On Sunday November 19, 2017, at the end of Divine Liturgy the community of Holy Ascension Church performed a Thanksgiving Molebin, as is the parish custom on the Sunday before the civil holiday Thanksgiving.

The sermon called attention to the contemplation of those good things, which God bestows upon His servants, on the gift of life, and especially on the great blessing of being called to Holy Baptism and to have been vouchsafed worthy to have received the Sacred Mysteries of Christ.

On the 8^th of November, 2017, the Autumn Pastoral Conference of the clergy of the Western American Diocese came to its conclusion.

The Eminent Bishops, priests and deacons of the Diocese have issued a Resolution in which are addressed the centennial of the Bolshevik Revolution with its tragic effects, and the joyous celebrations of the 10^th Anniversary of the signing of the “Act of Canonical Communion” between the two parts of the Russian Church and the 25ht Anniversary of Archbishop Kyrill’s consecration to the episcopacy.

The Media Department of the Western American Diocese produced a video about the youth workweek organized at Saint Silouan's Monastery in Sonora, California, from July 2nd to 8th, 2017.

This was a pilot program, with the intention of making the workweek an annual event.

Dear Parishioners,

As you may have noticed, the number of acolytes has increased and our vestry does not have enough sticharions in gold for our daily use. That is why the servers are wearing a variety of colors: gold, red, and even blue. It would be proper if every server’s vestment color matched the season and furnishings in our church.

The Merciful Lord has opened an opportunity for us to improve this situation. We have found 14 new gold sticharions for $2120.00; approximately $150/unit. 

Many thanks to Sergey Kuzmin for the video of our IV Annual Russian Festival (September, 2017).