Progress on Rebuilding Upstairs at St. Basil

Progress continues at a quick clip upstairs.  See photos below.

Philoptochos Yiayia's Kouzina Bake Session

On Saturday, January 24th, about 20 people gathered at St. Basil church to bake koulourakia for the Yiayia's Kouzina Easter season orders.  Thanks to all who came and helped.

Feed the Hungry Ministry at St. Basil

Every two months we have a team of volunteers who purchase and prepare a hot meal for the residents at the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church housing facility.  Thanks to all our volunteers.  For more information contact Kelly Poletis at kelly.poletis@gmail.com.

Fr. Panteleimon offers Invocation at Cook County Board Meeting

On Tuesday, January 20th, Fr. Panteleimon was invited to offer the invocation at the Cook County Board meeting.  Given the diverse religious make up of the county of Cook, the county works to have a broad representation of religions offering it's invocations.  Father was also joined by his Presvytera Konstantina and parish council member Tom Bezanes.  It was a great honor for our Metropolis of Chicago and, in particular, our parish of St. Basil, to be chosen for this task.

 

St. Basil Fire Repair Update with Photos

Repair work is moving forward quickly at St. Basil.  Below see photos of some of the progress.

Contractors determine layout of marble slabs on solea floor.

New icon screen framing nears completion. 

New front doors have been installed and await finishing.

Super Bash Reminder

A reminder to all that our annual Super Bash event is a week from this Sunday at the Billy Goat on Madison.  If you haven't made your reservations yet, please contact the church at 312-243-3738.

St. Basil Parish Vasilopita

On Sunday, January 11th, all of the leaders of our ministries here at St. Basil gathered at church to receive the annual piece of the Vasilopita.  Fr. Panteleimon blessed and cut the Vasilopita, with the assistance of parish council president Tony Frankos and Philoptochos president Kathy Michas.  May our Lord, through the prayers of our Father among the Saints Basil the Great, grant us a fruitful 2015.

Swearing in of our 2015-2016 Parish Council

On Sunday, January 11th, we swore in the newly elected parish council for the 2015-2016 term.  May God continue to enlighten us to do his work and guide our parish.

Feastday of St. Basil the Great

On January 1st, His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos joined us for the celebration of the feastday of our parish.  It was a perfect day with a packed house.  THANK YOU to our Parish Council members, Ladies Philoptochos, chanters, choir members, altar servers and everyone who made the feast a beautiful one for our parish.  See photos below.

As you have seen from the pictures in other blog posts, the rebuilding of St. Basil's is well underway.  The work necessary not just to repair the fire damage, but also renew the Church is largely dependent on generous contributions from the parish, and the broader community.  St. Basil's has been blessed with pledges to date of $850K toward the total goal of $1.3M.

For those of you that have seen the progress to date, you can appreciate that this work will result in a Church that will serve our parish and community for many years to come.  We also want future generations to remember those that contributed to the rebuilding and renewal of St. Basil's.  We will be printing the names of all contributors in an archival book that will be located inside the Church, and become part of its history.  We will also commission a recognition wall for donors that pledged $1,500 or more.  We look forward to sharing a few of the design options in the future.

For now, we have printed a "temporary" recognition wall, which is currently located near the office (and inserted below).  We will be printing updates on a regular basis, and until such time as a permanent wall has been commissioned.  

We are truly blessed for all of the support.  Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me (george_tziahanas@yahoo.com).

In Christ's Service,

George Tziahanas, Chair St. Basil's Capital Committee