Diocese of Los Angeles News
Assembly of Bishops Secretariat Meets at Antiochian Parish in Riverside
Assembly of Bishops SecretariatThe Secretariat of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America held its annual "face-to-face" meeting, January 24th and 25th, 2012. The hosts for this year's "face-to-face" meeting were Father Josiah Trenham and the congregation of St Andrew Church in Riverside, CA. An overview of the work accomplished at the Riverside meeting will be included in a soon-to-be issued media release which will report to the Church-at-large on the work of the Assembly during the past year.
The Secretariat, which also meets monthly via teleconference, consists of Bishop Basil (Secretary of the Assembly of Bishops), Archbishop Antony, Bishop Andonios, Bishop Maxim, Father Mark Arey, Father Nicholas Ceko, Father Josiah Trenham, Hierodeacon Benedict (Armitage), Protodeacon Peter Danilchick, and Messrs. Alexei Krindatch, Alex Machaskee, Eric Namee and Constantin Ursache.
Fourteenth Annual Clergy Seminar January 16-20, 2012
All Clergy are cordially invited to the
Diocese of Los Angeles And the West
Fourteenth Annual Clergy Seminar
January 16-20, 2012
Speaker
Harry Boosalis, Th.D.
Professor of Dogmatic Theology at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
Theme
“KNOWING GOD, SUFFERING FOR HIM AND LOVING HIS PEOPLE: THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE PARISH PRIEST”
Retreat Center
Sacred Heart Retreat House
920 East Alhambra Road
Alhambra, CA 91801-2799
A Special Reception Honoring His Eminence
VERY REVEREND FR. MICHEL NAJIM, Dean of St Nicholas Cathedral,
the Clergy, the Parish Council and the Organizations of St. Nicholas Cathedral
Cordially Invite You to Attend
A SPECIAL RECEPTION HONORING THE NEWLY ELEVATED
HIS EMINENCE, ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH
SUNDAY, January 8th, 2012
Following the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy Presided by His Eminence ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH.
For information please contact Hend G. Nahas at 818-956-8494 or hgnahas@sbcglobal.net
Tickets: Adults $25.00---Children $10.00
For reservations and tickets, please Contact Curt Annett or Don Costa at: curt.annett@inlandnewspapers.com or dcosta12@aol.com
Please make a Donation to Support Diocesan Youth Projects by contacting Dr. Fred Milkie
626-683-9440 dadmilkie@aol.com
By sending your check to St. Nicholas Cathedral
2300 WEST THIRD STREET LOS ANGELES, CA 90057 (Earmarked Archbishop Joseph)
Looking forward to seeing all of you as we honor His Eminence Archbishop JOSEPH!
Three New Auxiliary Bishops Consecrated, Bishop Joseph Elevated to Archbishop
Editor's Update, 12/15/11:
Video of the consecration service is available online.
View a YouTube video of consecration service excerpts.
Fr. Thomas Zain writes:
On Sunday, December 11, 2011, three new auxiliary bishops were consecrated for the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon. Their Graces, JOHN, ANTHONY and NICHOLAS were consecrated as bishops of Worcester, Toledo, and Brooklyn and will serve as auxiliaries to His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP.
Spotlight: 26th Annual Sacred Music Institute, Jan. 19-22
The Department of Sacred Music reminds all parish musicians that now is the time to plan to attend the Antiochian Archdiocese's annual Sacred Music Institute, held at the lovely La Casa De Maria Retreat Center in Santa Barbara, California. Over the long weekend of January 19-22, 2012, Institute participants will benefit from hearing the Keynote Speaker, His Grace Bishop Joseph, as well as noted podcaster and Biblical expositor Dr. Eugenia Constantinou. The theme, “The Theotokos and the Mother of the Light, Let us Honor and Magnify in Song!” will set the tone for the weekend of workshops and worship.
For the agenda and registration form, go to "Did You Know?" on the Department of Sacred Music page.
