ASSEMBLY OF CANONICAL ORTHODOX BISHOPS OF NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA 10 East 79th Street • New York, New York 10075 Tel.: (212) 774-0526• Fax: (212) 774-0202 Web: www.assemblyofbishops.org Officers:
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Chairman Office of the Secretariat:
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Chairman His Eminence Metropolitan Phillip First Vice-Chairman His Eminence Archbishop Justinian Second Vice-Chairman His Grace Bishop Basil Secretary His Eminence Archbishop Antony Treasurer
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America was established by the Decision of the Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference that met at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambesy, Switzerland from 6 to 13 June 2009, after the extraordinary Synaxis of all the Heads of the Autocephalous Churches convened by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (October 10-12, 2008). This Assembly, one of the twelve that that have been established around the world in regions where there is no single Orthodox presence, will consist of the active canonical bishops who reside in the region designated as North and Central America. In every Assembly, the chairman will be the senior bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Assembly, which meets annually and functions by a consensus of all its members, has established thirteen committees to help further its work. These committees, composed of member bishops and assisted by lay and clergy advisors, are charged by the Assembly with various specific tasks. The Assembly declared itself to be the successor of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), and it assumed its agencies, dialogues, and other ministries. Unlike SCOBA however, the Assembly is a transitional body. If it achieves its goal, it will make itself obsolete by developing a proposal for the canonical organization of the Church in North and Central America. This proposal will in turn be presented to the forthcoming Great and Holy Council, which will consist of all canonical Orthodox bishops throughout the world. The Assembly met for the first time under the chairmanship of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios (as Exarch of 156
His Grace Bishop Basil, Secretary of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America 1559 North Woodlawn Street Wichita, KS 67208-2429 Tel. 316-687-3169 Fax 316-636-5628 Email: BPBASIL@AOL.com Secretary to the Chairman: Rev. Fr. Mark Arey Email: frarey@goarch.org
the Ecumenical Patriarchate) in May of 2010 (May 26-28). Fifty-five bishops of the region attended the meeting. The Assembly convened at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel in New York City where accommodations and arrangements were coordinated by the staff of the Archbishop. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, through the Leadership 100 grant to the Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, underwrote most of the expense, with other funds coming from a variety of Pan-Orthodox sources. The Assembly gathered for its second annual meeting at the Chicago O’Hare Hilton, in Chicago, IL, May 25-27, 2011, under the chairmanship of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios. There were 45 bishops in attendance, with the majority of the Canadian Bishops awaiting the separation of Canada into its own Assembly. The Assembly heard reports from each of its thirteen committees. Nearly all of the committees had either met prior to the Assembly meeting, or were able to meet while in Chicago. The Assembly expressed its desire to define more carefully its relationship to the agencies and endorsed-organizations which it inherited from SCOBA. The Hierarchs decided that it was prudent for the Assembly to be incorporated as a legal entity, as this would bring the Assembly a number of benefits and would further its ability to act as a body. It therefore authorized the proper agents to move ahead with the work of incorporation. In addition, the Assembly reaffirmed its petition of the previous year to the mother churches for the partition of the Assembly, by establishing Canada as a separate region, and joining Mexico and Central America to the region of South America. At the