Source: Diocese of New York and New Jersey (OCA) Prot. No. 01-006/2022 The Feast of the Nativity Beloved Members of our Diocesan Family: Christ is Born! – Let us glorify Him! “And the Lord said, ‘For I tell you many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they did not see it or hear it’.” (Gospel of Luke 10:24) For centuries on end, patriarchs and…
Source: The Orthodox Church in America BALTIMORE, MD [OCA] Hundreds of delegates and visitors attending the 20th All-American Council held at the Hilton Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore, MD, were able to experience many of the Sacred Treasures of the Orthodox Church in America, housed at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, South Canaan, PA. Presented by the Curator, Archpriest John J. Perich, The Exhibition featured numerous sacred and ecclesiastical items from over 225 years of the Church in North America, emphasizing the AAC theme, “Becoming Vessels of Grace”. Featured in conjunction with this Council Exhibition was a new online publication of the Department of…
Source: Orthodox Church in America On July 22, 2022 during the fifth Plenary Session of the 20th All-American Council, in Baltimore, MD the youth of the AAC made a special presentation to the Holy Synod of Bishops and council delegates. The presentation began with the youth processing to the front of the council area while singing the Troparion of the Cross, “O Lord, save Thy people”. Father Benjamin Tucci, the youth program director for the AAC, thanked the Holy Synod and wider Orthodox Church in America for its support of the youth and being attentive to their needs. He further thanked all the many staff…
Source: Orthodox Reality The report, “Orthodox Church in America: a Decade of Changes in Parishes, Membership and Worship Attendance” is now available. The data were obtained by the US Religion Census directly from the OCA parishes. The report can be downloaded here: https://orthodoxreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-OCA-From2010To2020rev1.pdf The Census has revealed that from 2010-2020 Orthodox Church in America experienced a decline in membership by 12%. But these changes were different in different dioceses. Three OCA dioceses have grown in members, while nine have declined. Census data show that OCA dioceses vary greatly in the percentage of parishioners who attend church regularly. The Archdiocese of…
Source: Orthodox Church in America On Monday, July 18, a few hours before the opening of the 20th All-American Council, the Diocese of the Midwest convened a special assembly, under the presidency of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, to consider an episcopal nomination following the falling asleep of Archbishop Paul of blessed memory. The Diocesan assembly nominated His Grace Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa who has been serving as Locum Tenens of the Diocese over the last few months. Later that day, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, meeting in a Special Summer 2022 Session under the presidency of Metropolitan Tikhon, canonically elected Bishop Daniel, formerly Bishop…
Source: Orthodox Church in America Yesterday, we witnessed, once again, another instance of terrible and absurd evil perpetrated against the most vulnerable of God’s beloved people: our children. We are filled with sadness and grief at the death of the many children, teachers, as well as those wounded in this tragic shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. I exhort all the monastics, clergy, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America to keep all those affected by this horrible event in their fervent prayers invoking our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ to grant comfort and peace…
Orthodox Christian Laity Advisory Board Member and Spiritual Advisor, His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel, is honored with the bestowal of Doctor Honoris Causa by St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, New York, on May 14, 2022. CLICK HERE OR ON THE PHOTO ABOVE TO VIEW THE PRESENTATION
Source: Orthodox Church in America Burbank, IL [OCA] On the Feast of Feasts, Great and Holy Pascha, Sunday, April 24, 2022, His Eminence, the Most Reverend Paul (Gassios), Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest, fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 69 after a grave illness. He was the ruling hierarch of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America from 2014 until his repose. Paul Nicholas Gassios was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 6, 1953 to Nicholas and Georgia Gassios, natives of Castanea, Greece. As an infant, he was baptized with the name…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] The Diocese of the Midwest, the Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania and the Bulgarian Diocese announced that the ninth annual Parish Development Forum will be held online on Friday, June 17. Registration will begin in mid-May. “While we hope to return to in-person Forums in coming years, it seems most effective to once again offer the Parish Development Forum as a one-day online session,” said Joseph Kormos, Forum co-chairperson and Parish Development Ministry Leader for the Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania. “Having the Forum online will also help parishes redirect their travel budgets to the upcoming All-American Council,” he added. “The keynote…
Source: Orthodox Church in America To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, Dear Beloved Children in the Lord, CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! I greet you in the joy of the Resurrection on this “chosen and holy day, first of sabbaths, king and lord of days, the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days” (Paschal Canon, Ode 8). Great and Holy Pascha truly is the “king and lord of days.” On this day our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ shines with the victory of life over death, life which is given…
Source: Orthodox Church in America Witnessing the war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the consequent humanitarian crisis developing there, no Christian can remain impartial or lukewarm in the face of the suffering or remain silent when confronted with such evils as are being perpetrated. As such, we, the bishops of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, condemn the war which is causing death and devastation affecting millions of innocent people. We particularly grieve the killing and violence committed by Orthodox Christians against other Orthodox Christians. Orthodox Christians abhor all forms of aggression,…
Source: Orthodox Church in America BETHESDA, MD [OCA] On March 15th to 18th the Holy Synod met for its regular Spring 2022 Session in the Greater Washington, D.C. area. The meetings took place in three locations: Saint Mark Church in Bethesda, MD on Tuesday, March 15, Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 16, and the remaining meetings at the Bethesdan Hotel in Bethesda, MD. On the evening of Monday the 14th, the Holy Synod hosted a reception inviting the local clergy of the various parishes of the Orthodox Church in America within the greater Washington area. On Tuesday…
