HOME

PROFESSOR BOSKO BOJOVIC
GIVES A PRESENTATION AT ST. SAVA SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
IN SAN GABRIEL, CALIFORNIA

 Monday, April 23, 2012 

Lecture by Professor Bosko Bojovic
Професор Бошко Бојовић Историчар са Сорбоне у Цркви Светога Саве
у Сан Габриелу, Калифорнијаc

HOME

His Grace, Bishop Maxim visits St. Sava Parish
Jackson, California 

June 10^th, 2012

On Sunday, June 10th, 2012, Sunday of All Saint, His Grace, Bishop Maxim celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with V. Rev. Stephen Tumbas, Proto Deacon Paul Triva, and the parishioners of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church. After the service a special luncheon was prepared in honor of Bishop Maxim's visit and an afternoon of fellowship was enjoyed by all!. 

HOME

His Grace, Bishop Maxim visits
St. Xenia Skete in Wildwood, California
& St. Andrew's Church in Anderson, California

June 16-17^th, 2012

Arcticle by Fr. George Elliot

On Saturday morning my eight year-old son, John and I went with two other parishioners from our church in Anderson to Wildwood, CA to visit St. Xenia's Skete and to serve Liturgy with His Grace Bishop Maxim.  The weather during the past couple of days had been very hot and wehoped that it would be comfortable at St. Xenia's.  We were not disappointed as were blessed with cool but sunny weather during the outdoor liturgy which was also served with Fr. Hilarion the abbot of St Herman's Monastery in Platina and Fr. Paisius also from St. Herman's.  After the beautiful litrugy, we crowded into the trapeza for a wonderful meal of salmon and rice and vegetables.

His Grace entertained our questions and talked especially about forgiveness.  This conversation carried over into discussions we had at St. Andrew's which proved to be very spiritually helpful for all of us. He helped us grasp a more radical definition of forgiveness that went beyond merely not wishing evil or tolerating the one who has violated us.  The Greek word, "synchoresis" combines the the prefix "syn" which means "to gather" or "come together" and "choresis" (sp?) which refers to space.  So, forgiveness is actually allowing the other to return into our space to once again beceom part of us.  This is further illustrated by Christ's forgiveness of us and in His taking on our sins for the sake of our salvation.

After His Grace spent some time at St Xenia's and did a short visit to St Herman's not fa away, he joined us for a meeting with our parish council to discuss issues of parish life.  Again the theme of forgiveness was discussed as well as communication.  Afterwards, His Grace presided over our vespers service. This time both of my boys got to serve while Bp. Maxim was here. Since we rarely see His Grace, it's always an exercise in relearning how to serve in the presence of a hierarch.     It's good for our humility!  We had a very pleasant meal with the Bishop and then had a short talk with all those who gathered for vespers.  Later, His Grace came to stay at our house and we had a pleasant time of fellowship including some stargazing with a large telescope.

On Sunday, His Grace presided at St Andrew's during hte Divine Liturgy.  His homily was a message about the need to respond to the call of Christ just as Peter had when He was calling his disciples together. Afterwards, we had another wonderful meal together where we learned about the latest situation in Kosovo from a guest who was both a nun and a doctor. At last we said our goodbyes as HIs Grace headed back to Sacramento and his next destination.

HOME

Fr. Gregory Edwards is awarded a doctorate summa cum laude
from the Faculty of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece

June 5^th, 2012

On Tuesday, June 5, 2012, Fr. Gregory Edwards, a priest of the Western American Diocese, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. He was awarded a doctorate summa cum laude for his work, which was entitled (in English): "'The Diakonia [Service] of the Saints' (1Cor 16.15): Diakonia and Martyria [Witness] According to St. Paul and Contemporary Orthodox Christian Witness in North America." The dissertation focused on the theological criteria for Orthodox mission in North America, and examined in particular the paradigms provided by the lives and work of Archimandrite Ephraim of Philotheou, Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, and New Skete in New York. His work was supervised by Professor Petros Vassiliadis, one of the pre-eminent Orthodox scholars on the New Testament and mission, who examined him at the defense along with six other professors of the School of Theology.

The Rev. Fr. Dr. Gregory Edwards, originally from eastern Pennsylvania, converted to Orthodoxy while studying for his bachelor's degree in Religious Studies at Brown University. For the last six years, he has been studying in Thessaloniki. He has served as a cleric of the Orthodox Church of Greece for the past four years. He and his wife, Popadija Pelagia (Copeland) from Yakima, Washington, have three children.