Browsing: Governance & Unity News

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North America The Legal Affairs Committee of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops held its first face to face meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on July 10, 2012. Chaired by Bishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, the committee is composed of attorney consultants from the Orthodox jurisdictions participating in Assembly. At this meeting the committee began legal planning to meet the immediate needs of the Assembly. This committee must consider and resolve a host of issues as it works to support the Assembly in laying ground work for organizational unity…

As part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Orthodox Christian Laity, we present to you a two part interview: A Vision of A Unified Church In North America with Dr. Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos. Recorded at the 20th Annual Meeting of OCL, November 2007. Part 1. Overcoming the Impediments that Inhibit Orthodox Unity in the United States Part 2. What Can the Laity Do To Advance the Cause of Unity?

Source: The National Herald | George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity Having looked over the information concerning the recently completed National Assembly of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, which took place in Phoenix, AZ and having talked to some members of my local community in Southeast Florida who attended, I conclude that there were no workshops, discussions, or information presented on the work of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. Unity of the Orthodox in America was not on the conference’s agenda. I find this amazing and shocking. The 14 Patriarchs of the worldwide…

We inaugurate this feature by highlighting Agia Sophia Coffee Shop, Harrisburg, at 225 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA which is an offshoot of Agia Sophia Coffee Shop, Colorado Springs. It is located at 2902 W Colorado Avenue Suite 100, Colorado Springs. All profits from these coffee shops go to local charities in their geographic areas. The original coffee shop in Colorado Springs is the brainchild of Father Anthony Karbo (OCA). Father Stephen Verak, Pastor of Christ the Savior, Harrisburg, and one of the 5 participating church communities in the coffee house, told us that this Pan-Orthodox project is a blessing for…

Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is the program that SCOBA, now replaced by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops designed and oversees to keep our youth in the Orthodox Church in America. They, of course, are the future of the Church and when the OCF national office published a survey at its inception showing that 60% of our college youth are leaving the Church and never returning, and a more recent survey showing this trend accelerating to almost 70% (that’s almost 3 out of 4) it should be a cause of alarm for all Orthodox clergy and lay. OCF is directed…

In 1977, Mother Mary Blossom and Father Gregory Reynolds moved from Tennessee to Cleveland, OH to set up a monastery originally sponsored by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (USA) and to serve the urban poor. They created St. Herman’s, a mission serving the poor and hungry; a House of Hospitality patterned after the Catholic worker tradition, with a special Orthodox influence. St. Herman’s grew over the years, blessed by support from the Orthodox community and others. Now, 35 years later, the mission of St. Herman’s continues, and has recently been refocused and rejuvenated with support from the 20-plus local Orthodox Churches…

Cardiff by the Sea, CA – On February 4, 2011, over 65 Orthodox Christians from over a dozen canonical Eastern Orthodox churches gathered at Sts. Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church for a “Together as One” Workshop to get to know one another and to make plans for the future within their ministry areas. The activities started with an opening prayer from Fr. Simeon Corona and a delicious luncheon that was prepared by ladies from Saint Constantine and Helen and members of Orthodox San Diego. Expressions of gratitude for what Orthodox San Diego accomplished over the past year along with some…

MISSION The mission of the OCSA is to bring the light of Christ to America through schooling that unites intellectual, spiritual, and cultural growth as inseparable needs for the human person. We seek to be a catalyst for the growth of Orthodox Christian primary and secondary schools, a central resource for their needs, as well as a means of their unified efforts to cultivate a noble and dignified society as understood by the Orthodox Christian faith. VISION A major pillar of a vibrant and influential American Orthodox Church will be a network of day schools that represent faithfully the teachings…

ZOE for Life! is a ministry serving pregnant women in distress in a confidential setting. Many women enjoy the blessings of love and a support structure to lead them to marriage, children, and a meaningful life. Others, however, are not as fortunate. They find themselves pregnant and in crisis. They have made the wrong choices and are in turmoil. They are not thinking, they are panicking! So few women are well versed on the various services that are available to them. Their overwhelming concern is, “What am I going to do now?” Many wrestle with abortion, some with adoption, and…

Here in the NW, both in Seattle and Portland areas, we have very active Pan-Orthodox Clergy Associations. They sponsor retreats two or three times a year, have joint services on various occasions (such as Sunday night Lenten Vespers in Seattle area), and support OCF’s on college campuses, among other things. The parishes in the Spokane area (Eastern Washington and Idaho) also work closely together. Visit our relatively new web site which reports on Pan-Orthodox activities in the NW. It is at http://orthodoxnorthwest.wordpress.com. Scroll down the right side for a very comprehensive list of links to all kinds of web sites.…

I became Orthodox because of my ministry among the poor. The ministry founded and still lead, The King’s Jubilee (http://www.shoutforjoy.net/), was received with me into the church when my wife and I were chrismated. It is truly a pan-Orthodox ministry. We have participation from Antiochians, Greeks, Russians, Albanians, Serbs, Georgians, etc. We also have participation from a couple of Roman Catholic churches on occasion. Although, I am not sure how that will stand going forward, since one RC volunteer was just chrismated into the Orthodox Church during Holy Week. We have been serving on the streets of Philadelphia for over…

Throughout the U.S there is an increasing urgency for OCPM to bring the St. Lazarus Project to specific sites to assist men and women who are being released from prison and reintegrated into free society. Several communities including Miami, FL; Oklahoma City, OK; Washington D.C.; and Baltimore, MD are requesting the aid of the St. Lazarus Project to train volunteers and staff to assist men and women who are being released from state and federal prisons and local jails to re-enter a once familiar world that now seems foreign and intimidating. Without a network of support, many incarcerated men and…