Source: Orthodox Christian Laity
The Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) is holding its 28th Annual Meeting and Community Forum in San Diego, California, November 4-7, 2015. “Orthodox Working Together” will be the theme of the event with a special emphasis on Project Mexico. Conference hotel is the Catamaran Resort on Mission Bay.
The Business Meeting will take place at the Catamaran at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 6. That evening, beginning at 7 p.m., a community forum will be held at St. John of Damascus Orthodox Church (OCA), 16902 Espola Road in Poway, a San Diego suburb. The first part of the Forum will be an update on the progress of the Assembly of Bishops and actions taken at its September meeting relating to Orthodox Unity in America. His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel (Romanian Episcopate/OCA) and His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin (OCA) will speak on what occurred at the Assembly. The second part of the program will focus on how we Orthodox at the local level can initiate actions and programs to bring us all closer together. Several presentations will be made on activities involving inter-Orthodox cooperative efforts. Ben De La Riva, Executive Director of Project Mexico/St Innocent Orphanage, will discuss the strategies and challenges of building local community infrastructure in support of Project Mexico; and Andrew Kartalis will describe the efforts of Orthodox faithful in Cleveland in developing a successful program of support for activities of Orthodox Chrisitan Fellowship (OCF) in Ohio and adjacent states. Moderator for this portion of the program will be Peter Haikalis, a past OCL President. Ample time has also been set aside for general discussion.
On Saturday, November 7, OCL is organizing a field trip to the St Innocent Orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico led by Mr. De La Riva. A limited number of spaces for the visit are still available. You must have a U.S. passport for the border crossing. For further information and to make a reservation, please contact Peter Haikalis at 925-705-7520.
Sunday morning Liturgy will be held at the newly-established Holy Resurrection Orthodox Monastery of the Romanian Episcopate in Temecula, California with Archbishop Nathaniel officiating. A light luncheon will follow, and for those interested, a visit to the famed Calloway Winery may be planned.
A block of rooms has been set aside at the Catamaran Resort in San Diego. The OCL rate is $169 a night for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, November 5, 6 and 7. For reservations, call 800-422-8386 or the resort directly at 858-488-1081. Cut off date for reservations is October 6.
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