Fifth Plenary Session of the 21st All-American Council Concluded
On Thursday, July 17, 2025, the hierarchs, clergy, and lay representatives of the Orthodox Church in America met for the fifth Plenary Session of the 21st All-American Council in Phoenix, AZ.
The fifth Plenary Session began with the election of new members for the Metropolitan Council and Pension Board. The results, presented at the end of the session, are as follows:
Metropolitan Council
Clergy Delegates
Archpriest Sean Levine
Archpriest Timothy Sawchak
Archpriest Christopher Foley
Archpriest Justin Matthews (alternate)
Lay Delegates
Matushka Miho Ealy
Peter Bouteneff
David Lane
Alexis Liberovsky (alternate)
Pension Board
Clergy Delegates
Archpriest David Garretson
Archpriest Eric Tosi
Priest Athanasios Kombos (alternate)
Lay Delegates
Matushka Tamara Patterson
Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky
Carol Skinner (alternate)
After the election, Archpriest Nicholas Solak presented his report for the Office of Pastoral Life [OPL]. OPL responds to the spiritual and practical needs of clergy and their wives, offering care in the form of fellowship, life coaching, and financial assistance. OPL’s Thriving in Ministry program, which receives a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, organizes groups of priests and priests’ wives for the purpose of peer learning and support. The Office’s Financial Health Initiative teaches clergy important skills such as budgeting for their household and planning for retirement. This program also provides grants to clergy for debt relief and in the future hopes to provide scholarships for secondary education to the children of clergy. Other programs such as Synaxis, National Clergy Retreat, and Clergy Wives Ministry oversee local and national gatherings of clergy and their wives.
The report for the OCA Departments was presented by Archpriest Thomas Soroka. Fr. Thomas reported that the Department of Liturgical Music and Translations continues its work of providing music and liturgical texts for parishes, and that the department is in conversation with St. Tikhon’s Monastery concerning a possible collaboration to provide the annual rubrics to parishes free of charge. The Department of Christian Education is presently working on another revision of Essential Orthodox Christian Beliefs as well as a companion edition for youth. The Department of Evangelization will be publishing new education brochures soon. They also plan to continue expanding their mission planting grant program.
A resolution, submitted by the Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, was then brought to the floor for the Council’s consideration. The resolution directs the Metropolitan Council, by the time of the next All-American Council, to create a permanent process for vetting candidates to the Pension Board based on their expertise. A friendly amendment to the resolution stipulated that the resolution only be implemented after a thorough review by the legal counsel of both the OCA and the Pension Board. The resolution, as amended, passed by a majority vote.
After this, Archpriest John Parker, Dean of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, presented his report. He highlighted the ongoing construction of married student housing, the expanded Clinical Pastoral Education program that will soon launch, and the seminary’s re-accreditation for a full ten years.
Dr. Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, Dean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, opened his report with a discussion of recent changes in the seminary administration. He also explained the decision on the part of the Board of Trustees not to relocate the seminary at this time. He discussed the restructuring of the institution and its positive financial turnaround, as demonstrated by a budgetary surplus this past year. He also announced a new PhD program in Orthodox Christian Studies, which is in the final stages of approval by relevant bodies.
Please support the work of the Orthodox Church in America through its Office of Pastoral Life, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Your donation helps further their mission of forming and supporting the clergy who serve our Church.