Ecumenical Patriarchate Press Office
On May 27-28, the Orthodox Theological
Society of America (OTSA) will sponsor a conference dedicated to the
Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church The conference will be
held at the InterChurch Center (475 Riverside Dr., NY, NY) in New York
City, and will help foster a discussion around the Holy Council’s
procedures, agenda, and official documents (for more information about
the Council and to access these documents, please visit:
OrthodoxCouncil.org).
This conference is co-sponsored by the Department
of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, and Interfaith Relations of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America and New York Theological Seminary.
OTSA and the Orthodox Christian Studies
Center at Fordham University jointly sponsored a working group project
where teams of scholars and single authors prepared concise responses to
the Council’s documents; these scholars exchanged ideas, received
mutual feedback on their drafts and many of the documents were posted on
the Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center website
publicorthodoxy.org. The working groups included 73 Orthodox scholars
and several Byzantine Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Episcopal
contributors. A total of 29 papers were officially accepted. An effort
is underway to publish these theological commentaries and make them
publicly available to the faithful and those who will participate in the
Holy and Great Council.
The OTSA conference will center around
these working group papers. Scholars will present their papers, followed
by an open discussion. The papers presented will cover the range of
topics to be discussed at the Council (Impediments to Marriage, the
Orthodox Diaspora, Ecumenical Relations, Fasting, Mission of the Church
in the World, and the Council’s Procedures and Rules). The scholars
participating in the conference include participants from a variety of
disciplines and settings, including faculty at theological schools and
universities, missionaries, educators, theologians, practitioners, and
pastors.
The conference is open to the general public. Registration is available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/preparing-for-the-great-and-holy-council-theological-reflections-tickets-24323995726.
The conference proceedings will be recorded and made available online
at a later time. In addition to Orthodox scholars, we anticipate that
the conference will be attended by members of other faith traditions,
including students and faculty members of New York Theological School.
In the Fall 2016 (Sept. 29-Oct. 31),
OTSA is planning its annual meeting at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School
of Theology (Brookline, MA). The meeting will focus on the reception of
the Council’s decisions.