Dear Annunciation family,

Our Sunday School has been buzzing with activity lately and we are delighted to share these updates and resources with you.

In February, we invited Godparents to attend Liturgy with their Godchildren and completed a service project together. Together, we prepared and shipped 48 bags of school supplies to the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) for distribution around the world!

In March, our Sunday School children of all ages prepared speeches on their faith and our middle schoolers participated in our parish-level Oratorical Festival. They are an inspiration to all of us to “speak the truth in love” as the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians.

We also completed a parish-wide service project. In partnership with our Greek School and Philoptochos, we collected diapers and wipes for the ROC City Diaper Bank to support local families in need! A big thank you to all who contributed.

One of the many beautiful parts of our Orthodox Christian faith is how our observation of Great Lent calls us to turn our whole lives to Christ: from our food choices, attendance at extra services, increased generosity, to committing more of our time/attention to prayer. We can relate to how challenging it is to do in the rhythm of family life and want to encourage everyone with some Lenten resources below. We don’t need to do it all to do something wonderful, please join us in starting this journey! If you have favorite Lenten re-sources or recipes to share, please let us know.

Save the Date!
April 20th: District Level Oratorical Festival
May 3rd: Holy Friday Youth Retreat

We are always looking for help in our Sunday School program. You don’t have to be a parent or have teaching experience to get involved. We are looking for substitutes for our Sunday School classes and volunteers for different events. If you are interested please contact us.

As always please reach out to us with any questions or comments at recagocny@gmail.com.

Blessed Lent!
Karina and Lauren

Lenten Resources for Families

1) Preparing for Orthodox Lent – guide for families — Ascetic life of motherhood
2) All These Things
3) Podcast: Tending the Garden of Our Hearts: Meditations and Resources for Orthodox
Families