AIOPA History

The Atlanta Inter-Orthodox Parish Association (AIOPA) is a team of clergy and laity representatives from different canonical Orthodox parishes around the Atlanta area.

AIOPA was officially formed during its first meeting on March 17th 2022 as a committee of the Atlanta Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood, which seeks to bring people the knowledge of the Orthodox Church and to assist those throughout the city of Atlanta who are in need.


AIOPA Mission

  • To make the Orthodox Church presence more visible and to speak with “one strong voice”

  • To address jointly the common interests, needs and concerns of all church members

  • To build strong associations of local Orthodox church communities

    • Parishes of all jurisdictions support and help one another

    • Share talents, and coordinate ministries and programs

  • To encourage communication and interaction among parishioners

    • Minimize jurisdictional barriers among the parishes

    • Develop a strong sense of one local Orthodox Christian Family


AIOPA Members

Each Parish is represented, for the most part, by one clergy person (usually the Parish Priest), one lay person from the Parish Council, and one lay person not on the Parish Council.

American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD)

  • St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church: Fr. Matthew Dutko | John Marion

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Advent Antiochian Orthodox Church: Fr. Ben Bruce | Stephen Brannen

  • St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church: Fr. Gabriel Tannous | Joston Brown | Dennis Sparks

  • St. James Antiochian Orthodox Church: Fr. Steven Ritter | Tara Freeman | Tom Taratsas

  • St. Stephen's Antiochian Orthodox Church: Fr. Jacob Andoun | Frank Tait

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Annunciation Greek Cathedral: Fr. Paul Kaplanis | Fr. Christos Mars | James Tsismanakis | Toni Taggart

  • Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church: Fr. Theodore Ehmer | Cristina Lekas | Natalia Saratsiotis

  • Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church: Fr. Panayiotis Papageorgiou | Fr. Michael Tishel | Eliza Markley | Julia Hill

  • St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Church: Fr. George Tsahakis | Jackie Sarantis | Steve Sarantis

  • St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church: Fr. Anthony Salzman | Garrett Klawuhn | Regina Nasrallah

  • Sts. Raphael, Nicholas & Irene: Fr. Barnabas Powell | Evelyn Kemp | Sy Nease

Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church: Fr. George Acsente | Florian Ion | Liviu Sofian

  • St. John the Wonderworker: Fr. Tom Alessandroni | Andrea Uhr | Michael Uhr

Romanian Patriarchate (Romanian)

  • St. Mary Romanian Orthodox Church: Fr. Nicolae Clempus | Dan Fratiloiu

Serbian Orthodox Church in North, Central & South America (Serbian)

  • Sts. Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church: Fr. Miladin Blagojevic | Borko Komnenovic | Mirjana M. Brockett


AIOPA Structure

AIOPA is organized in five workgoups: Religious, Charity, Social, Development and Communications.

Chairman

  • Rev. Fr. Christos P. Mars - Annunciation Greek Cathedral, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

Religious WorkGroup

The Religious WorkGroup will create, plan and run activities that allow our clergy and parishioners to participate together in Christian-Orthodox religious events.

The members of the Religious WorkGroup are:

  • Stephen Brannen - Avent Antiochian Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Fr. Theodore Ehmer - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Eliza Markley - Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Fr. Michael Tishel - Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Fr. George Tsahakis - St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Fr. George Acsente - Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Fr. Tom Alessandroni - St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Michael Uhr - St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Fr. Nicolae Clempus - St. Mary Romanian Orthodox Church, Romanian Patriarchate (Romanian)

  • Borko Komnenovic - Sts. Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church in North, Central & South America (Serbian)

Charity WorkGroup

The Charity WorkGroup will create, plan and run charitable activities that provide for the needs of those around us, share God’s deep love for humankind with others, build connection and fellowship within the Orthodox Church, the Body of Christ, and inwardly transform us as individual Orthodox Christians by heeding God’s call to love our neighbor and encountering Christ Himself when we “do for one the least of these”.

The members of the Charity WorkGroup are:

  • Fr. Ben Bruce - Avent Antiochian Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Tara Freeman - St. James Antiochian Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Tom Taratsas - St. James Antiochian Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Jackie Sarantis - St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Steve Sarantis - St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Evelyn Kemp - Sts. Raphael, Nicholas & Irene, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Fr. Tom Alessandroni - St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Fr. Nicolae Clempus - St. Mary Romanian Orthodox Church, Romanian Patriarchate

  • Mirjana M. Brockett - Sts. Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church in North, Central & South America (Serbian)

Social WorkGroup

The Social WorkGroup will create, plan and run activities intended to bring together orthodox parishioners for social events.

The members of the Social WorkGroup are:

  • Fr. Matthew Dutko - St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church, American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD)

  • Toni Taggart - Annunciation Greek Cathedral, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Steve Sarantis - St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Garrett Klawuhn - St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Julia Hill - Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Evelyn Kemp - Sts. Raphael, Nicholas & Irene, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Liviu Sofian - Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Andrea Uhr - St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Fr. Miladin Blagojevic - Sts. Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church in North, Central & South America (Serbian)

Development WorkGroup

The Development WorkGroup will create, plan and run activities that allow our Parish Councils to learn and grow together as a larger team, deeper and faster than each one of us can do individually in our own parish.

The members of the Development WorkGroup are:

  • John Marion - St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church, American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD)

  • Tom Taratsas - St. James Antiochian Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Fr. Jacob Andoun - St. Stephen's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Antiochian)

  • Fr. George Acsente - Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Florian Ion - Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

  • Michael Uhr - St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

Communications WorkGroup

The Communications WorkGroup will create, plan and run activities intended to spread the word about the work our AIOPA Team is doing and the results is having, as well as staying connected with the main stakeholders (e.g., Hierarchs, Assembly of Bishops, Akron team, other relevant organizations).

The members of the Communications WorkGroup are:

  • James Tsismanakis - Annunciation Greek Cathedral, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Cristina Lekas - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Charles Glotzbach - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Julia Hill - Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Fr. Anthony Salzman - St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Regina Nasrallah - St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)

  • Florian Ion - Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America (OCA)


For a deeper understanding of the Church Unity efforts, please go through these resources:

Presentations

  • The intent of this presentation is to walk us through the AoB history and then what are we doing as AIOPA and how. It’s an opportunity for us to absorb additional knowledge and also to ask questions to make sure we all feel confident about this effort. It can also be used in the future should new people join our team. The presentation is about 30min in length.

Videos

Podcasts

Documents

In order to properly position the effort of our Atlanta Inter-Orthodox Parish Association in the larger context, please find below some useful documents:

For those interested to learn more about the 4th Pre-Conciliar Panorthodox Conference from  Chambésy-Geneva, Switzerland, here are the official English documents: 

  • The Rules - Rules of Operation of Episcopal Assemblies in the Orthodox Diaspora