A high-ranking former orthodox archbishop, who has pleaded not guilty, must wait until the new year to learn if he’ll go to trial on historical Manitoba sex abuse charges.

Seraphim Storheim appeared in a Winnipeg courtroom this week for the start of his preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed. A court-ordered ban prevents specific details from being published.

Defence lawyer Jeff Gindin told the Winnipeg Free Press the evidence was presented on Thursday and Friday but the case has now adjourned until Jan. 18 for lawyers to make final arguments. The judge will then render his decision.

Read the full article.

The Winnipeg Sun writes:

Former archbishop Kenneth William (Seraphim) Storheim has pleaded not guilty to molesting two 10-year-old boys.

A former archbishop with the Canadian arm of the Orthodox Church in America has pleaded not guilty to charges he sexually assaulted two boys during the time he worked in Winnipeg.

Kenneth William (Seraphim) Storheim, 65, appeared Thursday for a preliminary hearing into allegations he abused two 10-year-old boys between December 1984 and June 1987.

At the time, Storheim was a rector at Holy Trinity Sobor, located at the corner of Manitoba Avenue and McKenzie Street in the North End.

A publication ban prevents the printing or broadcasting of any evidence presented by the Crown at Thursday’s hearing.

Storheim flew to the city last November to turn himself into police, who were holding a warrant for his arrest. He was quickly released on a promise to appear in court.

He had stepped aside from his high-level position in the church months earlier.

The church said Storheim had been granted a leave of absence while police investigated the accusations; Storheim suggested he stepped aside for health reasons.

Source

Fr. Ted Bobosh writes to clarify the article’s statement that Archbishop Seraphim is an ex-Archbishop:

As a point of clarification, Archbishop Seraphim is, I believe, considered under suspension by the OCA’s Synod of Bishops, so he has not been defrocked nor has his title or episcopal rank been taken away from him by the OCA.

Sadly, as the news story relates, Archbishop Seraphim’s accounts of why he was originally put on leave of absence do not match other facts known from statements from the OCA which was clear that he was first put on Leave of Absence because allegations of sexual misconduct had surfaced.   He had also on another occasion denied knowing what the allegations were about but certainly others knew and some discussed it with him.

The court is supposed to make a determination today as to how to proceed with the case.

Source.

How do we communicate the “Good News” of Jesus Christ to those around us?

Attend the 2012 Orthodox Conference on Missions and Evangelism in Dallas and Ft. Worth to learn more.

View the Conference Flyer, the detailed Missions Conference Schedule and when you’re ready,  Register Online.

Locations:

• Friday January 20,2012 at St. Barbara Orthodox Church (OCA), Ft. Worth
• Saturday, January 21,2012 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Dallas
• Sunday, January 22,2012 at various orthodox parishes

This Conference will examine how the Church of the past evangelized the world, and discuss how to put ancient proven methods into modem practice locally.

Speakers:

• Fr. Peter Gillquist (Chair of the Antiochian Archdiocese Department of Missions and Evangelism)
• Fr. Joseph Huneycutt (St. Joseph Antiochian Orthodox Church, Houston, TX)
• Fr. Evan Armatas (St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church, Loveland, CO)

Free admission — No childcare provided.

For additional information about the conference, please contact the Dept. of Missions and Evangelism at (805) 685-8999.

For updates on locations and times, visit this web site.

For the convenience of out of town conference attendees we have reserved a small block of rooms at a hotel near Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at a discounted rate. The special rate is only available to those who reserve prior to Dec. 30. Here are the details:

Hotel address is:

Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre
5410 LBJ Freeway
Dallas, TX 75240
1-800-245-3304 reservations

Identify yourself as part of the Orthodox Conference. The conference rate is $99 per day plus 13% tax and you have until noon the day of arrival to cancel.

When Father John Mikita of the parish of St. John of Damascus Orthodox Church goes anywhere in public, he wears his traditional Orthodox robes.“I get a lot of folks who stop me in Walmart and they want to know, ‘What’s the difference between Orthodoxy and the Baptist church?’” he said. “And it’s like, ‘OK, where do we want to start?’ It’s really challenging, but it’s a joy as well.”

