Steward Sunday 2019

To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America:

Christ is in our midst!

I greet you, my coworkers and stewards, in the joy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and I offer my prayerful gratitude to God for the love, courage, and generosity you have shown for the Orthodox Church in America.  Today in the Orthodox Church in America we commemorate Steward Sunday, a day where I invite you to join me, and the members of the Holy Synod, in supporting our Orthodox Church in America, by prayerfully contributing to the great work we are called to do here in North America.

We have much work to do, but we must first give thanksgiving to Almighty God for the very fact that we, you and I, are here, 225 years after the arrival of Saint Herman, 195 years after the arrival of Saint Innocent, and 125 years after the arrival of Saint Tikhon on these shores. We are here, as a faithful community of bishops, clergy, monastics, and faithful Christians, to receive the blessing of these saints and to strive to emulate their example, so as to offer an Orthodox presence as a genuine local church here in North America.

Next year, we will celebrate fifty years of autocephaly. To be sure, this is a tremendous milestone for us, and in those fifty years we have accomplished much. But as we begin to plan our celebrations I note that the granting of autocephaly was not a reward or a recognition but rather a call to service: service to Holy Orthodoxy on this continent and to the sharing of the refreshment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a dry and thirsty land. Today, on this Steward Sunday, I am asking each of you to express your love for the Orthodox Church in America and for our Lord in a tangible way - through a sacrificial gift to the Stewards.

May the Lord continue to grant you every blessing for your salvation and for the growth of His Body, the Church.

With love in Christ,

+ Tikhon
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada