DIOCESAN ANNUAL ASSEMBLY COMES TO A CLOSE
Canton, OH - The Annual Assembly of the Diocese of Eastern America officially began on Friday February 25, 2005 with the Invocation of the Holy Spirit, which followed the evening Vespers. Besides His Grace Bishop Mitrophan there were a total of 57 participants at the assembly, consisting of 27 diocesan priests, 1 visiting priest, 3 deacons, 15 presidents, 14 delegates, 4 observers from a total of 32 churches.
In his annual report Bishop Mitrophan mentioned the different activities and archpastoral visits he made the previous year, which included a number of church anniversary celebrations. The diocese received four new priests: Fr. Milan Pajic from the Canadian Diocese, Protonamesnik Fr. Ivan Marjanovic from the Diocese of Zica, Fr. Ljubisa Brnjos from the Diocese of Zahum and Hercegovina and Deacon Perica Zivanovic from the Diocese of Temishvar. Two parishes were received from the New Gracanica Metropolinate: St. Luke the Apostle in Washington, DC and Holy Resurrection in Lebanon, PA.
The bishop mentioned parishes such as Aliquippa, St. Petersburg, Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Patterson, NJ that have done work on renovation in the past year. In addition to this, work has been done on the frescoes at the diocesan chapel. However, the largest scale job is definitely the much work that has been accomplished and is still needed at the Cathedral of St. Sava in New York City, for which His Grace commended the parish priest, the church board and building committee and all the many parishioners who have been a strong support in the efforts. Under future projects His Grace mentioned the fact that the debt on Monastery Marcha has been paid off in the past year and soon new projects at the monastery will be taken on. The Boston parish is currently seeking to purchase a church and plans are being drawn up for the Chapel of St. Arsenije of Srem in Charlotte.
A highlight for the diocese last year was certainly the first annual Diocesan Days which, God willing, will become a standing tradition in the coming years. Bishop shifted his concerns to our suffering brothers and sisters in Kosovo and all the work that our diocese has attempted to do in aiding our brethren, not to mention the fire at Monastery Hilandar and our efforts there. His concerns then moved to the spiritual state of our Serbian people as he quoted an observation of Bishop Nikolaj from 1920, in which the late hierarch lamented on the lack of participation our people put in the life of their holy church, adding that this description can easily be attributed to our people today. In his closing remarks, he called upon everyone to work together: for those born in America to use their experiences in helping the newcomers get assimilated and for the newcomers to offer the freshness of our old Serbian Orthodox tradition from the old country in the life of their new parishes.
Among the other reports was the Diocesan Relief Committee submitted by Fr. Rajko Kosic of Pittsburgh. Fr. Rajko thanked Mr. Milan Puskar for his donation of pharmaceuticals as well as Dr. Nenad Janicijevic who was instrumental with the collection and shipment of the medicine. During the past year three containers were sent to Serbia, however shipments will no longer be able to be sent directly to Serbia due to legal changes in the Serbian government. The committee is presently looking into sending medical supplies to Republika Srpska however Fr. Rajko emphasized the desperate need of monetary aid and called upon all priests and parish representatives to continue their work.
As the assembly was drawing to a close V. Rev. Rade Merick of Stuebenville, Ohio returned to a topic mentioned by the bishop in his report of the diocesan days and announced the days of this year’s event to be: Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August 7, 2005. The theme will be “Called To Be Orthodox”. Speakers will include Abbot Gerasim and Fr. Damascene of St. Herman Monastery, both of whom are converts to the Orthodox faith and from this perspective will be able to reveal to many of us cradle Orthodox the beauty and, indeed, the “calling” of being Orthodox. Also, tentative speakers are Fr. Vojislav Bilbija from the Netherlands, who will both speak to the youth and entertain them with both spiritual and religious music. Another suggested speaker/entertainer is Peter Jon Gillguist, who similarly to Fr. Vojislav, will both talk and play spiritual music for our diocesan youth. Diocesan churches will receive more details in the months to come. This year’s Diocesan Days will also include the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new children’s cabins at the camp.
The second day of the Diocesan Annual assembly began promptly at 8:00 am on Saturday, February 26, 2005, the feast of St. Symeon the Myrrh-flowing, with the Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy which was attended by all assembly participants. Following liturgy the new members of the Diocesan Council were sworn into office.
Fr. Aleksandar Vlajkovic of Boston offered a presentation after breakfast, on the theme of the role the priest plays in our parishes in America. He touched on many different aspects of the priesthood, defining in detail the difference between the clergy and the laity, pointing out the similarities in the two and how it takes both the clergy and the laity to serve God in the Divine Liturgy. Besides theological points, he also touched on topics which concern all priests in parishes today such as: the use of the Serbian language versus English; the challenges of the influx of newcomers in our parishes, etc.
Following this presentation Sam Cugalj continued the meeting by reminding all participants of the 2003 decision for our church to move towards full acceptance of stewardship in our parishes. He gave a moving and uplifting speech on the importance of this form of giving by saying that it is far from being a gimmick or a money-making scheme but a part of our spiritual life and is just as important as taking confession and communion. Stewardship must not be confused with the financial end of our parish administrative work and is not another form of pledging, rather it is purely a religious issue. "Our time and talents," he added, "we must return to God."
As the meeting came to a close the Midland parish delegate announced that their Kolo Sestara will be celebrating their 75th anniversary in the fall of this year and that they would be sending more information to parishes in the near future. In addition, V. Rev. Stavrofor Dragoljub Malich invited everyone to join them on Labor Day Weekend for the 100th Anniversary of the Monroeville parish. Special mention was given to Episcopal Deputy V. Rev. Stavrofor Nedeljko Grgurevich of Johnstown, PA who will be going into retirement this year. With the deacon’s intonation the entire assembly sang a heartfelf “Mnogaja Ljeta” for Proto Nedeljko.
Special thanks went to our hosts V. Rev. Dragan Filipovic, the Kolo Sestara who prepared such a wonderful breakfast and luncheon and all the parishioners of St. George in Canton, Ohio for their warm welcome and gracious hospitality at this year’s assembly. Before the meeting came to a close the Midland parish accepted to be the host for the 2006 Annual Diocesan Assembly.