Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Director’s Update Dear Friends, The final three months of 2023 have been exciting! On Giving Tuesday, we received over $1,700 for our Accessibility Ministries and about $1,500 for operating expenses. Additionally, the Inter-Parih Association Program received a major grant. We are so grateful for the continued support for our important Ministries. Our Mental Health Ministries continued training Clergy and Lay Leaders through Peace of Mind. We also finalized content drafting for the Living Well Book series, which is expected to be published in Q3 2024. The Liturgy Committee is working on an…
Browsing: Governance Top Stories
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA The Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate met in Moscow on December 27, 2023. The minutes of the meeting can be read at link. There were some important decisions made. The most important decision is that the Synod created a new diocese, carving it out of the existing Kherson diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). In this regard, Journal Entry 120 includes the following decision: “1. To form, within the administrative boundaries of the left bank [eastern side of the Dnipro River] districts of the Kherson region: Aleshkinsky, Golopristansky, Kalanchaksky, Skadovsky, Chaplynsky, the Skadovsky…
Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Message in English) (الرسالة باللغة العربية) By the mercy of God Almighty John X Patriarch of Antioch and all the East to My brothers, Pastors of the Holy Church of Antioch My sons and daughters, all over this Apostolic See “Bethlehem has opened Eden: come let us see!… come, let us seize Paradise hidden in the cave! … here the Virgin has borne a child, quenching Adam’s thirst…” With these words, voicing the hymnographer, the Holy Church invites us to contemplate the Nativity of Christ. The Nativity of Christ is the birth…
Source: Orthodox Church in America To the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, my beloved children in the Lord, Christ is born! Glorify him! At the Vigil for today’s feast, we sang with the words of St. Germanus of Constantinople: “Today the Virgin gives birth to the Maker of all. Eden offers a cave and a star discloses Christ, the Sun, to those in darkness” (second sticheron at the aposticha). In a supreme paradox, the created world today offers shelter to the one who contains all things in the palm of his hand. Coming among us…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Prot. No. 350/2023 Archepiscopal Encyclical on the Feast of Christmas December 25, 2023 Unto the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Hierarchs, Pious Priests and Deacons, Monks and Nuns, Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils, Honorable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Members of Leadership 100, Day and Afternoon Schools, Philoptochos Societies, Youth, Greek Orthodox Organizations, and entirety of the Christ-loving Plenitude of the Sacred Archdiocese of America: Thus says the Lord: a rod shall come forth out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall rise from that root. (Prophecy of Isaiah 11:1)…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: Nicholas Papachristou + B A R T H O L O M E W By God’s Mercy, Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch to All the Plenitude of the Church Grace, Mercy, and Peace from the Saviour Christ Born in Bethlehem Most honorable brother hierarchs, Beloved children in the Lord, With the grace of God, we are once again this year celebrating in chant, hymn, and spiritual song the Nativity according to the flesh of the pre-eternal Son and Word of God, namely the manifestation of the mystery of God…
Source: Orthodox Church in America BOSTON, MA [OCA] On Saturday, December 2, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, hierarchs of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, and hierarchs of other sister Orthodox Churches gathered at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Boston, MA, along with clergy and faithful of the Diocese of New England for the ordination to the Holy Episcopate of Bishop-elect Benedict (Churchill), as Bishop of Hartford and the Diocese of New England. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America elected Archimandrite Benedict as Bishop-elect of Hartford at their regular Fall Session on November 7, 2023. On Friday evening,…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SPRINGFIELD, VA [OCA] December 10, 2023, the Sunday before the feast day of Saint Herman of Alaska, is the second annual collection for the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of Alaska. His Grace Bishop Alexei spoke at 20th All-American Council in Baltimore, MD where he detailed the serious challenges facing the OCA’s mother diocese. The council passed a resolution to support the Alaskan Diocese in their difficult situation: “Whereas Alaska is the cradle of Orthodoxy in America: Be it resolved that the 20th AAC asks the Holy Synod of Bishops to designate annually the Sunday closest to the December feast…
Source: The National Herald SAN FRANCISCO – The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco celebrated a century of ministry on the West Coast at a Gala held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Attended by over 400 esteemed guests, the event showcased the rich history of the Metropolis and its diverse ministries, and the event also paid tribute to the hierarchs who have faithfully served the western region of the United States for the past century. His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco was presented with the prestigious Theofanis Economidis Award, recognizing his exemplary leadership and…
Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Contact: Rev. Nicholas Anton (communications@assemblyofbishops.org) The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America has received a $1,250,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish and develop Inter-Parish Associations. The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The aim of the initiative to encourage the flourishing of congregations by helping them deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the vitality of their communities and the world. The Assembly’s Enhancing Congregations through Inter-Parish Associations program will invite cohorts of…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On November 17, Ilze Brands Kehris, who is the United Nations’ Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, made a presentation at a session of the Security Council which was discussing the issue of freedom of religion in Ukraine. The complete text of her presentation can be read in English at (link). Aside from the High Commissioner and the Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Brands Kehris is the highest official of the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (link) In her presentation, Ms Brands Kehris was highly critical of certain actions by Russia against churches in the…