Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman for the September FOS Appeal

September 2003

Dearly Beloved in the Lord!

Since 1980, the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards has offered the free will support of thousands of members and friends of the Church to directly fund the Departmental work of the Orthodox Church in America - above and beyond the minimum Fair-Share (assessment) income.

By decision of the 11th All American Council, all outreach departmental work now is supported by voluntary gifts. The Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards is the primary source of such voluntary gifts.

The Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards supports the Orthodox Church in America’s numerous departments, boards, and commissions. And the 2003 budget of the Orthodox Church in America provides for FOS to contribute $470,000.00 in support of these vital Church outreach efforts - that is $1,287.00 each day. Another way to look at it is that each hour of every day, $54.00 is required to fund the outreach ministries of our Church.

What a joy it would be if each member of our Church were moved by the Spirit of the Lord to sponsor just one hour of outreach ministry. Your gift of just $54.00 would translate into an abundant harvest so great and marvelous that our Church could do so much more to bring the joy and love of Christ across North America and around the world!

My dearly beloved in the Lord, can I count on you to offer a gift of just $54.00 at this time? That is a little less that 15 cents a day! What a small amount to offer for such a great work! If you are able to sponsor two, three or perhaps even an entire day of outreach support, every outreach ministry and department of the Orthodox Church in America will be fully funded for the rest of this year!

Our Lord teaches, “Freely you have received, therefore freely give” [Matthew 10:8]. Thank you for living this Gospel call to share God’s gifts with your parish, diocese, and the Orthodox Church in America. I pray that, as a supporter of the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards, your life as a good steward will reach a new level of commitment to Jesus Christ and witness to the Good News of the eternal life we are called to proclaim.

On behalf of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, I wish to thank you for all you do and for your prayerful and generous consideration to sponsor as much as possible the outreach ministries of the Church by making your gift to the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards!

Yours in Christ,

+HERMAN
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada