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More than 100 clergy of the Orthodox Church in America gathered online for the Office of Pastoral Life’s Winter 2025 Synaxis on Tuesday, Dec. 16. The quarterly gathering offered space for prayerful reflection, shared learning and encouragement, and featured His Eminence Archbishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska as keynote speaker.
In his presentation, “Hard-Pressed Yet Not Crushed”: Avoiding Burnout and Promoting Flourishing, Archbishop Alexei invited clergy into an honest and hope-filled conversation about the interior and exterior pressures of pastoral ministry. Drawing from Holy Scripture, the Psalms and the pastoral wisdom of St. John Chrysostom, His Eminence reflected on how clergy may remain rooted in hope while carrying the weight of pastoral ministry entrusted to them.
Archbishop Alexei spoke of resilience not as endurance alone, but as a life continually renewed in Christ. He highlighted the quiet but profound practice of remembering oneself in preparation for the Divine Liturgy, noting how this act can steady the heart, restore perspective and reorient the priest’s ministry toward humility, gratitude and trust in God’s mercy.
Following the keynote, participants entered facilitated breakout groups designed to foster peer learning and mutual support. In these small groups, clergy reflected together on recognizing signs of burnout, nurturing spiritual, emotional and physical well-being, and cultivating rhythms of prayer, community and healthy boundaries that sustain long-term faithfulness in ministry. As the quarterly Synaxis drew to a close, His Eminence returned to engage questions from the participants.
For more information on Synaxis and other Office of Pastoral Life programs, email assistant@opl.oca.org or visit opl.oca.org.
About Synaxis
Synaxis is the Office of Pastoral Life’s quarterly online gathering that offers clergy across the Orthodox Church in America opportunities for support, peer learning, and shared reflection.
About the Office of Pastoral Life
The Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Pastoral Life supports the well-being of clergy and their families, the foundation of parish life across North America. Believing the health of the Church is inseparable from the health of her clergy, the Office offers programs that build resilience, connection and pastoral joy. Programs include Thriving in Ministry peer-learning groups, Financial Health Initiatives, quarterly Synaxis Gatherings, National Clergy Retreats and Clergy Wives Ministry. In partnership with bishops, dioceses, parishes and our generous donors, the Office of Pastoral Life helps create sustainable conditions in which priests, deacons and their families of the Orthodox Church in America can flourish spiritually, vocationally and personally through every season of parish ministry.