Orthodoxy is generally outside the main stream conscious, Mikita said, but it is a faith that is growing in the American South.

The parish of St. John of Damascus Orthodox Church in Tyler is a 55-member congregation, made up of many converts. About 90 percent of the founding members who began the church in 2006 were converts, Mikita said. Their numbers have tripled since the parish began, he said.

“Sort of like myself, who discovered Orthodoxy through biblical and theological examination and inquiry, a number of the people here came from a variety of different Christian backgrounds who found Orthodoxy and started reading books,” he said.

St. Barbara Orthodox Church is pleased to announce its 25th annual “Old Country Christmas Ethnic Festival” on Friday, November 11th from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, November, 12th from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This annual event features pastries, baked goods, and other delicacies made from authentic ethnic recipes from the “Old Country” – Eastern Europe. The recipes have been handed down for generations and are made by parishioners and friends of St. Barbara Orthodox Church. The international assortment of pastries and delicacies represents a melting pot of nationalities which are reflective of the Slavic heritage of the parish and especially the multi-cultural makeup of its members; Russian, Ukrainian, Carpatho-Russian, Romanian, Greek, Czech, and Serbian recipes are used.

Peroghi, the delicious potato and cheese filled dough triangles are a highly requested food item. The men and women work diligently to create thousands of these delicate ethnic dumplings which are a staple on many Slavic tables. This year will also feature the widely popular frozen ethnic dinners sold as take-out items including Halupki (cabbage rolls), Halushki – onions, cabbage and noodles, and our new edition: Russian beef stroganoff and buttered noodles.

There will also be Czech Kolache in assorted flavors as well as Russian Orochovie (a nut bar cookie with raspberry filling), Greek baklava, and Greek sweet bread. Slavic nut, apricot, cheese, cherry-cheese, and poppy seed rolls (a yeast bread with the various fillings and another favorite of our customers) will be featured. Black Russian coffee liquor cakes, pumpkin cream cheese log rolls, Greek sesame seed cookies, Russian spiced tea, Ukrainian sour cream cakes, pecan pies, Russian Apple Pies, and much, much more will be available at the festival.

Our parish cookbook, “Generations – Recipes and Traditions from St. Barbara Orthodox Church” features over 500 recipes from parishioners and friends of the parish reflecting and celebrating their diverse ethnic backgrounds and traditions. Personal anecdotes and reflections accompany many of the recipes. The cookbook has a comb binding, laminated cover and beautiful illustrations. Explanations of the Orthodox customs of Pascha (Easter), Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter Eggs), and Christmas Eve Holy Supper offer insight into these beautiful traditions. The cookbook makes a wonderful and unique gift anytime during the year, especially during the holiday season.

In addition, this year the festival also features a wonderful and unusual assortment of ethnic crafts such as beaded Ukrainian Christmas Eggs, Russian Matroshka (Nesting) Dolls imported from Belo-Rus, Russia and the Ukraine as well as hand-carved and ornately painted Father Frost Santas and Russian wooden character figures and other Eastern European gift items which may be purchased. A well-stocked Orthodox Christian Bookstore featuring liturgical cassettes, crosses, icons, Orthodox books and other items will be available.

Nicholas Kozak witnessed a miracle that he hopes will convince others that God is real.

“I hope the icon will be tangible evidence to anyone who is looking for faith and a real revelation of the lord,” said Kozak, 17, of Green. “How else can you explain myrrh coming from an icon, except that it is something of God?”

Kozak was among the overflow crowd of 300 people who gathered Thursday at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, which seats about 100, for a special prayer service of thanksgiving that was sung to the Blessed Mother. She is represented in the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (the Greek name for Mary, the Mother of God).

The traveling icon, which streams a sweet-smelling, oily substance (identified as myrrh), officially was recognized in 2008 as miraculous and worthy of veneration by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Since then, numerous miracles — including the healing of blindness, cancer, demonic possession, paralysis, kidney disease and chronic pain — have been attributed to it.

