The Young Adult League, a ministry of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, has set a goal for its members to assemble 5,000 health kits to aid victims of the disaster. The “Gift of the Heart” health kits will bolster the efforts of IOCC to deliver life-saving relief supplies to areas hardest hit by the tsunami.
    
A humanitarian aid agency of Orthodox Christians, IOCC is participating in ongoing Church World Service airlifts of humanitarian supplies to South Asia. The shipments contain medical supplies; shelter and sanitation kits; blankets and emergency foodstuffs; and other critical supplies.
    
“We will continue to support these very concrete airlift efforts in the coming weeks,” said IOCC Executive Director Constantine M. Triantafilou, “along with Orthodox church-based efforts in the United States – such as assembling and sending thousands of ‘Gift of the Heart’ health and school kits.”
    
Health kits assembled by the Young Adult League will be collected at a warehouse facility in New Windsor, Md., and delivered through ongoing humanitarian airlifts to the tsunami-affected countries.
    
“We are grateful for the outpouring of support from Orthodox Christians across the country,” Triantafilou said, “including this generous commitment by Orthodox young people.”
    
Young adult chapters throughout the U.S. will be assembling and collecting the health kits at various functions, social gatherings and parish events through Valentine’s Day, Monday, Feb. 14. The “Gift of the Heart” kits include basic materials such as soap, toothpaste, Band-Aids and washcloths.
    
“The packages may be small, but they’ll make a huge difference,” said the Rev. Fr. Mark A. Leondis, national director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. “Just knowing that so many neighbors from across the globe are extending their hands has to provide hope and comfort to the victims.” Fr. Leondis added that service and witness are two of the pillars on which the young adult ministry bases its activities.
    
“The national young adult service project is especially appropriate this year because His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has proclaimed 2005 as the ‘Year of the Family’ throughout the Archdiocese,” Fr. Leondis said. “This is a perfect example of how our Church family can and must reach out to others in the name of Christ, especially during challenging times like these.”
    
To learn more about assembling the health kits, please visit www.iocc.org/healthkits. For more information on the young adult initiative, contact the young adult ministry at info@yal.org.
    
Donations for IOCC’s “Asia Disaster Response” may be sent to IOCC, P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-4622.
 
For media inquiries, please contact IOCC Communications Associate Stephen Huba at 1-877-803-4622 or shuba@iocc.org

St. Photios National Shrine Day, Sunday, January 30, 2005 will be commemorated with a Hierarchal Liturgy followed by a Memorial Service for Shrine Founders and Benefactors. The Pilgrimage Luncheon will follow at the Casa Monica Hotel with Dr. John T. Chirban as the Keynote Speaker. Dr. Chirban is the founder of the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology, and Religion (O.C.A.M.P.R.), a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and professor of psychology and Chairman of the Department of Human Development at Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of Theology.  

St. Photios National Shrine consists of exhibits depicting the life of early Greeks in America and the development of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, The St. Photios Chapel is a living memorial to those first Greek settlers, and to all the Greek Orthodox pioneers whose love of freedom and desire for a better life for themselves and their children brought them to this New World.  The National Shrine is located on 41 St. George Street in historic downtown St. Augustine, Florida, the nation’s oldest city.

February 6 is the Feastday of St. Photios the Great, patron saint of the St. Photios National Shrine.  Saint Photios was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople during the middle of the ninth century.  Together with other great Fathers of the Church, Saint Photios demonstrates through his writing and his teaching that scholarship can be a valuable instrument in proclaiming and expressing the Faith of the Church.  The Orthodox Church honors St. Photios as a theologian, a supporter of missionary activity, and a defender of the Faith.  Not long after his death in 897, Photios was proclaimed a Saint by the Orthodox Church and as a defender of the Christian Faith and pillar of the Church.

