Faithful Urged to Attend 39th Clergy-Laity Congress

New York.- The Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America met for its semi-annual meeting on May 8-9, 2008, at the New York Hilton Hotel. The Council began its work with Sub-Committee meetings which were held Thursday evening. The full Council was convened the next morning with an opening prayer service and introductory remarks from His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America.

Archbishop Demetrios reviewed the Congress theme, “Gather My People to My Home,” and the need to bring the unchurched and disconnected to the Church. “They reach a point that they need a connection,” he said of the nearly 60 million Americans who fall into this category. Continuing, he said, “The unchurched are born into a secularized environment and are part of the secularization of society. They are looking for something; this opens a tremendous window of opportunity for Orthodox Christians.”

In his comments to the Council, Archdiocesan Council Vice Chairman Michael Jaharis emphasized the importance of our Archdiocese in teaching and enhancing the influence of Orthodoxy and Hellenism. He noted the role of the Faith Endowment and Leadership 100 Endowment Fund in this important area and stressed that more should be done at all levels of the Church.

The Council Members then heard reports and acted on resolutions from the National Ministries Sub-committees. Mr. Anthony Stefanis, Chairman of the Administration Committee, presented a number of resolutions which will be we brought to the Clergy Laity Congress this summer in Washington, DC. Members spent considerable time discussing the pros and cons of a proposed amendment to change the frequency of the Clergy-Laity Congresses from two to three years to save on rising costs of holding the event, an issue that will be taken up by the 39th Congress in Washington in July. He also reported that in an effort to improve church administration, the Archdiocese has launched a new program on “Redefining the Parish Council Ministry”, which will involve holding training sessions over the next several years at the parish level to emphasize the roles and responsibilities of the parish council.

In his report to the Council, Executive Director of Administration Jerry Dimitriou stated that the Archdiocese experienced an unprecedented year of success in many areas. He reported that for the first time revenue has exceeded $20 Million to $24 Million and unrestricted contributions had reached a record level of over $5 Million. Revenue from the National Ministries Commitment program saw the largest year to year increase in the history of the Archdiocese and continues to show progress under the new allocation system. He singled out the Metropolises of Detroit, San Francisco and Chicago in achieving a 100 percent collection of National Ministries Commitment to the Archdiocese.

The meeting continued with the presentation of additional detailed Committee Reports including: Religious Education, Outreach and Evangelism, Greek Education, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, Intermarriage Ministries, Communications, and Internet Technologies. The Archdiocesan Councilʼs two-2 year term expires this summer. New Council members will be appointed and elected in the Fall.