PURPOSE: To help establish new Greek Orthodox Parishes and to help support small Greek Orthodox Parishes which are striving to become self-supporting parishes of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. With the generous support of the Leadership 100 Home Missions Grant, The Home Mission Parish Program provides assistance to mission parishes throughout the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in their critical first years of existence. In special situations assistance may also be provided to parishes that have declined but are in a period of renewal and outreach. There are currently 13 parishes receiving some level of support through the program.

In many areas of the United States , there are clusters of Orthodox Christians who would like to establish a parish. To do this requires the services of a priest. Often these communities are unable to afford a priest and the additional expenses that would be involved. Over the past 15 years, such groups, as well as existing parishes struggling to become self-supporting, have been assisted with monthly grants ranging from $250 to $2000 to make it financially feasible for a priest to be assigned. The priest is able to offer much-needed consistency in leadership during the critical stages of parish formation and renewal, increasing immensely the likelihood of a parish becoming self-sufficient.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION : On the recommendation of the local hierarch, the Home Mission Parish Program provides supplemental support for the compensation of full time clergy assigned to parishes designated by the local hierarch as mission parishes. This support declines over a period of two to five years during which time it is expected that the parish will become self-sufficient. These parishes are under the direct supervision of their local hierarch. At the Archdiocesan level, the administration of this program has been assigned to the Department of Outreach & Evangelism. Mission Parish status implies that fair share obligations to the Metropolis and Archdiocese are waived.

PROJECT CONTINUATION: Each year a determination is made as to which parishes have become self-sufficient and which still warrant funding through this program.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION : The Metropolitan Hierarch provides information on the parishes and suggests the level of support that is warranted in each situation. Funds are then allocated as available and within the criteria of the program. It is understood that a designated mission parish with a full time priest may receive support at a gradually declining rate for up to five years and that fair share (stewardship) payments to the Metropolis and Archdiocese are waived.

EXPANSION OF THE PROGRAM: The opportunities for the expansion of the Mission Parish Program are many. Preliminary findings of the new Annual Parish Report indicate that more than twenty communities in the Archdiocese have expressed an interest in establishing mission parishes. To address this critical issue, a new Guide for the Establishment of Mission Parishes will soon be available from the Department of Outreach & Evangelism. The Department will also work to expand home mission activity by seeking funds from additional sources for the support of the Home Mission Parish Program, clearly an excellent investment in the future of the Greek Orthodox Church in America.

SISTER PARISH PROGRAM: A Sister Parish Program is being developed whereby established parishes could assist those that are more recently established. This support would be not only financial, but also in the form of sharing those liturgical items that are so costly to new parishes, while extras are collecting dust in older parishes -- censers, baptismal fonts, worship books, gospel books, tabernacles, epitaphia, kouvouklia, etc. The other support -no less important- would be spiritual -- keeping the fledgling church in the community's prayers, communication between parishes (even the children could participate in this), visitation by parishioners to one another's parish, and even occasional clergy exchange. The possibilities are endless [ Many of these ideas would need the approval of the local hierarch, and all parishes are encouraged to seek the necessary permission and keep their hierarch informed of their activities ].

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