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Beloved Participants of the 47th Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:
In the aftermath of our gathering as the Ecclesia of God, allow me to share some thoughts with you as a coda to our gathering, we came together from every corner of our Church in America, from the Metropolises and Parishes, from the Monasteries, from the nationwide Philoptochos Chapters, from the Young Adult League chapters from coast to coast, from our Archdiocesan Institutions, and from our fellow Orthodox Churches and Ecumenical partners.
We came together to remind ourselves that in Christ, We Are One.
There is nothing that we cannot accomplish as a Church, if we remember our unity in the One Who gave Himself for us on the Cross, and arose from the dead to establish us in our new humanity, as His Body in this world. For we, the members of the Body, we are the essential nature of the Church, because we have been deified by Him. As we chant at the Holy Pascha (Ode Three, the Canon of Pascha):
Yesterday I was buried with you, O Christ; today I arise with You in Your Resurrection…
We are the One Body of Christ, risen from the dead, and that Body has as many members as we have individual lives. Much of our time at the Clergy Laity Congress is spent on Administration, for this is the skeleton which holds together the One Body of the Lord. But we are so much more! We all know the prophecy of the Prophet Ezekiel that we read every Holy Friday Evening at the Service of the Lamentations. The Lord asks: “Can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3.).
My friends, we know that they can. Because you, the People of God, are the muscles, the sinews, the ligaments, the heart, the lungs, and the vital organs of the Body of the Church. You, the members of this Sacred Archdiocese of America, are the fulfillment of the Ezekiel’s prophecy, when he beheld in the Valley of Dry Bones and he saw that, the bones came together, bone to its bone, and there were sinews on them, and flesh upon them, and skin covered them… (Ezekiel 37:7-8).
You are the promise of the Resurrection, which our Lord showed unto His Disciples – to the Myrrh-bearing Women in the Garden, and to the Apostles in the shuttered Room.
But just as just as our physical bodies are strengthened through physical exercise, it is through the exercise of the ministries of the Church, that we strengthen the Body of the Church. And that is precisely what we gathered in San Diego to do:
To exercise and fortify the Church;
To make it stronger and more vibrant;
To make it more flexible and inclusive of every member;
To make the Archdiocese healthier and heartier, so that every member feels valued, appreciated, and accepted.
For the promise of God was also given in the prophecy of Ezekiel, when the Lord said: “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it.” ( Ezekiel 37:7-8.) The breath in the Church is the Holy Spirit. We can never exhaust this source of life and love and liberty!
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters: I pray that having returned to your homes, your families, your parishes, our Metropolises, your Institutions, and every corner of our unified Archdiocese, you feel renewed with vigor and revived with spiritual dynamism. This is the land in which God has placed us! And I would ask that we go forth and exercise our collective Body of the Church in two distinct ways, because each of the following will energize and reinforce our Church in every aspect of Her life.
Let us commit to a nationwide program of religious and cultural education for every parish, that can be measured by concrete results and data. Then, in two years, when we return to the Clergy Laity Congress, we can evaluate our work to see if we have achieved the desired results.
Our Archdiocese has the capacity, but we need the willingness of all the parishes and their total participation. This is the difference between belonging to an athletic club, and actually using that club with real exercise by engaging our muscles – physical and spiritual!
And while we are exercising the Body of Christ, let us remember that our best workout facility and training academy is Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School and Hellenic College. This Institution belongs to the entire Archdiocese, and we must all take responsibility for its life, its progress, and its support – from coast to coast. There is no greater spiritual gymnasium for our Church than our precious Σχολή, so I ask all of you, to return to your parishes with a positive message about the School, and with a commitment to help it reach its full potential.
If we can accomplish these very basic exercises, in two years, we will find ourselves stronger, healthier, and more vigorous as the one Sacred Archdiocese of America, and on every local and regional level. We will have the reach and power to embrace wider and broader swaths of American culture; to claim our rightful place in this land.
We will safeguard the national character of what it means to be a Greek Orthodox Christian in the United States – with integrity and with the dignity that we deserve as the premier Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the First Throne of the Orthodox Church.
And through the grace of God we shall preach and teach this Gospel throughout our Nation;
To the glory, honor, and praise of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – well into our second century in this Great Land, and for all the ages to come.
In thankfulness to all of you for your devotion and dedication to the Church, I remain
With paternal love in Christ,
†ELPIDOPHOROS
Archbishop of America
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