St. Rebekah Service

Documentary


Documentary

Interviews Checklist

Notes
Clergy
Original Congregants
Original Youth
Servants
Other Services
Board Members
Youth
Seniors

Botros has the pictures of the seniors who departed and group pics of St Joseph meeting throughout the years

Documentary

Script

Chapter names need work....

General Principles
Introduction

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen.

Our Church is a Living Church. She is alive! And every day is a new page in Her life. So when we look at the history of our beloved Church, we see many chapters. And we see how the Lord's hand was present in all of them with a pen in His hand.

As King David says in Psalm 126: "The Lord has done great things for us, we became joyful." (Psalm 126:3)

This year, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the consecration of this building as a Church in the name of St Rebekah and her five children. Let us take this opportunity to look back and reflect on the previous chapters: to see all the great things that the Lord has done for us, and let us see what the Lord has in store for us in the next chapters.

Transition music:

My Church, My Church, My Church it's my home, it's my mother, it's the secret to the joy of my life...

Refrain twice and fade out to black screen

Chapter 1: The Beginning

HEMY: The idea for this church started when HE Bishop Metias offered to me the relics of St Rebekah. He is the bishop of Sonbat. So I took it as a sign from God that we should build a church in the name of St Rebekah. So we started looking for a land or a church to buy...

Fr Shenouda/Fr Daoud:

Fr Maximus: In the beginning, we only had one church in Central Florida - St Mary and Archangel Michael in Oviedo. And actually, if you can believe it, sometimes we would actually go to St George in Daytona Beach because it was about the same distance! There was no SR 417 in those days, so you could take the i4 to Daytona Beach, or local roads to Oviedo and it was basically the same.

It speaks to the faithfulness of those early families who immigrated to Central Florida, that despite the distance and the inconvenience of going to a far church, Sunday liturgy was a MUST. Nothing would stop them from attending the Liturgy on Sunday. And on top of that, the few families that lived in South Orlando would gather together every week and alternate taking a van of kids to the Hymns Classes, Vespers and Praises in St Mary Oviedo. This was the beginning of a community. Parents coming together for the salvation of their children.

Original Congregants: Stories about the original Bible Studies in Residence Inn, stories about Greenway, how we used to pack everything up and then come early to unpack it, stories about moving to the hotel, stories about buying the land of the Church.

Original Youth: Memories about Uncle Emad, stories about the aforementioned.

Chapter 2: The Foundation Stone (2008-2011)
Chapter 3: The Church
Chapter 4: Growth
Chapter 5: Home
Chapter 6: New Building
Documentary

TODO: Fr Maximus

Documentary
New Building 

Deacons

Deacons

Leader Guidelines

Lead Deacon (Leader 1) – Role Description & Ministry Guidelines

Purpose

The Lead Deacon’s primary responsibility is to lead the south side deacons reverently, with confidence, and and in a prayerful manner throughout the Divine Liturgy, helping the congregation pray in unity and order.

Responsibilities
  1. Lead the South Side Deacons
    • Lead the deacons throughout the entire Divine Liturgy.
      • Encourage the deacons to participate actively and confidently in chanting.
      • Maintain unity in rhythm, pitch, and pace.
  2. Be Well Prepared
    • The Leader should be able to chant the hymns of the Liturgical Services confidently and accurately.
      Arrive on time to the Liturgical Services
      • Vespers Praises (Saturday Night)
      • Morning Praises (Sunday Morning)
    • The following hymns are considered standard and should be chanted regularly on weekends:
      • Medium Hiten
      • Praxis Response for St. Rebekah
      • Psalm 150 (Pi O Oufa)
      • Pi Oik
      • Tenouweh Ensok
  3. Lead with a Strong Voice
    • Chant and read with a clear, strong, and confident voice.
    • The microphone should be used primarily to establish the pace and pitch of the hymn and encourage the congregation and deacons to join.
    • It is not necessary to remain on the microphone throughout the entire hymn.
    • Use wisdom and discretion in microphone usage
Spiritual Conduct
  1. Lead Through Prayer
    • Your first responsibility is to pray.
    • Lead the deacons while maintaining a spirit of worship.
    • Never allow administrative responsibilities to distract you from prayer.
  2. Avoid Unnecessary Distractions
    • While leading, avoid becoming preoccupied with:
      • Distributing microphones.
      • Distributing cymbals or triangle.
      • Operating a separate iPad or searching for hymns unnecessarily.
      • Changing microphone batteries.
    • Remember that there are other deacons available to assist with these responsibilities.
Distribution Guidelines: Distribute Wisely
Leadership Principles (Be an Example)

