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Bishop's Column

As I sit in my office contemplating what message I would like to share with all my spiritual children, my thoughts are consumed by the many historical events that have taken place within our beloved and Most Holy Church during 1996.

With sadness and great nostalgia, we saw our spiritual leader of North and South America, His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, decide to retire after over thirty years of dedicated service. Without a doubt his ministry will be remembered as a time of great change, growth and challenges. Our Church in America was truly blessed to have been lead by such a man.

With the decision of Archbishop Iakovos to retire, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate put into motion the long and laborious task of evaluating all of the potential candidates to succeed His Eminence. During this period of evaluation as I traveled throughout our beloved Diocese and in Greece, much speculation and concern was expressed as to who would replace this man; would he be as dynamic, would he be as sympathetic and understanding to our needs in America, would he understand the unique challenges facing the Church in America, and would he be able to fill the shoes of this man who for over thirty years counseled and guided us.

Throughout the ages, our beloved Church has truly been blessed and guided by the Grace of the Holy Spirit. In 1996 it was once again made evident that God¹s Grace and the Holy Spirit continues to inspire and enlighten our leaders¹ actions and decisions. This was made clear in the methodical, prayerful process the Holy Synod and our Beloved Patriarch went through to ultimately reach a final decision on the successor of His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos.

I can not tell you just how fortunate our Church is that we have been blessed and continue to be so with an outstanding and dynamic new leader. I believe The Holy Synod has truly honored all of us with their selection of His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon. Who amongst us could have imaged even as little as five or ten years ago that we would ever see in our life time an American born Bishop enthroned as Archbishop of the United States, and yet that is precisely what has happened!

Much has already been written and said about this man¹s credentials and background. Let me assure you that he is a man of vision, well prepared and the most suited of all the possible candidates to lead our Church into the 21st century. He is incredibly capable to meet the challenges that await, just as each of his predecessors were qualified to meet the challenges of their time.

How honored I am, and hopefully this feeling is shared by all of you, that His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon has chosen the Greek Orthodox Folk Dance Festival Annual Program to be the occasion of his first official visitation to the San Francisco Diocese. His commitment to the youth and young adults of our Church has been evidenced through his efforts at his various assignments. It is my belief that he will work hard to develop a meaningful and sustainable national program for all our youth and young adults. It is a dream for us all to see all our youth and young adults across this great nation become united as never before. The future and strength of our Church rests with our children. I pray and hope that all of you will welcome His Eminence with all your love and enthusiasm, as I know you can. His Eminence has agreed to lead the Preamble Workshop for Division I, what a tremendous opportunity for our young adults to become better acquainted with Him, and He with them.

As if this was not enough, FDF experienced a historical first. Your Bishop and Peter Preovolos, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FDF, met with His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I in Constantinople! This meeting for Peter was a dream come true and a fulfillment of two long time goals, to visit the birth place of his mother and to visit the Patriarchate of the Church that he so dearly loves. He not only had a private audience with the Patriarch, but he was also invited to have lunch with him. During this meeting, His All Holiness was most interested in the activities of FDF and most enthusiastic to hear what Peter had to say. Our trip to Constantinople and Greece was a most fruitful one and it gave us a great opportunity to examine the long term goals and direction of this unique ministry. With the help of the Mayor of Thessaloniki and the Governor of Macedona, we were able to arrange for a Pontic Dance Group to attend FDF this year. The TOAGRELAFON - Pontian Dance Troup of the Municipal Cultural Center of Kalamaria is scheduled to perfrom on Friday evening.

It is my fervent hope and prayer that all of you who are attending this year¹s FDF will participate in and experience all of the wonder, excitement and love I have experienced at each of my last eighteen Folk Dance Festivals. Let your love for God and the love for your children fill your hearts this weekend. As you walk with Christ and experience one another, may you return to your homes with Christ and the celebration of his resurection in your hearts. His Eminence is only about to experience what I have come to know and love: The Greek Orthodox people of the Diocese of San Francisco wear their love of God and love for each other upon their sleeves for all to see and share. Lift His Emenince up upon your participatory celebration and carry him back to New York with the wonder and fullfillment that lives and breaths within each of you.

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