SCOBA News Archive
Below you will find news items from SCOBA, the predecessor to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, that cover the years 2000-2011.
Orthodox Christians to Mark 60th United Nations Anniversary
On the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, the Joint Commission of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches (SCOOCH) will sponsor their fifth annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the United Nations Community at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral (319 E. 74th St.) on Tuesday, October 11th, at 6:30pm.
The 2005 OCMC Mission Team Season Winds Down with His Grace Bishop Dimitrios Sending Off the Last Team
The 2005 OCMC Orthodox Mission Team season finished with a six-person team to Tanzania. This team had the special honor to be commissioned by His Grace Dimitrios, Bishop of Xanthos, the General Secretary of the Standing Conference of Canonical Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and OCMC’s Founding Director. The commissioning service took place after Vespers on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in St. Augustine, FL.
Event Celebrates Legacy of IOCC Founding Hierarch
An evening celebrating the philanthropic legacy of the late Archbishop Iakovos, under whose leadership the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) founded International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) as its humanitarian relief and development agency in 1992, brought together more than 130 people in Rye, New York on September 10.
Orthodox Prelate Visits IOCC Hurricane Response Center
Archbishop Demetrios, accompanied on his visit by Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, Bishop Andonios, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Director of Philanthropy, and the national president of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society Georgia Skeadas, was briefed by IOCC Executive Director Mr. Constantine Triantafilou at a Second Harvest warehouse that has become an ecumenical center for the distribution of assistance in Baton Rouge.
IOCC Hurricane Response Turns to Long-Term Recovery Efforts
“It continues to be an evolving situation, but national and community agencies that traditionally meet local needs are responding with food, shelter and clothing,” reported Frank Carlin of the IOCC Emergency Response Team in Houston, Texas. “Increasingly, our efforts are focusing on meeting unmet emergency needs – people who need to fill prescriptions, providing transportation, helping people purchase eyeglasses and the like.”
Houston Orthodox Christian Community Responds to Hurricane Survivors
Orthodox Christians in Texas have worked tirelessly since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast to deliver emergency supplies, welcome those displaced from neighboring states and partner with International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) to provide relief to the region.
SCOBA Agency Participates in the 16th BSA National Jamboree
The Boy Scouts of America held it's 16th National Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia with 34,000 Scouts participating from every state in the union and 26 countries. The BSA National Jamboree is held every four years, since 1937, in various locations throughout the United States. Six thousand volunteers arrived two weeks before to make the entire camp ready, while program directors and chair people began work two years before to make sure that the ten-day Jamboree was an experience of a lifetime for the participating Scouts.
Ecumenical Team Evacuates Hundreds From New Orleans Airport
An ecumenical response team made up of personnel from International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) negotiated their way from Baton Rouge, La. to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport during the early hours of Sunday morning to evacuate 340 people in need of urgent medical care.
"Come Receive the Light" Radio Program Schedule of Programs for September 2005
Schedule of Programs for September 2005
OCF Ministry Grows - New Resources Abound
As the new school year approaches, Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is positioned to meet the continuing demand to keep Orthodox young people connected to the Church. The OCF ministry is looking toward the future, by adding more hands-on the ministry and providing new resources to aid our students on campus.
IOCC Emergency Response Network Activated to Assist U.S. Gulf Coast
With Hurricane Katrina pounding the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is preparing to provide assistance to people in the storm-affected areas. Working with Orthodox Christian churches in the Gulf Coast area, and with national partners like Church World Service and others, IOCC will assist in efforts to house, feed and otherwise assist the more than one million people temporarily displaced by this storm.
SCOBA Condemns Imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan By FYROM and Asks For His Release
The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) have declared unanimously their outrage concerning the imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
SCOBA Continues Participation in National Research of Faith Communities
The Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas continues its participation in the ongoing national research of parishes, congregations, and religious communities known as Faith Communities Today (FACT). The FACT initiative is coordinated by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP), an organization that includes over 40 major faith groups and has become a leading source of research-based information on congregational life in the United States. The initial FACT survey was distributed in 2000, and this year, CCSP is currently distributing surveys to 4000 parishes and congregations among approximately 300 denominations, jurisdictions and faith communities.
SCOBA Issues Statement on Sexual Misconduct in the Church
The hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) recently adopted a Statement entitled "Dealing With Sexual Misconduct in the Church".
SCOBA Establishes Two New Commissions
The hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), at their recent meeting in New York City, established two new commissions: the Orthodox Research Commission (ORC) and the Orthodox Information Technologies Commission (OITC).
On an Apostolic Mission: The 2005 Orthodox Conference on Missions and Evangelism
This year's Orthodox Conference on Missions and Evangelism will feature one of the three recently consecrated bishops, and first convert bishop, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese: His Grace Bishop Mark of Toledo and the Midwest. Joining His Grace will be Mother Christophora, abbess of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, and Fr. Peter Gillquist, director of the Antiochian Archdiocese Department of Missions and Evangelism. The Conference will be at Antiochian Village, just outside Ligonier, Pennsylvania, from September 2-5, 2005 (Labor Day Weekend).
Come Receive The Light Schedule of Programs for July 2005
Schedule of Programs for July 2005
A New Step for Orthodox Missions in the 21st Century
Presently there are 20 long-term OCMC Missionaries in the field and approximately 80 – 100 OCMC Mission Team volunteers ministering throughout the world each year. And this is only a part of the expanding Orthodox mission outreach. In addition to the missionaries being sent, the Mission Center (on behalf of all the Orthodox churches within SCOBA) supports 272 indigenous clergy in the mission field. Last year the Mission Center participated in the training of 157 future Church leaders, offering health care to over 9,500 people and training 450 people to do youth outreach. Think of the impact that these efforts represent in personal life changing experiences!
SCOBA/SCOOCH Statement On Iraq Church Bombings
The hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and the hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in America (SCOOCH) learned with great sadness the news that religious edifices were targeted by certain extremist elements in Iraq.
SCOBA Hierarchs Endorse Statement on the Environment
A group of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant theologians, convened in Washington, DC by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, released a letter recently calling all Christians to reject teachings that suggest humans are "called" to exploit the Earth without care for how our behaviour impacts the rest of God's creation.
SCOBA Hierarchs Convene For Spring Session
The Spring Session of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) was convened on June 21, 2005 at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in New York City. Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of SCOBA, chaired and hosted the session.
Educating Church Leaders in Mission Lands
The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), St. Augustine, FL - The Orthodox Christian Mission Center’s Theological Education Program provides Mission Student Scholarships to help train leaders for the Orthodox Church in mission lands. This program offers financial assistance to students as they prepare to become the Church’s future leaders.
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation held its 68th meeting from June 6 to 8, 2005, at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. It was co-chaired by Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati.
Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of SCOBA, attends OCMC Board Meeting and Banquet
The Orthodox Christian Mission Center’s Board of Directors welcomed Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to its Spring 2005 Board Meeting and Banquet. The meeting was held in the Washington D.C.area at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Falls Church, Virginia from May 24 to 26, 2005.
Cooking Up a Soup Kitchen
George and Pauline Russell have been serving as OCMC Missionaries in Albania since spring 2003. Early this year, they opened up a soup kitchen, which Pauline writes about.