Under the leadership of Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Order of St. Andrew/Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America, comprised of Greek Orthodox churchmen who are committed in conscience and purpose to the promotion of the well-being of the Patriarchate, which has been the world’s spiritual center of Orthodox Christianity since the fourth century A.D.

As Turkey continues negotiating its possible admission to the EU, Archons urged that EU leaders require the Turkish government to live up to democratic standards by reforming its religious discriminatory policies. Since the formation of the modern Turkish state in 1923, systemic discrimination has severely repressed the Ecumenical Patriarchate and decimated the Orthodox Christian community in that country.

"We just returned from very successful meetings with key officials of the European Union," said Archon National Commander Dr. Anthony Limberakis. "We also had very frank meetings with the Ambassadors of Turkey in Brussels and Vienna, which were a follow-up to our Religious Freedom Mission for the Ecumenical Patriarchate initiated in Europe a year ago."

The delegation, composed of Dr. Limberakis, Legal Counsel Chris Stratakis and Father Alexander Karloutsos, was guided throughout the week by the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s representative to the European Union Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and while in Vienna, by Metropolitan Michael of Austria. Prior to their departure Dr. Limberakis and Father Alex met with Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and other State Department officials who fully supported the Archons’ mission. The group divided its time between Brussels, Belgium, site of the European Union’s administration and missions; Strasbourg, France, site of the European Parliament plenary sessions; and Vienna, Austria, since Austria holds the current presidency of the EU.

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Leon have donated $100,000 to OCN for the specific purpose of giving the media ministry of OCN the freedom to continue seeking the funding necessary to create a truly national media witness for Orthodox Christianity in this country.
 
Mr. Leon is a retired businessman from Rock Island, IL who moved to Florida with his wife a year and a half ago. When he heard about the efforts of OCN to use media to share the Orthodox faith, he became very interested in supporting this effort. At a recent meeting with OCN’s director of development Charles Powell, Leon said that OCN has the potential of being one of the most important ministry tools in the United States for our Orthodox faith. Though Leon is retired, he has become very involved in commercial real estate as an investor developer.
 
To help OCN realize this lofty goal, Tom and Wilma have donated $100,000 to give the ministry the funding necessary to pursue a capital campaign and other funding that will take the annual budget to the over two million dollars necessary to fund a national media outreach that is both effective and sustaining. While media is expensive, it is expensive because it is an effective communications tool. Orthodoxy has for too long been missing from the media voices of other religious organizations in the U.S. It will continue to take the combined efforts of the Orthodox jurisdictions in this country to remedy this reality and to use the ever growing technology of media to communicate the timeless message of Orthodoxy.
 
Come Receive The Light is the flagship radio program of Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) and is dedicated to creating a national, sustainable, and effective media outreach for the Orthodox Churches in the United States by producing and distributing media products that educate and edify others with the timeless beauty of Orthodox Christianity.
 
Visit us at www.receive.org.

For more information contact:
Chuck Powell, Director of Development
877-273-2348

For millennia our societies have recognized the union of a man and a woman in the bond of marriage. Cross-culturally virtually every known human society understands marriage as a union of male and female. As such marriage is a universal, natural, covenantal union of a man and a woman intended for personal love, support and fulfillment, and the bearing and rearing of children.  Sanctioned by and ordained of God, marriage both precedes and sustains civil society.

Marriage is particularly important for the rearing of children as they flourish best under the long term care and nurture of their father and mother.  For this and other reasons, when marriage is entered into and gotten out of lightly, when it is no longer the boundary of sexual activity, or when it is allowed to be radically redefined, a host of personal and civic ills can be expected to follow.  Such a point has always been stressed by the world's great monotheistic religious traditions and is, today, increasingly confirmed by impeccable social science research.

Long concerned with rates of divorce, out-of-wedlock births, and absentee fathers, we have recently watched with extreme alarm the growing trend of some courts to make marriage something it is not: an elastic concept able to accommodate almost any individual preference.  This does not so much modify or even weaken marriage as abolish it. The danger this betokens for family life and a general condition of social justice and ordered liberty is hard to overestimate.

Therefore, we take the unprecedented stand of uniting to call for a constitutional amendment to establish a uniform national definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman.  We are convinced that this is the only measure that will adequately protect marriage from those who would circumvent the legislative process and force a redefinition of it on the whole of our society.  We encourage all citizens of good will across the country to step forward boldly and exercise their right to work through our constitutionally established democratic procedures to amend the Constitution to include a national definition of marriage. We hereby announce our support for S.J. Res.1, the Marriage Protection Amendment.

May God bless all marriages and all those who labor to protect the sanctity and promote the goodness of marriage throughout this nation. 

Signed,

The Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, SSC
Episcopal Bishop of Quincy, IL

Daniel Akin, Ph.D.
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Right Reverend Peter H. Beckwith
Episcopal Bishop of Springfield, IL

Bishop Charles E. Blake
First Assistant Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ (COGIC)

The Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Denver, CO

Charles W. Colson
Founder and Chairman, Prison Fellowship

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America
Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman, Focus on the Family

David Dockery, Ph.D.
President, Union University, Jackson, Tennessee
Chairman, Board of Directors, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

The Right Reverend Robert Duncan
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA
Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network

His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, IL

Timothy George, Th.D.
Dean, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University
Executive Editor of Christianity Today

The Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez
Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio, TX

The Reverend Ted Haggard
President, National Association of Evangelicals

The Reverend Dr. Jack W. Hayford
President, The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
Founder/Chancellor, The King's College and Seminary
Pastor Emeritus, The Church On The Way

The Most Blessed Herman
Archbishop of Washington and New York
Primate, The Orthodox Church in America

The Right Reverend John W. Howe
Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida

Bishop Harry R. Jackson
Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church, Lanham, MD
President, High Impact Leadership Coalition

His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore, MD

The Reverend Dr. D. James Kennedy
Chancellor, Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, FL

The Reverend Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick
President, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Dr. Richard Land
President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention

Rabbi Daniel Lapin
President, Toward Tradition

Steve W. Lemke, Ph.D.
Provost, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

The Reverend Dr. Peter A. Lillback
Senior Pastor, Proclamation Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA
President, Westminster Theological Seminary

The Reverend Herbert H. Lusk, II
Senior Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church
President & CEO, People For People, Inc

The Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino
Roman Catholic Bishop of Madison, WI

The Most Reverend John Myers
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Newark, NJ

The Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kansas City, KS

Elder Russell M. Nelson
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus
Editor in chief of FIRST THINGS

The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Roman Catholic Bishop of New Ulm, MN

Rabbi David Novak
J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies,
Professor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
Visiting Professor of Religion, Princeton University (2006)

The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted
Roman Catholic Bishop of Phoenix, AZ

His Eminence Sean Patrick Cardinal O'Malley, O.F.M., Cap.
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, MA

Dr. Paige Patterson
President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia, PA

The Reverend Eugene F. Rivers, III
Founder and President, The Seymour Institute for Advanced Christian Studies

The Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, Jr.
President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik
Associate Rabbi, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun of Manhattan, NY

The Most Reverend John G. Vlazny
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Portland, OR

The Reverend Dr. Rick Warren
Founding Pastor, The Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA
Author, The Purpose-Driven Life

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

The Reverend David Welch
Executive Director, U.S. Pastor Council

The Most Reverend John W. Yanta
Roman Catholic Bishop of Amarillo, TX

Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Theological Research
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Institutional affiliations are provided for purposes of identification only.