Martyr Saint George the Victorious Orthodox Church

in Sylvan Lake (Alberta)

SERVICES

Here you can find the schedule of worship services.

In our church, services are usually conducted in Church Slavonic and partially in English. Sermons during the Sunday Divine Liturgy are delivered in Russian with simultaneous translation into English, or in English with translation into Russian.

Commencement Address

Today, more than ever, our Church is faced with the responsible task of witnessing to the world its faith and calling.

Our faith is not limited to belief in God alone. True faith is directed toward humanity, toward every individual who is driven by the quest for life's fullness and meaning. The calling of the Church is to bestow upon people that existential wholeness of which Christ spoke: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

The internet has long occupied an important place in society's life. Therefore, one of the directions of the Church's enlightening and missionary service today is the creation of Orthodox web pages, forums, and parish websites in the online space, aimed at bringing together and facilitating communication between clergy, laypeople, and those who are still outside the church walls.

The main purpose of the materials published on these websites is to draw the attention of contemporary individuals, both believers, and non-believers, to the question of life's meaning, primarily focusing on the central question: Does God exist, and is there immortality of the human person, or does eternal death await it?

Great emphasis is placed on matters of spiritual life since only it is capable of saving modern individuals from the catastrophically increasing wave of godlessness in the world.

At present, the struggle between two mutually exclusive processes, the "churchification" of the world and the "worldliness" of the Church has acquired particular acuteness. The forces of worldliness, as always, are united and, due to the unprecedented development of information technologies, have gained exceptionally wide possibilities for effectively employing their powerful weapons of temptation, materialism, and egoism (Abba Dorotheus). Their swords and arrows spare no one, regardless of scholarly degrees, titles, sacred ordination, or position within the Church. Consequently, worldliness forcefully permeates the consciousness, activities, and spiritual lives of the faithful themselves.

The weapons of the Church, however, are different. As St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) wrote in the mid-19th century, "For sheep, the weapons of wolves are unnatural. Sheep subdued wolves with love and meekness, and if teeth had to be used, sheep could not withstand, especially considering the current cooling of laypeople towards religion and, even more so, towards the clergy." This thought, as true as it is, is equally difficult to execute. For the "churchification" of the world, it requires from the believer not ordinary weapons of external activity but, above all, an internal feat of struggling against one's own passions, a life lived according to the Gospel. Only through such "activity" can love and meekness be acquired – the invincible weapons of Christ.

It is only with these weapons that one can resist worldliness and "churchify" the world. We are called to tirelessly proclaim the Word of God: "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs" (Matthew 10:27).

I sincerely hope that our parish website will enable all Orthodox residents of Red Deer, especially those who have recently arrived in distant Canada, far from our homeland, to find their path to the Savior Christ through our parish and the church we plan to build to the glory of God. It will also allow those interested in spiritual life and Orthodoxy to find answers to their questions, learn about the inner life of the parish, and the worship services, and bring me, the Parish Council, and all parishioners closer. It will allow everyone who attends the Divine Liturgy to experience the unity of the Church of Christ.

With love for Christ and prayerful wishes,

Rev. Victor Kramarenko,
Rector of St. George's Parish.