Town Hall Meetings held in Cleveland metro area and Bethlehem, PA
Two more Town Hall meetings were held last week in preparation for the OCA’s 15th All-American Council, November 10 to 13, 2008.
The first meeting was held on Thursday, July 17, in Brooklyn, OH, located in the Cleveland metro area. Hierarchs attending this meeting were His Eminence, Archbishop Job of Chicago and the Midwest and His Grace, Bishop Nikon of Boston, New England, and the Albanian Archdiocese. The facilitator for the meeting was Michelle Jannakos of the Preconciliar Commission. About 140 people attended the meeting. Many participants identified a need for stronger leadership from the Holy Synod and a greater openness from the Synod to the clergy and faithful of the Church. At the same time, some participants spoke of the need to ensure that discussions about the Church remained respectful, especially on the internet, where the possibility of anonymity has given some the license to be very derogatory and disrespectful. Others shared their hope that the issues faced by the OCA at this time be resolved openly and as quickly as possible, stressing that it is only by working together that the Church will be able to have a solid future.
The second meeting was held in Bethlehem, PA, on Saturday, July 19. His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania was in attendance, with OCA Director of Ministries and Communications and Preconciliar Commission member, Archpriest Andrew Jarmus, serving as facilitator. Also present for the meeting were Preconciliar Commission members, Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, newly appointed OCA Secretary, and Eugenia Skuby. The meeting of 80 participants was originally scheduled for two hours, but went almost two and a half hours as participants shared their impressions of Church life at this time. A number of those who spoke at the meeting shared the frustration of not receiving answers when asking difficult questions about events in the Church. Several participants identified the current situation in the OCA as a spiritual crisis, saying that any issues of financial or administrative mismanagement were symptoms of this deeper issue.
As with previous meetings, participants at both meetings last week spoke of a concern that the OCA has strayed away from its original vision. Many faithful highlighted the loss of vision as a key struggle in the Church today and stressed that the work of planting the Orthodox Faith here in North America must be the first priority in the Orthodox Church in America.
Another common theme at the Town Hall meetings has been the great degree of love and respect that participants have for their respective diocesan hierarchs, whom they identify as good pastors willing to reach out and listen to diocesan clergy and faithful.
Notes from all of the OCA Town Hall meetings are being posted on the 15th All American Council blog and may be found by clicking here.
The next two Town Hall meetings are scheduled for later this week in Hartford, CT, July 23, and Burr Ridge, IL, in the Chicago suburbs, July 24.