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The Midwest Diocese announced today that the early registration discount period for the 2026 Parish Development Forum is June 26.
The 2026 Forum will be held at St. Luke the Evangelist Church, Palos Hills IL. from 1:00 PM Thursday July 9th through noon on Saturday July 11. The theme for the 2026 Forum is “St Tikhon’s Vision for the Church in America: An Experiment in Parish Life.”
Persons interested in attending the Parish Development Forum are reminded to register early. Registrations received by the end of the day June 26 can attend at the discounted rate of $100 per person. After June 26 registration is $140 per attendee. To assure an atmosphere of robust discussion, Forum attendance will be limited to 80 persons. Once limits are reached registrations will close.
Registration and hotel information can be handled directly from this link.
Forum Speakers Announced
“Saint Tikhon was a transformative figure for Orthodoxy in America,” said Archpriest Stephen Frase, clergy co-chair of the Forum. “In his years in America, as Bishop and Archbishop, St Tikhon encouraged and established a variety of practices to meet the unique needs of Orthodoxy in America. Many ideas were not generally found in historically Orthodox countries. These actions were truly an ecclesial experiment in Orthodox life.”
“Among the significant contributions of Saint Tikhon were an emphasis on English language worship, active lay ministry and leadership, conciliar parish and Church governance, a missional expansion of Orthodoxy through extensive parish planting, emphasis on adult faith education a foundation for a unified, local, self-governing Church in America.
These ideas and practices are as important today as they were in the early 20th century. The 2026 Parish Development Forum’s agenda will develop many of these ideas.”
Agenda items and speakers will include:
- Dr. Scott Kenworthy, author of The People’s Patriarch will speak on St. Tikhon’s Vision for Orthodoxy in America
- Archpriest Alexander Rentel, St Vladimirs Seminary, will explore “With the hope that this might serve the good”: the Autocephaly in the 21st Century
- Dr. Randa Anderson and Archpriest Andrew Jarmus will collaborate to share perspectives on The Church and Technology: Encouragement and Caution
- Archpriest Daniel Greeson and a panel of catechists: will offer thoughts on Catechesis in the Time of the Surge
- Archpriest Justin Patterson will share ideas on The Challenge of Developing Parish Leaders
- Joseph Kormos will discuss: Six Practices for More Effective Parish Councils
- • Fr. Nicholas Anton and Spyridoula Fotinis, of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America, will share Inter-Orthodox Cooperation through Inter-Parish Associations: The Future is Now
Each day will end with vespers and Saturday, the final day of the Forum, will begin with Divine Liturgy.
The Parish Development Forum is a clergy/laity conference which explores the challenges facing Orthodox parishes, delivers actionable ideas and good practices valuable to parish leaders and builds mutually supportive relationships among participants. Past Forums have drawn attendees from most OCA Dioceses as well as the Greek and Antiochian Archdioceses, Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of USA and Canada and ROCOR.
Questions and enquiries may be directed to Mr. Kormos at this address. Registration and hotel information can be found here.
