Order of St. Ignatius News

Bill Hinkle is a founding member of Prophet Elijah Antiochian Orthodox Mission in Ellensburg, WA, a member of the Order of St. Ignatius, and a graduate of the Antiochian House of Studies. Bill's varied history also includes a stint as the Minority Whip of the Washington State House of Representatives, a career as a firefighter paramedic, service as a county commissioner, civic involvement in boards and a leadership institute, and a career in health insurance. He recently launched a bi–monthly podcast with the Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) called "Our Life in Christ and in America." Antiochian.org spoke with Bill about the many hats he wears. 

1. How long have you been Orthodox and how did you discover the Church? Tell us a little about your parish.

I told my wife on our first date that I wanted to know God, live a Christian life and find the Church, but wasn't sure how to do any of that. Almost 10 years later in 1999, we met Fr. George and Pres. Dianthe Livanos on a ferry dock in Port Angeles Washington the week before Thanksgiving. He had travelled from Canonsburg, PA and we were on vacation six hours from our house. We spent 45 minutes crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca on a ferry talking about "the historic church" as Fr. George explained it to us.

Sixteen years ago, at the tender age of twenty-one, Sonia Daly had a vision to open an Orthodox School near her hometown in Massachusetts. With her hard work and by God’s grace, Theophany School opened its doors in 1997. Since then, we have been working hard to foster the intellectual, moral and social development of our students by engaging their minds, nurturing their spirits, and enriching their God-given gifts and talents through the teachings and life of the Holy Orthodox Christian Church. Our small class sizes and child-driven curriculum let us educate the whole child, thereby cultivating each child’s strengths, and encouraging him or her to be an independent thinker and a thoughtful member of our School, and of his or her family and communities, ultimately guiding us all along the path to Christ.

Archbishop Joseph with Fr. Thomas Zell and new Order members, Modesto, CAThe month of December every year is designated as Order of St. Ignatius month, in conjunction with the feast day of St. Ignatius on December 20. The Order is the philanthropic arm of the Antiochian Archdiocese and one of its most vital lay ministries, under the guidance of Metropolitan Philip and the Archdiocese Board of Trustees. Currently, there are nearly 4,000 members supporting approximately 38% of the Archdiocese's budget, as well as a host of other worthy causes including: camping and college conference scholarships, married seminarian assistance, Antiochian Village, Teen SOYO Special Olympics, theological and religious education, clergy retirement, Project Mexico, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), The Treehouse Family Ministry, and Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF).

Dr. Elias K. Hebeka, the North America Vice-Chair for the Order, wrote in December's The Word magazine, that "I have been so lucky to have served on the Governing Council of the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch for approximately ten years.

Seminarian, Burke Vair and his wife Vasi Jankovich Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church; Linthicum, MDWhen Metropolitan Philip was an impoverished seminarian at the Balamand in the 1940s, he vowed that, one day, if it were up to him, seminarians who were willing to devote their life to service in the Orthodox Church would have the financial support from the Church that they need to complete their studies. By the will of God, he became Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and he has followed through on that vow. The Archdiocese supports seminarians in the Master of Divinity programs at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York, St. Tikhon’s Theological Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School in Brookline, Massachusetts who are discerning the call to ordination by providing scholarships for their tuition and a stipend to defray the costs of housing and other costs of living. According to the Annual Financial Report for 2011, 11.3% of the Archdiocese’s expenditures that year were for the education of those discerning a call to ordination. No other Orthodox jurisdiction in America supports its seminarians in this way. What a blessing!

Update: click here to see an excerpt from the performance.

The St. Romanos the Melodist Choir from the Archdiocese of Beirut completed their two week tour at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY before a capacity crowd of over 450, on Saturday, September 22, 2012. Six hierarchs, numerous priests and deacons, and two counsels general from Lebanon and Cyprus, filled the cathedral for a night to remember.

To begin the concert, His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP offered words of welcome, and then the choir of twelve men, led by Father Romanos Joubran, mesmerized the crowd with their beautiful music for a hour. After a short break, Part Two began with a special guest appearance by the Archdiocesan Byzantine Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Then, to top the evening off, both choirs performed several hymns—first antiphonally, and then in unison.

Following the program, His Eminence Archbishop DEMETRIOS of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America presented Fr. Romanos and the group with a beautiful icon of St. Romanos the Melodist on a large polished stone. Metropolitan PHILIP then thanked both choirs, and all present gave the choirs a standing ovation.

Ecclesiastical Choir of St. Romanos the MelodistWith the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip and His Eminence Metropolitan Elias of Beirut, the Antiochian Archdiocese will be welcoming the Ecclesiastical Choir of St. Romanos the Melodist from the Antiochian Archdiocese of Beirut, Lebanon, on a Fall 2012 Tour of the USA.

