Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of SCOBA, attends OCMC Board Meeting and Banquet

Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of SCOBA, attends OCMC Board Meeting and Banquet
June 2005

The Orthodox Christian Mission Center(OCMC), St. Augustine, FL-The  Orthodox Christian Mission Center’s Board of Directors welcomed  Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox  Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of  America, to its Spring 2005 Board Meeting and Banquet. The meeting was held in  the Washington D.C.area at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox  Church in Falls Church, Virginia from May 24 to 26, 2005.

The Board of OCMC, the official international mission and evangelism agency of SCOBA, is comprised  of 34 clergy and laity members representing various Orthodox jurisdictions. They  were encouraged by the presence and words of support from Archbishop Demetrios  at the meeting. His Eminence emphasized the importance of the work of the  Mission Centerfor the growth of the Orthodox  Church around the world. He praised OCMC’s exhibited expansion and proclaimed  his support of the OCMC’s Capital Campaign to fund endowments for  Mission work and to build a new  MissionCenterin St.  Augustine, FL.The Capital  Campaign, now in its final stages, was discussed during the meeting as the Board  of Directors reviewed the architect’s drawings and other plans for moving into the new Center by the end of 2006.

Aside from work  related to the Board’s fiscal and governing responsibilities, the Board of  Directors also embarked on reparatory work for a new 5-year Strategic Plan to  be implemented at the beginning of 2006 and approved two new OCMC Missionaries.  Mr. Constantine Triantafilou, the Executive Director of International Orthodox  Christian Charities (IOCC), OCMC’s sister organization, updated the OCMC Board  on the latest projects and programs of IOCC. This general sharing of information was followed by dialogue and discussions which reaffirmed the continued close  relationship between OCMC and IOCC, who work in harmony in the service of the  Lord.

The OCMC Health Care  Committee held a reception for local area health care professionals to learn  about Missionopportunities. Dr. John Demakis, chair of  the Health Care Committee and a member of the host St. Katherine parish  organized the event.

Archbishop Demetrios  was the keynote speaker at the OCMC Banquet, Wednesday, May  25, 2005, sponsored by the Mission Committee of St.  Katherine. His Eminence spoke about the importance of mission and service as  members of the Body of Christ. He read the last words of Christ before His Ascension from the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew called the Great  Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them  in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them  to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always,  even to the end of the age.” The Archbishop went on to highlight some of the  2004 accomplishments of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center including the  first Mission Team sent to Korea, 273 indigenous clergy financially supported in  mission lands, 6 churches built, 9,651 people receiving medical or dental care  and the land purchased for a new Mission Center.

Fr. Chad Hatfield,  OCMC Board Vice President and Dean of St. Herman Seminary in  Kodiak, AK,  Fr. Martin Ritsi, OCMC Executive Director, and Cliff Argue, OCMC Board  President, also spoke at the banquet.   Dr. John Demakis served as Master of Ceremonies.

During the banquet,  the presentation of a gift of $100,000 for the OCMC Capital Campaign was made by  Mr. Charles Masterpolis, an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in honor of  his parents. Mr. Masterpolis of Savannah,  GA, is a very dedicated Orthodox philanthropist. He was given a commemorative hand-written icon of the Great  Commission for his generosity. His Eminence Demetrios was honored for all the  work he has done in support of missions with a similar icon.

Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of SCOBA and primate of  the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (above-left and center-right) and Mr. Charles Masterpolis, Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and dedicated  philanthropist of Savannah, GA (above-right) were honored at an OCMC Banquet  held at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Falls Church, VA on  May 26, 2005. Fr. Martin Ritsi, OCMC Executive Director  (above-center and bottom right) and Mr. Cliff Argue, OCMC President  (bottom-left) thanked His Eminence for his ongoing support of Orthodox missions  and thanked Mr. Masterpolis for his $100,000 donation to OCMC’s Capital Campaign  by presenting them both with hand-written icons of the Great Commission.  

The Orthodox Christian Mission  Center: Helping Orthodox Christians respond to Christ's call to preach, teach,  baptize, minister to the poor and make disciples of all nations as the  official international mission agency of SCOBA.