October 20, 2011
Jordanville, NY: The second day of the Pastoral Conference concluded
The
first half of the second day of the autumnal diocesan conference was
dedicated to preserving the rich spiritual legacy and heritage of
Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky) and Archbishop Averky (Taushev). 2011
marks the 35th anniversary of the repose of these two great
hierarchs of our Diocese. Reader Peter Lukianov (Editor of Diocesan
Publications) presented a lecture on the lives of Abp. Nikon and
Abp. Averky, accompanied by a slideshow of over 200 photographs. The
presentation was geared toward understanding our legacy and
remembering the lessons of our great archpastors as we face the
challenges of today.
After the lecture, an interactive discussion was held between
conference attendees and the diocesan administration. Diocesan
Council member Deacon George Temidis began the discussion by
outlining the inner workings of the diocesan administration. Fr.
George gave some insight into the many different projects and
initiatives currently being discussed on an administrative level.
Council members outlined a vision for the future of the Diocese that
deals with the restructuring, expansion, and strengthening of all
diocesan organizations and initiatives. Reader Peter reported on the
progress of redesigning the diocesan website and outlined some of
the upgrades that will be made to the site over the next year.
Council members spoke about the new partnership between the Diocese
and the newly formed Orthodox Business Association. With the
blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion, representatives from the
Association addressed the group and gave some insight into the many
possibilities of uniting Orthodox businessmen and professionals to
help the Church. The Association seeks to create a network of
Orthodox businesses for the benefit of all our parishes and
faithful. Further detailed information about the Association will be
published on the diocesan website in the near future.
After
the discussion with Council members, attendees heard several
presentations about the many different periodicals that are
published by the monastery. Mr. Nicholas Chapman and Reader Peter
Markevich spoke of the many improvements recently made to the
monastery bookstore. The bookstore has been reorganized to better
serve the needs of the faithful by upgrading inventory systems and
cataloging software, and opening a new website for the bookstore.
Novice George Kaplanov spoke about the recent developments to one of
ROCOR’s oldest periodicals, "Pravoslavnaya Rus’," and Archpriest
Gregory Naumenko spoke about the "Orthodox Life" publication.
After lunch, a lively roundtable discussion was held between the
clergy and seminarians. Hieromonk Alexander (Frizzell) moderated the
discussion, which covered a wide variety of topics and issues that
will face our future clergymen. The clergy shared many valuable
personal stories and gave the seminarians advice on what to expect
when they begin their service to the Church. Several clergymen and
seminarians expressed their approval to continue this type of
interaction between current and future clergy.
During the Vespers service, conference attendees had an opportunity
to confess and pray together. After dinner, Bishop George led the
Matins service for the feast of St. Jonah of Manchuria. His Grace
was co-served by monastery clergy and conference participants.
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