Leader 2 (Sunday) - Role Description & Ministry Guidelines

Purpose

The main role of the Leader 2 is to lead the north side deacons with confidence and in a reverent and prayerful manner throughout the Divine Liturgy, helping the children and north side deacons pray in unity and order

Responsibilities
  1. Lead the North Side Deacons
    • Lead the deacons throughout the entire Divine Liturgy.
    • Encourage the deacons to participate actively and confidently in chanting.
    • Maintain unity in rhythm, pitch, and pace.
    • Face the East when leading
    • Don't stack the pews
      • 8 deacons in first row
      • 7 maximum in other rows
  2. Be Well Prepared
    • Arrive on time
  3. Lead with a Strong Voice
    • Chant and read with a clear, strong, and confident voice.
    • Don’t just sing in the microphone—encourage the children to sing 
    • Watch the Leader 1 and South Side deacons
      • Leader 1 wants to alternate
  4. Keep Order by Teaching
    • Leader 2 is not a baby sitter
    • Ex. If someone is sitting down, don’t yell at them to stand up, teach them why we should stand and sing
Spiritual Conduct
  1. Lead through Prayer
    • The most important responsibility is to pray
    • Don’t allow administrative responsibilities distract you from prayer
  2. Avoid Unnecessary Distractions
    • Leader 2 is NOT a baby sitter
    • Do not focus too much on the children:
      • Sitting
      • Talking
      • Moving around
Distribution Guidelines
  1. Distribute Wisely
    • Distribution should prioritize the quality of the prayer—not to “give everyone a chance.”
      When assigning hymns, choose individuals who:
      • Have a developed and confident voice.
      • Can maintain the correct pitch.
      • Know the hymn well.
    • Common areas of distribution include:
      • Agpeya gospels and litanies
      • Short Litanies during Vespers 
Leadership Principles (Be an example)

15th Year Consecration Anniversary & New Building Announcement

Introduction

In the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit; one God. Amen.

It is with great joy that we congratulate you all on the 15-year anniversary of the Consecration of our Beloved Church in the name of the Great Martyrs, St Rebekah and her Five Children. 15 Years ago, on Sep 19, 2011, HE Metropolitan Youssef and HE Metropolitan Serapion (back then they were both bishops, not metropolitans) came to the church and prayed the overnight Rite of Church Consecration. This is when a building becomes a Church. A table becomes an altar. And a basin becomes a baptismal font.

As we heard during St Rebekah's Feast Revivals, the Church is our Mother, the Church is our Home, the Church is our Joy, and the Church is our Salvation. How many were baptized here? How many times was the sacrament of Confession administered and the Absolution was read and sins were forgiven? How many couples were Crowned before this Altar, who came in as two and walked out as One? How many sermons and Sunday School Lessons and Spiritual Topics? How many tears of repentance were shed within these walls? How many were brought to the knowledge of God? How many were fed - physical food and spiritual food? How many times did the Lord Christ give us His Body and His Blood on this altar? Given for salvation, remission of sins and eternal life to those who partake of Him!

The Consecration of the Church is not just a moment in the history of this building, but it is the life-giving breath of God; the Holy Spirit flowing through the walls and touching the lives of anyone who walks through those doors.

