AIOPA - Monthly Meeting
Atlanta Inter-Orthodox Parish Association Meeting 08/26/2024
Attendees: Fr. Christos Mars, Evelyn Kemp, Steve Sarantis, Jackie Sarantis, Stephanie, Nada Saad
Opening Prayer offered by Fr. Christos Mars.
Fr. Christos welcomed everyone and reminded them that we are one month away from the Assembly of Bishops meeting.
Fr. Christos gave and update on the Assembly of Bishop’s meeting taking place in Atlanta.
· Assembly of Bishops—September 28-October 1, 2024
There are 58 potential hierarchs. Signed up has begun and we are looking closer to 25 bishops attending, but will know by end of August, beginning of September.
Below is the schedule of events. (see attachments as well.)
§ Friday and Saturday arrival of Hierarchs/helpers to Atlanta—Fr. Christos spoke with Jacob Sparks, and all is going well with coordinating this effort with the OCF, the young adults of the Cathedral, Marietta, Cumming and Sons of Pericles.
§ Saturday, September 28 Great Vespers with reception at St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church. The Parish priest and one deacon will serve with their hierarch. Following the Vespers we will have a nice dinner. Nada Saad told us that all is ready to go for this event.
§ Sunday, September 29 Divine Liturgy at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation (unless the Bishops chose to visit their home church). Executive Committee of AoB will service. Remaining hierarchs will sit in special marked pews. Cathedral Philoptochos will host a reception following the service.
§ The Cultural event that evening will take place at St. Philips Episcopal Cathedral and will begin around 4:30pm. Fr. Christos reminded everyone of the deadline for each parish to have a group if they can perform during the cultural event (dancers, singers, etc.). To date we have only 3 communities that have offered to participate, Annunciation Cathedral, Holy Transfiguration, and St. Mary’s.
§ Monday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 1, meetings at Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation. Looking for 5 meals to be provided by the community during these meetings. 3 communities have committed. Goal is to have smaller communities, who may not be able to contribute funds to help offset the costs, could cover one of the meals with prep, set up, serving and cleaning up, etc.
§ Assembly meetings ending at noon on Tuesday, October 1, with the Bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate staying for another meeting with an event with the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
§ Tuesday and Wednesday departure of Hierarchs from the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation.
§ Thank you to Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene of Cumming, GA for agreeing to do the welcome baskets which they have based on a Georgia Theme
§ Thank you to St. Elias for hosting the dinner on Saturday Night.
§ Thank you to Holy Transfiguration for doing the refreshments on Sunday Night for the cultural event.
§ Thank you to the Annunciation Cathedral for hosting Sunday and the meetings.
§ Still looking for a parish to agree to provide the flowers.
Fr. Christos also talked about the Pan-Orthodox Cross Dive event that will take place on Sunday, September 15 at the parish of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Macon, GA. The deadline to sign up is September 1. Please encourage all children in grades 9-12th to participate. Please see the attached flier for more information.
Fr. Christos also mentioned that The Loaves and Fishes program at St John the Wonderworker (now a pan-Orthodox ministry of FOCUS North America) has an opportunity for the month of August that enables us to receive a matching grant of $20k. We have raised over half of that amount, but we need to raise about $10K more in order to receive the grant. All donations must be received by this Saturday, August 31st in order for us to unlock the matching funds. Donations can be made through the following link: https://focusatlanta.org/
Other Parish Events:
· Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, Macon, GA
o Pan-Orthodox Cross Dive—September 15
o 17th Annual Central Georgia Greek Festival—October 25-27
More information to come on the times of the Festival.
· Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Atlanta, GA
o Atlanta Greek Festival—September 19-22.
· Saints Peter and Paul, Lilburn, GA
o Serbian Festival—September 28-29
Saint Elias, Atlanta, GA
Mid-Eastern Festival—October 5-6
Saint Mary, Dacula, GA
Deluca Romanian Festival—October 6
· Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, Cumming, GA
o Cumming Greek Festival—October 18-20, Celebrating 20 years!
· St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Church, Peachtree City, GA
o South Atlanta Annual Golf Classic—October 28
Closing prayer offered by Fr. Christos Mars.
Next meeting to take place on Monday, October 29 at 7pm. Please note there will NOT be a meeting in September due to Assembly of Bishop’s Meeting.