Greek Orthodox

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco recently posted the keynote speech that Metropolitan Gerasimos delivered in April for the National Workshop on Christian Unity in Phoenix. It is a lengthy speech so we will post only a few excerpts here.

Metropolitan Gerasimos:

Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco (GOA)

Our task as Christians is to keep the Body of Christ united and where we find division, we must become agents of healing and reconciliation. Dialogue in all its manifestations – bilateral, multilateral and other exchanges – is still the most critical pathway to reconciliation. Christians have been explaining their doctrine and theology to one another since the beginning of the Church, in order to maintain the integrity of the Body of Christ and to restore unity when divisions occurred. We can find examples of this from the earliest days of Christianity. The language of orthodoxy and heresy, lapsed and restored all emerged from the continual efforts of Church leaders – in those days usually the bishops – to maintain and pursue the unity of the Church.

Today’s ecumenical dialogues are heirs of this concern. Of course the context has changed and the actors are different, but the concerns are the same. Like in the past, we are all concerned about who we understand Jesus Christ to be and what we understand His Church to be. The Orthodox Churches have been involved since the beginnings of the modern ecumenical movement of the last century. It has not always been an easy journey for us, but who among us can honestly say that a pilgrimage through the desert was easy? Continue reading →

NEW YORK — His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America will hold a memorial service on Friday, September 11, at 2:30 p.m. at Ground Zero on the site of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the only religious edifice destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.

The location where the service will be held is near Gate 7, corner of Greenwich and Liberty Streets at Ground Zero.

Source: Worldwide Faith News

Thoughts for the New Ecclesiastical Year

By Metropolitan Methodios

As we begin the new ecclesiastical year, I urge you to reflect upon the theme chosen for the last Clergy Laity Congress, “Gather My People to My Home.” It is critically important for us all — clergy and laity — to respond to the call of the Church to undertake a Missionary effort in our parishes. We must to open the embrace of every Community to welcome the sojourners of life to quench their spiritual thirsts at the well of Orthodoxy. We must welcome brethren to dialogue – to discuss their concerns, their questions, their visions and yes, their complaints and disappointments with the Church.

Opening our embrace and welcoming our brethren does not mean sitting in our offices or Parish Council meeting rooms. It means finding all those not connected with the Church wherever they may be — in their homes, where they work, where they spend their time. We have to feel the same imperative that Jesus had when he encountered Zaccheus at the sycamore tree. He urged him to climb down “quickly” for he had to stay at his house that day! There was no time to lose, for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That particular day, the lost sheep was Zaccheus.

We must feel the urgency to undertake this missionary effort immediately. There is no time to waste. Just look around you the next time you are in church — not so much to see who is there, or when they arrived, or where they chose to sit. Notice rather those who are not present for a sundry of reasons — your family members, your friends, your acquaintances. And then do something! Stop “brainstorming” about what needs to be done and begin doing it.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has just posted the official English version of the Chambesy statement, the decision to form conciliar committees in the churches of the diaspora (.pdf file).