The St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, a self-supportive institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is dedicated to the first colony of Greek people who came to America in 1768.  As a service to churches and the general public, the Foundation operates the St. Photios Shrine Museum Store and the National Shrine Church Supplies (Tel 800-222-6727, or Email churchsupplies@stphotios.com). Information and sponsorship for the Annual St. Photios National Shrine Pilgrimage and the National St. Photios Day Luncheon is available at the St. Photios National Shrine, P.O. Box 1960 - St. Augustine, FL 32085, Tel 904-829-8205, or E-mail info@StPhotios.com.

Contact:  Andrew J. Lekos
Tel.:   904-829-8205
Email: AJLekos@stphotios.com

This month of January we embark upon our Year of the Family, a period of intensified ministry to families across America.  As we begin this very special New Year, it is worthwhile to reflect upon the connection of our own families to the Church, and to consider the extraordinary manner in which the Church influences the growth and development of our families. This reflection constitutes in itself a valuable spiritual exercise for us as Orthodox Christians living in a challenging and complex society.

Our theme for the Year of the Family follows the biblical phrase used by the Apostle Paul, kat’oikon ecclesia, “the church in the home” (Romans 16:5, Colossians 4:15).  This phrase hearkens to the early Christian communities who met in homes for worship, teaching, and fellowship.  Here, we see a unique connection between the Church and family life.  Like the early Christians, we too are called to cultivate nurturing environments within our own homes that promote a closer, more direct relationship between our family and the Church.  This is what is meant by the phrase “connect your family to the Church”, which is an important sub-theme for this Year of the Family. 

How may we take steps to promote environments within our homes that bring our families closer to the Church?   A very practical way to do this is to schedule regular periods of time as families to come together for prayer, even if only for a few moments each morning or evening.  A helpful way to promote family prayer is to set aside an area of space within the home exclusively for this purpose.  Already, our Archdiocesan Center for Family Care is developing resources to guide families in establishing an iconostasion in the home for this purpose.

An equally important and practical component for connecting your family to the Church is the establishment of a weekly family night.  During such a time, families can come together to read the Scriptures and to reflect upon important events happening in the world around us.  By extension, parishes should also promote healthy families by conducting a monthly parish family night, a designated period of time where families within the community can come together for prayer, fellowship, and also social outreach activities.

Each of these components are but initial steps in promoting the spiritual health of families and their connection to the Church.  They are also components that underscore the tremendous importance of families as essential building blocks of society and the Church.  By devoting time this month to reflecting upon the conditions of our own families and their relationship to the Church, we take important steps toward strengthening our connection to the Church and our growth in Christ, the Redeemer of our souls.  Moreover, we embark together upon an important and ultimately endless journey of faith as one united Greek Orthodox family in Christ. 

As we consider the extraordinary ability of the Church to transform lives and communities, I pray that we continue to reflect upon the tremendous influence of the Church upon our families each and every day.  May the love of God strengthen and nurture your families each and every day of this very promising and very special New Year. 

+DEMETRIOS
Archbishop of America

Celebrated annually throughout the United States by the Archdiocese and its institutions in conjunction with the Feast Day of the Three Hierarchs on January 30, the event commemorates the fourth century scholars and theologians, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom, who espoused Christianity with Hellenism, its language, philosophy, drama, poetry and art. Three Hierarchs Day was first celebrated in the year 1100 A.D. when the Byzantine Emperor Alexis Comninos proclaimed that January 30 be set aside to honor these men whose writings contributed to the formulation of Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Culture and education.

Following is the schedule of events in metropolitan New York.

Friday, January 28 - 9:00 a.m.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will celebrate the Divine Liturgy for teachers and students (grades 5-12) of the Greek American Day Schools on Friday, January 28 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (319 E. 74th St, NYC).  At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Archbishop will bestow The Three Hierarchs Award of Excellence on the students who achieved a score of 100 in the 2004 Comprehensive Examination of Modern Greek

January 28 - 4:30 p.m.
His Eminence will cut the traditional Vasilopita at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (10 East 79th Street) in honor of the administrators and teachers of the day and afternoon schools. Principals, teachers, and school board and PTA board members are invited to attend and receive the blessings of the Archbishop.