Led by Fr. Romanos Joubran, Dean of the Cathedral in Beirut and instructor of Byzantine Music, the choir will conduct its first tour of the United States from September 10-24, 2012. They have performed throughout Lebanon and Europe, and produced several professional recordings such as this YouTube rendition of "Osoi Eis Xriston." The tour is being funded through the generosity of the Order of St. Ignatius; the schedule lists appearances in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York. Listen here to Ancient Faith Radio's interview with Fr. Thomas Zain, Vicar General of the Archdiocese, about the upcoming concerts.

Mary Winstanley-O'Connor, Chair of The Order of St. IgnatiusThe Order of St. Ignatius Chair Mary Winstanley-O'Connor is a lifelong member of the Antiochian Archdiocese. A Boston attorney, Mary joined the Order in the early 1990's after visiting Antiochian Village, where she was deeply moved by listening to the campers pray and sing. She assumed the role of the Governing Council Chair in 2011, following in the footsteps of Daniel Abraham. Recently Antiochian.org asked Mary to reflect on her first year of leadership.

1.  Mary, can you tell us how you became involved in the Order of St. Ignatius?

I have been a life-long member of St. Mary Orthodox Church of Cambridge, Massachusetts. I am an attorney with offices in Boston and have lived in the greater Boston area throughout my life. Like many in our Archdiocese, I was a member of Teen SOYO, a member of the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, Parish Council President and a Sunday School teacher.

Seven new members were inducted into the Order of St. Ignatius at the 2012 Parish Life Conference of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West. Pictured, from left to right: Dr. Raymond Rishwain (Past North American Chair), Mazen Manasseh (2012 Inductee), Sheila Veizades (2012 Inductee), Henry Veizades, Zeina Manasseh (2012 Inductee), Mother Pelagia (Mother Superior St. Thekla Convent, Maaloula, Syria), His Eminence Archbishop JOSEPH, Sana Eideh (2012 Inductee), Fr. Samer Youssef, Abraham Ghebremicael (2012 Inductee), Michael Srour, John Mogannam (2012 Inductee), Johnny Khamis (2012 Inductee), Kh. Julianna Youssef, Christian Manasseh, Dania Amireh

Four new members of the Order of St. Ignatius were inducted at the Parish Life Conference for the Diocese of Miami and the Southeast. The PLC was held at the beautiful Ocean Sky Hotel and Resort in Fort Lauderdale.

Four new members join the Order	L to R: Miguel Perez , John Sedawei, Chris Husson and Aster Afework
New Miami Diocese Order Chair Nicholas Sadaka with Bishops Anthony & Antoun, and Fr. Elia Shalhoub (Spiritual Advisor)

The voicemail came as our family had just arrived at a campground outside Bryce Canyon, Utah, on a dry and dusty June afternoon. After we parked, the rest of the family was in our trailer setting up, while I went outside to return the call to the Archdiocesan office. I sat on the concrete picnic table, grateful for the rusty tin roof providing shade from the scorching sun. Our family had been eagerly awaiting news of my next assignment, having completed three blessed years in residence at St. Innocent Orphanage near Tijuana, Mexico. After leaving Mexico, we traveled around the Western United States both to enjoy some family time after the move from Mexico, and to fill the time as we waited with great anticipation to hear which community in this vast Archdiocese we would next call home.

“There’s something special going on in Bowling Green, Kentucky,” Fr. George Kevorkian, Assistant to the Metropolitan, said with excitement over the phone. As I racked my brain trying to figure out if I had ever heard of Bowling Green, Kentucky, he added, “I think you may want to check it out.” He explained that there was a fairly new mission that had really impressed him, and they were hopeful that they were financially ready to support a priest. Having been given the phone number of the coordinator of the mission, in one phone call I knew Fr. George was right.

Over the next few months, young people will be registering for one of the eight summer camps in our Archdiocese. If you know any of these young people who have been to camp before, you know that they have started their countdowns to the first day of camp. They spend hours on Skype and Facebook talking to their camp friends throughout the Archdiocese, and they go into a post-camp depression when they return home from camp.

So what is it about the camp experience that makes our young people love it so much? Certainly, there are many things that contribute to it: the friends, the activities, the counselors and staff, and being in the outdoors, to name a few. The thing that makes camp so special, however, is the camp environment, which presents a living experience of the Orthodox faith. In 1978, the Archdiocese purchased the Antiochian Village, and His Eminence Metropolitan Philip appointed the Archmandrite Fr. John Namie (+ 2001) of blessed memory as the first Camp Director. Thanks to the vision and leadership of these two great men, this mission of presenting a living experience of the Orthodox faith in the camp setting has become the standard at all of our camp programs in the Antiochian Archdiocese.

When asked by Constantine Nasr in 1998 why campers come to camp, Fr. John Namie responded,

[Christian living–] that’s why people come here: to learn Christian living by doing it. It’s the best way to learn. The best way to learn is by doing things. When you come to the Village, you get to do everything in a Christian fashion. You get to love each other, and that means that you get to share with each other your life.… We get to pray, both privately and in church. We learn church hymns, we have a good time at our meals, and we play a lot and play hard. It’s great to be at camp. It’s one of the greatest experiences that a young person can have.