On the eve of Thanksgiving Day—Wednesday, November 22, 2017—at the invitation and blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Mark, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon presided at the celebration of the Akathistos Hymn “Glory To God For All Things” at Christ the Saviour Church, Harrisburg, PA.
Concelebrating with Metropolitan Tikhon and host pastor Archpriest Stephen Vernak and Archpriest Daniel Ressetar, retired pastor of the parish, were Archpriest Timothy Hojnicki, Holy Apostles Church [OCA], Mechanicsburg, PA; Priest Borjan Vitanov, Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church, Lebanon, PA; Priest Michael Varvarelis, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Camp Hill, PA; and Deacon Seraphim Reynolds, Holy Apostles Church, Mechanicsburg, PA. Many faithful from area parishes also participated in the celebration.
A combined choir, directed by Mrs. Barbara Linnehan of Holy Apostles Church, sang the responses.
“It was a great blessing to welcome His Beatitude to our annual Pan-Orthodox service of Thanksgiving, at which he offered us words of encouragement on how to overcome our struggles and weaknesses through the humble act of thanksgiving.”
The Pan-Orthodox event is held annually, rotating between the various Harrisburg area parishes.