We congratulate you all on this 15-year anniversary of the Consecration, and now we will sing ⲁⲝⲓⲁ for our beloved mother and the great martyr, St Rebekah and her five children

ⲁⲝⲓⲁ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ ϯⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ
ⲁⲝⲓⲁ Ⲓⲉⲣⲉⲃⲉⲕⲕⲁ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲛⲉⲥϣⲏⲣⲓ

Please be seated, my beloved.

On the occasion of the 15-year anniversary of the Consecration, Fr Ephraim, Fr Reweis and I are very excited to announce to you - the beloved members of this blessed church - a new project, and the next chapter in the life of our church.

I remember that before we had this church, we would pray in the plaza on International Drive and we would have Sunday School with a thin curtain separating each class. And you could hear what the other class was talking about. And you could be distracted by a kid in another class. It did not take long for us to outgrow the plaza building.

And the Lord graced us with this beautiful building - Along with the Church and the Chapel, a cry-room, 8 nicely sized Sunday School classrooms, a dedicated office, a large Aghapy Hall, a bookstore, a room to bake the Holy Bread, the Orban.

By God's grace, the Church has continued to grow over these 15 years... Now, we have about 20 Sunday School Classes, the Youth Meetings, BRAVE Men's & Virtuous Women, St Joseph Ministry, Hymns School, Bible Studies. We have several branches of Sports Ministry - Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Ping Pong. Besides that, we are serving our community with the Medical Clinic and the Food Bank. We have several catechumens on their way to baptism, and even more inquirers right behind them. 

YOU are a big part of that growth - many of you are serving the Church: in cleaning, in the kitchen, in the Orban, in Transportation, in Visiting the sick, in the Board, as Deacons, in the Ministry of the Word.

The service of the Church has grown beyond what we could have imagined 15 years ago, and just as we started to outgrow the plaza building, we have started to outgrow this building.

By the grace of God, who hears your prayers, and by the labor the Board of Deacons (at their head, Fr Ephraim and Fr Reweis), we are very excited to announce the construction of a new building for services and sports.

Now, to help us reflect on these 15 years and to join us in announcing the new building, we will hear a video message from our beloved shepherds HE Metropolitan Youssef and HG Bishop Basil.

Play Video
The Need for a Building

I want to start by emphasizing the need for this building

God willing, this building will alleviate that pressure and give us the space, facility and flexibility to continue to increase the service.

We will very quickly go through the plans for the building. After that, we will dismiss you and in the Aghapy Hall take any questions or discussions or concerns.

Go through the Plans

It's a beautiful building that should be able to meet our needs for many many years to come.

I would like to introduce the Architect who is responsible for the plans - Mr. Jaime Plana (if you could please stand up). Mr. Plana has been working with Ihab Boulos over the last several years to design and architect this building, prepare and submit the plans to the county, make amendments, etc.

Thank you, Mr. Plana

Conclusion

As we pray in Psalm 126, "The Lord has done great things for us, we became joyful." (Psalm 126:3)

Let us rejoice in this day as we celebrate the last 15 years of our Church, and let us look ahead to how the Lord will work in the next 15 years through your prayers and through His new building. Many prayed and labored and sacrificed 15 years ago so that we could inherit this beautiful church. Our children do not even remember the plaza - this is the only home they ever knew. Now the Lord is giving us an opportunity to leave an inheritance for the next generation and continue His work through this blessed Church.

Please always remember this project in your prayers, but also ask questions, share your feedback, give your ideas. In the Aghapy Hall, Fr Ephraim, Fr Reweis, all of the Board Members and Mr. Plana will be available to answer questions, hear your feedback, and share in your excitement.

May the Lord who blessed this Church and caused Her to grow over the last 15 years, continue to bless His work for many generations.

Dismissal

Now may the Love of God the Father, the Grace of His Only-Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion and gift of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Go in peace, may the peace of the Lord be with you.