Pan-Orthodox lenten Vespers to be held in Detroit
The Council of Orthodox Christian Churches of Metropolitan Detroit [COCC] will conduct the first service in its 2011 series of five Sunday Lenten Vespers services on March 13, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, at 6:00 p.m. at Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 11455 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights.
The Very Rev. Roman Star, pastor of Saint Innocent of Irkutsk Church, Redford, MI, president of the Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood of St. John Chrysostom of Metropolitan Detroit and spiritual advisor to the COCC, will preside at the service, assisted by other members of the Clergy Brotherhood.
The Rev. Nicholas Pathenos, presiding priest at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, Bloomfield Hills, MI, will be the homilist, while the Orthodox Choir of Metropolitan Detroit, conducted by Vickie Kopistiansky, artistic director, will sing during the service. Proceeds from the evening’s collection will be used for Orthodox Christian charities and COCC programs.
The COCC conducts its series of Vespers services annually during the five Sundays of Orthodox Great Lent. The remaining four services this year will be on March 20 at the Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of Saint Mary, Livonia; March 27 at Saint Lazarus Serbian Orthodox Cathedral Ravanica, Detroit; April 3 at Saint Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church, Redford; and April 10 at Holy
Trinity Orthodox Church, Detroit.
The COCC—http://www.coccdetroit.com—is a 54-year-old clergy and lay association that represents various canonical Orthodox churches in metropolitan Detroit and sponsors a variety of worship, fellowship, charitable, educational, and outreach programs.