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Our purpose is to be obedient to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ: 

Jesus teaches those who would be his disciples to prioritize helping those in need, emphasizing compassion, generosity, and service as core aspects of a Christian life.

You’re invited!

Please join this dynamic group as we seek to enlarge our membership so that we can do even more for those in need. As much as our chapter does, we can always do more, and whether you are new to St. Katherine or a long-time member of our parish, we encourage you to become a member of St. Irene Philoptochos. Membership is open to all women (and men*) over 18 years of age who are of the Orthodox faith. *Men and non-Orthodox Christian women may be associate members. Any inquiries about our ministry or membership details can be directed to any Philoptochos member or the parish office. The Philoptochos Email is:   philoptochos@stkatherineaz.org

Philoptochos

pronounced fee-LOP-toe-chos, meaning “Friends to those in need “

Philoptochos was founded in 1931 as a women’s organization that continued the age old tradition in Greece of the women of the church serving their communities.

We continue to be predominantly a women’s organization but we welcome our brothers who support and serve with us.

We have been called the “right hand of the church”. We strive to help whenever we are asked or whenever we become aware of needs. The parish of St Katherine has, for all of its existence, been incredibly supportive.

Some examples of current actions of our Philoptochos chapter.

  • Provide outreach and assistance for our parishioners in need, at the direction of and in consultation with our priest.

  • We donate towards relief in the time of national and international disasters.

  • Each year we raise funds for water and heat relief for homeless people in our area.

  • Under the title “Everyone Deserves A Warm Night's Sleep”, we support The Sleeping Bag Project by collecting money to purchase sleeping bags for homeless.

  • Kids’n’Cancer Camp Agape- a ministry at our local level and in concert with the other churches in our Metropolis. We provide a fully funded family camp for those who have a child suffering from cancer or other life threatening conditions. When a child is suffering the entire family suffers. The camp gives these families a chance to be together and with other families to heal a little. We have been providing this God-Blessed gift to families in Arizona for 18 years and have seen so many blessings as a result.

  • We strive to remember our homebound parishioners and make phone calls to them during the year. These individuals are remembered during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Holidays with seasonal baked goods.

  • Provide holiday dinner grocery meal gift cards during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter for families in need within our community.

  • Prepare paximadia (Greek cookies) and koliva (traditional boiled wheat) for memorial services.

  • We also support the initiatives of our Metropolis and National Philoptochos.