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His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, recently released his Archpastoral Message for Steward Sunday, which will be observed on October 27, 2019. The complete text appears below and is available in PDF format.
Parishes across North America will be taking special collections on Steward Sunday to support the Church’s ongoing ministries through the Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America. Online donations also will be accepted with gratitude, as will donations by mail, which may be sent to the Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America, PO Box 675, Syosset, NY 11791.
The Stewards of the OCA is an important part of the support system necessary for the Church to fulfill her great mission and vision here in North America. As we begin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the glorification of Saint Herman, and the establishment of the Orthodox Church in America as an autocephalous Church, we need to believe in the mission of the OCA, and position her to effectively minister to those seeking the peace, love and salvation offered through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
On Steward Sunday we are asked to unite with our Metropolitan Tikhon and our own Diocesan Bishops, to contribute to the great potential of the Orthodox Church in America by providing the extra aid necessary for the Church to fulfill her apostolic mission and vision. Each parish is asked to take a second collection on Sunday, October 27, and to urge the faithful to become more acquainted with the vision of Metropolitan Tikhon as found in his work, Of What Life Do We Speak, and the good work of the various ministry departments as they seek to implement that vision.
Through our stewardship, and our free-will giving, we are reminded that we are, “servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” [I Cor. 4:1], called to respond to the realities of our North American context by being stewards and apostles of Christ. Please click here to offer your gift today.
Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon for Steward Sunday
October 27, 2019
To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America:
Christ is in our midst!
I greet you, my coworkers and stewards, in the joy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and I offer my prayerful gratitude to God for the love, courage, and generosity you have shown for the Orthodox Church in America. Today in the Orthodox Church in America we commemorate Steward Sunday, a day where I invite you to join me, and the members of the Holy Synod, in supporting our Orthodox Church in America, by prayerfully contributing to the great work we are called to do here in North America.
We have much work to do, but we must first give thanksgiving to Almighty God for the very fact that we, you and I, are here, 225 years after the arrival of Saint Herman, 195 years after the arrival of Saint Innocent, and 125 years after the arrival of Saint Tikhon on these shores. We are here, as a faithful community of bishops, clergy, monastics, and faithful Christians, to receive the blessing of these saints and to strive to emulate their example, so as to offer an Orthodox presence as a genuine local church here in North America.
Next year, we will celebrate fifty years of autocephaly. To be sure, this is a tremendous milestone for us, and in those fifty years we have accomplished much. But as we begin to plan our celebrations I note that the granting of autocephaly was not a reward or a recognition but rather a call to service: service to Holy Orthodoxy on this continent and to the sharing of the refreshment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a dry and thirsty land. Today, on this Steward Sunday, I am asking each of you to express your love for the Orthodox Church in America and for our Lord in a tangible way – through a sacrificial gift to the Stewards.
May the Lord continue to grant you every blessing for your salvation and for the growth of His Body, the Church.
With love in Christ,
+Tikhon
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
