NEW YORK – Archbishop Demetrios of America has appointed the Rev. Deacon Jason C. Roll as the new Camp Director for Ionian Village. Deacon Roll will join the team of the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries and oversee the Ionian Village program. Deacon Roll replaces the Rev. Constantine Lazarakis, who served in this position since 2002.

Deacon Roll is originally from Portland, Oregon, and lived in Sacramento, Calif., prior to attending Holy Cross. He has extensive experience in the field of youth and camping ministries, as well as numerous years of business and professional experience. He has participated in Ionian Village both as a staff member and as an Assistant Director, has directed various camps throughout our Archdiocese and has served in many areas of youth, young adult and campus ministry.

He holds a degree in Business Administration from Oregon State University and will receive a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in May 2009.  He was ordained to the holy Diaconate in September 2007. Prior to attending Holy Cross, Deacon Jason spent 5 years working for Eli Lilly and Company.  He is married with three children.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     

     
NEW YORK – Yesterday, Jan. 27, the Locum Tenens of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elected the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Immediately upon his election, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a congratulatory telegram. The message of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew reads, in part:

On the occasion of your well-deserved election today as the new Head of the most holy sister and chosen daughter Russian Church, we convey to you our heartfelt brotherly salutation, both of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and of our Modesty. … We are certain that in the course of Your Patriarchy, which we pray will be long and glorious, we shall work together in harmony for the glory of God and for the shared witness of Orthodoxy in our contemporary troubled world. In the coming months, we await receiving you in the courts of the Mother Church, so that we may renew our common journey into the future through a sacred concelebration of the Divine Liturgy. Most Blessed and Most Honored Brother, we greet you with a holy kiss and echo the voice of our brother Hierarchs in Christ who surround us: Axios!

Archbishop Demetrios also extended congratulations. In his letter, he wrote:

I have the great honor and profound joy in the Lord to congratulate you upon your election to be Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Not only do I convey these warmest wishes on behalf of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, but I do so with a deeply held personal conviction that the election of Your Holiness marks an important step forward in the cause of Orthodox unity worldwide, and especially in the Diaspora. … I look forward to continuing our cooperative efforts with the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA. With God’s help and by His grace, we shall enjoy new opportunities to expand the message of the Gospel and affirm our unity in Christ.

The Enthronement of Patriarch Kirill will take place on Sunday February 1st at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.

Contact: Stavros Papagermanos
Tel.:  212-570-3530
Email:  pressoffice@goarch.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK – Ionian Village has announced the opening of the 2009 Registration and is preparing for its 39th season.

Ionian Village is the travel abroad summer camp program of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. It combines the classic elements of a youth camp program with excursions to some of Greece’s most important religious and cultural sites. Each three-week session offers Greek Orthodox teens from all over the United States an inspiring, educational, and often life-changing experience of Orthodoxy and Hellenism.  Teens are eligible to register once they have completed the 7th grade, and may register through the summer following their senior year of high school.   

Registration includes round trip airfare from New York to Greece, three square meals a day, three nights stay at the Metropolitan Hotel in Athens, transportation, and entrance to a number of museums, archeological sites, churches and monasteries. Ionian Village maintains a seven to one camper/staff ratio, and is also staffed by medical professionals.  Campers and staff members will make excursions to the churches of St. Dionysios on Zakinthos, St. Gerasimos on Kefalonia and St. Nektarios on Aegina. They will ascend to the heights of Meteora’s cliff side monasteries, and hike to the summit of the Acropolis.  In all, participants will explore over fourteen destinations, visiting churches, museums, monasteries, archeological sites, Greece’s metropolitan cities and traditional Greek villages.

On non-travel days (about every other day), campers will rotate through four daily educational sessions: Athletics, Orthodox Life (a catechetical discussion period), Music and Greek Culture, and Arts and Crafts. Under the careful eye of certified lifeguards, campers enjoy a daily free swim period on the Ionian Sea. Each evening, a variety of activities is planned for campers to interact with each other, whether it be a dance, skit night, or campfire on the beach. To learn more and register, visit www.ionianvillage.org , call the Ionian Village office at 646. 519.6190.

Contact: Stavros Papagermanos
Tel.:  212-570-3530
Email:  pressoffice@goarch.org