At the 2011 Diocesan Assembly, a "Parish Grant Initiative" was approved. Parishes in the New England Diocese can apply for financial grants to support outreach and charity programs in their communities. The diocese has budgeted up to $10,000 in grant monies to help support parishes in these efforts.  Applications will be reviewed as received. The files are available in MS Word format.

The Grant Background

The Grant Application

The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America approved and issued a revised Policy, Standards, and Procedures on Sexual Misconduct at their Fall 2013 Holy Synod meeting. This policy is now in force in the Church. It is the goal of the entire Church to provide a safe and healthy environment for all of the faithful of the Orthodox Church in America. The Church laments the sin of sexual misconduct, and will not tolerate sexual misconduct by its clergy or any layperson.

At the March 2014 meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, revisions to the Policies, Standards, and Procedures on Sexual Misconduct [PSP] were approved.

An abbreviated PSP for parish use is available here.

The OCA Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response webpage is here.

To confidentially report a case of misconduct please use the toll-free number 855-398-2600. All calls will be confidential.

At the spring session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, held at the Chancery March 18-21, 2014, “Guidelines on Background Checks” were issued. [See related article.] The Guidelines, which offer detailed information on how and for whom “basic background checks” are required, are available in PDF format. Included in the Guidelines are recommended sources for conducting checks and information on on-line sexual abuse prevention training.

"For All Times sake": This was the title of the message we received a few weeks ago from Fr. Paul Tarazi. Before his retirement, for many years Fr. Paul made Christ the Savior home for the “Connecticut Bible Lecture Series”. There was a following from Orthodox and nonorthodox who came twice a year to hear this Internationally known scholar teach about scripture. Fr. Paul has written many books on scripture, they are available both in our library and bookstore. His latest book: The Rise of Scripture has been written during these days of “retirement’ and just published. What a joy and privilege to have Father return and talk about this work of his. There will also be opportunity for book signing.

If you know Fr. Paul, don’t miss the opportunity to hear him again. If you have never heard him, seize this opportunity. “For All Times Sake”

The Rise of ScriptureThose who experience the Bible as a living text understand that Scripture possesses a life and power all its own. Written by human hands, texts become sacred when they resonate with ultimate truths encountered in the direst of human circumstances. Paul Nadim Tarazi’s The Rise of Scripture offers a cogent argument for the particulars of how it is the Bible as we have it became Scripture. Avoiding futile speculation over Israelite textual and ethnic origins, Tarazi lays bare the Bible’s strategic defense against hellenistic urban hegemony over the fertile clay and desert environs of western Asia. With the help of biblical Hebrew—a “concocted language,” according to Tarazi—scribes wrote and shaped oral and textual materials into a manifesto of cultural resistance in response to the ethnocentric arrogance of the alien occupation. The successful accomplishment of such a defense relied upon a kind of leveling of the playing field, in which the writers of the Bible came to throw all their own false idols into the fire, resulting in the production of the most scathing collective self-examination in human history. It is the thesis of this book that the reading and teaching of Scripture brings human beings together in the barren wilderness of authentic human existence in obedience to, and under the care of the ultimate Shepherd, the God of Scripture.

Saturday, May 5 from 1:00 to 4:30 Christ the Savior Church, Southbury CT.

More information available on parish web site www.christsaviorchurch.org or by caling 203 267 1330.

Jesus Christ taught us to love and serve all people, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. To understand that, we need to look no further than to the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Every time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, it is offered "on behalf of all, and for all." As Orthodox Christians we stand against racism and bigotry. All human beings share one common identity as children of God.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatian 3:28)

The Diocese of New England makes available limited scholarships for modest financial assistance according to the following guidelines:

A scholarship applicant must:

1) Be a parishioner of a member parish of the Diocese of New England, Orthodox Church in America;

2) Be currently enrolled, as a full–time student, in a degree granting program at an accredited Orthodox seminary with the knowledge and blessing of the diocesan bishop.

For more information, please contact Archbishop NIKON.

For the application, please follow the "more information" link below.