Saturday, April 25, 2009

Metropolitan Gerasimos to deliver keynote at national ecumenical conference

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco has anounced that His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos will present the Keynote Address at the National Workshop for Christian Unity. The conference will be held in Phoenix, AZ from April 27 – 30, 2009.

His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos, along with other Christian Church leaders from throughout the United States, will take part in an opening prayer service on Monday, April 27, at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Basilica. A combined Greek Orthodox choir from the Phoenix-area parishes will also participate.

His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos will deliver the Keynote Address on Tuesday, April 28 at 9:00 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. His Eminence’s presentation will focus on Ezekiel’s call for the people to come together to make a great nation by joining the sticks. It will reference Abba John who faithfully watered a dry stick planted in the desert for three years before it bore fruit.

His Eminence will explore the theme of the Workshop through some insights of the Desert Fathers and their call for unity in faith, unity to Christ, and unity of the Church. The Desert Fathers should remind us that the quest for Christian unity is one of struggle, but requiring patience and faithful obedience to the command of Christ.

The conference is sponsored by the National Association of Ecumenical Officers. The National Workshop on Christian Unity, now in its 42nd year, is charged with stimulating an exchange of ideas and experiences among people concerned with Christian unity and the bodies they represent, and celebrating the unity that already exists among Christians and searching for ways to overcome the divisions that remain. For more information, please visit the conference website: www.nwcu.org