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The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has published (here [goarch.org]) the documents from the Chambésy conference in Switzerland (June 6-12, 2009).

How will this affect SCOBA [scoba.us]? And what will be the role of the OCA since it was not one of the 14 autocephalous Churches invited to attend the conference?

Here are the relevant texts:

Communiqué [goarch.org]

Decision [goarch.org]

Regulations [goarch.org]

If I remember correctly...the new "Episcopal Assemblies" will be modeled along the lines of SCOBA. So SCOBA will remain as the local assembly...

If memory serves me correctly, the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America, as the OCA was called at the time, was/is a founding member of the Standing Conference in the USA.

Fr. Serge

I understand that SCOBA only includes primates, whereas the new assemblies are to include all Orthodox Bishops in the region.

How many Orthodox bishops are there in the United States currently? Does anyone have a list?

Fr. Serge is correct as stated.

This a very positive development that, God willing, is only a beginning and not an ending.

Christ Is Among Us! Indeed He Is And Ever Shall Be!

Three Cents

The assemblies will be different from SCOBA, I think, in that a chairman is chosen according to the order of the diptychs. I'm also curious about how the OCA will be counted, especially how they will be considered in the order of the diptychs.

How is this new body compared to the "episcopal conferences" of the Latin Catholic Church?

A similarity would seem to be that the new body is composed of all bishops, instead of merely the primates.

Blessings

The difference is that, as far as I know, the Latin Church doesn't have the same messy situation we have, that is, multiple jurisdictions with overlapping dioceses. So, for instance, all of the Orthodox jurisdictions may have their own bishop of New York. The episcopal assemblies will alleviate the chaos somewhat by having these bishops meet and act in concert, with bishops taking precedence according to the order of diptychs, starting with the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the top.

The Phanar recognizes the Metroplia as an integral part of the Russian Church, and I assume that it would fall in the diptychs with the rest of the Russian Church.

Alexandr

Slavipodvizhnik:
You talked about the view of whom you termed the "Phanar" toward the OCA. But, how does the ROCOR view the OCA? Are they part of the Russian Church or Autocephelous?

I understand that this may be a sensitive issue, so I look forward to your thoughtful and prayerful response.

Ray

As we speak, there is a commission headed by +George Bishop of Mayfield to study the problem of relations with the American Metropolia.

(ROCOR) - On August 4-5, 2009, the first preliminary meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia's Commission on Dialog with the Orthodox Church in America was held at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY.
This commission was formed by a decision of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR on May 5, 2009. Participating in the meeting were His Grace Bishop George of Mayfield, Chairman; Archimandrite Luke (Murianka); Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff, Secretary; Protopriest David Moser and Priest Peter Jackson.

This preparatory meeting discussed organizational matters. The next meeting of the Commission will be held in November. The results of the preliminary meeting will be reported on at the regular session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad.



I would imagine it will take a while to sort through 80 years of documents as well as meeting with Metropolia leaders before any conclusion can be drawn. In the meantime, priests and bishops are con-celebrating. We are breaking bread together. ( Who'd a thunk?) When the committee concludes it's work and the results are presented to the Synod, then will ROCOR have an answer to your question.

Alexandr

Thank you for your thoughtful answer.

Ray