Source: Orthodox Christian Laity On October 10-11, 2025, the Saints Constantine & Elena Orthodox Christian Parish in Indianapolis, Indiana, generously hosted Orthodox Christian Laity’s 38th Annual Meeting and Conference, themed “Orthodox Christian Unity in Action,” attracting over 50 participants. Click Here to view the event Program. Special thanks to OCL Board member William Caras for producing the video recordings and photos. Recordings of the Presentations are available below. Click Here to view the slides from Alexei Krindatch’s Presentation Gallery of the photos from the annual meeting and conference
Browsing: Orthodox Christian Unity
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity By Dr. Gayle E. Woloschak Over the years, many people have complained to me that our Orthodox Church has not achieved unity in America after decades of work. For example, the Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) has published pamphlets, held conferences, and engaged in dialogue with parishes about unity throughout its 40-year existence. I remember attending an OCL conference in Chicago in my youth, after which I was inspired (and even to this day remain inspired) to strive for unity in the Church. Nevertheless, it is easy for those who have worked for so long to become…
Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA NEW YORK – During the joyful season of Bright Week, after the celebration of the Feast of Feasts, our Lord Jesus Christ’s salvific resurrection, the Assembly of Bishops’ Executive Committee met today at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine in Lower Manhattan, New York. Earlier that morning, they gathered for a time of prayer and thanksgiving during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Life-Giving Spring of the Theotokos (Zoodochos Peghe) and met with Hierarchical members of the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches. In the…
Christ is risen! I just saw all these emails! Roula and I appreciate all of your prayers and good wishes. We love all of you. OCL’s mission is inevitable. It is what God wants. A single Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America. It is up to us to make it happen. Do not give up! — Love, George (May 31, 2024) This is the message that George Karcazes sent from his hospital room a few days before he fell asleep in the Lord on June 6, 2024. For the last 37 years, he devoted himself to the mission of Orthodox Christian Laity…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity The 36th Annual Meeting of the Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) took place on October 20, 2023, in the beautiful Library of Saints Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Glenview, IL. The 3-hour meeting, presided over by President Bill Souvall, covered a range of important topics, including Orthodox Christian unity, financial reports, and board development. Here’s a summary of the key points from the meeting: Prayer for Orthodox Unity: The meeting began with a prayer for Orthodox Unity in America, emphasizing the importance of the unity of the Orthodox Christian community in America, spiritually and administratively.…
In Support of “A Declaration for Orthodox Christian Unity in America,” No. 1 To the Orthodox Christian Faithful in America: On July 5, 2022, A Declaration for Orthodox Christian Unity in America was published and widely distributed. It addresses the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America and solicits the signatures and support of all Orthodox Christians to reassure the Hierarchy of the rectitude of the call for a united, autocephalous American Orthodox Church. This paper will address concerns raised by those who are still uncertain whether to support the Declaration and the action it promotes.…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity 2022 YEAR-END LETTER Pan-Orthodox Unity in Action: Orthodox Christian Laity Concludes Annual Conference in Atlanta Your contributions, whether spiritual or financial, continue to make OCL’s activities possible. We appreciate your year-end, tax-deductible donation. Orthodox Christian Laity successfully completed its first in-person annual board meeting and conference since the beginning of the pandemic, in the Atlanta metropolitan area on October 14-15, 2022. This 35th Annual Conference brought together board members, presenters and participants from New Jersey, Texas, Utah, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, California and Georgia. Thursday, October 13 Board members arrived in Atlanta on Thursday evening,…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Sunday, June 5, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/OrthodoxUnity The Atlanta Inter-Orthodox Parish Association (AIOPA) is a committee of the Atlanta Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood (AOCB). It was officially formed during its first meeting on March 17, 2022, and is an initiative of the Committee for Canonical Regional Planning of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA. AIOPA consists of clergy and laity representatives from all Orthodox parishes. Its purpose is to efficiently facilitate and maintain pan-Orthodox parish-to-parish communications, activities and cooperation (the “One Church Initiative”) in pilot metro areas.…
This year, in the month of October in the United States of America, in parallel with the changing of seasons in the natural world comes the convergence of Orthodox Christian hierarchs to form a constellation in the ecclesiastical world. At the beginning of the month, bishops are meeting in the nation’s capital at the 10th meeting of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA, the body formed for the purpose of manifesting “…the unity of the Orthodox Church…” and to prepare “…a plan to organize the Orthodox of the Region on a canonical basis” (Articles 2 and 5…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity “Take the best parts of everyone…and get together!” Roula Karcazes, wife of Orthodox Christian Laity Executive Board Member and Attorney George Karcazes, made this remark to me the other night when we were casually discussing the history of the work of OCL and its primary mission and focus. Race toward Unity Along with the Board and membership of Orthodox Christian Laity and its membership, I look forward to continuing the race that OCL has run since 1987. This race has been toward several, high-level goals: First – the greater cooperation of the hierarchy, clergy and laity…
Source: The National Herald Metropolitan Isaiah is a native of New Hampshire, having been born in Portsmouth, one of four children born to Dennis and Mary (Kapsimalis) Chronopoulos who had emigrated to the United States from Olympia, Greece. After his primary and high school education, he served with distinction in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean conflict. He was enthroned as Bishop of Denver in 1992, at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Denver, Colorado, and in 1997, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated him as Metropolitan of…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity The 32nd Annual Meeting of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) in Houston was historic, especially considering the thoughtful message delivered by His Eminence, Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver. PRESENTATION AT OCL CONVENTION Houston, Texas November 2019 Having served the Church for almost sixty years, thirty-three of them as a bishop, I have experienced different perspectives concerning our Church in the United States. Historically, it was the Russian Orthodox Church which sent clergy into our nation as early as 1900, shortly after Alaska had been part of the Russian Empire. It was Archbishop Tikhon who established the Saint John…