SCOBA Establishes Two New Commissions
The hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops
in the Americas (SCOBA), at their recent meeting in New York City,
established two new commissions: the Orthodox Research Commission (ORC)
and the Orthodox Information Technologies Commission (OITC).
Initial coordinator of the ORC will be Fr. Nektarios Morrow. "This
commission," Fr. Nektarios stated, "will seek to meet the tremendous
need for accurate data to assist in the proper planning, initiation and
evaluation of Orthodox life and work in America." The ORC will work
with each SCOBA jurisdiction in evaluating current data collection
systems and offer assistance in enhancing and/or facilitating the
process. It will also facilitate the ongoing participation of SCOBA in
national surveys of religious life and participation.
Initial coordinator of the OITC will be Mr. Jamil Samara. It is
comprised of those persons responsible for the management of information
technology and the web sites of each SCOBA jurisdiction. "Among its
responsibilities", Mr. Samara indicated, "will be the maintenance of the
SCOBA web site, the creation of an On-Line Directory of all SCOBA
parishes, the creation of an orthodoxjobs.com database, and assistance
to parishes in the creation of web sites and parish bulletins."
These commissions can be found on the www.scoba.us web site, under the
heading Agencies. In addition to these two commissions, SCOBA also has
three other commissions: Study and Planning, Ecumenical, and Social and
Moral Issues.
In addition to these five standing commissions, SCOBA has also
established six Agencies which each operate as separate entities:
International Orthodox Christian Charities, Orthodox Christian Mission
Center, Orthodox Christian Networks, Orthodox Christian Fellowships,
Orthodox Christian Education, and Eastern Orthodox Committee on
Scouting.
Contact: SCOBA General Secretariat
8 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212-570-3593 Fax: 212-774-0202 E-mail: scoba@goarch.org