Welcome

Welcome to the Ascension Of The Lord Romanian Orthodox Church - Parish Website.  We thank you for visiting our website and taking the opportunity to learn about the beauty captured in the  Orthodox Faith. I pray that you have an enlightening experience as you surf through our website, and if you have any questions about our precious faith, please do not hesitate to contact  our church office at (510) 677-4250.

                                                                                  Rev.Fr. GABRIEL  CURPENE

 

Membria este elementul cheie al existenţei bisericii, având două dimensiuni vitale şi anume: duhovnicească şi administrativă. Un membru duhovnicesc al bisericii este o persoană care este botezată în Biserica Ortodoxă, mărturiseşte credinţa acesteia, participă la Sfântă Liturghie şi la alte slujbe -  în special Taina Mărturisirii (Spovedania) şi Sfântă Împărtăşanie. Un parohian, în conformitate cu canoanele şi regulile Bisericii Ortodoxe, este un membru duhovnicesc care s-a angajat prin votul personal în a susţine biserica printr-o contribuţie financiară şi abilităţi personale, ca o expresie a credinţei în Dumnezeu şi respect pentru instituţia sacră. Fiecare parohian care participă în viaţa liturgică şi socială a bisericii trebuie să fie un membru în good standing. Taxa pentru membria anuala este $175 de persoană sau $300 pentru sot si sotie. Cei care nu au posibilitatea, sa plateasca aceasta suma integral, au optiunea de a o achita si in rate, nu insa mai tarziu de 30 martie 2010. Membria trebuie onorata in primele 3 luni ale anului calendaristic.

Pentru a va reactiva membria pe anul 2010, este necesar să vă achitaţi taxa de membrie către biserică. În acest sens veţi completa o cerere către părintele paroh al bisericii şi, cu binecuvântarea lui, veţi putea achita taxa de membrie. Cereţi acest formular preotului paroh.  Vă încurajez ca toate donaţiile, inclusiv cele pentru preot (acatiste, pomelnice, sărindare) să le faceţi prin cec pe numele „Ascension of the Lord Romanian Orthodox Church”.  În mod automat, toate donaţiile dumneavoastră, făcute prin cec către sfânta biserică, sunt tax-deductible.  Daca o persoana doneaza catre biserica, o suma mai mare de $175 acest lucru nu inseamna ca devine automat membru cu drept de vot al bisericii. Nu achitati taxa de membrie fara binecuvantarea preotului. Biserica Ortodoxa Romana Inaltarea Domnului este o organizatie religioasa, care isi rezerva toate drepturile, in a aproba sau a respinge inscrierea ca membru cu drept de vot a unui individ pe considerente de natura duhovniceasca. Criteriile de aprobare, a membrilor cu drept de vot ai bisericii, sunt strict de natura duhovniceasca si spirituala.

Raportul dintre preotul paroh si credinciosul care doreste sa devina membru al sfintei biserici, trebuie sa fie unul de conlucrare, ascultare si frumusete duhovniceasca.  Dupa achitarea taxei de membrie, noul membru al sfintei biserici, va fi luat in evidenta  de preotul paroh, si i se va elibera o chitanta care sa reflecte ca suma platita a fost achitata special pentru membrie.Chitanta pentru membrie, va fi semnata si stampilata de preotul paroh.

La inceputul fiecarui an calendaristic, toate persoanele care au facut donatii catre biserica in anul precedent, vor primi chitante pentru deduceri la taxe. Cei care au facut donatii direct prin cec pe numele: Ascension of the Lord, se scad automat la taxe prin propria declaratie.

Cei care ati cumparat bunuri pentru biserica din contul personal, sunteti rugati sa aduceti bonurile la biserica, pentru a fi revizuite si pentru a va elibera chitanta income-tax pentru anul 2009.

 Prin plata membriei, nu se pot acoperi cheltuielile anuale ale sfintei biserici, insa ajuta la organizarea bugetului anual al parohiei. Cu toate acestea, numai cei care sunt membrii cu drept de vot ai bisericii, vor fi convocati sa participe la Adunarea Parohiala Anuala. Participarea unui creştin la serviciile religioase oferite de biserică nu implică obligativitatea achitării taxei de membrie.

Cu alese binecuvantari in Noul An,

Pr.Gabriel Curpene

 

 

Narrative Description of  Church Activities

The specific purpose of this corporation is to operate as a church in compliance with the statutes and by-laws of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas, assist its members, who share a common religious faith, in their pursuit of worship, spiritual fulfillment, and religion-based education and to provide its members with a center for interaction.

Part V – 3a

Fr. Gabriel Curpene, Parish priest, is the only officer and/or director who is compensated.  His compensation is in accordance with the norms and regulations cited in the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas’ bylaws. 

The Parish priest has to perform the following duties: The Priest by virtue of his canonical ordination and assignment heads and administers the Parish, in cooperation with the Parish Council.  He exercises for the parish his priestly duties that consist in shepherding the Parish entrusted to his care, directing its orderly life, preserving its unity and keeping it faithful to its divine purpose.  He shall sanctify his parishioners through the administration of the sacraments and the performance of all other prescribed services of worship.  He shall also proclaim the Gospel and impart knowledge of the doctrines, traditions, canons and disciplines of the Church.  Further, he shall guide the growth and progress of the Parish in the Christian life through the performance of his pastoral duties.  All Priests, including Fr. Curpene, are accountable to their Hierarch and must submit a report of their ministry to the Archbishop at least annually.

The Priest shall have charge of all matters pertaining to the spiritual life and growth of the Parish, including, but not limited to, divine worship and the selection and participation of lay persons in the implementation and administration of such matters.  He shall determine the usage of all sacred vessels and appointments.  He shall be responsible for the maintenance and good order of the parish office.  He shall personally maintain the register books for all marriages, baptisms, chrismations, and funerals in the Parish, as well as the records of all official parish documents, acts, correspondence and archives.

Together with the Parish Council President and the Parish Secretary, the Priest is responsible for all Parish reports and official correspondence. He keeps and authorizes the use of the official Parish Seal. He ensures that the minutes of the Parish Assembly and the Parish Council, all of the Parish financial records, as well as other Parish documents are maintained and preserved.

Part V – 5a through 5c

Article 6 of the corporation’s Bylaws, entitled “Self-Dealing Transactions” was adopted by the Board to address the issue of conflict of interest and/or self-dealing. Sections 6.01 through 6.08 of Article 6 of the attached Bylaws are consistent with the sample conflict of interest policy that is attached as Appendix A to the Form 1023 Instructions.

Part VI – 1a

The church will provide various services to its members, who share a common religious faith, including religion-based education, a center for interaction, church services, organizing fundraising events including luncheons, picnics, and Romanian dancing nights.

Part VI – 3

The family members or business associates of any officer, director, employee or independent contractor who receives the benefits of the religious services, receives them by virtue of those family members’ or business associates’ membership in the Church.  No special eligibility selection is made to discriminate which members can take part in and receive the benefits of the Church’s religious services.  The services received are religious services only, used by the recipients for spiritual fulfillment.  No funds are received by these individuals.

Part VIII – 4a

The Church will collect membership dues from the parish members; will conduct fundraisings using mail, telephone calls, and in-person solicitations from its members; will organize luncheons, events, picnics, and Romanian dance nights to raise funds.

Part VIII – 11

The Church is open to receiving real estate and/or automobile donations.  There will be no conditions imposed on any donor, other than to acknowledge that the donated item(s)’ title will be transferred to the Church.  All donors will receive a receipt for their donation for tax purposes.

Part VIII – 19

At this time the Church does not plan to operate a school that has a formal curriculum or offers diplomas or certificates of any kind.  However, for sake of providing a complete response to this question, the Church states that it plans to operate an informal Sunday school as a secondary activity to educate the Parishioners’ children in the Romanian Orthodox tradition. 

Schedule A. Churches

Line 1(a) – Written creed, statement of faith or summary of beliefs.

The faith and belief of the Church are to maintain, strengthen and propagate the Orthodox Christian faith, to practice Christian Charity as demanded by the Holy Scripture and Tradition, and to seek out and provide charitable assistance to those in need.  The goals and beliefs of the Church are also to promote a more active and effective influence of the Church and her teachings among her faithful and society at large.

Line 1(b) and 4(a) – Form of worship and nature of services.

