wfn.org | [SCOBA] SCOBA Encyclical for the Sunday of Cheesefare and Mission Sunday

[Communications <communications@GOARCH.ORG>]

============================================
SCOBA NEWS  LISTSERVER

>Latest news online at:
>http://www.scoba.us/news

Unsubscribe information at the end of this email

============================================

>SCOBA

The Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas

>8 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075

>  March 1, 2009

>  March 1, 2009

Sunday of Cheesefare and Mission Sunday  

> 

The Lord has commanded us: I have set you as a light to the Nations, that y ou should be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. ( Acts 13:47 )

> 

To the Most Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics and

The Devout Faithful of the Holy Orthodox Churches in the Americas

> 

>Dearly Beloved in the Lord, 

We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we set our eyes on th e coming celebration of Christ’s glorious Resurrection through our  joyful participation in the Great and Holy Lent. The Sunday preceding our L enten journey has been designated by the Hierarchs of SCOBA as Mission Sund ay. For 2000 years, Christians have worked to share Christ’s messag e of hope and His promise of salvation with the world by serving as living  lights and witnesses to His truth among all nations, even unto the ends of  the earth .

> 

In 1994, the Hierarchs of SCOBA sanctioned the Orthodox Christian Mission C enter to provide the Orthodox Faithful in the Americas with the resources a nd opportunities they needed to answer the call to mission. Orthodox Christ ians have served in 34 countries by preaching, baptizing, and teaching the  newly illumined; supporting and educating priests, and helping the Church t o minister to the spiritual and physical needs of Her people through the ma ny ministries of the OCMC. Through this work, guided by the Holy Spirit, th ousands of people who were once in darkness are now embraced by the eternal  light of Christ.

> 

This year the doors of the new Archbishop Anastasios and Archbishop Demetri os Missionary Training and Administration Building will open. This building , the first permanent building of a SCOBA agency, will facilitate the conti nued growth of our Holy Churches’ worldwide missionary efforts. It  will be a resource for the training up of new missionaries and the coordina tion of international mission ministries, and it will allow the Orthodox Fa ithful of North America to share the light of Christ with even more people.

> 

This Mission Sunday, and throughout the Lenten season, let us embrace our c all to shine as lights in the darkness. Let us re-commit to pray for those  who have yet to hear the Gospel. Let us soften our hearts, that the Holy Sp irit may guide our response to the command to be light to the Nations, to b e for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Let us, as God’s childr en, shine brightly with the light of Christ before others.

> 

May our hearts be filled with hope and love as we prayerfully anticipate th e triumphant Resurrection of Christ our God; and may we be given the streng th and courage to share this glorious promise with our brothers and sisters  around the world.

> 

>With paternal blessings and love in Christ,

> 

  †Archbishop DEMETRIOS                    ��       †Metropolitan PHILIP

Chairman                         ��                                  Vice Chairman

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America           Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

> 

>  

†Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER       ��           †Me tropolitan NICHOLAS of Amissos

Secretary           ��                         ��                     Treasurer

Serbian Orthodox Church in North                    American Carpa tho-Russian Orthodox

And South America          ��                         ��      Diocese in the USA

> 

†Archbishop NICOLAE        ��                         ��Metropolitan JOSEPH

Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese        ��              Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church

In the Americas          ��                         ��                         

> 

            ��            ��            �� 

†Metropolitan JONAH        ��                           †Metropolitan CONSTANTINE

Orthodox Church in America                      ��       Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the US A

> 

> 

>     

†Bishop MERCURIUS of Zaraisk                 †Bishop ILIA of Ph ilomelion

Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate      �� Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America

>In the USA

> 

> 

============================================

>TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE SCOBA LIST:

>Send an email to:
>listserv@listserv.goarch.org

>In the body of the email simply type:
>signoff scoba

============================================