NEWS ELSEWHERE - REGIONAL NEWS & EVENTS, IOCC

DAYTON, OH: EXHIBIT OF HISTORIC ICONS AT ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE CHURCH

NEWS ELSEWHERE - REGIONAL NEWS & EVENTS, IOCC
Iconographer Dmitri Shkolnik at work on one of St. Paul’s new icons.

Representing more than five centuries of a unique artistic tradition, St. Paul the Apostle Church here will be hosting an exhibition of more than 100 icons, both ancient and new, on display in its sanctuary, located at 4451 Wagner Road in Sugarcreek Township, August 20-22, 2010. The exhibition is free and open to the public from 10 AM to 6 PM on Friday, August 20th and Saturday, August 21st, and from 12-5 PM on Sunday, August 22nd.

Icons (from the Greek word “eikon” meaning “image”) are an ancient Christian artistic tradition dating from the time of the Apostles, aimed at communicating the Gospel visually. Today icons are most commonly painted with natural pigments on specially prepared wooden panels, and depict Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints, or biblical events according to strict theological and artistic rules. Commonly used throughout the 250 million member Eastern Orthodox Church, icons have long been associated with miracles of healing or victory in battle.

The exhibition entitled ” The Gift of Transfiguration: Changed Life and Lives” features 40 historic icons, dating from 1650 to the present, from Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Ethiopia as well as the United States. Among the treasures, taken from private collections (and on public display for the first time in Ohio) are a 17th century Russian miniature iconstasis, or “icon screen” with more than 20 individual figures, as well as a large 18th century Icon of the Virgin Mary titled ” The Joy of All Who Sorrow.”

The historic icons will be surrounded by 36 large icons recently installed on the walls of St. Paul’s, commissioned by the parish from noted Russian-American iconographer Dmitri Shkolnik. Born in Moscow, now based in San Francisco, Shkolnik’s original icons for St. Pauls’ detail scenes from the life of Christ, the life of St. Paul, as well saints of the 20th century - including several martyrs from the Midwest who were executed in Russia for their faith during the years of Soviet oppression.

In keeping with the theme, “The Gift of Transfiguration: Changed Life and Lives”, the exhibition concludes with a number of recent icons by Daryl Cochran, an American iconographer who is currently an inmate at the London Correctional Institute in London, OH. “Daryl became an Orthodox Christian a few years ago while in prison,” explains Fr. Ted Bobosh, rector of the parish. “A talented artist, Daryl is in the process of becoming a unique iconographer as well.”

The exhibition will take place during a weekend of celebration that will also see a visit by the His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, who will bless and consecrate the parish’s new icons. Bishop Melchisedek, a native Daytonian, will preside at Vespers on Saturday evening, August 20, at 7 PM. That same evening at 8 PM, he will offer a reflection on the meaning of icons, followed by a small reception. On Sunday Auugst 21, the Bishop will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 AM, followed by a service of blessing for the new icons at 11:00 AM, and a reception in the parish hall at 11:30 AM. The public is welcome to all events.

The exhibition and consecration of the new icons is part of the year-long 25th anniversary celebrations of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Christian Church, a parish of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).

For more information on the exhibition, or the associated events, please contact St. Paul Orthodox Church at 937-320-9977, or Fr. Ted Bobosh at 937-297-3060, or visit the parish website at www.stpdayton.org.

IOCC: “KITS FOR KIDS” CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

Looking for a great back-to-school service project that will provide kids around the world with supplies that they desperately need? International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is challenging its supporters to assemble 10,000 school kits by September 2010 as part of its “Kits for Kids” campaign.

Parish youth leaders and Sunday School teachers can use “Kits for Kids” as a powerful way for children to learn how to serve others while providing supplies for some of the millions of children who lack items as basic as pencils and paper. Complete instructions for assembling an IOCC School Kit can be accessed at www.iocc.org/schoolkits.

“The kits are so valuable, especially from the simple perspective of the kids getting something new and clean and useful that they could call their own,” said an Orthodox priest in Haiti who works at a school that is supported by IOCC and who recently received a shipment of school kits.

IOCC, which has sent tens of thousands of school kits to children in need throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East, through a partnership with Church World Service (CWS), is reporting very low supplies of school kits at the warehouse in Maryland where they are stored.

Become part of the “Kits for Kids” campaign today! Help IOCC get 10,000 school kits to 10,000 children who need them desperately all over the world! Complete instructions are at www.iocc.org/schoolkits.

You can help people around the world by making a financial gift to IOCC. To make a gift, please visit www.iocc.org, call toll free at 1-877-803-IOCC (4622), or mail a check or money order payable to IOCC, PO Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225.

IOCC, founded in 1992 as the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), has implemented over $330 million in relief and development programs in 33 countries around the world.