wfn.org | Bishop Savas to Direct Greek Orthodox Church and Society Office

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

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> Stavros Papagermanos
> pressoffice@goarch.org

BISHOP SAVAS TO DIRECT OFFICE OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY

NEW YORK ? His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America has named His Grace Bishop Savas of Troas as Director of the Office of Church and Society, with a charge to develop programs and ministries that promote a creative Orthodox Christian engagement with contemporary societal and cultural realities.

"This Office," remarked Archbishop Demetrios, 
"will address matters of current relevance, such as the effects of online social networking, the popularity of so-called "reality" television and video games, and the resurgence of atheism. It will also oversee the Archdiocesan Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (AACST) and will work closely with the Archdiocesan Youth Department. Bishop Savas, one of our younger hierarchs, is a person of genuine administrative and pastoral experience who has served for the past nine years as Chancellor of the Archdiocese and the past seven as a Bishop. His extensive education, mature grasp of current issues, deep appreciation of and engagement with contemporary culture, and above all great love for Christ and His Holy Church make him particularly well qualified to direct such an office. I am confident that his appointment will bear much fruit, especially for our young people, who look to us to assist them in meeting the challenge of living lives that are both fully and authentically Greek Orthodox and fully and authentically, twenty-first-century American."

Bishop Savas will be leaving the Office of the Chancellor and assuming his new responsibilities as of Monday, March 2, 2009. The Rev. Fr. Michael Kontogiorgis will continue as Assistant Chancellor and the Rev. Fr. Athanasios (Al) Demos as Archepiscopal Vicar of the Direct Archdiocesan District.

Bishop Savas (Zembillas) of Troas is a graduate of Colby College (1979, BA in Philosophy and English Literature) and Holy Cross Greek Orthodoxy School of Theology (1985, with High Distinction). He pursued doctoral studies at Oxford University, under the supervision of His Excellency Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia, from 1987 to 1994. He is an Adjunct Professor at St Vladimir's Orthodox School of Theology, where he has taught a course on "Looking for God in Popular  Culture."

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