Registration now open for 2010 Parish Ministries Conference, Young Adult Rally June 27-30
Registration is now open for the 2010 Parish Ministries Conference and Young Adult Rally to be hosted by three Orthodox Church in America departments on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College, just minutes from the Cleveland airport, June 27-30, 2010.
Registration forms, schedules and program descriptions, speaker lists, directions, and other pertinent information on the ministries conference may be found at events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2syramk5879d507 or by clicking the “Equipping the Saints” logo on the OCA web site at www.oca.org.
Similar information on the Young Adult Rally is available at events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2uazxuua2c69d57 as well as by clicking the aforementioned logo.
The conference and rally theme is “Equipping the Saints,” based on Ephesians 4:11-13, in which Saint Paul challenges every member of the Church to use his or her unique gifts to minister for the “building up the Body of Christ.”
“The conference and young adult rally will provide a much-requested continuing education experience for present and future lay leaders, young adults, and clergy in an atmosphere of learning, common worship and prayer, and good fellowship,” said Matushka Alexandra Safchuk, co-chair of the Department of Christian Education [DCE].
Joining the DCE in hosting the event are the OCA’s Departments of Liturgical Music and Translation and Youth, Young Adults and Campus Ministry, and the Diocese of the Midwest’s Parish Health Ministry, a flagship effort in the field of evangelization, growth, and parish ministry.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah will be the featured speaker. Other presenters include His Grace, Bishop Melchizedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; and Mark Bailey, Archpriest John Behr, Prof. David Drillock, Joseph Kormos, Kenneth Kovach, Archpriest John Matusiak, Vladimir Morosan, Daria Petrykowski, Anna Strelka, and Matushka Valerie Zahirsky.
“The multi-track conference and rally format will offer a variety of workshops in several areas,” Matushka Alexandra said. “Workshops will be offered for new singers, more advanced directors, and church musicians alike, with focus on the tones, conducting and composition. For lay leaders and clergy, Church school teachers, parish council members and the general faithful, there will be workshops in skills-building, discussing and teaching about moral issues, responding to those of other faith traditions, developing parish leadership, and discerning spiritual gifts. Young adults will enjoy participating on sessions focusing on the Orthodox Christian response to pop culture and the new media and offer guidelines for youth and campus leadership.”
Workshops will be repeated throughout the conference to enable participants to attend several tracts, while discussions and sessions during which attendees will be able to share their ideas will punctuate the schedule.
“We’re confident that many of our faithful will take advantage of this opportunity to share ideas, explore common issues, build new relationships, and equip themselves for the ongoing work of ministry in their parishes and beyond,” Matushka Alexandra added.