July 6, 2018

PHOTOS

BOSTON – The 44th Biennial Clergy Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America concluded last night, July 5, 2018 with a Grand Banquet at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel and attended by more than 1,200 people. The festive banquet followed a full day of deliberations in the setting of the Plenary Session of the Congress.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Geron of America offered the invocation and the National Anthems were sung by mezzo-soprano Collen Palmer. Co-Chairs of the Congress Michael Sophocles and Peter Bassett made the presentations and offered greetings. Greek American journalist and former News Anchor Mike Nikitas, served as the Master of Ceremonies. Greetings were offered by the Chairman of Leadership 100 Argyris Vassiliou, Congress Honorary Chairman Arthur Anton, National Philoptochos President Maria Logus and Consul General of Greece in Boston Stratos Efthymiou.

The host hierarch His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios offered inspiring remarks and expressed his gratitude personally to all the members of the host committee and the volunteers.

Thoughtful remarks were offered by the patriarchal representatives, His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi and His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Selyvria.

Metropolitan Apostolos admonished the attendees about the dangers of evil, lies and scandals and said: “The enemy of truth and our salvation works deviously day and night. We ought to oppose his machinations with unshakeable Faith to the Omnipotent Holy Triune God of Truth. Faith working through love per Apostle Paul (Gal. 5:6); and not only through love but also through patience and discernment and humility but mostly God-loving unity.”

Finally, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America recognized and praised the hard work of the host committee, the volunteers and their spiritual leader Metropolitan Methodios. The Archbishop expressed gratitude to the His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for his demonstrated leadership, love and care. He also said that the Church is universal and diachronic and the Clergy Laity Congress was not only an opportunity to connect amongst ourselves and discuss issues of concern but hopefully and most importantly an opportunity to connect with God. His Eminence returned to the theme of the Clergy Laity and recounted the story of the father who was pleading to Christ for the healing of his son (Mark 9:23) and the response of the Lord: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Archbishop Demetrios concluded his closing remarks offering as admonishment and spiritual guidance the reading of a passage from St Paul’s letter to the Romans (35, 38-39): “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The work of the Plenary

The Plenary session began at 10 in the morning and ended well after 4 p.m. Vice-President of the Archdiocesan Council George Tsandikos set a positive tone in his introductory remarks and expressed the belief of the Executive Committee in the theme of the 44th Clergy Laity Congress that all things are possible to those who believe.

The treasurer of the Archdiocesan Council, Michael Psaros made a 50-minute long presentation, an overarching view of the finances of the Archdiocese and the efforts of the Executive to correct the course and restore trust. Addressing some media reports he said, “stop the lies and join us to build the Church,” and a little later addressing unfounded misinformation in the Press said: “the lies about the parishes not supporting the Archdiocese have to stop.”

The Plenary discussed at length the Archdiocese budget for 2019 and 2020, amendments were offered and modifications were voted requesting additional line items for funding the pension plan and HCHC. Mr. Psaros expressed his dismay for an unbalanced budget. At the end the budget was approved with the stipulation the Archdiocesan Council will have to make the necessary adjustments to bring it into balance.

The plenary also heard and approved a presentation by the Administration Committee and several amendments to the Archdiocese and Metropolis regulations were approved. The Youth Protection Manual was also presented to the delegates and approved. Also approved were several resolutions, including resolutions of thanks, which will be compiled and published in the Archdiocese website. Similarly, due to severe time restrictions, the National Philoptochos, the Archons, Leadership 100, and the Archdiocesan Presbyters Council made short presentations.

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/goarch/albums

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July 4, 2018

BOSTON – A service of Doxology was held today for the 4th of July, Independence Day by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America inside of the large conference rooms of the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel, where the 44th Clergy Laity Congress is taking place July 1-5, 2018. Following the doxology, the National Forum of Church Musicians together with the Boston Brass ensemble offered a festive program of hymns and patriotic songs. Later in the evening the delegates of the Congress attended various festivities and watched the magnificent Boston fireworks show over the Charles River.

The large number of the delegates of the 44th Clergy Laity Congress devoted their time today in the meetings and deliberations of the Finance and Administration Committees. The Finance Committee discussed the proposed 2019 and 2020 budgets. After much discussion, a line item of one million dollars was added to the proposed budget with the intent to support the Archdiocese pension plan. The budgets will be presented to the plenary session tomorrow for discussion and approval.

The National Philoptochos hosted their traditional Philoptochos breakfast and followed with day-long general assembly meetings, attended in part by Archbishop Demetrios, Metropolitan Methodios, other hierarchs of the Holy Eparchial Synod and the representatives of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi and His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Selyvria.

During the day and in preparation of tomorrow’ s Plenary session many meetings of the various committees and ministry workshops of the Archdiocese took place. These included: Stewardship, Outreach & Evangelism, Youth & Young Adult Ministries, Marriage & Family: Center for Family Care, Orthodox Parish Software, Religious Education, Greek Education and Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical & Interfaith Relations.

There was a special presentation on the Youth Protection Manual by Steven Christoforou; and a panel discussion with the question: “Are We Doing Ministry Correctly: Reflections on the Direction of Our Work.” Meetings of the National Forum of Church Musicians and the National Sisterhood of Presvyteres were also held. In the late afternoon, the Order of St Andrew-Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate held their customary reception.

Hellenic College Holy Cross Orientation Educational Day

The delegates of both the National Philoptochos and the Clergy Laity Congress had the opportunity to visit the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross during different time intervals on Tuesday July 3, 2018. Travelling by chartered coaches to nearby suburb of Brookline, the Philoptochos delegates visited in the morning hours and the Congress delegates in the early afternoon.

They toured the campus and the various buildings, attended seminars at Pappas Gymnasium, the Chapel of Holy Cross and the cafeteria. A traditional barbecue lunch under a tent was offered to everyone. Administrators and professors of the school offered presentations about the ministry of the School, the programs, the degrees and opportunities offered to the students.

Archbishop Demetrios chanted a trisagion short memorial service at the grave of Archbishop Iakovos of blessed memory behind the chapel of Holy Cross. Attending the service were Metropolitans of the Holy Eparchial Synod, the representatives of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi and His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Selyvria, some school officials and other visiting delegates.

Earlier Tuesday morning, the first meeting of the Finance Committee took place, as well as the combined Archdiocesan Presbyters Council and Retired Clergy breakfast and in the afternoon the meetings of the National Philoptochos.

The 44th Clergy Laity organizing committee under the guidance of Metropolitan Methodios of Boston and with the leadership of co-chairmen Michael Sophocles and Peter Bassett organized a very successful and well-attended reception and cultural night featuring Boston’s Greek Music Ensemble. The musical selections of the two-hour program included the works of renown Greek composers and poets Theodorakis, Hatzidakis, Xarhakos, Markopoulos, Tsitsanis, Seferis, Elutis, Gatsos, etc.

Photos from Clergy Laity events: https://www.flickr.com/photos/goarch/albums

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Message of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

VIDEO MESSAGE

to the Opening of the 44^th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress

of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

(Boston, MA July 2, 2018)

Your Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, our dear brother and concelebrant in the Holy Spirit, Your Eminences and Graces brethren metropolitans and bishops, reverend clergy, honorable parish and community representatives, esteemed Archons of the Mother Church, representatives of major institutions of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and all participants comprising this 44^th Clergy-Laity Congress: 

Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sanctification of the All-Holy Spirit, together with our loving Patriarchal blessing and prayer.

In a world trapped by many impasses, “when the time had fully come” (Gal. 4:4), goodwill proceeded from heaven through the son and Word of God, Who assumed flesh, in an act of extreme philanthropy, showing us the Father and saving us from the fatal journey towards death through His Passion on the Cross and Resurrection.   Until the second coming of the Lord, life in Christ provided the characteristics of faith, hope and love, of which, ultimately, only “the greatest of these, love,” remains an absolute and indisputable expression of our “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12) communion with God.

