Fathers and Brethren, Evlogeite!
On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Council, I would like to thank each participant of the 2009 Clergy-Laity and Youth Conferences for helping make the conferences successful and spiritually uplifting. With the blessings and prayers of our Metropolitan Pavlos and all our Hieriarchs, we were able to accomplish everything for which we aimed. As Fr. Thomas Marretta, rector of St. Maximus Parish in Owego, NY, pointed out in his sermon, while we had differences of ideas, there was a unity of spirit that allowed us to transcend all differences.
I would like to thank the New York Planning Committee, headed by Mrs. Maria Kostoulas, for the many months of selfless labor in planning and preparing the logistics, the lodging, the meals, and the social activities for the CLC and the Youth Conference. Likewise, I thank the Sisters of St. Synkletiki Convent as well as the Parish Councils, Parish Philoptochos Societies, and the many volunteers from the New York area Parishes.
A warm thank you should be said to the Philoptochos Conference Committee: Mrs. Penelope Spanos, Mrs. Georgene Votzakis, Ms. Despina Avgoustis, and Ms. Eliana Pittos. The Metropolitan Philoptochos was able to raise funds, on the very day of the Conference, for St. Nectarios Parish, Detroit, MI—one of our parishes experiencing extreme hardship due to the economic downturn. In addition, the Philoptochos Society of St. Markella's Cathedral should be congratulated for receiving the 2010 Presidency of the Metropolitan Philoptochos.
I would also like to announce the times and places for the next diocesan gatherings:
A) The 3rd Clergy-Laity Conference will be held in Chicago, IL, in 2014!
B) The 2010 Youth Conference will be held in Detroit, MI.
C) The First Metropolitan Philoptochos Conference will be held at the Cathedral of St. Markella in 2011.
I would also like to ask anyone that may have any photos or video from any part of the conference to please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Ps. 132/133)
In Christ,
Leonidas Pittos
Executive Secretary of the Metropolitan Council
Refutation of an “Encyclical Sermon” by a Hierarch of the New Calendar Orthodox Church of Greece and a Wily Denigrator of Anti-Ecumenists and “Old Calendarists” Who Have Walled Themselves Off From His Church
by His Grace, Bishop Clement of Gardikion, Secretary of the Holy Synod
In Greek
In English
Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary Priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Father John served the faithful in Tucson and the surrounding area in his home Chapel until his repose in November of 2000. His wife, Presbytera Valerie, continued to make her home Chapel available for the mission, with clergy from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church in Seattle and His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Toronto (then of Portland), visiting to provide the Divine Services.
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Please join us for the 2023 youth conference in Chicago, IL! To learn more, visit the home page or visit the conference website.
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