PARISH LIFE
Our parish has an active liturgical and social life. For information on services, please see the calendar. For information on receiving the sacraments (baptisms, marriages, confession, communion, etc.) please contact our priests directly. For information on any of the activities below, please contact us at annunciationortho [at] gmail.com.
Sunday Potluck Lunches: Coffee and a light lunch are provided following Liturgy on Sundays. Parishioners are assigned to teams, with one team assigned to provide lunch each week. Please contact us to join a team.
Scripture and Elevenses: On Fridays at 11:00 am we meet to study and discuss Scripture readings or other Orthodox reading materials. ‘Elevenses’ refers to tea and a snack to tide us over until lunch. For information on meeting location, please contact annunciationortho [at] gmail.com.
Church School: Our church school usually takes place after Holy Communion on Sundays.
Parish Feasts: Our parish feasts are the Annunciation (March 25th) and St. Nicholas (December 6th). In addition to the services held for these feasts, we usually have a shared meal.
Fast-Free Friday: On the fast-free Friday before the beginning of Great Lent, we have an evening celebration together in our shared space.
Blini Lunch: We usually hold a blini (Russian pancake) lunch before the beginning of Great Lent.
Lenten Presanctified Potlucks: On Wednesdays during Great Lent we serve Presanctified Liturgies. Following these, we break our fast together with a shared Lenten meal.
Pan-Orthodox Lenten Vespers: We join with other Orthodox Churches in the Ottawa area to celebrate Vespers together on Sunday evenings during Great Lent. Dates and locations change every year.
Pascha: Pascha baskets are blessed at the end of the Nocturnes/Matines/Paschal Liturgy in the early hours of the morning. Following the services we stay and break out fast together. After the Paschal Vespers at 2:00 pm on Sunday, we have another party with a potluck feast.
Summer BBQ: We host a summer BBQ on the fast-free Friday after Pentecost.
Church Camp: In July we rent space at a local campsite for a week and all members of the parish are invited to join. There are cabins to rent as well as space for tents. Organized activities, including Saturday Vespers and Sunday Liturgy take place over the weekend.
Dalhousie Food Cupboard: We collect non-perishable food items for the Dalhousie Food Cupboard which tries to meet a vital need in our extended community. Your donations of dried goods are most welcome. Food donations may be placed in the basket located at the front of the temple, on the left side under the icon of St Nicholas. Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated.