On June 9th, Christ the Savior was pleased to award the following six graduates with annual scholarships from the parish student fund:

Kirill Oleynikov - Kirill graduated from Woodbury Middle School this year with a 3.9 GPA and received the Superintendent Award. He will be attending Taft High School in the fall and aims to earn the presidential award for academic excellence. Kirill is a level 9 gymnast and a musician. 

Thea Oleynikov - Thea graduated from Woodbury Middle School this year with a 3.7 GPA and received the Superintendent Award. She will be attending Nonnewaug High School in the fall with goals to excel in mathematics while continuing to participate in track, cross country, and various NHS programs. Thea is an active member of a Woodbury/Bethlehem leadership and fundraising group called Alliance 

Tim Cole -  This year Tim completed the accredited Artist, Producer and Engineer 101 course at Factory Underground Tech in Norwalk, Conn., earning a Level VI certification in audio production and engineering. In the fall, Tim hopes to take the next level of certification course for audio engineering while continuing his luthiery training. Tim plays gigs throughout the state with several bands. He also volunteers at the Woodbury Food Bank, participates in the Crossover Orthodox Young Adult meetings, and plans to head to Kentucky this summer to help the IOCC with home rebuilds.

Jonathan Daniel Wenzloff  - Johnny graduated Woodbury Middle School and will be attending Nonnewaug High School in the fall. Just a few of his achievements and community service include being a stalwart Boyscout, cleaning the local park for Earth Day, helping with our church’s Easter egg hunt. He also helped with setting up a soap box derby for little kids and built a mini golf course at the senior center. While attending church on Sundays, Johnny keeps an eye on the younger children to help make sure they are safe.

Arden Lille Evangeine Stamper - This fall, Arden will be attending the University of Austin, a new university, as a member of its inaugural class. While her major will technically be Liberal Arts, she plans to continue focusing on French while pursuing Russian and other language studies along the way.  

Alexei Richard (not pictured) - Alex is a graduate of Newtown High School. He participated in several clubs, including Knitting Club, Mental Health Club, and Community Friends Club where he packaged food for local families in need. He is a member of the National Art Honor Society and has dedicated over 15 hours of community service, earning him an extra cord for graduation. Alex won an award for the most growth over four years in the business department, a broad department of subjects including coding and computer science, which he hopes to pursue in college. 

Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Southbury recently presented scholarship awards to two of their college students for the coming school year.

Pictured from right to left is Father Moses Locke, Pastor presenting a scholarship to Mark Yuschak. Mark will be entering his fourth year as an Architecture student, at Marywood University in Scranton, PA.  Also receiving a scholarship, but not pictured, is Alban Stamper.  Alban will be entering his second and final year at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, CT.  There he will be earning an associate degree in fine art with a concentration in photography.

Sunday was also a day to give special recognition to the hard working teachers in the “Live Wires” church school program at Christ the Savior Church in Southbury.  A beautiful potted plant was presented to each teacher in appreciation of their dedicated service at Christ the Savior Church. Pictured from left to right are Sarah Cole, Sandra DiResta, Daniela Polonyova, Father Vladimir Aleandro, and Liana Berry.  Missing from the photo are Rebekah Lee and Ron Sullivan.

On July 7th, 2019, we celebrated the transition of Pastoral Authority from Fr. Vladimir Aleandro (pastor for 24 years) to Fr. Moses Locke. After the reading of the Akathist “Glory to God for All Things”, Fr. Moses was presented with the parish metrical book (a record of church activities) and a Shepherd’s Crook (which Fr. Vladimir had received during his mission to Turkana). Joining the parish were many visiting clergy (both Orthodox and non-Orthodox) and guests who came to wish Fr. Vladimir well on his retirement and Fr. Moses well on his appointment. Close to 200 people were in attendance, showing the love that is felt for not only both men, but our parish as well.

On June 30th, we celebrated Divine Liturgy. It was an especially meaningful service as it was the last liturgy with Fr. Vladimir as Pastor of Christ the Savior. Fr. Vladimir did a special homily, using the time to help educate us on the preparation of the Gifts. Anne Wilkinson, representing the stewards and parishioners, presented Batushka and Matushka with their official retirement Hawaiian shirts and a gift for their dedicated and tireless service. Fr. Claudio Petrescu, visiting from Romania, also served.