Browsing: Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA]  On Monday, September 14, Archpriest Alexander Rentel, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, made the following statement: “On Monday, August 31, 2020, I signed a contract with a Long Island realtor to put up for sale the Westwood property, the longtime location of the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America in Oyster Bay Cove (Syosset), NY. I took this step in accordance with the motion to do so that was unanimously accepted by the Metropolitan Council at the beginning of its regular Fall 2020 Session, on Thursday, August 27, 2020. The…

Source: Oinos Educational Consulting HE, SHE . . . OR ME? A LEADER’S GREATEST FOE by Frank Marangos, D.Min., Ed.D., FCEP “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” Oliver Hardy When a leader is asked who or what gives them the most trouble, how do they usually answer? Where do they place blame when circumstances are challenging? Do they point to market forces or fierce competitors? Or is their anger directed towards the disgruntled employee, parishioner, or board member? The classic catch phrase cited above was first uttered by Oliver Hardy to Stan Laurel in their 1930 film Another Fine…

Source: Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco  Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, On September 1, our Church begins a new ecclesiastical year. We are given the opportunity to start anew. This sense of turning a page, starting again, is a much needed opportunity for us and our parishes. Most of us, I am certain, would like to have 2020 behind us. The Coronavirus, the loss of connection to our parishes, the economic struggles, the racial and political tensions, and now these devastating wildfires, have touched every fiber of our lives. While the calendar for at least the…

Source: Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University is delighted to present the sixth episode of its webinar series highlighting the scholarly insights and academic careers of female scholars whose research and writing explore some facet of the history, thought, or culture of Orthodox Christianity. This episode features an interview with Elizabeth Prodromou, Ph.D. Prodromou is a faculty member at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she directs the Initiative on Religion, Law, and Diplomacy. She is non-resident senior fellow and co-chair of the Working Group on…

Source: Orthodox Theological Society in America  The full video of the recent (August 22, 2020) webinar “The Coronavirus and Communion Practice in the Orthodox Church” is now available at: https://www.otsamerica.net/the-coronavirus-covid-19-and-communion-practice-in-the-orthodox-church/. Organized by the Orthodox Theological Society in America, the webinar addressed the crucial question: “What has been the impact of the pandemic on our Communion practice?” The webinar reviewed the results of the recent survey of Orthodox clergy in the USA on Communion practice at this time and brought together a panel of scientists and theologians to ground the discussion. Program included: 1. Introduction into study report “Holy Communion…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity The Greek Orthodox Church in America: A Modern History by Alexander Kitroeff, Northern Illinois University Press, 2020, helps to put Orthodox Christian Laity’s (OCL’s) ministry, influence and accomplishments in perspective. History is a record of changes, and this history chronicles the growth and development of Greek Orthodoxy in America. It chronicles its unique immigrant beginning in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, as a unique American mutual aid Church Community, to dramatic efforts to transform it into an eparchy serving the global interests of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the 21st century. This history shows that…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity According to IndependentSector.org and the Urban Institute, there are approximately 1.6 million 501(c)3 organizations in the USA established to address and redress important issues related to various aspects of societal needs, including social issues, education, religious institutions, and the arts, to suggest a few. Approximately 38% (608,000) of them have budgets below the $100,000 range according to Zipsprout.com. Orthodox Christian Laity is in this budget range. Like many of these organizations, OCL was founded with passion to address many issues, the most meaningful being: Orthodox Christian Administrative Unity Matters.  It matters, because canonical, jurisdictional unity is…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA]  The Office of Pastoral Life of the Orthodox Church in America will hold their second Pastoral Life Conference for all OCA clergy on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 2:00 pm. The theme of the online conference will be Nurturing Spiritual Brotherhood. Dr. Albert Rossi, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, will offer the keynote address at the start of the Conference. His Grace Bishop Alexis, chairman of the Office of Pastoral Life, will be part of a closing panel that will address questions and concerns arising from the participants.…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA]  Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania, Diocese of the Midwest, and Bulgarian Diocese, the seventh annual Parish Development Forum was held online on July 9, 2020. One hundred forty participants, including four Bishops represented parishes from every Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America as well as Antiochian, Greek, Ukrainian, and Serbian jurisdictions, as well as the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Forum theme—“The Orthodox Parish: Charting a Course in Challenging Times” – was shaped in two keynote addresses offered by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, entitled “Orthodox Christian Communities in 2020”, and Father Sean Levine who…

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America New York, NY – His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros departed for Istanbul following the celebration of the Dormition of the Theotokos at the eponymous Church in Southampton. This will be His Eminence’s first visit of 2020, the last time he was there was for the Feast of the First-Called Apostle Andrew in November of 2019. The Archbishop will remain abroad through the Beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year (September 1st) and will be at the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Feast of the Indiction. This feast also includes the the annual observance of the “Day of Environmental…

Source: Orthodox Reality Today, we are releasing the report, “Holy Communion during the Pandemic in American Orthodox Parishes.” You can download the full report or executive summary here: https://orthodoxreality.org/coronavirus-and-american-orthodox-parishes/ We express deep gratitude to the 609 priests representing all Orthodox jurisdictions and regions of the country, who participated in this unique study. They shared not only factual information about administering Holy Communion in their parishes, but – most importantly – their personal, very frank reflections and thoughts on possible adaptations in offering this Sacrament in this current time of crisis. The spread of COVID-19 has made a number of church…

Source: Pew Research Center Originally posted on November 14, 2017 BY DAVID MASCI Along with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity is one of the world’s three major Christian traditions. But unlike the other two large branches of Christianity, which have spread throughout the developing world, Orthodoxy remains largely confined to Europe. Many majority-Orthodox countries, like Russia and Ukraine, were part of the former Soviet Union and, for most of the 20th century, were officially hostile to religion. In the more than 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, there has been an Orthodox revival in several of these…