Clergy-Laity 2016 Addresses & Reflections

Keynote Address By His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Geron of America at the 43rd Clergy-Laity Congress

By the grace of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ we are together again as Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America at our 43rd Clergy-Laity Congress in Nashville, Tennessee. Our meeting today takes place not only on this important national day of the 4th of July, but also immediately after a historic event for global Orthodoxy, namely the Holy and Great Council of Orthodox Autocephalous Churches in Crete, Greece. We also give thanks to God for another great gift, the ground breaking ceremony for the building of St. Nicholas in the World Trade Center, at Ground Zero. I started with the above two special events, the Council of our Orthodox Churches and the building of St. Nicholas because of their exceptional importance for the life of the Church.
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Clergy-Laity Congress Theme Article - Part IV

In this article our focus is on how we are offering the voice of Christ in a changing world through the ministry and service of our Greek Orthodox Church in America. During our discussions in Nashville, our primary work should be evaluating the current ministries and resources at all levels of our Holy Archdiocese and planning for more opportunities to offer the voice of Christ.
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Clergy-Laity Congress Theme Article - Part III

As our theme affirms, we live in a changing world. It is a challenging and complex world due to change. We experience this in our own lives as we go through each day, as we reflect on the past month and years and consider the course of our lives over time. Due to multiple means of communication and 'real time' information, we are presented constantly with events and moments of change from around the world.
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Clergy-Laity Congress Theme Article - Part II

As we are sent by Him to be the light of the world, to be His voice, it is essential that we know His voice, and we are able to offer the Gospel in a changing world. We know the voice of Christ as we live in His presence and are connected to Him in faith. We hear His voice offering truth, guidance, and assurance, and we respond by following His will. We hear His voice as our Lord sends us into the world to speak to others about what we see and experience in Christ.
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Clergy-Laity Congress Theme Article - Part I

As we prepare for our Clergy-Laity Congress and consider the implications of our Lord’s commission for our work throughout this Holy Archdiocese, it is important that we reflect prayerfully on this theme. In this first of a series of articles, our focus is on the importance of knowing Christ in order to be the voice of Christ. If we are to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth, if we are to speak a message of hope into lives filled with despair, if we are to proclaim salvation and victory over sin and death in a constantly changing world, we must know Christ.
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Clergy-Laity 2016