In the Church’s earthly journey, though, until that cherished time, we journey in faith and with faith, declaring our steady and steadfast destination toward the encounter with our hearts’ Beloved, our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.   We Christians are “the ones who believe” (see 2 Thess. 1:10).  Faith is, as aptly said. “a challenge, gift, talent, struggle and product of ‘sensory discipline’” (cf.Heb. 5:14), a “dynamic experience ,” not a “static assurance.”  It is constantly tested;   it is perfected at a moment when everything appears impossible;  it is fulfilled at a time of fertile doubt;   and, it culminates – with God’s inexpressible goodwill – in moments of temptation.  In no way does it constitute an opportunity for idle rest and illusory or sentimental relations with God;   but on the contrary, it encourages us to expend ourselves for the sake of the Church and Gospel to our last ounce of strength and blood, captivating our desire and guiding in faith and through faith to love.  Finally, faith in Christ is never experienced without personal spiritual struggled and Christian labor; instead, it raises our hands in supplication and prayer toward God, even as at that very moment we are completely convinced that our entire struggle begins with God, is extended toward our neighbor as love, is blessed and returned to God in glorification, just as we witnessed and touched in His earthly life and were taught in the gospel words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Commander and perfecter of our faith. 

Sadly, we often ascertain that this sacred understanding of faith is greatly challenged and arbitrarily interpreted by various trends in the spiritual life, ending up either as individualistic spirituality and indifference for the ecclesiastical community, or as a tool of fundamentalists who use faith selfishly to impose themselves to others.   By contrast, authentic faith according to Christ generates creative powers and bears fruit in the lives of the faithful and in society.   Faith is union with God and simultaneously union with our neighbor through “love from a pure heart”.  (1 Tim. 1:5).  Faith and love comprise an integral existential reality in the life of the Church, which constitutes the “miracle of the New” in the world.

The Mother Church of Constantinople – of which the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, together with its Metropolises in the United States, form a select Eparchy – has an inviolable obligation at all times and on every occasion to minister to Christ’s Truth that bears no innovation, as well as to promote and teach the genuine and unadulterated ecclesiastical ethos.   At the Phanar, we learned how to walk and experience the Mystery of the Church in accordance to the faith transmitted to us by the Fathers, who preceded us in the practice of this God-given virtue.  The faith of the Phanar and of its vigilant guardians of our ancestral tradition essentially constitutes a silent prayer of the heart, but at the same time a struggle, everywhere and always, for the witness of Christ, the Resurrection and the expectation of the “Kingdom of all.”  The miracle of faith constitutes the core of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s witness, as well as the continuous and timeless desideratum, the “charming mystery” and the “foundation of love,” especially in times when even miracles resemble utopia to minds enslaved to rationalism.

This is why we fraternally congratulate Your Eminence, beloved Archbishop Demetrios of America, for selecting at such a critical moment in the journey of this Eparchy, which, the Mother Church entrusted to you with propitious hopes, a topic that is particularly fruitful for theological discussion, but also for practical application in the life of our God-fearing faithful.   For faith without visible application and actualization in the daily arena is more like a philosophical attitude, a theoretical approach, but not a gift of divine Grace, such as faith that is authentic. Everything brought into the Church as if belonging to it, that is unable to find fertile ground in our spiritual and broader lives, is either wrongfully expressed or not derived from the Church, since the Church’s teaching is a way of life, a relationship, a life-giving communion with the Son and Word of God, who was incarnate our of love for the world.

As Patriarch of the faithful in America as well as throughout the sacred canonical jurisdiction of the Holy and Great Church of Christ, we cannot conceal our earnest concern for the unfortunate occurrences in this Eparchy of our Throne.   We are not indifferent to these, but as we have been taught by God’ mercy, we are confident in a favorable outlook and better days, exercising our holy faith with discernment and patience, while standing with the holy clergy and the people of God, who – respectfully, lovingly, devotedly and gratefully – know how to relate to their Mother Church, which caringly and compassionately nurtures and protects their spiritual struggles and ecclesiastical integrity, while constituting a safety valve for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Therefore, from the martyric Phanar, this unwavering workshop of authentic faith in Christ, of “faith through love,” (Gal. 5:6) through our beloved representatives, the most reverend Metropolitans Apostolos of  Derkoi and Maximos of Selymbria, we bless the deliberations of this Clergy-Laity Congress of the Holy Archdiocese of America and wish you every godly success and decisions grounded in Orthodox ecclesial tradition towards the healing of any aggrieved consciences and the relief of the Mother Church, which rejoices in seeing her children always journeying in faith, unity and love, for the glory of the Triune God, whose Grace and abundant mercy we pray with be with all of you.

Peace be with you and with us!

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