Source: Orthodox Reality A new report, A Unified American Orthodox Church: Do Parish Priests Want It?, is now available. Do parish clergy support the creation of a fully independent autocephalous American Orthodox Church? Do they prefer a self-ruling Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate? Or, would they rather keep things as they are, with separate jurisdictions? If the latter, why? Based on a national survey of 390 U.S. Orthodox parish clergy, the answers to these questions can be found here: https://orthodoxreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OrthodoxClergyOnUnity2023Protected.pdf Four major issues are discussed: How parish priests of various jurisdictions envision the future of the Orthodox Church in the USA…
Browsing: Unity
View the Declaration’s inaugural publication in the July 5, 2022 editions of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Over 380 Signatures to Date – Be One of Them! Check below for the live count. Click here to read comments received from signers. Orthodox Christian Laity board members authored this declaration in June 2022. Click Here to read the LETTER SENT TO PATRIARCHS Original English text and Translations of “A Declaration for Orthodox Christian Unity in America” (PDF) Albanian Arabic Bulgarian English French Georgian Greek Romanian Russian Serbian Spanish Ukrainian CLICK HERE to view all signatures to date…
Source: Orthodox Times On the morning of Saturday, December 24, 2022, following a Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral Church of the Holy Apostle Barnabas of the Holy Archdiocese of Cyprus and following a standard electoral procedure in accordance with the new Statutory Law of the Church of Cyprus, the election of the former Metropolitan Georgios of Paphos to Archbishop of New Justiniana and all of Cyprus took place. On this election, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem sent the following congratulatory Letter to the Archbishop-elect: Your Beatitude Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus, in Christ God, dearly beloved and profound…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America On May 4, 2022, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America offered the keynote address at the National Workshop on Christian Unity, at the Christ Cathedral in Orange County, CA. His Eminence was welcomed by His Excellency, Bishop Kevin W. Vann, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Orange. Earlier in the day, His Eminence also presided over the morning prayer in presence of many Orthodox clergy and faithful, as well as ecumenical leaders. His Eminence was joined during his trip by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, His Grace Bishop Spyridon of Amastris…
[Text of a presentation delivered by His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel at the Orthodox Christian Laity Conference, October 20, 2001] “The Celebration of the First Anniversary of the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of the United States of America & The Establishment of the Patriarchate” It has been one year since the recognition of the autocephaly of The Orthodox Church of The United States of America. The Church now has a unified voice in the person of His Holiness, The Patriarch, and a common forum of action, The Holy Synod of The Orthodox Church of The United States of America and…
Source: BookLocker Under One Roof: Uniting the Orthodox Church of America by George E. Matsoukas This collection of essays written between 2012-2020 addresses the status of the Orthodox Church in the U.S. and emphasizes the mission of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL): unity, accountability, conciliar governance, education and renewal. CLICK HERE TO ORDER About the Book This is the second collection of essays, compiled from opinion columns written during the period 2012-2020, when George Matsoukas served as executive director of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL). The first collection, “A Church in Captivity: The Greek Orthodox Church of America,” is also a collection…
In the second week of 2022, Orthodox Christian Laity’s Board met to review the past year and begin planning an agenda for the new year. During a discussion about Orthodox administrative unity in America and the general feeling of frustration with progress in that direction, one Board Member (Dr. Gayle Woloschak) drew our attention to the fact that the Assembly of Bishops USA has taken steps in the right direction through its establishment of fourteen committees, six agencies and commissions, and six affiliate ministries and associations (read about these initiatives here and here). She reminded us that the process of…
Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA CLICK HERE to view the Committees of the Assembly of Bishops that are working on the essential building blocks for an administratively-united Orthodox Church of America.
CLICK HERE or on the image below to read the letter

Source: Kyiv Post By Padraig Purcell “We, Ukrainians, are well aware of the price of independence – or rather, its pricelessness – and therefore treat it with special reverence,” said Metropolitan Epiphanius, elected head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in a social media message on Dec. 15. He rejoiced in the celebration of the third year since the meeting that united three Ukrainian Orthodox churches into one larger independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Kyiv’s ancient and beautiful Saint Sophia’s Cathedral hosted the signing of the agreement between the churches to unite on Dec. 15, 2018. This led to the confirmation of independence…
Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA 1.5 Million Orthodox Christians The Assembly of Bishops ministers to the collective 1.5 million Orthodox Christians throughout the United States of America 57 Bishops The Assembly of Bishops is comprised of all the Eastern Orthodox Bishops actively engaged in the United States of America 1 Church The Assembly of Bishops is the primary and official forum for Orthodox Christian Unity in the United States of America
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Presentation by Protodeacon Peter Danilchick on December 5, 2021 at 6:00 pm Eastern Time via ZOOM Followed by a Panel Discussion with George Karcazes, Alexei Krindatch and Dr. Gayle Woloschak For more than three decades, Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) has presented informative and educational programs annually and at other times featuring distinguished speakers, thoughtful panels and relevant topics in fulfillment of its mission. This mission includes: advancing the renewal of the Orthodox Christian Church in America by advocating that the laity remain part of the conciliar governance process which provides balance to the hierarchy and clergy,…