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The Fall Session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America will be held at the Chancery here from Tuesday, October 18 through Friday, October 21, 2016.
According to Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, OCA Secretary, the meeting will open with the address of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon. Throughout the four-day gathering, various aspects of Metropolitan Tikhon’s “four pillars” of Church life—spiritual life, evangelism and outreach, stewardship and external affairs—will be reviewed and amplified in separate sessions.
Reports from the OCA’s Officers—Archpriest John Jillions, Chancellor; Melanie Ringa, Treasurer; and Father Eric—will be presented, as will updates by Protopresbyter Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of External Affairs; the OCA General Counsel; and representatives of the Church’s boards, departments, commissions and other offices. Synod members will offer reports on their respective dioceses. The work of the Metropolitan Council also will be reviewed, specifically with regard to its recommendation to designate Saint Louis, MO as the site of the 19th All-American Council July 23-28, 2018. Updates on the redesign of the OCA web site and a review of the Second Mission School initiative also will be given.
On Wednesday morning, the Holy Synod will attend the Divine Liturgy, celebrated by His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin, at the Chancery’s Saint Sergius of Radonezh Chapel.
Other agenda items, added Father Eric, include a review and acceptance of the 2017 budget, a report on the Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America [SOCA], and an update on the work of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America [FOCA]. His Grace, Bishop Paul will report on the Spiritual Abuse Work Group, while Archpriest Nicholas Solak and Dr. Albert Rosi will offer a peer group presentation. Various matters related to the OCA’s monasteries also will be studied, as will the work of the Canonical Review Commission.
The Holy Synod of Bishops is the supreme canonical authority in the Church. Chaired by the Metropolitan, the Synod includes as voting members all the diocesan bishops.
