[ditty_news_ticker id="27897"] September, 2012 - Orthodox Christian Laity - Page 2
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Monthly Archives: September, 2012

Source: Christianity Today by Weston Gentry [originally posted 8/27/2012] Metropolitan Jonah, by most accounts the highest-ranking, evangelical-friendly archpriest in North America’s Eastern Orthodox Church, resigned under duress in July. His removal has observers less concerned about his leadership shortcomings, which allegedly led to his removal, than about the widening gap between conservatives and the Orthodox Church. “His efforts were the most explicit attempt by any Orthodox hierarch to join with evangelicals and other conservatives in a common social agenda,” North Park University professor Brad Nassif said of Jonah’s nearly four-year tenure as primate. Jonah, a former Episcopalian, was especially popular…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] The Department of Youth, Young, Adult, and Campus Ministries of the Orthodox Church in America announces its 2012 YouTube Challenge for high school and college students. “A new program of the department, the YouTube Challenge invites high school and college students to respond to scriptural questions with a short video,” said Andrew Boyd, department chair. “A team of judges, lead by Priest Sergius Halvorsen, Homelitics Professor at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, will offer feedback. Videos may be submitted either by individuals or by groups, such as an OCF chapter or parish youth group.”…

Research by Rev. Fr. Charles Joanides, Ph.D., LMFT indicates an alarming demographic trend in American Orthodoxy that applies to all jurisdictions: we are losing our youth. Below are presentations and links to more articles where Fr. Joanides quantifies these trends and suggest how ministry to interfaith couples is essential for the future viability of Orthodoxy in America. Most of the information can be found on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website and deals with trends in the GOA. Nevertheless, it is clear that the decline in young people in American Orthodoxy affects more than the GOA. Presentation to Leadership 100 Part…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] It has come to the attention of the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America that individuals, including some OCA clergy, have been receiving e-mails and telephone calls from an unknown individual or individuals presenting themselves as members of the Holy Synod of Bishops requesting emergency funds for various causes and asking that funds be directed to specified venues. These appeals are scams and should not be honored. None of the members of the Holy Synod are soliciting funds by e-mail or phone. Those receiving such calls or e-mails, or desiring additional…

Source: Orthodox Church in America ANCHORAGE, AK [OCA Diocese of Alaska] Delegates to the Assembly of the Diocese of Alaska, which met here on September 15, 2012, voted to present the name of Archpriest David Mahaffey in nomination to fill the vacant Episcopal See of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America. Father David’s name will be presented by His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin, Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Alaska, at a future meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops for consideration and canonical election. Born in Altoona, PA in 1952, Father David was received into the Orthodox…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] Prayers for the 17th All-American Council and the Election of the New Metropolitan of All American and Canada were issued by the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America here during the second week of September 2012. These petitions have also been approved by the Holy Synod of Bishops and are to be included in the Litany of Fervent Supplication at all Divine Services, beginning immediately. PRAYERS FOR THE 17TH ALL-AMERICAN COUNCIL AND THE ELECTION OF THE METROPOLITAN OF ALL AMERICA AND CANADA Furthermore we pray You, O Lord our Almighty and…

Source: The National Herald MAGGIE MICHAEL,Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Christians gathered Friday in front of a Cairo cathedral holding signs denouncing a film that mocked the Prophet Muhammad amid fears that Muslims will take out their anger on Egypt’s minority community. The country’s 8 million Coptic Christians were already feeling increasingly cornered amid the rise to power of hard-line Islamists in Egypt following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Now U.S. authorities have identified a self-described Coptic Christian living in California as the key figure behind the inflammatory film, and the community at home fears it will bear the brunt…

Source: Reuters By Edmund Blair Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church will choose a new pope on December 2, after Pope Shenouda who led the church for four decades died in March and left many Christians worrying about their rights under an Islamist-led government. Many Christians, who make up about tenth of Egypt’s 83 million people, are concerned by the rise of Islamists who swept to power in parliamentary and presidential elections. President Mohamed Mursi has insisted he will be a leader for the whole nation, but some Christians fear a creeping imposition of conservative religious codes on society. Egypt’s state news…

Source: The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America held its third annual meeting for all member hierarchs, that is, all active canonical bishops in its region. The meeting was held from September 10-12, 2012, at the Chicago O’Hare Hilton in Chicago, Illinois. Forty-three bishops were in attendance. The first plenary session opened on Monday morning, and began with prayer, followed by an address to the assembled hierarchs by the Chairman of the Assembly, Demetrios, Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and Exarch of the Ecumenical…

Our Orthodox Past – Our Orthodox Present – Our Orthodox Future WHEN: Weekend of Thursday, October 25, Friday, October 26 & Saturday, October 27, 2012. WHERE: Savoy Hotel, 2505 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC MAKE RESERVATIONS TODAY: SPECIAL OCL RATE Call 800-944-5377 (Call before Sept. 23 for OCL Rate + weekend events subject to change) St Nicholas Cathedral Library of Congress George Washington University, Mt. Vernon Campus Schedule Thursday, October 25, 2012 9:00 am St. Nicholas Cathedral (3500 Massachusetts Ave, Washington DC). Hierarchical Liturgy celebrated by  His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel (Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; Locum Tenens of the Metropolitan See of the Orthodox Church in America),…