The Church is a member of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is a part of the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.  Orthodoxy is extremely focused on liturgy (ritualistic forms of worship) and icons. The latter are images which represent various saints and spiritual realities, similar to the Catholic branch of Christianity. Prayers are addressed before these icons, candles are burned before them, incense and holy water is put upon them.

Schedule A. Churches

Lines 2(a) (formal code of doctrine) and 2(b) (religious history)

2(a) Doctrine: Like Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy has a consecrated priesthood and seven sacraments that only the priests have authority to perform – baptism, anointing, communion, penance, holy orders, marriage, and holy unction.  Infants and adults are baptized by threefold immersion.  Sacraments are believed to be channels of grace, as contrasted to the New Testament ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper which are simple memorials rather than actual means of grace.  Orthodoxy practices the mass or the “Holy Eucharist”(Eucharist means praise) whereby Christ is symbolically sacrificed anew and the bread and wine of the“Eucharist”becomes the actual body and blood of Christ.  Orthodoxy prays to Mary as the Mother of God.  Prayers are offered for the dead, who also are believed to pray for those on earth. 

2(b) Brief Religious History:

The Eastern Orthodox Church is a branch of sacramental Christianity that broke off from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 A.D. Until 1054 the Eastern and the Roman were two branches of the same sacramental body. The division began when the Roman emperor Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople in 330 A.D.  During this time, the Roman Catholic Church was ruled by five patriarchs: the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. These patriarchs were collectively referred to as the Pentarchy. Each patriarch had jurisdiction over bishops in a specified geographic region. This continued until 927, when the autonomous Bulgarian Archbishopric became the first newly-promoted patriarchate to join the additional five.The patriarch of Rome was "first in place of honor" among the five patriarchs. Disagreement about the limits of his authority was one of the causes of the Great Schism, conventionally dated to the year 1054, which split the church into the Roman Catholic Church in the West, headed by the Bishop of Rome, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, led by the four eastern patriarchs. After the schism this honorary primacy shifted to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had previously been accorded the second-place rank at the First Council of Constantinople.

The main point of contention between the eastern and the western divisions was the papacy. The Eastern Orthodox rejected the pope, while retaining Rome's sacramental system and most of Rome's unscriptural doctrines.  Since the Easter Orthodoxy rejected the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church there is no single earthly head of all the Orthodox Churches comparable to the Pope of Rome. The highest-ranking bishop of the communion is the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is also primate of one of the autocephalous churches. These organizations are in full communion with each other, so any priest of any of those churches may lawfully minister to any member of any of them, and no member of any is excluded from any form of worship in any of the others, including reception of the Eucharist. Each local or national Orthodox Church is a portion of the Orthodox Church as a whole.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion comprising the fifteen separate autocephalous hierarchical churches that recognize each other as "canonical" Orthodox Christian churches. There is, however, political disagreement over the autocephaly of one of the churches—the Orthodox Church in America.

The autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches (ranked in order of seniority) are:

1. The Church of Constantinople, under the Ecumenical Patriarch
2. The Church of Alexandria
3. The Church of Antioch
4. The Church of Jerusalem
5. The Church of Russia (est. 1589)
6. The Church of Serbia (est. 1219)
7. The Church of Romania (est. 1925)
8. The Church of Bulgaria (est. 927)
9. The Church of Georgia (est. 466)
10. The Church of Cyprus (est. 434)
11. The Church of Greece (est. 1850)
12. The Church of Poland (est. 1924)
13. The Church of Albania (est. 1937)
14. The Church of Czech and Slovak lands (est. 1951)
15. The Orthodox Church in America (est. 1972. As stated above, its autocephaly is not universally recognized)

The four ancient patriarchates are most senior, followed by the five junior patriarchates. Autocephalous churches whose leaders are archbishops follow the patriarchates in seniority, with the Church of Cyprus being the only ancient one (AD 434). From the Orthodox point of view there would be five ancient patriarchates had the Great Schism not occurred, severing the Church of Rome from the Orthodox Churches in the 11th century.

