A Special Commemorative Issue

In June 1995, our Youth Association published and distributed the very first issue of our bi-monthly newsletter Cornerstone. This was published only a few months after our Youth Association was formed under the guidance of the late Father Nicholas Moutafis in January 1995.

The original goal of Cornerstone was to provide a means by which information related to the various aspects of the Orthodox Church, such as the major feast days, lives of saints, Bible readings and issues related to our Orthodox Christian Faith can be distributed to the members of the youth within the Community of Sts Anargiri.

Since then, we have continued to publish Cornerstone and distribute it every two months for the last eight years producing a total of fifty issues (including this one).

Cornerstone is a newsletter which currently is not only read by the members of our Youth Association and Community, but it has gained favourable interest from those who have requested to receive it from areas all around Melbourne, as well as, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. It is also received by people living in Greece, the United States and New Zealand.

For those that have not had the opportunity to receive Cornerstone in the printed form, every article from each of the fifty issues is available on the internet through our Cornerstone website. This enables readers to find current articles and also search for articles from past issues. The web address for Cornerstone is http://www.sprint.net.au/~corners.

This particular issue of Cornerstone is a special 50th Commemorative Edition dedicated to our beloved Father Nicholas Moutafis. Fr Nicholas understood the importance of spreading the word of God through the printed medium. This is evident by the fact that throughout his life in our Community, he was responsible for producing: “The Sower—Ο Σπορέας”, a periodical of the Youth Association from March 1969—October 1972; “The Link—Ο Κρίκος”, the Community Newspaper from January 1992—October 2000; and our Youth Association’s current newsletter “Cornerstone”. He oversaw the production of all these periodicals and newsletters with much dedication and tireless effort.

Fr Nicholas regularly contributed to these newsletters and in doing so, he enriched them with his own wisdom. The articles that he wrote for Cornerstone have been gathered, compiled and published in this current Commemorative Edition. They are offered to you the reader, to remember the messages and meanings which have been written by him so meticulously over the last years of his life.

We ask for his blessing to continue the work that he started with us many years ago and to continue the production of Cornerstone with the spirit in which he guided us.

Dear reader, on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Youth Association of Oakleigh – Sts Anargiri, we thank you for the support you have shown towards Cornerstone and we pray that it continues to benefit the souls of our fellow Christians for many more years to come.

Jim Kakavas

President of the Greek Orthodox Youth Association of Oakleigh—Sts Anargiri