Two Upcoming Events of Interest

  • January 24 – Lecture on renewing the office of deaconess (Burnaby, Canada and online)
  • February 8 – Conference on women’s ministries in the Orthodox Church  (Chicago)
    Details below!

A Byzantine Order for Today? Renewing the Orthodox Christian Office of Deaconess for the Twenty-first Century
Friday, January 24th at 2:30pm in person in Room 7200 of the Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, or online.
The first Orthodox Christian deaconess of the twenty-first century was ordained in 2024 in Zimbabwe in answer to decades of calls from around the world to renew the ancient order of deaconess and in response to local needs in the African setting. The ordination of Deaconess Angelic Molen and her current liturgical and pastoral roles overlap but also depart from the rites and roles of a Byzantine deaconess. Why might the roles of a deaconess be different today compared to her Byzantine predecessors? What might this ordination mean for the rest of the Orthodox world? In this public lecture, Orthodox scholar Carrie Frederick Frost of Western Washington University (and Chair of the St. Phoebe Center) will describe and frame the recent ordination, which she witnessed, within the larger context of the conversation about deaconesses in the Orthodox Church and will address the complexities and significance of renewing a Byzantine order for today.  
Sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies

The Ministry of Women in the Church: Reflections of Leaders, Inspiring Growth
10am – 3pm on Saturday, February 8
St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church
5649N Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL
(773) 334-4515
Keynote Speaker
Elizabeth H. Prodromou, PhD
Visiting Professor in the International Studies Program at Boston College, and affiliated faculty member of the Islamic Civilizations and Societies Program and the Boisi Center for Region and American Public Life
Panelists
  • Mother Seraphima, Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Elwood City, PA
  • Randa Karadsheh Anderson, PhD Clinical Psychologist; President of OCAMPR
  • Maria Boyle, MS in counseling, Northwestern; Founder and Leader of Divorce Rebuilders Ministry
  • Presbytera Anna Kallis, MDiv, Director of the Telos Project, CrossRoad Institute; Founder of Myrrhbearers Ministry
  • Katherine Siavelis, Learning Disabilities Specialist and Educational Consultant; Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago Philoptochos Board, Co-Chair Philanthropy Fund
  • Helen Theodoropoulos, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Theology; St Phoebe Center for the Deaconess Board
Registration
The conference is free of charge, but registration is required. Send name(s), number of attendee(s), and contact email to Helen at metroconferencechicago@gmail.com.
With the support of the Hellenic Foundation and an anonymous donor.
PRAYER TO ST. PHOEBE
Most holy Phoebe, who was found to be worthy of the diaconate; who was Paul’s helper and carried his words to the people of Rome; who is called the lamp of Cenchrea; we now humbly ask that you intercede for us, and pray to Christ our God for us as we discern His will for revival of the ordained female diaconate for the upbuilding of the entire Church today. Pray that we will be blessed and fruitful in our works this day and always, to God’s glory. Amen
We educate and prayerfully advocate for the revival of the ordained female diaconate to help serve the ministerial needs of the Orthodox Church and the world today.