December, 2014 - Orthodox Christian Laity

Monthly Archives: December, 2014

The Lantern Foundation

By Webmaster on December 9, 2014 Governance & Unity News, Grassroots Unity in Action

Source: Lantern Foundation The Lantern Foundation, established in December of 2012, is a US based registered 501c(3) private foundation. The mission of the foundation is to provide financial support to religious and community service organizations, particularly those related to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and other entities organized for religious, charitable, and educational purposes and to raise, generate, and solicit contributions in furtherance of this purpose. [subscribe2]

‘Ecumenical Patriarchate title would elevate Turkey’s reputation’

By Webmaster on December 8, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Hurriyet Daily News by Cansu Çamlıbel ISTANBUL The Turkish government can ‘only benefit from recognizing the ecumenical status of the Patriarchate’ a senior official from the Fener Orthodox Patriarchate says in an exclusive interview Stopping resistance to the title “Ecumenical Patriarchate” and reopening the Halki Seminary can only elevate the reputation of Turkey as a democratic nation, according to a senior official from the Fener Orthodox Patriarchate. “The ‘ecumenical’ status is a spiritual and religious jurisdiction. It is not legal or secular,” John Chryssavgis, who holds the title of Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne, told Hürriyet. “The Ecumenical Patriarch has…

The Speech of His Eminence Joseph at His Enthronement as Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America

By Webmaster on December 8, 2014 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Today we commemorate our great father among the saints, Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra, the patron of this holy Cathedral. How greatly loved he is throughout the Christian world! He is even honored in popular culture, a fact well known to you all. Let us focus for a moment on the Troparion for St. Nicholas: Thy works of justice did reveal Thee to Thy community as a canon of faith, the likeness of humility and the teacher of abstinence. O, Thou Father and great Bishop Nicholas. Wherefore by humility thou didst achieve…

Remembering We’re Not in Charge – On Surrender

By Webmaster on December 8, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Commonweal by John Garvey I have served as a priest in the Orthodox Church in America for twenty-two years. The parishes where I’ve served have been varied. For ten years I was the pastor of an Albanian Orthodox church in Queens, during the period when Communism fell in Albania. The parish population doubled, with an influx of immigrants who were eager to be part of the church after having been denied any opportunity to worship by the world’s most fiercely atheistic regime. My second church was a more typical OCA parish on Long Island, most of whose members were lifelong…

Assembly of Bishops 2014 Committee Reports Now Available

By Webmaster on December 8, 2014 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America The Assembly’s annual committee reports are now available online. The summary reports, which were prepared by the committee chairmen, provide an overview of each committee’s activities and accomplishments between September 2013-August 2014. Committee for Agencies and Endorsed Organizations Committee for Canonical Affairs Committee for Canonical Regional Planning Committee for Ecumenical Relations Committee for Financial Affairs Committee for Legal Affairs Committee for Monastic Communities Committee for Theological Education Committee for Youth [subscribe2]

An Advent Message: Invite Someone New to Church

By Webmaster on December 7, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Invite a friend to attend Church with you in this Season of Preparation for Christmas and the Epiphany. Source: Episcopalian Diocese of New Jersey Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Emmanuel which means “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) Advent is upon us. What does this mean to you? In a wonderful volume of seasonal reflections titled Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (Farmington, PA: The Plough Publishing House of the Bruderhof Foundation, 2001) the editors write: “Though Advent (literally ‘arrival’) has been observed for centuries as a time to contemplate…

A Call for the Rejuvenation of the Ministry of the Ordained Deaconess

By Webmaster on December 7, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: St. Catherine’s Vision “A Call for the Rejuvenation of the Ministry of the Ordained Deaconess” has been published by St. Catherine’s Vision, an international, Pan-Orthodox fellowship of Orthodox women theologians and other lay servant-leaders. The document is addressed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Secretariat of the Great and Holy Council. It is being widely distributed for prayerful reflection by hierarchs, clergy and laity. “A Call for the Rejuvenation of the Ministry of the Ordained Deaconess” affirms that the ministry of ordained deaconesses is part of the Church’s tradition. The rejuvenation of the order can be of great benefit in many places within the Church…

OCA to be represented at enthronement of Antiochian Metropolitan Joseph

By Webmaster on December 4, 2014 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Orthodox Church in America BROOKLYN, NY [OCA] – The Primate of one of the oldest churches on earth will come to America to enthrone His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, as the head of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church of North America at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here on Saturday, December 6, 2014. His Beatitude, Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, will come from Damascus, Syria to preside at the Service of Thanksgiving and Enthronement rites. His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West; His Grace, Bishop…

East and West: Two Arms Spread Wide to Embrace the World

By Webmaster on December 4, 2014 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Aleteia A grass roots ecumenism involving Christians of East and West is what will take Christians into the future together. by FR DWIGHT LONGENECKER When referring to the Eastern Orthodox churches Pope St John Paul II used to say the church needed to “breathe with two lungs.” Given Pope Francis’s physical condition of having only one lung, perhaps it is best to discover a new analogy. Looking at the cross we can say that Christ needs two arms to reach out to embrace the whole world. In his trip to Turkey last week Pope Francis celebrated the liturgy with Bartholomew,…

Christians in Jaffa Mark Beginning of Christmas Season

By Webmaster on December 4, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Algemeiner JNS.org – Israeli Arab Christians in Jaffa marked the beginning of the Christmas season in the Holy Land with an annual Christmas tree lighting celebration earlier this week. At the gathering in the ancient port city adjacent to Tel Aviv, men dressed up as Santa Claus met children, sang Christmas carols and lit fireworks. Orthodox Christian leaders also addressed the crowd of Jewish, Muslim and Christian onlookers, using the occasion to promote unity between the three faiths. “This is the best example for all the citizens of Israel to see how people can do things that we can…

St. Photios Shrine to bless animals on Saturday, December 6

By Webmaster on December 4, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The St. Augustine Record The second annual Blessing of the Animals will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, 41 St. George St. It is the conviction of the Orthodox Christian faith that all creation is holy. His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, said, “Everything that lives and breathes is sacred and beautiful in the eyes of God.” The Greek Orthodox Church believes it is the responsibility of human beings to love, honor and care for God’s earth, that he created and blessed every creature that swims in its oceans,…

IOCC Joins Largest U.S. Disaster Response Network

By Webmaster on December 3, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: IOCC Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — From comforting survivors of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, to helping Midwest families clean out their homes after last summer’s devastating floods, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) has been responding to the needs of disaster victims across the US for more than a decade through the IOCC Emergency Response Network, or Frontline, as well as the support of local Orthodox Christian parishes in outreach to disaster-affected communities. IOCC’s track record of readiness in times of disasters and emergencies has earned it a position as the newest member of the nation’s largest network of disaster…

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Monthly Archives: December, 2014