St. Athanasius Church Hosts Liturgical Arts Festival
St. Athanasius Church in Goleta, California hosted its first Liturgical Arts Festival on October 21-22, 2011. This year's festival focused on the theology, history, meaning and technical process of writing icons. Visitors from throughout the county and the central California coast attended three different lectures by iconographer and wood carver, Fr. Jerome Sanderson from Nashville, Indiana (and a priest in the OCA Bulgarian Diocese). Guests also viewed the dozens of hand-crafted icons which hang in the sanctuary of St. Athanasius Church, nearly all of them written in the late 1980s by renowned iconographer Jan Isham. In addition, an exhibit of rare and unusual icons on loan from private collectors was presented in the church's fellowship hall. The Central California Guild of Iconographers presented a fascinating and educational display demonstrating each part of the process of writing an icon, from preparing the board to putting on the final protective coating of oil. On Friday, October 21 during the day, groups of local high school students attended separate sessions taught by Fr. Sanderson and Fr. Nicholas Speier, the Senior Pastor of St. Athanasius parish.
St. Andrew in Riverside, CA + Open House and Consecration
The new temple built in honor of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle in Riverside, California is now complete. St. Andrew Orthodox Church is hosting an Open House for the community (and anyone who is able to come from far and near) in just a few days, on October 15 & 16. We would be honored to have you join us for a tour of the new temple and a light snack.
The crown of our holy work of church building is the Divine Service of Consecration. This sacrament, performed only by the Orthodox episcopate, is scheduled for Saturday, December 3rd, 2011. It is the culmination of our parish’s history thus far, and will be the pinnacle of all our efforts for the last twenty years.
The Service of Consecration will be followed by our once in a lifetime Consecration Banquet. It will be both a unique celebration and our most significant parish fundraiser ever. One of the central ways that we will raise funds through the consecration banquet is the printing of the St. Andrew Consecration Souvenir Journal. This book will be professionally printed and contain letters of commendation from our Archbishop and Bishop, from civil officials, as well as a photo collage and history of the parish, together with individual ads of greeting, celebration and memorial from individuals and families in our parish as well as our friends from our sister parishes.
Please read our open house invitation. We hope to see you there!
Project Mexico Opens Registration for 2012 Summer Work Crews
Join us in building homes for the poor! Registration is now open for our 2012 Project Mexico summer work trips.
Project Mexico & St. Innocent Orphanage is a pan-Orthodox ministry that operates with the blessing of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops. Our orphanage for teenage boys is based in Rosarito, Mexico and is currently home to thirty-one boys who have histories of abuse and abandonment. During the summers, our homebuilding ministry builds sturdy, weather-proof homes for impoverished Mexican families in the area surrounding our orphanage.
This past summer over 300 volunteers from all over the U.S. and Canada built 14 homes for needy families in our area. Many came to serve the poor, yet received far more in return than that which they gave, calling their trip "life-changing" and "spiritually rejuvenating". We are currently planning our trips for next summer, and we ask that your parish consider participating in a homebuilding trip with our ministry. We can accomodate groups of any size and welcome high schoolers and college students as well as adults.
Memory Eternal! + Fr. Michael Lewis
MEMORY ETERNAL!
From the Diocese of Los Angeles:
Very Reverend Father Michael Lewis
It is with extreme sadness that we inform you that our beloved brother in Christ, Father Michael Lewis, Pastor of St. Luke Church in Garden Grove, California, fell asleep in the Lord on Monday, August 15, 2011. His Grace, Bishop Joseph has asked the parishes to remember him in your prayers for the departed for the next 40 days and to hold a special Trisagion for his eternal life. May God receive him in His Heavenly Kingdom and may his memory be eternal.
The funeral service will be on Thursday, August 18 at 7:00 PM at St. Luke Church in Garden Grove.
Memory Eternal! + Fr. Basil Steiger
MEMORY ETERNAL!
From the Diocese of Los Angeles:
It is with extreme sadness that we inform you that our beloved brother in Christ, Father Basil Steiger from Ss. Peter and Paul Church in Ben Lomond, California, fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, July 24, 2011. His Grace, Bishop Joseph has asked the parishes to remember him in your prayers for the departed for the next 40 days and to hold a special Trisagion for his eternal life. May God receive him in His Heavenly Kingdom and may his memory be eternal.