GATHERINGS: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon
A variety of gatherings of interest to Orthodox Christians are slated to be held in October 2015. Among those about which we have been informed are the following.
Rives Junction, MI: Orthodox Women in the Healing Ministries’ 23rd annual retreat October 2-4
“Tending on God: A Spiritual perspective on Healing” will be the theme of the 23rd annual retreat sponsored by Orthodox Women in the Healing Ministries [OWHM] at Holy Dormition Monastery, Rives Junction, MI October 2-4, 2015.
The main speaker will be Priest Silviu Nicolae Bunta, Ph. D., Associate Professor and Orthodox Christian Fellowship Advisor at the University of Dayton, OH, where he teaches Bible, ancient Judaism, Hebrew and Greek. Born in Romania, he is a graduate of the Universities of Sibiu and Oradea and earned his doctorate at Marquette University.
Founded in 1992, OWHM provides support to Orthodox Christian women who work in the medical and healing professions, including doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers and those ministering in related fields.
To register please visit OWHM’s web site.
Black Lick, PA: Western PA Archdiocese to sponsor “dialogue and discussion” to help small parishes October 3
The Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania of the Orthodox Church in America will sponsor “a session of dialogue and discussion to help small parishes face the future” on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at Saint John the Baptist Church, Black Lick, PA.
Facilitated by Joseph Kormos of the Archdiocese’s Parish Health Ministry, the theme will be “Facing Forward.” The program will be “short on presentation, teaching and preaching and long on structured discussion and dialogue,” he said. “Potential discussion topics will include what constitutes a ‘viable’ parish, can ‘small’ be ‘vibrant,’ what kind of parish do we want to become, and rebuilding parishes from within.” The gathering is especially geared toward priests and deacons, parish council members, and concerned parishioners.
An informational flyer may be downloaded here.
To register, send a check for $10.00, payable to the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, to the Archdiocese—Leaders Day Registration, PO Box 1769, Cranberry Township, PA 16066-1769 by September 28. For further information contact Archpriest William Evansky, Chancellor, at 724-266-5009 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Bronx, NY: Inaugural holder of Fordham’s Meyendorff-Patterson Chair of Orthodox Christian Studies to be installed
Dr. George E. Demacopoulos will be installed as the inaugural holder of the Father John Meyendorff and Patterson Family Chair of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University, Bronx, NY at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2015. The inauguration and Dr. Demacopoulos’ inaugural lecture, “War, Violence and the Feast of the Holy Cross in Byzantium,” will be held in the first floor auditorium at the Rose Hill Campus’ Keating Hall.
The chair was established by Solon and Marianna Patterson of Atlanta, GA and their family in February 2015. Appropriately, the new chair honors Protopresbyter John Meyendorff [1926–1992], who was both Professor of Byzantine History at Fordham and Professor of Church History and Patristics at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY, as well as its Dean. Father John’s scholarly works—particularly his writings on the Great Schism of 1054, the nature of authority in the Church, and the primacy of Peter—greatly contributed to official Orthodox-Catholic dialogues. Besides being a participant in many of those dialogues, Father John acted as an astute observer and detailed chronicler of them, with an intensely personal interest in their continuation (e.g., his article, “Orthodox-Roman Catholic Dialogue Faces Snags,” St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Quarterly 30:4, 1986).
Those wishing to attend are asked to register before September 28. For additional information please call Fordham’s Office of Special Events at 212-636-6574 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
See related story.
Portland, OR: Pacific NW Liturgical Singing Seminar October 16-17
Saint Nicholas Church here will host the 2015 Pacific Northwest Liturgical Singing Seminary on Friday and Saturday, October 16-17, 2015. The seminar theme—“Orthodox Music in the Contemporary World”—will be developed by liturgical music composer and expert Mark Bailey. The Kliros Liturgical Chorale will provide musical demonstrations.
The seminar will include music-reading sessions featuring contemporary Orthodox music. The seminar Vespers and Matins will be sung with the Saint Nicholas parish choir.
A registration form is available.
Brookline, MA: “Speaking to Secular America” theme of October 28-30 conference
Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA, will be the site of a conference titled “Speaking to Secular America: How the Church is Reaching Out to the Non-Religious in Our Society” October 28-30, 2015. The conference, which is being sponsored by HC/HC’s Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity, is being held in conjunction with the inauguration of HC/HC’s 21st President, the Very Rev. Christopher T. Metropulos, D.Min, slated to be held on the second day of the gathering. The keynote address will be delivered by His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Among the nine speakers slated to address participants are Archpriest Stephen Freeman, Rector of the OCA’s Saint Anne Church, Oak Ridge, TN and author of the “Glory to God for All Things” blog and the book, Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Story Universe, and Priest John Parker, Rector of Holy Ascension Church, Charleston, SC and Chair of the OCA’s Department of Evangelization.
To obtain additional information or to register, contact Priest Luke Veronis at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).