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Here is some more information concerning the upcoming Town Hall Meetings in our Diocese. There are links to other useful information.
I am hoping that there will be some good solid response from among you to join me in Indianapolis (yet feel perfectly free to join any of the three meetings here mentioned). Once again, I suggest car pooling for the trip there and back. With Archbishop Job as the "overseer," any and all questions will be allowed. If such questions have been accumulating in your own minds, here is the opportunity to ask them.
Personally, I do not believe that it is overly dramatic or an exaggeration to say that the future of the OCA is right now in precarious condition. We seem to be at the proverbial "fork in the road," having to make a deadly serious choice about "direction," yet without the assistance of most of our appointed guides! The OCA may indeed "survive" and stumble along down the wrong road, but that is hardly what we would want for the autocephalous Church in America. Perhaps these town hall meetings may set the "tone" for the upcoming All American Council in Pittsburgh, by raising - in a preliminary fashion - all of the serious and real issues that need to be addressed and not ignored. I am hoping that the meeting in Indianapolis will be the forum where we can openly discuss these issues and learn a great deal in the process.
Another possibility occured to me: If we can ascertain by mid-July or so, just who is committed to making the trip to Indianapolis, perhaps we could meet together as a group and come to a consensus on some key questions that we could formulate as a group. In addition, we could simply "catch up" together on where we stand presently and share some of our own concerns.
Fr. Steven
Webmaster's Note: For summaries of and commentaries on the previous Town Hall Meetings throughout the OCA, please proceed to ocanews.org.
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Reverend Fathers and Deacons,
Please find posted here, and reproduced below, information about AAC Preconcilliar 'Town Hall' meetings to take place in the diocese.
In Christ,
Deacon Joseph
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Dn Joseph Matusiak
Assistant to the Archbishop
Diocese of the Midwest
tel. 312.202.0420
midwestdiocese.org
CHICAGO, IL [MW Communications] – The Diocese of the Midwest will host three "Town Hall" meetings during the month of July. The "Town Hall" meeting has been conceived as a venue where clergy and laity can offer their suggestions and express their concerns regarding the 15th All-American Council, set to convene in Pittsburgh, PA. 10 - 13 November 2008.
The schedule of meetings within the diocese is as follows:
- July 17, 6.30pm Ridge Manor, Brooklyn, OH (St Theodosius Catherdal meeting facility)
- July 24, 7.00pm St. Peter and St. Paul Church – Burr Ridge, Illinois
- July 31, 6.30pm St John the Forerunner Church – Indianapolis, Indiana
His Eminence, Archbishop Job of Chicago and the Midwest will be present at all three meetings. OCA Chancellor, Archrpiest Alexander Garklavs will be present at the Chicago area session. Matushka Michelle Jannakos, Preconcilliar commission member will be present at the Cleveland area and Indianapolis meetings.
A proposal for the meetings was approved by the Holy Synod of Bishops in April 2008. The text of the proposal can be found here.
Archbishop Job has stated that no topic for discussion will be considered "out of bounds", and no relevant question or comment will be prohibited.
The meetings are open to clergy and faithful from the diocese as well as those of the Bulgarian Diocese and Romanian Episcopate.
