KOINOTIS May 2021

A quick update on the capital improvement project that we are about to undertake. For those of you that were
not at our Special General Assembly that took place this past March 7 th , we are in the process of getting building permits
from the city. Covid-19 has delayed the process tremendously with the City of Somerville, and keep in mind that the
City is still shut down and they are still working with limited staff. We still have not heard back from them as far as waiving
the approx. $143K building permit fee.
Bill Galatis and I have spoken to four banks regarding securing the one-million-dollar loan, which was approved
by the General Assembly and have received term sheets from 4 banks. The finance ministry will make a recommendation
to the Parish Council as far as, which one is the best and the Parish Council will have the final approval. Our attorneys
(Anderson and Krieger) have reviewed the construction contract and shortly, I will finally sign it and put the wheels
into motion.
The moment we get the building permit and a loan is secured the construction will begin. As you all heard from our construction
contractor at the March 7 th Special General Assembly, God willing it should be in a very short few weeks. It has
been a very long and mind-numbing process, but we are dotting our “i” and crossing our “t”, every step of the way. I
cannot wait to see the fruits of our tedious labor finally come to fruition and completed once and for all.
Some of you may have heard that we have hired an additional employee to work in the office. Her name is
Athena Pandelidou and she will be Father Anthony’s right-hand pastoral assistant. There are not enough hours in the
day for Father Anthony to do all that he needs to do. He needs to focus 100% on his pastoral ministry. Ms. Athena has
taken over all the administrative things that Father did, such as the website, google calendars, email services through
constant contact, You-Tube publishing and live streaming services and Facebook communications and many other of his
administrative tasks. Since she is fluent in Greek, she will also be a big help in translating to Greek all the text that goes
out of the office and with her extensive bookkeeping skills she will be taking over a lot of the things that Cookie does in
the office. In the few short weeks that Athina has been with us we have seen a huge potential where our community
can go administratively.
As the renovation project gets underway, and the fundraising ramps up, she will also be keeping track of all the
donations, etc., that are associated with the project. Now that we have fully transitioned to stewardship, she will be
taking over everything that is associated with that function. I truly believe that she will be a big asset to this community
and will bring us to the next level of professionalism.
In closing, I want to thank the Parish Council for all their continued support and the ministries for all their hard
work. Thank you to all the Parishioners who continue to support the church with their generosity. Last but not least,
Fr. Anthony for all the hard work and effort that he continues to put into his ministry in our Dormition Church. I, along
with Father Anthony and the Parish Council are striving towards what is best for our church. Please let us know how
we are doing and let us know in what areas you would like us to improve in. As always we continuously need your support.
Consider giving your time, talent and treasure!
In His Service
Diane Karavitis
Parish Council President
Και στα Ελληνικά ....
Αγαπητοί Ενορίτες,
Χριστός Ανέστη! Πέρυσι, ταξιδέψαμε στο δρόμο της Σαρακοστής ως μεμονωμένα άτομα και δεν είχαμε την
ευκαιρία να συγκεντρωθούμε μαζί ως κοινότητα. Απομονωθήκαμε φυσικά ο ένας από τον άλλο. Μας είχε απαγορευτεί να
συγκεντρωθούμε ελεύθερα στην εκκλησία μας και να αγκαλιάσουμε προσωπικά την πίστη μας. Λατρεύαμε στα σπίτια μας
μέσω ζωντανής τηλεοπτικής αναμετάδοσης. Συγκεντρωθήκαμε για την προσευχή και τις συναντήσεις, μόνο διαδικτυακά.
Όταν είχαμε συγκεντρωθεί, ήμασταν υποχρεωμένοι να «απομακρυνθούμε κοινωνικά ». Αλλά τι έχει κάνει αυτή η
εμπειρία στην πίστη μας, στην πίστη μου, στην πίστη σας; Είναι ισχυρότερη μετά από αυτό που έχουμε βιώσει;
Φαίνεται ότι είμαστε στα πρόθυρα να στρίψουμε τη γωνία και επέτρεψα τον εαυτό μου να σκεφτεί ότι
επιστρέφουμε σε επίπεδο κανονικότητας. Δεν μπορώ να περιμένω έως ότου η εκκλησία μας επιστρέψει στη λειτουργία
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