Saturday, January 29 - 7:00 p.m.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will preside at the Great Vespers at the Three Hierarchs Church (1724 Avenue P, Brooklyn), followed by a presentation by the students of the community’s schools in celebration of “Greek Letters”.

Sunday, January 30 - 9:30 a.m.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will celebrate an Archieratical Liturgy at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in celebration of the Feast Day of the Three Hierarchs. In celebration of Greek Letters, the Archdiocesan Office will host a Reception and Lecture in the Cathedral Center beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Dr. George Demacopoulos, assistant professor of Theology at Fordham University, will speak on “ A New Feast in the Orthodox Church: The Return of the Relics of St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople”.
                                         
VIDEO PREMIERE
There will also be a video documentary, funded by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Order of St. Andrew, documenting the return of the relics entitled: “The Return of the Holy Relics of the Saints Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom from Rome to the Church of Constantinople November 27 - 30, 2004”.

Responding to the request of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and recognizing the importance of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian to Orthodox Christians around the world, Pope John Paul II agreed to return the relics of these two great Fathers of the Church and Ecumenical Teachers to their original resting place in the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, accompanied by Archbishop Demetrios of America and other hierarchs, traveled to The Vatican to officially receive the relics from the Pope in a ceremony on November 27, 2004. The relics were then returned to Constantinople and enshrined inside the Cathedral of St. George at the Patriarchate on November 30, during a Pan-Orthodox Liturgy ceremony commemorating St. Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint and founder of the Church of Constantinople.

Ecumenical News International 
Daily News Service 
17 January 2005 

By Clive Leviev-Sawyer 

Sofia, Bulgaria, 17 January (ENI)--A meeting of leaders of Orthodox churches that are members of the World Council of Churches has taken a positive view of proposals to reform WCC worship and decision-making procedures to accommodate concerns of Orthodox churches. 
 
The proposals were drawn up by a special commission set up by the council in the late 1990s to deal with Orthodox concerns that the Geneva-based WCC was too dominated by Protestant theology and decision-making styles. 
 
"We affirm without reservation the work and recommendations of the Special Commission, its report in all its aspects," said a statement issued on Monday after a 10-17 January meeting on the Greek island of Rhodes. It was attended by more than 50 Orthodox church leaders and theologians, as well as participants from other WCC member churches. 
 
The WCC's churches include all mainstream traditions, Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox, with the exception of the Roman Catholic Church, which cooperates with the council by serving on some of its committees. Orthodox churches have said, however, their views are diminished by the WCC's mainly-Protestant majority. Matters came to a head in 1998 when the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Georgian Orthodox Church left the WCC. 
 
The special commission recommended the introduction of a consensus procedure for decision-making, and proposed changing terms used in connection with inter-church services to take account of Orthodox concerns.  
 
"We have every confidence that these recommendations bear great promise for the whole fellowship, as long as they are given a real chance to work," the Rhodes meeting said, noting they might help the Roman Catholic Church to join the WCC. 
 
There are 22 Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches among the WCC's 342 memberS. Still, the Orthodox churches together have almost as many members as all the other WCC churches combined.  
 
The statement represents a key response ahead of the WCC's ninth seven-yearly assembly, to be held in Brazil in February 2006. The assembly is the WCC's highest decision-making body and a gathering of Orthodox churches is traditionally held prior to each assembly. 
 
The introduction of consensus decision-making would offer the WCC a way to create an atmosphere of openness, trust, and humility, "where the views of all churches will be encouraged and listened to with respect", participants at the Orthodox meeting in Greece said. 
 
"We trust that the change to consensus will enhance the potential of the Council to find its true prophetic voice, and may offer a model that invites to the Council churches of that vast Christian constituency not yet members of the Council (including the Roman Catholic Church)," they noted. [445 words] 
 
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World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153
+41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

The spiritual dimensions of transformation underlie its social dimensions, observed participants at an international pre-assembly meeting of WCC Orthodox member churches which completed its work on the island of Rhodes, Greece, yesterday.

