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The Parish Development Forum today announced the scheduling of a three part webinar series updating popular sessions from the June 2022 online Parish Development Forum.
“With its theme ‘The Orthodox Parish as a Vessel of Ministry’ the recent Parish Forum attempted to build awareness and capacity for parish ministry as a critical, not optional, element of parish life and mission”, said Joseph Kormos lay co-chair of the Forum. “While over 12 ministry related sessions were offered in parallel tracks, attendees could not participate in all of them. Since available recordings lack the prospect for interaction, many attendees asked for an opportunity to participate in live “encore” deliveries of various Forum segments. This series will update three segments from the Forum.”
The three webinars, which will be presented live with questions and discussion from attendees, are:
Thursday September 15: 7:30 PM (EDT) – Sarah Byrne Martelli, an Orthodox chaplain and bereavement counselor, will share tips about “Being a Ministry of Presence to the Grieving” based on her book “Memory Eternal: Living with Grief as Orthodox Christians”.
Thursday September 22 7:30 PM (EDT) – Kenny Kidd, executive director of FOCUS North America, notes that many people believe that only larger parishes in urban areas can successfully provide food, clothing, and shelter to the impoverished around them. Kenny will dispel that myth in his session: “Creating Opportunities to See and Serve Our Parish Neighbors”.
Thursday September 29 7:30 PM (EDT) – Father Justin Patterson, pastor at Saint Athanasius Church, Nicholasville, KY will review seeming ‘failures’ that eventually led to future ministry progress in his segment titled “Hopes and Hurdles: Three Stories of Challenges in Growing Parish Ministry”.
Archpriest Alexander Cadman, clergy co-chair of the Forum noted, “Returning parishioners and newcomers yearning for expanded, updated and renewed ministries may be one of the most significant opportunities for the Church in recent years. We want to keep the valuable information from this summer’s Forum alive, vibrant and available to many parish leaders. The encore series allows us to do just that.”
Registration Required
Attendees must register for each webinar separately. (No series registration.). Each webinar is available without charge. More information about each webinar and the links for registration can be found here.
The Parish Development Forum, now in its ninth year, is co-sponsored by the Orthodox Church in America’s Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania, the Diocese of the Midwest and the Bulgarian Diocese.
Questions and enquiries may be directed to Mr. Kormos at joekormos1@gmail.com.
