Browsing: Governance & Unity News

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America The Eighty-Second meeting of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation took place at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, from June 5 to 7. The members of the Consultation continued their study of the role of the laity in their churches. The meeting was co-chaired by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese). He was recently appointed to that post by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Chairman of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. He succeeds…

Source: American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA JOHNSTOWN, PA — With thankfulness to Almighty God, the [American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox] Diocesan Chancery has announced that a Special Assembly of Diocesan Priests will be convened on Saturday July 14, 2012 in Christ the Saviour Cathedral by His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of America, Diocesan Locum Tenens for the purpose of nominating a candidate for ruling Bishop of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. ]The calling of the Assembly follows a year-long search for a worthy candidate to succeed to the throne of our beloved late Metropolitan of Amissos, the Most…

Source: American Orthodox Institute Blog Four years ago Fr. John Peck published the essay below and boy did he get hammered. Creativity, a characteristic you would want to see in priests, is feared because sometimes it gets too close to exposing the sheer paucity of substantive ideas and compelling engagement with the larger culture that the Church, in order to be Church, should cultivate in their leaders. The truth is we have got some very fine men serving as priests. The other truth is that those who bring the most to the table are often the first to get their…

SYOSSET, NY In her report for the first quarter of 2012, Melanie Ringa, Treasurer of the Orthodox Church in America, notes that “operating results show a small surplus versus a budgeted deficit of $27,401.00.” It was also noted that an unrestricted bequest of $188,905.00 from the estate of Charles F. Morse had been received. The bequest, coupled with an IRA distribution of $22,000.00 from the same estate received in December 2011, was used to permanently reduce the principal balance on the Honesdale Bank Loan by $211,366.00, thus “reducing the outstanding loan balance to $436,661.00 as of March 31, 2012 while…

Since much of the work of the Assembly of Bishops falls within the purview of its thirteen committees, the success of these committees is essential for the success of the Assembly as a whole. Therefore, the Secretariat’s Coordinator for Committees, Bishop Maxim, is organizing a face-to-face meeting of the Assembly’s thirteen committee chairmen, scheduled to meet on May 30. The chairmen will gather for the day at the Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, where they will be hosted by Archbishop Antony, who currently serves as the Assembly’s Treasurer and the chairman of the Committee for…

Source: The National Herald My fable begins with four babies being born to four families, all Orthodox. Two live on one block, the others one block over. In fact, two were born on the same day, in the same hospital (this last part is true). Yet all four will be baptized in separate parishes and live their whole lives without ever taking Holy Communion together. Strangers at the Chalice. They will attend each other’s birthday parties; the same schools, sports teams, videogame groups, and school bands. They’ll double-date (or triple or quadruple date) and attend Homecoming and Prom dances together.…

Source: Pravolavie This summer, Father Vladimir and Matushka Suzanne Aleandro of Christ the Savior Church in Southbury, Connecticut, will head back to Kenya for their fourth mission trip with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC). Father says he and Matushka’s work with the people of Turkana has deepened their faith and expanded their horizons. “I grew up in an Italian household,” explains Father Vladimir. “My grandmother couldn’t read or write, but she could pray and I grew up watching her pray for missionaries who were all around the world. This stayed with me.” In 1991, Father founded Christ the Savior…

Source: Greek Orthodox Observer Looking across our vast nation, we can say that our Orthodox Church has seen incremental growth, especially in the developing urban areas. On the other hand, we realize that some of the smaller parishes of our Archdiocese are either not growing or are losing numbers of parishioners. For example, the once-thriving Holy Trinity parish in Grand Island, Nebraska, is no longer in existence. While it is an exception, unfortunately, Holy Trinity is not unique. In regard to those parishes which are not increasing in membership, there has been very little, if any, outreach by the Church,…

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese NEW YORK – The Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America concluded its regularly scheduled spring meetings and issued the following communiqué: ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE HOLY EPARCHIAL SYNOD The Holy Eparchial Synod of the Holy Archdiocese of America convened its regular spring meeting on April 25 and 26, 2012 at the Synodal chamber of the Holy Archdiocese in New York, with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America presiding and the participation of all its members. The day before the official convening of the Synod, April 24, the members of the Synod completed the…

Source: Greek Orthodox Observer In today’s secular society, which is often filled with meaningless rhetoric, it is encouraging to report that the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America is progressing toward its stated goals. Recent achievements include the Assembly’s official incorporation on Oct. 18, 2011 as the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America (ACOB). (It was formerly known as the “Episcopal Assembly” of North and Central America.) In December, a historic teleconference of Assembly committee chairmen brought together representatives of all Orthodox jurisdictions in North America. The Secretariat– which holds monthly teleconferences…

On at least three occasions in recent years, hierarchs of various Orthodox Churches in the United States have publicly involved themselves in political discourse: first, in 2008 the California Orthodox Bishops issued a statement on Proposition 8 [i]; second, since 2009 Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America has officially participated in the annual March for Life in Washington DC [ii]; and third, in 2012 the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops published a statement of protest regarding the proposed mandatory insurance coverage of contraception by the Department of Health and Human Services. [iii] While individual Orthodox Christians most certainly…

Source: American Orthodox Institute Blog The following essay was written in response to this question by a reader of the American Orthodox Institute Observer Question: The GOA has never addressed the moral and social underpinnings of the problems facing Greece. Is the GOA so captive to the fantasy narrative of the Greek Community in America that it is unable to engage on these issues? Athens burns but the party at the Ritz Carlton in Florida (Leadership 100) goes on. How do you celebrate Greek Independence day at the White House when your homeland is in the midst of a social…