His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros 

Remarks at the Dinner with Metropolis Archons and Centennial Donors 

45th Annual Folk Dance and Choral Festival 

February 19, 2022 – 7:00 pm 

The Capital Grille 

Phoenix, Arizona 

Beloved Brother, Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, 

Your Graces and Reverend Fathers, 

Dear Archons and Friends, 

I am delighted to share this evening with all of you, here at our cherished Folk Dance Festival. It truly is the cultural highlight not only of your Metropolis, but I dare say, of the entire Archdiocese of America. 

Our beloved Greek Orthodox Church in America is celebrating this year, its One Hundredth Anniversary as the premier Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the global Diaspora. It is a milestone that cannot be underestimated. 

I am deeply appreciative for this opportunity to break bread with you and hear your ideas and considerations for this Centennial of our national Archdiocese. For this historic anniversary belongs to every member of our Church – from sea to shining sea. And it is not only a time for reflection on an elaborate and indeed glorious past, but a time for envisioning the future. 

We live in times when established religious traditions are being challenged – not to give up their forms or ideas, but challenged on how to communicate the essence of their faiths to the generations who will carry on. I spoke to this recently at the annual Leadership One Hundred Conference in Florida. 

And I share with you the same challenge that we live in a complex world, where attention spans are being shortened and demands on time are being lengthened. As a Church, we have an abiding responsibility to the generation who will succeed us. We are to “equip” them, not only with the “whole armor of God,”1 – which is the complete theological and moral teaching of the Church, but with the skills and wisdom to navigate the world around them. 

That’s precisely why this Folk Dance Festival is so important. Because it is a basic building block of the foundation we are constructing for the next generation. We harmonize culture and faith – the saintly and the secular. We inspire our young people to invest their life in the Church, not only because of their afterlife, but because of the present moment. The Church sanctifies all of creation – the so-called spiritual and the so-called secular. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin, and they can infuse each other with meaning. If we deny this possibility, then we are contradicting the word of the Lord Who beheld creation as “very good.”2 

Therefore, I want to thank all of you again for your commitment to this Centennial Celebration of our Sacred Archdiocese, which is a new beginning for the next one hundred years. 

May the Lord bless all or efforts, as he has blessed this Folk Dance Festival, so that we may continue the ministry of Church into the next century honoring our legacy, engaged with renewal, and always cultivating our unity in Christ. 

Thank you.