The 2009 St. Stefanos Super Greek Festival will be held on Friday, February 6th through Sunday, February 8th 2009. There will be Greek Food, Greek Dancing, Church Tours, Greek Music, Greek Cooking Demos, Greek Marketplace, Kids Fun Area and much more. You can also enter to win a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid from Crown Honda and St. Stefanos. Car drawing tickets are available through St. Stefanos call 727-345-8235. Click here to purchase tickets online. Go to supergreekfest.com to find out more.
In late 1961, approximately 30 families
came together to found the parish of Saint Stefanos. Many of the
families had been attending church at St. John the Baptist Church in
Tampa or St. Nicholas Cathedral in Tarpon Springs, so St. Stefanos
became a community centered in southern Pinellas County.
The Church Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:30AM-3:30PM.
The Church Office closes for all liturgical services, including Orthros and Divine Liturgy on a Feastday, Baptisms, Funerals, and any other special services that may occur during normal office hours; the Office will reopen following the conclusion of the service.
| A Message From Father Joseph |
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This is a kind of self-imposed poverty designed to help him subdue his greed, and, ultimately, to help him reach the perfection that leads to the heavenly kingdom. In the face of this seeming contradiction, Christian believers typically wonder whether their obedience to Christ will result in depriving them of the opportunity of worldly success and material wealth, or whether such success will deprive them of their obedience to Christianity, and even their salvation. The Balanced Life of Christ From the Scriptures, and from the example of the life of our Savior, there is a very concrete answer to this seeming dilemma. The holy gospel illustrates that the human life of the Lord Jesus Christ was both uniquely simple and always balanced between his partaking of worldly materials, and being Himself the actual presence of the kingdom of God. For example, while He fasted frequently (Matthew 4:2), He never hesitated to accept invitations to banquets and weddings (John2: 2), or to go to people’s homes to dine and to drink with them (Matthew 8: 10). In fact, the events of the very last night before His arrest took place after the Lord concluded celebrating the Mystical Supper (Matthew 26: 20) with his disciples. We need to remember that every time we hold our money for ourselves and avoid helping the needy with it, we do not only sabotage the work of God, but we also demonstrate our distrust in God, and our feeling of insecurity. Having wealth is not wrong, but worshipping it is wrong. Every time we prefer to hold on to our money instead of using it for God’s work to serve His people, is a type of idol worship. We need to be generous with our money, and to serve a good purpose with it other than ourselves, because it is the way that helps us to strengthen our faith and purify our souls. Ultimately we need to know that without gaining the virtue of generosity, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 6:24). |