LAS VEGAS, NV – The Board of Directors of the Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) adopted the following Resolution at its recently concluded Board meeting in Las Vegas:
“OCL respectfully calls upon the Assembly of Bishops of the Orthodox Churches in the United States to publish all of the work of its committees over the seven-year course of its meetings, so that the faithful clergy and laity in the United States will be informed and have the opportunity to provide input that can assist our beloved Hierarchs in fulfilling the charge given to them by the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches in their Chambésy directive to the Assembly to develop a plan for bringing the fourteen overlapping Orthodox ‘jurisdictions’ in the US into a single, local Church that is in ‘canonical’ order.”
The OCL is a pan-Orthodox educational and advocacy ministry formed in 1987 whose purposes are:
“To advocate the restoration and strengthening of the historic role of the laity in the conciliar governance of the Orthodox Christian Church in the United States; to support the spiritual renewal and regeneration of the Orthodox Christian Church in the United States in its Apostolic Mission; to advocate and promote transparency and accountability in the governance of the Orthodox Christian Church in the United States; and to advocate and champion the establishment of an administratively and canonically-unified, self-governing autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church in the United States.”
The work that the Assembly of Bishops has been engaged in for more than seven years is of critical importance to all the faithful of the Church in the US. It should not be shrouded in secrecy.
The Assembly should include theologians and laity who can provide the Bishops with expertise in various areas, including but not limited to dispute resolution techniques and consensus-building training. The publication of the work of the Assembly will serve the Church not only by insuring transparency, but in allowing the laity to build support for overcoming the divisions that restrict its growth and outreach.
OCL will hold its 30th Annual Conference in Chicago, October 27-29. For more information contact, George E. Matsoukas, Executive Director, 877-585-0245.
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