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As widely anticipated, the 19th All-American Council [AAC] of the Orthodox Church in America will open in Saint Louis, MO on Monday, July 23, 2018. Hundreds of OCA and guest hierarchs, clergy and lay delegates, youth, and observers are expected to attend the week-long gathering, as well as the 92nd annual National Convention of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America [FOCA], slated to be held at the historic Saint Louis Union Station Hotel—the AAC site—July 20-23.
The complete AAC agenda and schedule may be accessed online in the Delegate Handbook. A wealth of related information, including report books and liturgical music scores for AAC and Convention liturgical services, also is available on the AAC web site. And His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon’s recently completed document, “Of What Life Do We Speak? Four Pillars for the Fulfillment of the Apostolic Work of the Church,” is a “must read” not only for AAC participants, but every member of the Church.
Throughout the AAC, the OCA’s communications team will provide regular press releases, updates and galleries on the OCA web site and social media. Once again, Orthodox Web Solutions will offer daily coverage, while Ancient Faith Radio will podcast plenary sessions 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 live. {Plenary sessions 3 and 5 are breakout sessions and, as such, will not be aired.]
The AAC theme is “For the Life of the World,” inspired by the classic work of the same name by the late Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann.
As noted in the Statute of the Orthodox Church in America, “the All-American Council is the highest legislative and administrative authority within the Church. The Council brings together the various elements of the Church to bear witness to her identity, unity, and mission.”
