wfn.org | [SCOBA] Encyclical of SCOBA for the Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy

[Communications Department <Communications@GOARCH.ORG>]

SCOBA
The Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas
8 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075



This is the Faith that has
established the world.

The Synodikon of Orthodoxy

March 8, 2009
The Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy


The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference
of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas


To all the Clergy and the Laity of the Holy Orthodox Churches in the 
Americas

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We, the Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox 
Bishops in the Americas, greet you with love and blessings on the Feast of 
the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Holy and Great Lent. This 
year, amidst the tumult and the insecurity that seem to pervade the globe, 
we exhort all of you to stand firm in your Orthodox Faith in God, the 
Faith that has established the world, the Faith that is the bedrock of our 
Holy Church, the pillar and ground of truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

We, who have been blessed with the continuation of the Apostolic ministry, 
understand well that it is in the most difficult of circumstances that our 
Faith is tested. In times of trial and tribulation we are confirmed as 
believers, or contrary to that, as the Lord said, those identified as 
people of little faith (Matthew 6:30). But it is in these very same 
moments that by grace and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can 
experience transformation of spirit and soul, as we realize the sufferings 
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). 

This revelation of God’s love and purpose for our lives is oftentimes 
unanticipated by us, and certainly not always heralded by blaring 
trumpets. More likely, it comes through the still small voice (1 Kings 
19:12) that speaks volumes. It is the voice that speaks only truth 
proclaiming Orthodoxy, the sound that comforts the soul, the music that 
lifts our hearts heavenward.

Therefore, in these times when the pressures of daily life have taken on 
greater weight, and our world appears confused and confusing, let us 
re-commit ourselves to the practice of believing. Let us live each day 
with gratitude to God for the gift of faith: the Faith of the Apostles, 
the Faith of the Fathers, the Faith of the Orthodox, the Faith that has 
established the world.

With paternal blessings and love in Christ,


 
+Archbishop DEMETRIOS, Chairman 
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 
 
+Metropolitan PHILIP, Vice Chairman       
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese 
of North America  
 
+Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER, Secretary  
Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America 
 
+Metropolitan NICHOLAS of Amissos, Treasurer 
American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese 
in the USA 

+Archbishop NICOLAE
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese 
in the Americas

+Metropolitan JOSEPH
Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church 

+Metropolitan JONAH
Orthodox Church in America

+Metropolitan CONSTANTINE
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA

+Bishop MERCURIUS of Zaraisk 
Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA 

+Bishop ILIA of Philomelion
Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America