Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv & All Ukraine to speak at the 18th All-American Council

OCA- 5/5/15

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, will be the main speaker at the formal dinner to be held during the 18th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America slated to be held in Atlanta, GA July 20-24, 2015.

Metropolitan Onufry was elected to succeed His Beatitude, the late Metropolitan Volodymyr, on August 13, 2014.

In related news, the Preconciliar Commission, charged with planning the AAC, announced that the proposed agenda, as blessed by the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops at their Spring 2015 session, is now available here. Note that rooms are subject to change and any changes will be announced.

Other updates include the following.

• Two wonderworking icons—the Sitka Icon of the Mother of God, enshrined in the historic Archangel Michael Cathedral, Sitka, AK, and the Icon of Saint Anne from Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, South Canaan, PA—will be present and available for veneration throughout the gathering.  A special exhibit of rare historical artifacts and items from the Museum of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery Museum also will be on display.
• Registration for the AAC will open on Sunday, July 19 at 4:00 p.m.AAC registration may be completed on-line.
• FOCA events also will begin on Saturday and continue throughout the weekend. [See related FOCA story.
• A Pan-Orthodox Vesper service, hosted by His Eminence, Metropolitan Alexios of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Atlanta, will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. the same day.  All AAC and FOCA Convention attendees are warmly invited to participate.  Transportation from the hotel will be provided at 6:00 p.m.
• At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, a Synodal Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at the hotel.  The choir of Saint Symeon Church, Birmingham, AL, will render the liturgical responses.  Throughout the remainder of the day, various FOCA events, including a dinner-dance, will be held at the hotel.
• Youth events will begin on Sunday and continue throughout the week.  Numerous outings and trips for the youth have been planned.  Youth registration is available, while a flyer that includes the daily youth schedule of activities and outings also is available.
• Symposiums and Diocesan Assemblies will be held on Monday morning, with the first AAC plenary session slated to convene at 7:30 p.m.
• Ten workshops related to the AAC theme—“How To Expand The Mission”—will be held on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.  See the registration web site for options as they all relate to the theme of the Council “How to Expand the Mission.”
• At 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 23, a Synodal Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at the hotel.  Throughout the week Akathistos Hymns, Vespers and monastic services will be celebrated.
• The final plenary session will convene on Friday morning, July 24.  Among the highlights of this session will be a special youth presentation, during which participants will share their experience on the AAC theme.  Delegates should plan to leave late Friday afternoon.
• Hotel space is still available and registration is still open.
• The deadline for submitting resolutions has passed.  Submitted resolutions are currently being reviewed by the Resolution Committee.
• Likewise, the deadline for submitting suggested edits to theProposed Revised Statute also has passed.  The Commission on Canons and Statute is currently reviewing those changes.
• The Delegate Handbook, which contains the agenda, notices, arrangements, procedures, the text of the final Revised Statute and approved resolutions will be available during the third week of May—60 days before the AAC opens.

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