According to the Statutes of our Metropolia, once every two years the Assembly of each Deanery of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the USA is convened. On the weekend of September 24-25, 2021, with the blessing and under the presidency of His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan Nicolae, the Assembly of the Deanery for Central USA was held at the Annunciation Parish in Olmsted Falls, OH.
In accordance with the Agenda, the Assembly began with the Heavenly King Prayer, the welcoming speeches of His Eminence Nicolae, of Rev. Fr. Petru Neaga (host) and of V. Rev. Fr. Dean Călin Barbolovici, followed by the attendance roll call.
Each parish presented its activity reports, the challenges that the pandemic brought, but also the ways in which they could carry out their mission further. Since we are in The Commemorative Year of those who fell asleep in the Lord, V. Rev. Fr. Ion Gherman presented a paper having the same title. In it, he emphasized the teaching of the Orthodox Church that those who have passed away from this life have not passed away into nothingness, but to the Lord, that is, to a life fuller of communion with Christ the Savior. The tomb is the place of the body waiting for the second coming of the Lord, when it will be reunited with the soul and, together, as complete human being, will await the judgment.
The presentation of the project “The Church – The Home of Romanians Everywhere” was the next item on the agenda. The project represents the combination of the project aimed at the twinning of parishes in the US Archdiocese with parishes from Romania and the Republic of Moldova from 2018-2019, with the project having the same name that was proposed by the Romanian Patriarchate. The different activities of our parishes at educational, pastoral, and cultural level were presented in collaboration with the twin parishes.
The work of the Assembly was resumed the next day with the Akathist of the Annunciation. An online meeting followed with HG Atanasie of Bogdania, Vicar Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, with the blessing of the Diocesan Bishop, HG Siluan, on the theme of The Solemn Year of the Pastoral Care of Romanians Abroad. HG Atanasie briefly presented the history of the Italian Diocese, and afterwards, he described its main pastoral-missionary activities. All these showed the care of the Episcopate for the Romanians who arrived in Italy to whom they offered not only material help, but especially spiritual help by receiving them in the house of the parishes that have been established in recent years. They offered all of them the encounter with Christ and the rediscovery of themselves in the Church for a balanced life away from country and family.
The next guest on the Zoom platform was V. Rev. Fr. Sergius Halvorsen, professor of homiletics at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York. Father approached the theme Serving as One under Authority (of the Savior), combining authority and humility in His image. Using numerous examples from the Old and New Testaments, Father Sergius showed how we must understand and fulfill our ministry in the parishes, as priests or those responsible for various missions. Christ's healing of the centurion's servant (Matthew 8: 5-13) is the best example of this.
HE Metropolitan Nicolae offered the diploma and homage medal of The Solemn Year of the Pastoral Care of Romanians Abroad, on behalf of HB Patriarch Daniel, to V. Rev. Fr. Călin Barbolovici and to the Holy Trinity Parish of Troy, MI, for their constant financial support to our parish Ss. Constantine and Helen from Caracas, Venezuela.
The next part of the Assembly was dedicated to the reports of various activities in the parishes. The report of the Ladies’ Auxiliary (AROLA) was prepared by the AROLA Board and presented by Mrs. Adriana Obreja from the Metropolitan Cathedral in Chicago. The report described the main activities of the last two years organized by our ladies from each parish and at the level of the Metropolia (congresses, spiritual conferences, missionary and charitable activities). The report of the Commission for Religious Education was presented by Mirela Manga, a member of the Committee. During this period of health crisis, the work of the Sunday Schools was greatly affected. The report outlined the efforts of each parish to continue the religious education of children, either online or in person, depending on the various restrictions. The ROYA (Youth Association) report was prepared by Pompiliu Gîrlonța, Chairman of the Board, and mentioned the main ROYA activities of the last two years.
The last item on the Agenda was the election of the Deanery Consistory and the setting of the place of the next meeting, in 2023, at the parish of the Protection of the Mother of God, Houston, TX.
HE Metropolitan Nicolae thanked V. Rev. Fr. Călin Barbolovici, Rev. Fr. Petru Neaga and the faithful of the Annunciation parish for ensuring the successful organization of this Deanery Assembly.
Submitted by
Rev. Deacon Gabriel Ilieș, Secretary of the Assembly