In a comprehensive report produced by participants coming from nearly all of the WCC's Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox member churches, the group outlined its theological contribution and hopes for the WCC's ninth assembly, which will be held in Brazil in February 2006 under the theme "God, in your grace, transform the world".

The gathering, which was attended by more than fifty hierarchs and theologians as well as participants from other WCC member churches, was hosted by Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, 10-17 January 2005. Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria) co-chaired the event. Along with the presentation of a series of theological papers, the programme included prayer, meditations and visits to local communities and monasteries.

The pre-assembly of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches is traditionally held prior to the WCC's assemblies which meet every seven years. There are twenty-two Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox member churches of WCC, whose combined membership makes up almost half of the Council's total constituency.

Transformation and transfiguration

For the Orthodox, grace is associated with the transforming action of the Holy Spirit in creation. "God's divine unconditional graceful love draws us to Him (Rom. 5,15), because humans are not only created by God but they are created for God. In God we entirely find the purpose of our lives restored and transformed." The transfiguration of Christ reveals God's ultimate intention for humanity and creation. "Christ gathers all things in Him, and the whole of creation is transformed into a new heaven and a new earth."

Spiritual and social transformation are interrelated, the report emphasizes. "The process of the transfiguration of our socio-economic order (...) involves our personal and communal commitment" and the struggle to forge a "chain of good" affecting all aspects of human life.

Recognizing the suffering, violence, injustice and immorality so evident in the world, the participants expressed their conviction that the task of Christians is to call on the action of the Holy Spirit and to act as "fellow-workers" in restoring the "true humanity created in God's image." 

A renewed council, a renewed commitment

The pre-assembly re-articulated the principles undergirding a continued Orthodox commitment to Christian unity. Referring to ongoing discussions about possible new forms of international ecumenical work, the report affirms that "the world will continue to need a council of churches (...) an instrument to serve the churches by bringing them into a space for dialogue, shared work, for the mutual exchange of gifts and insights from our traditions, for prayer together."

Participants recognized that "ecclesiology is central to the different understandings of Christian division and Christian unity, and therefore the key to our different approaches to the WCC." The status of other churches in Orthodox self-understanding remains one of the most delicate issues affecting Orthodox participation in the ecumenical movement, and the pre-assembly appealed for further serious study in this area.

The Special Commission - a "great promise"  for the fellowship

The pre-assembly reviewed the results of the Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC, established by the eighth assembly in 1998 to address Orthodox grievances with the direction and priorities of the Council. It underlined the central importance of the Special Commission's findings which bear "great promise for the whole fellowship," and urged WCC member churches to continue to work on receiving the report, which proposes a series of key reforms to the Council to be presented to the next assembly.

In February 2005, the WCC central committee will consider adopting a new method of consensus decision-making as an alternative to the current majority-vote system. "Introduction of consensus (...) offers the Council a way to reflect the centrality of Holy Scripture in its life and engage the work of the Council in an atmosphere of openness, trust and humility [and] will enhance the potential for the Council to find its true prophetic voice," the report stated.

But the pre-assembly report acknowledged that the Orthodox churches are faced both with a moment of opportunity and of particular responsibility as a result of the Special Commission, and calls on the Orthodox churches "to continue to make credible expressions of [their] commitment in the character of [their] participation at every level."

A prayerful contribution

The report culminates in the form of a meditation, which is inspired by the theme of the WCC ninth assembly. The text, drafted as a contribution to the assembly, explores the themes of grace and transformation, and concludes on a note of hope in God "in your grace, you have given us a glorious world - in us it has fallen, in us let it be raised again."

The text of the report of the Rhodes meeting is available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/rhodesreport.html

A print-ready photo from the meeting is also available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/rhodespic.html

More information on the WCC ninth assembly is available at
http://www.wcc-assembly.info

More information on the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC is available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/index-e.html

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153  +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.