Garrison, NY - The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Outreach & Evangelism is pleased to announce the First Annual Family Outreach Sunday. This program encourages active parishioners to invite inactive family members and Orthodox Christian friends for a special day of fellowship and spiritual renewal. Many are aware of Orthodox friends and relatives that have fallen away from active involvement in the Church. Jesus Christ calls each one of us to engage in active outreach to these relatives and friends. Archbishop Demetrios of America refers to this calling as "a particularly integral aspect of our Orthodox Christian identity that is worth our cultivating, cherishing and sharing."
Family Outreach Sunday has been developed in cooperation with the Ladies Philoptochos Society and the Center for Family Care at Saint Basil Academy, and is modeled on successful Outreach Sundays carried out in the parishes of Birmingham, Alabama and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All parishes are encouraged to choose a Family Outreach Sunday in November that best fits their parish calendar.
National Philoptochos President Georgia Skeadas included an outline of this program in her fall letter to the local chapters in which she encouraged all to support and participate in Family Outreach Sunday efforts in their parishes. Mrs. Skeadas describes this initiative as "a noteworthy program that the National Philoptochos Society wholeheartedly endorses and supports."
Father Constantine Sitaras, Director of the Center for Family Care at Saint Basil Academy has praised Family Outreach Sunday as "an excellent complement to our efforts to affirm the importance of the family as a blessed gift from God and to address the specific needs of families as they try to live in a very challenging culture and world." Father Sitaras sees Family Outreach Sunday as a "win-win" proposition for all involved and hopes to see the program become an annual parish event.
Information and Family Outreach Sunday posters have been sent to all parish clergy throughout the Archdiocese. Program materials are available on the website of the Department of Outreach & Evangelism.
Contact:
Fr. James W. Kordaris, Director
Department of Outreach & Evangelism
Tel. 646/519-6160 Fax. 646/519-6166
Email: [email protected]
Web site