His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros

Grand Banquet Closing Remarks

32nd Annual Leadership 100 Conference

February 4, 2023 – 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm

The Phoenician

Scottsdale, Arizona

 

My beloved friends of Leadership 100,

Once again, we have come together in this marvelous fellowship of Leadership One Hundred, in order to enrich our lives and enhance the mission of our Church. As ever, I am deeply impressed by your dedication to the purpose of Leadership One Hundred, and your devotion to our Church.

Your generous stewardship of this Endowment – which is in itself a manifestation of the legacy of the ever-memorable and visionary Archbishop Iakovos – continues to be an extraordinary example for the whole Archdiocese.

Leadership One Hundred continues to be a true treasure-house of talent and wherewithal, nourishing the Archdiocese from coast to coast. Your providential grants are what have sustained our precious Σχολή for the past two decades. This investment in the future of the Church is, by far and away, the largest portion of your beneficence to the Archdiocese.

You have made a conscious decision to ensure that we will not be deprived of priests in the future, and I know I speak for President Cantonis,

who is here with us, and the Trustees of the School, many of whom are Leadership One Hundred Members, when I say that the gratitude of our Σχολή for this organization is incalculable.

Remember, unlike most colleges and universities that have alumni across the socio-economic scale, Hellenic College and Holy Cross produce clergymen, not entrepreneurs. It has fallen to Leadership One Hundred to serve like an Endowment for the School, without being one in a formal sense. We will work to endow the School to the degree possible, with the help and support of generous donors. But it is a mark of your expansive vision that you have always seen the long-term value in supporting the education and training of our clergy.

I want to express my abiding gratitude to Leadership Chairman Jim Logothetis – a person of remarkable talent and energy, who is assisting the Archdiocese in his service to Leadership One Hundred in manifold ways – including Greek Education and the Mixed Committee for the Charter.

As ever, your Executive Director – the wonderful Paulette Poulos – and the staff that supports her continue to do the marvelous job that exemplifies the best of our Church and Her National Ministries.

I close with these remarks tonight with one more expression of thanksgiving and confidence. Gratitude to all of you for your unyielding support and sustaining the Ministries of our Holy Archdiocese.

And confidence in the future for our children and grandchildren. Leadership One Hundred is poised for the next Hundred Years of our

Church in America to do even greater things. And I am very proud and thankful for all of you.

May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you all, your family and friends, and bring you through the Holy Season that is before us, to rejoice at His Glorious Resurrection.