Romanian Orthodox Church

In 1859, the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia formed the modern state of Romania. The hierarchy of the Orthodox churches tends to follow the structure of the state. Therefore, shortly afterwards, in 1872, the Orthodox churches of the former principalities (the Metropolis of Ungrovlahia and the Metropolis of Moldavia) decided to unite to form the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The 1866 Constitution of Romania declared the Orthodox Church to be "independent of any foreign hierarchy", but it was a law passed in 1872 that declared the church to be "autocephalous". After a long period of negotiations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it finally recognized in 1885 the Metropolis of Romania, which was raised to the rank of Patriarchy in 1925.

The Romanian Orthodox Church (Biserica Ortodoxă Română in Romanian) is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch. Its jurisdiction covers the territory of Romania, with dioceses for Romanians living in nearby Moldova, Serbia and Hungary, as well as diaspora communities in Central and Western Europe, North America and Oceania.  The applicant Church here is a Romanian Orthodox Church.

The majority of people in Romania (approximately 86.8% of the population, according to the 2002 census data) belong to it.  The Romanian Orthodox Church is arguably the second-largest in size behind the Russian Orthodox Church.

Adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church sometimes refer to it as Dreapta credinţă ("right/correct belief"; compare to Greek ὀρθὴ δόξα, "straight/correct belief"). Orthodox believers are also sometimes known as dreptcredincioşi or dreptmăritori creştini.

The Romanian Orthodox Church is organized as the Romanian Patriarchate. The highest hierarchical, canonical and dogmatical authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Holy Synod.

There are six Metropolitanates and ten archbishoprics in Romania, and more than twelve thousand priests and deacons, servant fathers of ancient altars from parishes, monasteries and social centres. Almost 400 monasteries exist inside the country for some 3,500 monks and 5,000 nuns. Three Diasporan Metropolitanates and two Diasporan Bishoprics function outside Romania proper. As of 2004, there are, inside Romania, fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them from Bessarabia, Bukovina and Serbia benefiting from a few Romanian fellowships) currently study for a doctoral degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named "lăcaşe de cult", or worshiping places) exist in Romania for the Romanian Orthodox believers. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of these were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

Ascension of the Lord Romanian Orthodox Church, the applicant Church here, is a member parish of one of the major Romanian Orthodox organizations in the United States, the Romanian Archdiocese of America and Canada.  Substantial additional information concerning orthodoxy and the church’s general beliefs can be found on the Archdiocese’s website, located on the internet at http://www.romarch.org .  The materials are too volumnious to reproduce here, as can be expected for a religion with over a thousand years of history.  However, the applicant Church here is more than willing to produce additional information about the orthodox faith and form of worship if more information is required for this application.

Schedule A. Churches

Line 8(a) – Process by Which an individual Becomes a Church Member

An individual who seeks to become a member of this Church must be a Romanian Orthodox Christian.  The individual must pay the membership dues of this Church, must be christened in the Romanian Orthodox Church, go to confession with the Church’s priest, must attend Church, and observe all religious canons of the Romanian Orthodox Church. 

Line 8(b) – Church Members’ Voting Rights

A member of this Church has the option to participate in voting for the members of the parish council, to participate in all religious functions, and all activities held by the Church.

Line 11(a) – The Priest’s Role

The Parish priest has to perform the following: The Priest by virtue of his canonical ordination and assignment heads and administers the Parish, in cooperation with the Parish Council.  He exercises for the parish his priestly duties that consist in shepherding the Parish entrusted to his care, directing its orderly life, preserving its unity and keeping it faithful to its divine purpose.  He shall sanctify his parishioners through the administration of the sacraments and the performance of all other prescribed services of worship.  He shall also proclaim the Gospel and impart knowledge of the doctrines, traditions, canons and disciplines of the Church.  Further, he shall guide the growth and progress of the Parish in the Christian life through the performance of his pastoral duties.  All Priests, including Fr. Curpene, are accountable to their Hierarch and must submit a report of their ministry to the Archbishop at least annually.  The Archdiocesan Council shall determine the format for these reports.

The Priest shall have charge of all matters pertaining to the spiritual life and growth of the Parish, including, but not limited to, divine worship and the selection and participation of lay persons in the implementation and administration of such matters.  He shall determine the usage of all sacred vessels and appointments.  He shall be responsible for the maintenance and good order of the parish office.  He shall personally maintain the register books for all marriages, baptisms, chrismations, and funerals in the Parish, as well as the records of all official parish documents, acts, correspondence and archives.