Metropolitan Joseph’s Call to the Convention

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America – May 2015

Letter from His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph regarding the 2015 Archdiocesan Conventionto be published in the church bulletin and distributed to all parishioners:

To: Our Beloved Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, Archdiocesan Trustees, Department Heads, Organization Presidents, Parish Councils and Faithful of this God-protected Archdiocese:

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

It is with this joyful proclamation of the Risen Lord that we send to you this official Call to the 52nd biennial Archdiocesan Convention. We direct your attention to the following matters:

1. The Fifty-Second Convention of this Archdiocese will be held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel located at 39 Dalton Street, Boston, MA 02199 from July 20 – 26, 2015. We will be greatly blessed this year by the presence of Our Father in Christ His Beatitude Patriarch John X who will preside over all aspects of the convention. The host parish of St. Mary of Cambridge, MA is working diligently to welcome us all to Boston. All information about the convention can be accessed through the official convention websitehttp://www.acboston2015.com. You are required to send delegates from your parish and Parish Council to attend the departmental meetings and to vote on your behalf at the General Assembly.
2. All Reverend Clergy must be in Boston no later than Monday evening July 20, 2015. The Archdiocesan Trustees must also be in Boston by Monday evening July 20. The General Assembly of the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch will be held in the morning on Tuesday July 21 and all members of the Order are encouraged to attend. The Department Heads and members of each department must be in Boston in time to attend the departmental meetings which begin on Tuesday July 21. All of our faithful are encouraged to participate in the work of the departments since we need everyone’s talent and enthusiasm to do the work of this Archdiocese.
3. The Archdiocesan Constitution specifies that each parish and mission is entitled to one voting delegate for every one hundred (100) baptized souls or fraction of one hundred which exceeds fifty (50). In addition, each fulltime pastor, and fulltime assistant pastor is eligible to vote. You will soon receive a proxy form and Delegate List from the Department of Statistics and Credentials which requests that you identify your delegates by name, and return the signed form to the Archdiocese office no later than June 30, 2015.
4. Your financial obligation to the Archdiocese under the Proportional Giving System for 2015 has already been established based on the forms and worksheets that you have submitted. In addition, every parish is expected to contribute according to the minimum requirements for the three special trays which are collected throughout the year. All parishes are strongly encouraged to make sure that your payments are up to date so that your delegation may be properly seated at the General Assembly which begins on Thursday morning July 23. The preliminary agenda for the General Assembly is enclosed with this letter.
5. It is the sacred duty of all clergy and parish councils to attend the convention. It is also the sacred duty of every parish to pay their pastor’s expenses so that he may attend both the diocesan Parish Life Conference, and the Archdiocese Convention. For missions who may not be able to afford these expenses, the Order of St. Ignatius can accept an application which requests some financial assistance for the pastor to attend these events.
6. It is the policy of this Archdiocese that no resolutions may be accepted from the floor of the General Assembly. If you would like to introduce a resolution, please submit the written resolution to the Archdiocese Office in Englewood, NJ no later than June 10, 2015.
7. A very important part of every convention is the Convention Journal which depends heavily on support from every community in the Archdiocese. We strongly encourage you to contribute to this journal by purchasing an ad, and that this be done without any further delay.
8. The theme of this year’s convention is the Life of our Father Among the Saints Raphael of Brooklyn, which commemorates the 100th Anniversary of his falling asleep in Christ. All homilies at the divine services will be based on this theme and we urge everyone to be in Boston to hear these inspirational words and to prepare to work together for a very bright future. Bring your entire family and let us worship together and enjoy fellowship with each other.

Looking forward to seeing you in Boston, we remain,

Yours in the Risen Lord,

+Joseph
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America