Dear Faithful of St. Sava Orthodox Parish,

Christ is in our midst!

We have some very good news! Because all people 16 years of age and older are eligible to receive the vaccine here in the state of Texas, and because there is wide availability of the vaccine in our state, we have been able to petition his Eminence Archbishop Alexander for the total cessation of all restrictions on attendance at St. Sava Orthodox Church in Allen, Texas. His Eminence has officially blessed our petition.

As of April 11th, we began an eight-week timeline toward the removal of all restrictions on attendance at St. Sava parish. As such, all over the age of 16 who have not yet been vaccinated and would like to be are encouraged to receive your first dose over the next two weeks. Once you have received the first dose, you are allowed another four weeks to get the second dose. After this, you are asked to allow another two weeks to allow for full protection. Nothing about being vaccinated should keep you away from church. Once everyone who wishes to be vaccinated is fully vaccinated and has had a two-week buffer period, all precautions and restrictions on attendance at St. Sava parish will be lifted. We shall return to full parish life as of Sunday, June 6th is two weeks before Pentecost.

All those who desire to continue to wear masks, socially distance, and take other safety measures after June 6th, are certainly free to do so, but such precautions will no longer be mandated by the parish. The parish sign-up will stop on Saturday, June 5th. So, we are moving forward to the full reopening of the parish without restrictions of any kind.

In Christ,
Fr. Photius Avant