Read the full article.

The Sophia Institute for Orthodox Thought and Culture will hold its fourth annual conference on Friday December 2, 2011 on the campus of Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

The theme of this year’s conference is:”Beauty Will Save the World”: The Notion of the Beautiful in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Keynote speakers include the Orthodox philosopher David Bentley-Hart, Robert Bird (Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago), Peter Jeffery (Musicology, Notre Dame), and Daniel Munteanu (Bamberg University).

In addition to keynote lectures, there will be a series of panels examining the notion of the beautiful in various aspects of Orthodox thought and culture including art, music, literature, film, media, spirituality, patristics, ethics, and dogmatic theology.

Interested scholars are invited to present 20-minute talks at the panel sessions.

Read more here.

St. John of Damascus Orthodox Mission in Tyler TX announces 3 talks by Fr. Demetrios Carellas:

• Monday, September 26 — On Faith
• Tuesday, September 27 — On Hope
• Wednesday, September 28 — On Love

Papa Demetri is a Protopresbyter and Archimandrite of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. He serves as chaplain to Nativity of the Theotokos monastery in Saxonburg, PA.  A sought-after retreat leader, Fr. Demetri has hundreds of spiritual children across the U.S.

View the flyer lecture flyer.

All talks begin at 7pm and take place at the Church

Daily Vespers will be served at 5:30 each evening

Childcare during the talks will be provided

Please check our website www.stjohntyler.org for updates and additional information about Papa Demetri’s visit

For our planning purposes, please rsvp which nights you may be attending by sending an email to fatherjohnmikita@gmail.com

11224 CR 1113 (Lake Placid Road) Tyler, Texas 75709
903-714-2010
Fr John Mikita

Here is a rare opportunity to learn first hand about prayer practice in the Orthodox Church from Igumen Gregory Zaiens, Archimandrite of St. Arsenius Hermitage, Decatur, Texas, and published author. Join us at the very lovely Bingham House B&B, directly across from St. Nicholas, in McKinney.

For more information, view the flyer.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America [OCA], and His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia [ROCOR], concelebrated the Divine Liturgy at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The Liturgy was an historic one, in that it marked “the first joint service of the American Bishops and the Russian Orthodox Church after nearly 70 years of the liturgical period of absence of communication,” according to the web site of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA. It represents the fruit of the diligent labors undertaken by the joint OCA-ROCOR Commission.

Also concelebrating were His Eminence, Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA; His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania [OCA]; and His Grace, Bishop Jerome of Manhattan [ROCOR].

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Jonah presented relics of Saints Herman of Alaska and Alexis Toth to Metropolitan Hilarion, who in kind presented relics of Saint John Maximovich to Metropolitan Jonah. The Metropolitans also sent a message to His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow, on the occasion of his patronal feastday. The text of the message reads as follows.

“We thank the Lord, Who on this festal day has vouchsafed us to offer unto Him the Bloodless Sacrifice in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Nicholas of the Russian Orthodox Church in New York City!

“On this, the feast day of the holy Equals-of-the-Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Enlighteners of the Slavs, having communed in the One Holy Spirit of the One Chalice of Christ, with sincere love we greet Your Holiness on the occasion of your Namesday.

“By God’s beneficent Providence you have been fated to serve as the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, of which the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia is an inseparable part, and which is the Mother — and Sister — Church of the Orthodox Church in America.

“We are certain that the long-desired concelebration of the Hierarchs of the American Church and the Russian Church Abroad will be a glad tiding to Your Holiness, and to the innumerable Orthodox clergy and laity.”

Among the OCA clergy serving at the historic Divine Liturgy were Archpriests Joseph Lickwar and Samuel Kedala; Igumen Joseph [Hoffman]; Hieromonk Gerasim [Eliel]; Igumen Sergius [Bowyer], Abbot of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery; Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak; and Hierodeacon Philip [Majkrzak].

Source: http://www.oca.org/news/2549