http://www.oca.org/15aac                 http://ancientfaith.com/specials/oca15aac

http://15aac.blogspot.com/               http://oca15aac.wordpress.com/

Fr. Timothy and Parish Delegate Karen Durkish will be attempting to post daily reports on the proceedings of the Council. Stay tuned for more information. Also, keep posted to www.oca.org, the official website of the Orthodox Church in America, and www.ancientfaith.com (Ancient Faith Radio) for daily postings about the Council. 

Holy Apostles All-American Council Report

 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10:

 Karen and I arrived in Pittsburgh safe and sound. It was a good trip out with some flurries along they way. I apologize for the tardiness in our communications. They have us on a very tight schedule with almost every moment filled. I was up at 5:45am to help with the Liturgy this morning, and it is well after midnight on Wednesday morning…

 Plenary Session I

-         After the opening Moliben, Archbishop Dmitri, the Locum Tennens of the Church spoke welcoming everyone to the Council. His Eminence affirmed that while the past few years and especially the past few months have been extremely difficult, these are growing pains that our OCA is going through. He stated that we need to be more focused on the scandal of the Cross than the scandal of finance.11pm.

-         His Grace, our Bishop Tikhon, the Locum Tennens of the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh stated that we were in the city of crushed tomatoes, crushed steel, and a crushed football team… J He then likened the crushing of our hearts in the hurt we have experienced. “A broken (crushed) heart, God will not despise…”

-         His Grace Bishop Nikon of Boston, lead a discussion on the 15 Town Hall meetings that were held throughout the OCA in recent months. H said so beautifully that the ultimate conflict resolution was the Incarnation of Jesus Christ Who unites God with man. We need to remain close to this.-         A Statement of greeting from His Eminence Hilarion, the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia was read.

 Compline

-         There was a Compline service served at 10:30 pm which was VERY moving. His Grace Bishop Tikhon gave an amazing homily on Pascha which spoke of humility and defeat with the joy and light of Christ’s Resurrection. There was a very sober, genuine, and penitent feel to the room. 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11:

-         It as with great sadness that we learned that immediately following the Liturgy a delegate priest, Archpriest Stephen Karaffa, suddenly fell asleep in the Lord. Prayers were offered for the repose of his soul. Father Stephen served our Diocese for many years before moving to the Diocese of the Midwest.

 Plenary Session II

-         His Grace Bishop Benjamin of San Francisco lead a discussion on the recent SIC report, its findings and decisions. He stated that only in the OCA could such a report have been made, and honestly applied to the deficiencies of the Church Administration.  He said the committee spent some 4,000 hours of work and 10,000 pages of information before releasing the report.  Plenary Session III

-         His Grace, Bishop Benjamin lead a discussion on the recommendations of the SIC report. He stated that we were a baby in 1970 when autocephaly was granted, and now we have entered the difficult teenage years. The hope is that we can emerge from this crisis with a mature outlook on our role as an autocephalous Church.

Vespers

-         Vespers was served and after a amazing sermon was given by Fr. Melitius Webber, the abbot of St. John’s Monastery in CA

 Plenary Session IV

-         Fr. Alexander Garklavs, Chancellor gave an explanation of his responsibilities

-          Fr. Eric Tosi, Secretary gave an explanation of his responsiblities

-         His Grace, the newly consecrated Bishop Jonah, auxiliary to the South then spoke. At a recent session groups posed written questions to the Holy Synod to be addressed by the Council. Vladika Jonah spoke so beautifully and eloquently, while not being lofty or disconnected. Karen and I were both very moved by his honesty, outright discussion, and humility in responding to all questions asked. He spoke that the scandal is over, we need to move forward and choose love, not resentment. We need to be open, honest, and loving, and not fear one another. A standing ovation was given.  

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008

-         Divine Liturgy: Fr. Timothy served with all the Mission Planting Grant recipients with Bishop John of Fort Worth.

Plenary Session V

-         The session opened with greetings to the assembled council by the Patriarchs of Moscow, Georgia, Serbia, and the Metropolitans of Poland, Slovakia, and Finland.

-         We then had the election of the Metropolitan. The assembled council was given a ballot where one name was placed. If any name received 2/3 of the vote, the vote would be closed. This did not happen and a second ballot was given in which 2 names were chosen. The assembly sang the hymns to the North American saints, and an Akathist to the North American saints while the ballots were counted. The results concluded that the new bishop Jonah of Forth Worth had the highest count, second by Archbishop Job of Chicago. The Holy Synod went into the Altar and made the final decision.

-         30 minutes later Archbishop Dmitri, Locum Tenens came forth from the Altar and announced that the new Metropolitan would be JONAH! A THUNDEROUS cry of AXIOS! (He is worthy) was shouted by the assembly.

-         The Service for the Installation of the Metropolitan was immediately held and all came forward to greet the new Metropolitan (see website homepage picture)

-         Due to the longer session, the 6^th Session was postponed until later in the afternoon.

Plenary Session VI

-         Fr. Michael Tassos, the new OCA Treasurer gave a excellent financial presentation showing the financial status of the Church

-         He explained the steps taken to rectify the deficiencies in the past which lead to the problems. He was met with a standing ovation from the assembly for his amazing work. Karen will explain more when we given a formal presentation to the parish.

Dinner:

-         A formal dinner was held in the evening. Fr. Alexander Garklavs, Chancellor gave a speech in which the joy of the new life of the OCA was seen in him. Father radiated the love and joy of the spirit and conveyed his thanks especially to his priests for the work they do on the “front lines” in parishes.

-         His Beatitude then came forth and spoke giving a vision for the OCA. He challenged us to start to think about Orthodox schools, hospitals, OCF’s, and the like. He said rather than given a check to some charitable place, why not make a sandwich and give it away yourself… The act of Christian love and given can never be understated.

THURSDAY, NOVERMBER 13, 2008

Primatial Divine Liturgy:

-         A moving Liturgy with the new Primate together with the entire Holy Synod, Deans, and Chancery staff served. 9 chalices were used to distribute communion to the gathered crowd. His Beatitude was presented with the “Primatial Panaghia” an insignia with the image of the Holy Trinity on it passed down from the first hierarch of the Metropolia/OCA for decades – since the time of Metropolitan Theophilus.

VII PLENARY SESSION

-         The final session of the day dealt with some catch-up from the previous sessions and the election of the new Metropolitan Council members.

-         The Biggest decision was the question of lowering the OCA assessment or leaving it the same. The decision was to lower it no more than $90, but that the official figure was not yet fixed.

-         His Beatitude lovingly challenged the assembly to more proportional giving explaining that if we gave in this manner, such discussions would never take place as money would never be an issue!

-         A final Moliben was served and the new Council Members installed.

Karen and I arrived home in Mechanicsburg at 7:00 pm giving thanks to God for this wonderful experience. We went to Pittsburgh frankly expecting a fight. With all the tension in the Church in recent months, this was to be the pivotal place of confrontation. However our Great God was present and heard the voice of His Church. The Holy Spirit was present with us. We elected a man to be the First Hierarch of our Church who had only been made a bishop 11 days prior!!! This was radical, outside the box, completely unexpected, and EXACTLY how the Lord has manifested Himself to work throughout time. Please pray for our new Metropolitan in his difficult cross to carry. May God’s will be done in our OCA, and may He grant our new Primate MANY YEARS!

“Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another. ‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”   (Ephesians 4:25-32)