by Fr. Basil Biberdorf
The Chapel of the Holy Spirit is planning a family fun night on Sunday, March 10, from 5-7 p.m. at the Middlecreek Area Community Center (MACC) in Beaver Springs. During the two-hour event, we will have access to one of the basketball courts, plus the game room and other facilities. The event is open not only to the Chapel and the broader Snyder County community, but also to the families at Holy Trinity in State College.
The MACC usually closes at 5 p.m. on Sunday, so by extending the closing time by two hours, we are increasing access to a hub facility in our mission field. We want to encourage families to spend time together “on us”. There will be no fundraisers or captive-audience evangelism. Rather, we only want the opportunity to meet more of the people we aim to serve, to see them as children of God, and to make clear that our young Orthodox community desires to be fully a part of our neighborhood.
What can really help make the event a success is for some of the families from State College to join us in our service. A good turnout from the hosts is essential to the success of an event like this one, so
there are lots of people for our guests to meet and share in the fun.
In order to have a temple to bring those guests to, the Chapel is continuing work on a building design, with the intent to have our plan ready for broader approval by the end of this month. While specifics are still being hammered out, current proposals under discussion all offer a total of between 1,200 and 1,400 square feet of space—divided between narthex, nave, and altar—with options for expan-sion when the need arises. We are carefully weigh-ing our storage needs in view of the expected uses, making as much use of the space as we possibly can.
As always, the Chapel of the Holy Spirit needs your prayers for our efforts to build and to evangelize in Snyder County. Please consider adding the following to your prayer list: for the Chapel faithful, for our progress on the building project, for our proclamation in Snyder and Union counties, and for Conestoga Wood Specialties in their ongoing stand for life.
If you want to support our building project financially, you are invited to do that, too. Just mark your contribution “CHS—Building Fund” when you place it in the offering basket. Thank you.
