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Why is Pascha So Late This Year?!: SOME COMMON MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE DATE OF PASCHA/EASTER

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy by John Fotopoulos This essay was originally published in 2017. It has been updated for 2021. [Common Misperceptions] A common misperception among Orthodox Christians is that Orthodox Easter (i.e. Pascha) often occurs so much later than Western Christian Easter because the Orthodox Church abides by the rules for calculating the date of Pascha issued by the 1st Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in AD 325. Another element of this misperception is the belief that the Orthodox Church must wait for Passover to be celebrated by the Jewish community before Pascha may occur. Despite these views being held by so…

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[email protected]: Independence for the Church of America!

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Uncategorized

Source: Helleniscope By Nick Stamatakis Remarkable news came out of yesterday’s Eparchial Synod regarding the procedure to form a new charter for GOA.  According to the official announcement, “…the process envisions the establishment of a broader Committee, in which all the organizations and bodies of the Church and of the Omogoneia will be represented, plus four representatives from each Holy Metropolis chosen by the respective hierarch. Every member of the faithful will be given the opportunity to send their opinions to a designated email address: [email protected]” Yes, my friends, the official announcement has an active link to the email!… I believe that it is the…

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Readers’ Questions/Comments About the Charter Crisis in the GOA

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Uncategorized

Did you know that the GOA was established as an autocephalous church in America & Canada in 1924? (See seal to the left) Did you know that pressure was applied from abroad in the late 1920s to rescind the autocephaly? See Dr. Paul Manolis’s three-volume study of the GOA which documents the forced alteration of synodical minutes to eliminate references to the autocephalous status here. Did you know that the GOA is incorporated in NY and is a tax-exempt corporation? (See seal below to the right). Did you know GOA has had 6 different charters in 99 years – a…

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A BLESSEDLY UNPREDICTABLE COUNCIL

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: First Things by Cyril Hovorun Originally published on July 7, 2016 I had begun writing about the results of the Pan-Orthodox Council, which recently finished its work in Crete, before it was actually convened. The working title I chose then was “Pentecost 2016: A Doomsday for the Orthodox.” At the time, I was desperate about the Council and its outcome, along with many other Orthodox, who were shocked that four of the fourteen Orthodox churches had decided at the last minute not to go to Crete. There seemed no reason to hope that a “Vatican-II effect” would occur at…

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NEW BOOK: Under One Roof – Uniting the Orthodox Church of America

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: BookLocker Under One Roof: Uniting the Orthodox Church of America by George E. Matsoukas This collection of essays written between 2012-2020 addresses the status of the Orthodox Church in the U.S. and emphasizes the mission of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL): unity, accountability, conciliar governance, education and renewal. CLICK HERE TO ORDER About the Book This is the second collection of essays, compiled from opinion columns written during the period 2012-2020, when George Matsoukas served as executive director of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL). The first collection, “A Church in Captivity: The Greek Orthodox Church of America,” is also a collection…

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Metropolitan Isaiah (Kykkotis) of Tamassos and Orinis of the Church of Cyprus

Primacy of Constantinople is the primacy of service, not of power

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Source: Russian Orthodox Church In his interview for Romfea Greek news agency, Metropolitan Isaiah of Tamassos and Oreini, hierarch of the Church of Cyprus, emphasized that by recognizing the schismatics in Ukraine the Patriarchate of Constantinople showed disregard for the religious rights of 13 million believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who do not want to sever relations with the Russian Church. The hierarch pointed out that certain geopolitical processes have had their impact on the current situation in the Orthodox world and said that when it comes to the Ukrainian ecclesiastical issue it is erroneous to confuse the “the…

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Interwoven Congregations – Will the Orthodox Church Share Its Experience?

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Interwoven Congregations Orthodox Christian faithful have a contribution to make in our communities by interrelating with others. Clergy and laity need to be aware of and involved in the work of faith communities in our communities. We live in a pluralistic society and we learn from each other. There is a movement in Bethesda, Maryland, that Orthodox Christians living within the beltway should know and help develop. The ministry is called Interwoven Congregations (https://www.interwovencongregations.org/). Orthodox Christianity has apostolic roots in Africa, and the works of Father Moses Berry, Ash Grove, Missouri, and  Dr. Albert J. Raboteau on African-American Religious…

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U.S. USES BULLDOZER DIPLOMACY TO PRESSURE HIERARCHS TO RECOGNIZE SCHISMATICS, OBSERVES SERBIAN HIERARCH

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Uncategorized

Source: Orthodox Christianity Bačka, Serbia, January 5, 2021 The U.S. uses crude “bulldozer diplomacy” to convince Orthodox hierarchs to transgress their conscience and throw their weight behind the Patriarchate of Constantinople and its anti-canonical actions in Ukraine, says His Grace Bishop Irinej of Bačka of the Serbian Orthodox Church. This is obvious, he said in a recent interview with the Serbian outlet Pechat, given that many hierarchs have suddenly changed their opinion only after meeting with U.S. diplomats. The devil is ever-vigilant, His Grace said, working on Orthodox hierarchs to accept violations of the Orthodox faith and canons. Just a week…

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Patriarch Kirill and Patriarch Bartholomew

PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW CLOSES HIS EYES TO SCHISM HE CREATED, ACCUSES PATRIARCH KIRILL OF PAPAL PRETENSIONS

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Christianity Istanbul, January 5, 2021 According to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, there is no schism within the Orthodox Church today. And although he is often accused of neopapism, it is in fact the Patriarch of Moscow who harbors papal pretensions, the primate of Constantinople said in an interview with To Vima published yesterday. On October 15, 2018, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church took the painful but necessary step of breaking Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople after the latter unilaterally invaded Ukrainian Church territory, received defrocked and anathematized schismatics back into communion without any due process…

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George Matsoukas

My Take On Creating a New Charter for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

PART 1: How did we get here? 1922-2019: Alternate Reality of the Hierarchy We must understand the Alternative World of the foreign elements and the local minions who are their agents who control the administrative structure of the Archdiocese and who are appointed to maintain the deception and distortion of the uncanonical institution they created in the USA. Consequences of the 2003 Charter You cannot create a new charter unless you understand how we got to this place where foreign bishops decide to unilaterally abrogate the 5th charter of the Archdiocese.  Yes, the 5th in less than one hundred years. …

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A Prayer for the New Year

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: OINOS Educational Consulting By Frank Marangos, D.Min., Ed.D., FCEP Click the photo above to View an uplifting video. “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in your hands!” Psalm 31.14-15 On Christmas morning, a motor home exploded outside an AT&T building on a downtown street in Nashville, Tennessee. Police characterized the incident as an “intentional act of terrorism” in the heart of America’s country music capital. The fiery blast destroyed a number of other vehicles parked nearby, shattered windows and heavily damaged several adjacent buildings, sending a pall of black smoke…

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