don’t check regularly and miss their services. Website: www.smsj.ca Click on Group pages under Quick Links on the left side and then select Deacons Corner
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services • 10- Others, like: Altar Supplies / Procession Icons / Services Books & Over-head Presentation.
+ St. Mary and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons Services THANK YOU … !