A Meeting of the Clergy on the East Coast

Details
Created on Friday, 19 August 2011 14:17

On Friday, July 23/August 5, there was a clergy meeting held at the Monastery of the Holy Ascension in Bearsville, New York. Present were Metropolitan Pavlos, Metropolitan Moses, Bishop Christodoulos, Archimandrite Nikodemos, Archpriest George Kochergin, Presbyter Steven Allen, Priestmonk Damian, Priestmonk Maximos Marretta, and Presbyter John Somers. Special mention must be made of Protopresbyter Panagiotes Carras, Presbyter David Belden, and Presbyter Sergius Pellegrini who made the 10 hour drive from Toronto in order to be present also.

Among the items discussed were, the Monastery of the Holy Ascension as a spiritual resource and the plans for a new monastery church building. There was also a presentation on the Distance Learning Seminary and a discussion regarding future clergy and various other topics.

Classes for the seminary will begin September 1/14, 2011. All those who are interested in the seminary should log onto the seminary web site at http://www.3hierarchs.org.

This was the first clergy meeting of the G.O.C. in North America wherein Metropolitan Moses and the three priests from Toronto were present and our time together went quickly. Everyone agrees that we need to meet again to plan further collaboration within our Church.

Orthodox Awareness

A Brief History

In the early 20th century, the idea of promoting the union of Churches (Orthodox and heterodox) began to gain ground among circles in the Eastern Orthodox Church by establishing a "Communion of Churches" modeled on the League of Nations.

The Patriarchal Encyclical of 1920 foresaw a series of steps toward the “union of the Churches,” of which the first was the change of the calendar for the simultaneous celebration of feast days by all the “Churches.” The content of the encyclical was kept secret from the faithful and only after a few years became known. Read more...

Missions

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Mission, Tucson, Arizona

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Tucson, AZ, is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Read more...

Ask A Priest

Is the GOC Insular?

Q. In considering becoming part of the GOC in America, I am getting warnings from various circles that the attitude of GOC people is that of being “walled off,” “arrogant,” “judgmental,” and “in your face” toward those not in the Genuine Orthodox Church, with accusations such as “World Orthodox” priests are “not even Christians” and the like. Could you give me your personal, realistic assessment of this dynamic and possibly refer me to an official statement on how GOC members should and do relate to and communicate with those in “World Orthodoxy”? Read more...